San Francisco Bay is about to get busy. More than 80 boats and 700 sailors will line up for the 2026 Rolex Big Boat Series at St. Francis Yacht Club, running 16-20 September, with the regatta doubling as the ORC North American Championship for the first time on the Pacific coast.
Thirty handicap boats will contest that championship across four divisions. Add in friends, family and fans, and the numbers at St. Francis Yacht Club swell well past a thousand over the five days of racing and socials the event is known for.
"We're very excited to have our first ORC North American Championship on the Pacific coast," said Matt Gallagher, Deputy Chairman of the Offshore Racing Congress. "StFYC has been exceptional in the planning and organisation of an event at this high level, and the turnout of competitive entries looks impressive."
"We wish everyone good luck and look forward to crowning our new North American champions at the end of a hard-fought regatta."
The entry list carries some serious pedigree. Ron Epstein, winner of a Rolex Sydney Hobart division, brings his JPK 11.80 Bacchanal, while Michael Fermin's Infiniti 52 Zeus returns after winning ORC A at last year's RBBS. Fermin, an Australian who has been spending time on this side of the Pacific, recently logged the "Fastest Passage" in the Pacific Cup. Whether that pace translates around the buoys remains to be seen.
Big boats headline the fleet too: the 68ft Bill Lee-designed sled Merlin, the RP56 Vasara, the TP52 Fox, plus Santa Cruz 52s City Lights and Rosebud and the Santa Cruz 50 Octavia.
Smaller and sportier classes add variety. Rich and Tony Festa's Melges 32 Groundhog Day lines up against Dan Brumlik's Beneteau First 30 Final Final, Stan Phillips' Farr 30 Frequent Flyer, Dave MacEwen's J/90 Lucky Duck and Gregory Winters' J/35 Jarlen.
Each ORC division races for its own piece of history. ORC A chases a Rolex Submariner timepiece and the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, donated anonymously to StFYC in 1966. ORC B races for the City of San Francisco Perpetual Trophy, awarded at RBBS since 1968. ORC C is after a Rolex Submariner timepiece and the Atlantic Perpetual Trophy, which carries a ship's bell from the 1905 transatlantic record-breaking schooner Atlantic. ORC D competes for the Keefe-Kilborn Perpetual Trophy, named in honour of late StFYC members Harold Keefe and Ray Kilborn.
Racing opens on Thursday with the ORC Distance Race, sending the fleet out the Golden Gate and into the Pacific. Courses stretch from the Marin headlands to the beaches west of San Francisco, with five to six hours of racing before the fleet returns to the Bay. The rest of the series moves inside the Bay, with two races planned for both Friday and Saturday, then one long race to close out Sunday.
Winners in each class will also be crowned 2026 ORC North American Champions, giving the final weekend's racing an edge sharper than the usual Big Boat Series battle for silverware.
