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Bruce Stone really, really likes racing J/105s. On Saturday morning, he flew from Rhode Island, where he’d just spent the week competing at Block Island Race Week, to San Francisco, where he had just enough time to zip down to St. Francis YC and lead his Arbitrage team out to the racecourse for the first start of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta.

In Block Island, the team was racing a borrowed boat in light and variable conditions; returning to San Francisco, they were back in a familiar boat, racing in familiar, 18-25 knot conditions. “It was like putting on an old pair of shoes,” says Nicole Breault, who calls tactics and trims mainsail. “And that’s such a good feeling. You just know when it’s happening. All the information is coming in, everyone is doing their job, and the boathandling is like clockwork. If we had to make a last-minute douse at the leeward gate, the team just made it happen.”

With flawless crew work, stellar starts, and a never-say-die attitude, the Arbitrage team put up a 2-1-2-1-2 scoreline to win the 17-boat J/105 class and earn the event’s overall prize, which includes an invite to compete in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship regatta this November in the British Virgin Islands. “There were plenty of times this weekend when we found ourselves in a tight spot,” says Stone. “At a couple of the starts, we were sandwiched between two good sailors and had to fight to maintain our lane. Other times, we’d get the slows in the heavy chop, and we’d have to make some adjustments to get back up to speed.”

In addition to Stone and Breault, the Arbitrage team includes Terry Brennan (pit), Mike Straus (trimmer), Will Madison (bow), and Marc Acheson (mast). “What makes the teamwork good,” says Breault, “is when you do make mistakes, you fix them right away.”

Stone moved to San Francisco from the East Coast in the early 1980s and has been running a bi-coastal program for the past 11 years. “We keep Arbitrage here on the Bay, and then we borrow boats on the East Coast,” he says. “We find owners who want to race but don’t have a team, or don’t have the experience, and then we bring the team, help rerig the boat, and go racing. I pay the variable costs, and they provide the boat.

“We’ve raced seven different boats in 11 years,” he continues. “A few years ago, on Power Play at the Sail Newport Regatta, we had three bullets in one day. The owner was just ecstatic. He said, ‘I’ve never been on a boat that had one bullet, let alone three in one day.’ We had him doing mast, and he just had a blast. It’s worked out really well that way.”

Stone, it seems, is one of those guys who dives into life head first. He had never sailed before moving to San Francisco, but he bought a boat and sailed 50 races the first year. He paid his dues racing IOR, moved on the J/24, and settled into the J/105 in 1999. “It’s just a great boat for the Bay,” he says. “The 105-percent jib is perfect for the big breeze, and you can roll it up at the windward mark, which is nice. The boat is easy enough to handle, so you can focus on tactics. And you don’t need to have five 200 pounders on the rail. We’ve had 115-pounders doing bow or pit, so it’s a great boat for a mixed-sex team. Plus, compared to other similarly sized boats, you need a lot less crew, which is great for today’s economy.”

When he’s not racing J/105s, the former hedge fund manager puts his efforts towards a junior sailing program he started in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. “Sailing is really taking off down there,” says Stone, picking up the latest NOOD backpack in his collection. “The kids are crazy about these things. We often give out our NOOD backpacks as prizes for the junior regattas. They’re going to love this!”

Courtesy Michael Lovett, Sailing World

The San Francisco YC hosted its Spring Invitational from June 4-5 including a 17-boat J/105 fleet. Bruce Stone’s Arbitrage was the top J/105 with 11 points over six races. Two points behind was Scooter Simmons racing Blackhawk, then Phillip Laby on Dogot in third (21 points).

Participating in this year’s Stone Cup at the St. Francis Yacht Club were 20 boats. The weather forecast was a bit unusual especially for Sunday, but Saturday the sun was shining in the afternoon and Sunday turned out to be a great day despite the forecast. We had 3 races on Saturday and 1 race on Sunday because of the weather forecast instead of racing the normal 2 races both days. Courses were nice and long because the IRC boats were out and we had nice wind both days in the 11-17 knot range. The wind was definitely shifty and this kept tacticians on their toes throughout the weekend.

Overall it was a very fun weekend and tight racing. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place was decided on the last race with several lead changes throughout the race. To give an idea of how tight the racing was throughout the weekend in the last race the top 8 or 9 boats finished just a few minutes apart after 7 very long legs. It was amazing to see after 2 hours of racing all the boats so close together.

Blackhawk escaped the weekend with the victory with 15 points, followed by Arbitrage, Risk, Jam Session and Wonder rounding out the top 5. Thanks again to the St. Francis Yacht Club and all the volunteers for hosting the regatta. Congratulations to the Blackhawk team as well as the fleet for the great support of the regatta.

Hope to see everyone June 4th and 5th at the Invitational Regatta at San Francisco Yacht Club. Get ready to have a Mai Tai.

Participating in this year’s J/Fest at the St. Francis Yacht Club were 22 boats. Mojo had an outstanding regatta and finished first overall, followed by Blackhawk, Jam Session, Donkey Jack and Arbitrage to round out the top 5. The traditional summer weather decided to show up a little early this year and brought strong winds on Saturday followed by a perfect day on Sunday. It was a great weekend overall and you could see from the big smiles of those sailors participating in the regatta. Thank you to St. Francis Yacht Club for hosting the regatta and the folks to make this type of regatta happen from the sponsors to volunteers. Big thanks to the competitors for participating as it was fun to have all the boats on the line and it was just some fantastic racing.

Hope to see everyone May 14th and 15th at the Stone Cup.

Saturday

The race committee started the regatta right on time and it was a day to put the tide book away. The right side of the course was ebbing and the left side flooding, it seemed like it was 2 knots in each direction. Those boats able to get right in the first race early did well at the top mark and then the fleet headed to the shore for the downwind. Currents and wind shifts seemed to change quickly during the day and this also helped provide some exciting racing with many lead changes. Boats that could get off the line and get to the side of the coarse that was favored quickly did extremely well, however given the changing conditions this kept the tacticians on their toes and the racing tight.

The wind picked up considerably in the second and third races with gusts over 25 knots. Although fun and exciting, it was definitely challenging conditions. There were occasional sights where the conditions got the best of the crews, however it really seemed the boats were up for the challenge and handing this year first big breeze rather well.

Sunday

The conditions could not have been better on Sunday as the sunny skies and nice breeze in the range of 12-17 knots provided fantastic conditions. The currents however remained challenging like Saturday. In the first race most of fleet went right again like Saturday, however a few boats went left to the shore. When we got to the top of the mark the boats that went to the shore got the advantage and led around the mark with a nice lead. It was still close racing as the majority of the fleet had gone right (except 3 boats) so there were many lead changes and close sailing during the rest of the race.

The second and last race of the regatta the course started to even out and corners were not paying like on Saturday or the first race on Sunday. Lead changes were plentiful during this race and it seemed it was always a different boat leading the race at the top and bottom marks. Mojo finished the race in first and wrapped up first overall and had a tremendous weekend.

(Thanks to Jason Woodley on Risk for the recap.)

Bruce Stone managed a victory in the first race and a fourth in the second race of this seven-race series, all the while hoping to not end up in a tacking duel because his rudder bearings on Arbitrage progressively froze as the day wore on and he could barely move the tiller in the afternoon, steering downwind pushing his hip against the tiller. He then faced the decision of pulling out, but had the inspiration to call Tom Coates, whose boat Masquerade was not racing. Bruce didn’t have to say anything – when Tom answered the phone and Bruce identified himself, Tom said “Don’t tell me – your boat blew up? You can have my boat!” On day two of the regatta, the team showed up quite early and stripped the sails and running rigging off of Masquerade, brought over the gear from Arbitrage, tuned the rig and went sailing, pulling off a 2nd and a 3rd on the borrowed boat. They then finished out the regatta with two 5’s and a 7, for 27 points, and was the only team with all single digit races. Second Place went to Scooter Simmons on Blackhawk, six points back with 33 points, and third went to Jeff Littfin on Mojo, 14 points back with 41 points.

This was Bruce’s first Big Boat Series win and his second Rolex, after having won the 2009 Rolex Block Island Race Week in another borrowed (blue) boat, Power Play. Stone also became the first J/105 owner to win two separate fleet series in the same year: Fleet 1 in San Francisco with Arbitrage and Fleet 14 in Newport, RI with Power Play.

Seventeen J/105s competed in the 2010 Sarcoma Cup on August 28th and 29, sponsored by the Berkeley Yacht Club. The fleet raced five races on a windward / leeward racecourse on Southampton Shoal. Saturday’s conditions were gusty and shifty with breeze for most of the day in the 12 to 22 knot range. An uncharacteristically windy Friday night left the Bay with a big chop despite a building flood throughout the race day. Sunday was a bit more settled with flatter water, smaller shifts and somewhat higher velocity. While the J/105 fleet doesn’t often participate in Berkeley Yacht Club events, the BYC race committee did an excellent job with somewhat difficult conditions, providing a relatively square line, even gates and well-laid course.

Adam Spiegel’s crew on Jam Session sailed the most consistent regatta, with all top-three finishes, including two bullets, for a total of 9 points. Bruce Stone’s gang on Arbitrage was close behind, scoring a total of 14 points. Rounding out the top five were Phil Laby and Rich Pipkin’s Racer X (19 points), Scooter Simmon’s Blackhawk (22 points) and John Horsch’s Business Time (30 points).

15 J/105s raced for the San Francisco YC’s Summer Keelboat Regatta in winds from 11-25 kt, with Adam Spiegel’s Jam Session starting the regatta off with a pair of bullets before being gradually ground down by Bruce Stone’s Arbitrage. Stone started with a 3-3 before putting up a 2-2 and finishing off with a bullet to win with 11 points. Second was Jam Session with 15, and third was Rolf Kaiser’s Donkey Jack with 24 points.

The Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta was held at the St Francis Yacht Club over the weekend. The J/105 fleet boasted 16 boats. Scooter Simmons on Blackhawk came in first, winning the tie-breaker over Bruce Stone on Arbitrage. After 4 races, each team scored 11 points. In third was Phillip Laby and Richard Pipkin on Racer X (14 points).

Regatta recap courtesy of Jason Woodley:

“We were pretty excited to participate in this year’s NOOD after being absent in San Francisco for several years. The St. Francis Yacht Club and Kristen Lane put on an unbelievable regatta both on and off the water. The regatta after party reached new heights with the “Dessert Room” and photo booth conceived and implemented by Kristen.

The racing was tough and competitive as ever on the course. On Saturday in the first race we thought the left side was favored and we started down by the pin end with a few other boats. Majority of the boats went right, however we stayed on starboard for quite awhile until we flopped over to port. The left side was the place to be in the bottom of the course and this was the case all day really and this gave the boats that stayed over there a nice lead at the top of the mark. Abitrage made a nice move downwind to pass us and then we battled the next couple of legs, but never could get by them and we finished 2nd.

In the 2nd and 3rd races of the day the wind started to build with consistently being in the 18-22 knot range. We stayed to our same game plan as the first race and stayed on the left side. The pin was much more crowded in the next two races so the start became a premium as only a few boats were going to get the best lanes. At the top mark there was very little separation at all in the fleet with the strong wind. Crew work became a premium especially in the jibes and there were several position changes happening downwind. We were just trying to stay conservative and keep the boat underneath us while minimizing our jibes. We were able to win the last two races of the day and I really attribute the success to the great tactical calls by Harrison Turner along with the excellent crew work in the challenging conditions.

On Sunday we figured the day was going to be a repeat of Saturday which it was. The left side was favored again, however the whole fleet was there to try and capitalize today. I didn’t do a great job of getting off the line with speed as I had a decent lane, but found myself fighting to keep it which I eventually lost. I knew I put us in a hole as we needed to tack out to the right in search of a good lane. When we came back to starboard the damage was done and we were going to need to sail very well the rest of the race in hopes of keeping our lead. The team did a great job of staying positive and fighting our way back. We finished 6th and with Jam Session finishing 1st and Abitrage 2nd. We figured in the last race who ever won was going to win the regatta as only a point separate all three boats.

In the last race all three boats where again glued to each other as we all started on the left side with Jam Session taking the pin. Around the top mark it was Jam Session with us right behind and Abitrage right on our tail. We decided to take an early jib for clean wind and set up well for the right gate. Jam Session barely crossed in front of us and they seemed to want the left gate. We both rounded the gates simultaneously and we again went out to the left. Once we tacked over to port we were able to cross Jam Session on starboard. On the downwind leg the wind was increasing and we saw 23-26 knots. It made for a good ride and at this point just trying to keep ourselves in front and not make any mistakes. On the run Jam Session’s kite exploded and I was hoping ours would not suffer a similar fate. All three boats were pushing hard in planing mode working the waves up and down. We were consistently hitting 15-16 knots of boat speed. Needless to say this was not easy on the kites in this kind of breeze. I was just hoping we wouldn’t have any gear failure of our own and could hang on and win. Upwind we went to cover mode on Abitrage and were able to hold them off just long enough to take the win and the regatta. It was a very hard fought regatta both days and felt like we had sailed our best to date this year and that was barely enough to win. The final top five was Risk, Abitrage, Jam Session, Racer X, and Blackhawk.

Big thanks to the Sperry Top-Sider San Francisco NOOD regatta and all the folks that made it possible. It was a fabulous regatta in every aspect and hopefully next year we can beat this year’s record turnout. We look forward representing the San Francisco NOOD regatta this year in the BVI’s.”

Race Report, courtesy of Jason Woodley on Risk:

“The weather could not have been better for this year’s J105 Invitational at the San Francisco Yacht Club with 18 boats participating in the regatta. It was downright hot on Saturday with the wind coming out of the NE, it was not the typical marine air out of the NW. Saturday’s racing was extremely tricky because of the wind direction and the course was set with the windward mark and offset just south of Richmond. The race committee did an excellent job of setting up the course and adjusting as the wind was extremely shifty with some easterly gusts coming through. I heard someone ask the race committee over the radio if there was enough water to give you perspective of how inside the course was to accommodate the strange wind direction. With a nice flood there were several general recalls (I lost count) before the fleet could put the first race in the books. With the flood and the course basically being opposite a typical day I think the fleet mentally had trouble adjusting as normally in a flood you are a little more aggressive to get to the line.

Finally the fleet got off the line clean and with several wind shifts up the first beat and the boats that played them the best rounded in the top. Going downwind there were multiple wind shifts and fleet position changed at the bottom mark as well. Going upwind the wind seemed to stabilize more and the shifts were much smaller than the first two legs. The next two races the wind become much more constant in the range of 12 – 17 knots with shifts much more moderate. The conditions were absolutely beautiful with the warm wind everyone was in shorts and t-shirts throughout the day. We kept saying it was like sailing in SoCal except for with wind.

Sunday the fleet headed to the race course and the normal San Francisco conditions were back, except without the fog. The wind picked up considerably from Saturday with a range of 17-23 knots consistently with a few big puffs coming through. It was extremely exciting and close racing throughout the day with a few wipe outs happening occasionally on the downwind legs.

Before the last race we calculated we were a point ahead of Jam Session in the regatta. We just wanted to get off the line clean for a good start and not win a particular side. We started closer to the left side which we thought was a little favored along with Racer X underneath us close to the pin. Once we tacked over we could cross the fleet and this gave us the advantage to lead around the windward mark with Racer X a few boat lengths behind us. Luckily for us it was a 3 leg race as on the douse we had a massive knot in the roller furling line and after trying for a few seconds to untie the knot we resorted to cutting the line. Needless to say it was not a great rounding and Racer X took advantage. Upwind we went to cover mode and finished a one or two seconds behind Racer X with the rest of the fleet close behind. The top five for the regatta was Risk, Jam Session, Racer X, Abritrage and Mojo.

Big thanks to the San Francisco Yacht and Svendsens for putting on a great regatta both on and off the water. All in all it was a great weekend of sailing and sunshine! Hopefully we will see everyone at the NOOD in a couple of weeks.”