SDYC's 2024 Hot Rum Series - Overall
by San Diego Yacht Club 9 Dec 13:12 NZDT
There is a old wise tale that the three race Hot Rum Series will feature one "perfect weather race" with sun, no clouds, flat seas and a perfect westerly breeze that boats can reach/run around the course; a second race with stormy conditions not limited to blustery southerly winds, significant swell/waves, and maybe some rain to make it really miserable; and a third race that has little to no wind.
Hot Rum Series race 1 and 2 were nearly identical featuring the most desirable "perfect weather" conditions. Winds were in the mid to high teens from that sweet westerly direction. Consider the finish times for Jim Madden's (Stark Raving Mad) consistent top level performance: Race 1 finish at 14:11 and Race 2 finish even faster at 14:07. Race 1 enjoyed 110 finishers in about 32 minutes, while Race 2 clocked 114 finishers in about 1 hour.
And so, while the morning of Race 3 dawned bright, it was also warm and dry, suggesting light Santa Ana conditions — and so it was. The Race Committee administered a 20-minute AP (postponement) due to the absolute lack of wind across the start area and a flood tide that would have caused boats attempting to start to pile up within the first few hundred feet of the course. By 12:30, there was enough wind to get boats moving down the course toward mark 1, with marginally better wind outside the harbor.
But there wasn't enough for most sailors. By the time the race clock ran out at the 4:30pm time limit (Sailing Instruction 14 if you want to have a peek), 34 boats had finished in the preceding 30 minutes with Jim Madden's third place Stark Raving Mad crossing the line at 15:58. Even subtracting the 20 minute postponement, his finish time would have been 15:38, around an hour and a half longer than his Race 1 or Race 2 elapsed time. Race 3's first to finish boat Still 2 Crazy owned/sailed by the trio of son/father Erik and Jon Shampain and Robert Plant made up for their unfortunate Race 1 score of DNF that involved a mark tangle.
In the overall series scores - Class 6 was the winner. The top 3 boats were J boats that do well especially on a powerful reaching course. Third place was awarded to J/105 J Almighty skippered by Mike Hatch. Second place went to J/105 Perseverance owned and driven by Bennet Greenwald and Dave Vieregg. And first place went to defending Overall winner, Jim Madden and crew aboard his J/100 Stark Raving Mad.
Thank you to perennial event supporter Mt. Gay Barbados Rum, and to the volunteers serving on the Protest Committee arbitrating knowledge and experiences on the race course, and to the Race Committee volunteers that manage the starts, mind the buoys, and score this winter hallmark event.
Overall
1st Place: Stark Raving Mad, Jim Madden
2nd Place: Perseverance, Bennet Greenwald & Dave Vieregg
3rd Place: J Almighty, Mike Hatch
Class 1
1st: Pyewacket, Roy Disney
2nd: Zero Gravity 51, Ivan Batanov
3rd: Saga, John Brynjolfsson
Class 2
1st: Velos, Kjeld Hestehave
2nd: Good Call, Tom Barker
3rd: Palaemon, Rudolph Hasl
Class 3
1st: Warrior Won, Chris Sheehan
2nd: Pacific Yankee, Drew Freides & Vince Brun
3rd: Cheeky, Mark Stratton
Class 4
1st: Precepts II, Drew Belk
2nd: Sundance, Mike & Carol Honeysett
3rd: caper, Eric Axford
Class 5
1st: Ohana, Steve Wright & Paul Hogue
2nd: Maleficent, Christopher Bennett
3rd: Juno, Dan Merino
Class 6
1st: Stark Raving Mad, Jim Madden
2nd: Perseverance, Bennet Greenwald & Dave Vieregg
3rd: Sloth, Kyle Hirsh
Class 7
1st: Fandango, Scott Bennett
2nd: Rhumb Runner, Chuck Bowers
3rd: Sally, CF Koehler
Class 8
1st: Valkyrie, Aaron Strum
2nd: Lone Ranger, Kayla La Dow
3rd: Hen o the C, Sarah Harron
1st - 3rd place in Class & Overall Awards pick up
Please stop by the SDYC Waterfront Office by January 1 to pick up your prizes during business hours, Tuesday - Sunday. If you have any questions or need to coordinate picking up your prize, email Regatta Coordinator, Karina Sandhu at
Full results available here.