61st Rolex Big Boat Series at St. Francis Yacht Club
by St. Francis Yacht Club 15 Sep 16:55 NZST
September 10-14, 2025
61st Rolex Big Boat Series © ROLEX / Sharon Green
With a three-hour-long Bay Tour race as the final test for competitors, the 61st edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club came to a stunning close on Sunday afternoon.
The skippers at the top of the podium in the J/105 and ORC B classes were awarded coveted Rolex Submariner Dates. Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault's Arbitrage came away victorious among the J/105s, the regatta's largest fleet, and Peter Wagner's J/111 Skeleton Key was the victor in the ORC B division.
Going into the final day of racing, leaders in both Rolex contending classes were ahead by five points over the nearest competitor, however that differential did not guarantee a win for either yacht before the last race. The heightened stakes made for striking competition on the water, with all fleets crossing the finish line in style in front of the StFYC Clubhouse.
"This regatta is very meaningful to me and my crew. My first Big Boat Series was 40 years ago," said Bruce Stone, who last won a Rolex in 2014. "This is the marquee event for the J/105 fleet, and now we are heading to Toronto tomorrow morning for the North American Championships."
The ORC B division has seen Cape 31s dominate the podium for the past two years, but Wagner sailed his J/111 to its full potential to secure the Rolex, as well as the ORC B Pacific Coast Championship.
"Our team has sailed in San Francisco for many years, so the big breeze is very familiar," Wagner said. "Teams spend a lot of time preparing for RBBS, making it the featured event of the season. It really brings out the best in people and is just a great week."
The exciting competition extended to the other four fleets, competing for a variety of perpetual trophies. Brice Dunwoodie's Ravenette dominated the J/88 one-design class, posting bullets in all but one race. "Racing together in RBBS has been the pinnacle of the last twelve years for our crew," Dunwoodie said. "This has been the best season of sailing for the J/88 fleet on the Bay that I've ever seen."
In the ORC C division, Zach Berkowitz's J/100 Feather prevailed for the second consecutive year at RBBS. "We have a great mix of young and old sailors on our crew, which makes it really fun sailing," Berkowitz said.
Also repeating their win was the crew aboard Loca Motion, who came out on top of the Express 37 class after a close, back-and-forth battle with Spindrift V. "The key to doing well is to have good boat speed," added Loca Motion's skipper Mark Chaffey. "Our tactician put us in the optimal place on the course."
ORC A was won by the visually stunning Infinity 52 Zeus, the only international entry in the fleet visiting the Bay Area from Australia. "We are thrilled to be here at Big Boat Series and to be based on the US West Coast for the coming year," said skipper Simon Fenwick.
The race management team brought some creativity to course selection, presenting fresh challenges for sailors who know the Bay well. "I'm really pleased with how the Race Committee team performed these four days. A big thanks to all our volunteers and visiting race officers," said Gerard Sheridan, Deputy Course Race Officer. "It was great to get back to running races on the western face of Alcatraz after a long multi-year break, which required us to rewrite a new set of courses. The racers also loved the new course out the Golden Gate Bridge to Point Bonita."
This year's RBBS also served as the Pacific Coast Championships for the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC), and next year's event has been selected as the 2026 ORC North American Championship.
"This edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series served up perfect conditions to test the wide range of boat types we had in this fleet," said ORC's US Communications Manager Dobbs Davis. "The rating and scoring system developed with input from St. Francis Yacht Club definitely contributed to producing close racing under handicap, with even the longer races often won or lost by only a few seconds in corrected time." He noted that the 24-mile course raced by ORC B on Sunday saw a two second margin of victory for Skeleton Key, and the top three finishers were within 34 seconds after nearly three hours of racing. "It does not get any closer than this!"
Sailors, mark your calendars for the 62nd edition of Rolex Big Boat Series and the ORC North American Championship—September 16-20, 2026.
Trophies & Rolexes
J/105
Competing for a Rolex Submariner Date and the Commodore's Cup Perpetual Trophy.
1 — Arbitrage, Bruce Stone / Nicole Breault
2 — Blackhawk, Ryan Simmons
3 — Ne*Ne, Tim Russell
4 — Donkey Jack, Rolf Kaiser
5 — Akula, Doug Bailey
J/88
Competing for the Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy.
1 — Ravenette, Brice Dunwoodie
2 — Speedwell, Tom Thayer
3 — Butcher, David Corbin
EXPRESS 37
Competing for the Keefe-Kilborn Perpetual Trophy and the Pacific Coast Yachting Association's Jesse L. Carr Trophy.
1 — Loca Motion, Mark Chaffey / Heidi Hall
2 — Spindrift V, Andy Schwenk
3 — Spy vs. Spy, Brendan Busch
ORC A
Competing for the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy.
1 — Zeus, Michael Fermin / Simon Fenwick (i52)
2 — Merlin, Chip Merlin (Bill Lee 68)
3 — Halawa, Kimo Winterbottom (Andrews 56)
ORC B
Competing for a Rolex Submariner Date, as well as the City of San Francisco Perpetual Trophy.
1 — Skeleton Key, Peter Wagner (J/111)
2 — Sitella, Ian Hill (Cape 31)
3 — M2, Marc McMorris (Cape 31)
ORC C
Competing for the Atlantic Perpetual Trophy.
1 — Feather, Zach Berkowitz (J/100)
2 — Reverie, John Arens (J/109)
3 — Peregrine, Mike O'Callaghan, Randy Smith, David Halliwill (J/120)
Full results can be found here.
Additional Awards
The first place winner of each ORC division also won the ORC Pacific Coast Championship.
The Storm Trysail Club Team Trophy went to the best scoring three-boat team, with one boat from an ORC class, one from a one-design class and one from any other class. This year's winning team "Shadow Armada," was comprised of J/111 Skeleton Key, J/105 Blackhawk and J/88 Ravenette.
The 62nd Rolex Big Boat Series will be held September 16-20, 2026 — starting making plans to join us at St. Francis Yacht Club.
Rolex Big Boat Series website.