St. Francis YC hosted 19 J/105s at its annual Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta on Friday July 1st through Sunday August 2nd. On Friday, a modified Ocean race course, including windward leg out the gate to the Pt Bonita Lighthouse buoy followed by several long windward leeward legs in the bay. The fleet enjoyed an unusual case of good pressure on both sides of the bridge making a long but very enjoyable 5 hour racing day. Saturday featured two buoy races on the city front concluding with Phillip Laby’s and Rich Pipkin’s Racer X (8 points) one point ahead of Adam Spiegel’s Jam Session (9 points including two bullets), and the tightly contended third position 7 and 8 points behind, leaving the final race on Sunday for a showdown; whoever beat the other likely takes overall win.

On Sunday, the final race sent the fleet on a bay tour crisscrossing the city front with several tight reaches and then a run down below Alcatraz for a final windward leg and a finishing run. Lighter winds and shifty conditions saw several locations with significant shuffling of fleet position including the classic random gusts and doldrums around Yellow Bluff and some less than obvious current effects along the city front. Working the shifts and finding the pressure was the key for the day. In the end consistency paid, with four top five finishes, Racer X earned the number one position.

Final results: First Place: Racer X (13 points), Second Place: Jam Session (16), Third Place: Scooter Simmons driving Blackhawk (18), Fourth Place: Rolf Kaiser driving Donkey Jack (24), Fifth Place: Woodley / Whitney / Titchener on Risk (25). Full results here.