The Martha's Vineyard Times

Islander Jim Swartz steers Vesper to victory in San Francisco

By Kirsten Ferguson
September 19, 2012

Photo by Daniel Foster/Rolex

Jim Swartz (seventh from left) of Edgartown and his crew aboard Vesper, sailing in the IRC North American Championships held in San Francisco on Sept. 13-14.

Jim Swartz of Edgartown steered his 52-foot sailboat Vesper to a class victory and an IRC North American Championship title at the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco. The 48th edition of the annual event was held on September 13-14 on San Francisco Bay.

"In my mind, sailing is all about teamwork and we just have a fantastic team," said Swartz, mentioning crew members Jamie Gale, Ken Keefe, and Gavin Brady as among the greatest sailors in the world. "It really helps the program immensely when you have a group of people who know how to take care of each other."

Mr. Swartz added that the team also won the IRC East Coast Championship earlier this year. "After having a successful summer on the East Coast and then to come here and do so well is just an incredible feat and shows how strong our team is."

As it did last year in San Francisco, Vesper also won the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, one of six coveted awards given for best performances in specific classes at the event. The trophies remain on display at St. Francis Yacht Club, however, six Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner watches are presented to skippers as personal evidence of their teams having won them.