Announcing…

www.norcalsailing.com, a Web site devoted to you, the Northern California sailor. We’ll cover the local regattas, share your stories, and post videos, podcasts and photos. Our first big assignment is the Rolex Big Boat Series, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club on the spectacular San Francisco Marina, Thursday-Sunday, September 13-16.

The Rolex Big Boat Series promises to be a big event for one design fleets: 1D-35 (7 boats), Express 37 (10 boats), Sydney 38 (6 boats), J/120 (9 boats), and the size-barrier-busting Melges 32 (7 boats). The biggest of the big? The robust J/105 fleet numbers 34. IRC (38 boats) has been broken down into IRC A, B, C and D. As for big boats, the biggest signed up by far (so far) is the Tanton sloop Velos, owned by San Diego YC’s Kjeld Hestehave, at 73 feet, racing in IRC B. Next runner-up is Roger Sturgeon’s latest Rosebud, an STP 65, in IRC A.

We’re at StFYC and on the water with video cameras, still cameras, a microphone and a notepad, pencil poised and waiting, and we’ll be aboard for some racing. We have cameras onboard several race boats so that you can experience the regatta from the competitors’ perspective. See you there! (Check back for updates as the event progresses; look for our complete coverage here on the morning of Tuesday, September 18.)