By David Servias, roject manager of the Bud/Fox racing team and Fleet Captain Sail at San Diego Yacht Club.
As Victor Wild, owner/skipper of the TP52 Bud, accepted the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy at the 2015 Rolex Big Boat Series, he offered a sentiment that poignantly summarized the event: "Excellence is the rarest thing in the world. We came here for that, and we found it. I've never seen boats sailed better or better boats sailed. It's a wonderful thing for us to have the honor of sailing with you.” As the winner of ORR A class, Wild accepted a specially engraved Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece as well as a place on the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, the oldest of the club's Big Boat Series perpetual trophies.
This win for the Bud team, which they accomplished with all bullets, represents the culmination of their effort over the last 4 years since Victor and his wife Andrea purchased the TP52 and began building a team to sail it. Representing SDYC, the Bud team averaged over 50 racing days on the water each season, competing in local events and also traveling with the Fast 50 Class throughout the SoCal region. Over the past few years the team has collected a veritable treasure chest of trophies, with wins at Yachting Cup, Cal Race Week, PHRF Ocean Series, Border Run, San Diego NOOD, PHRF Championships, and the 2014 Fast 50 Class Circuit Overall. Adding the Rolex Big Boat Series to this list seems a fitting finale to the Bud racing program, as this was the final major event for the boat.
2015 has been a very busy year for Mr. and Mrs. Wild. As they continued to campaign the Bud, they also commissioned the build of a new racing yacht, a modern version of the TP52 which they will name “Fox”. Designed by Botin and based on the 2015 TP52 concept, Fox will have the latest technology with modern building techniques and state of the art rigging. Construction is underway at Cookson Boat Builders in New Zealand, with co-project managers David Servais and Gavin Brady overseeing every detail. The first event for Fox will be New Zealand Bay Week, which the entire team will go down for, preceded by a week of training in Auckland. After the event Fox will be shipped to San Diego where she will be locally based to compete in Southern California, flying the SDYC burgee. With this year’s win at Big Boat Series on Bud, the team has already put the event on next years calendar when they will try to defend their title with Fox.