17th Annual Key Largo Steeplechase
Second Day and Final Report
(Click Here for First
Day's Report)
Tornado
Kills the Fleet of Nearly 40 Boats of All Classes
The LeManz start was pretty awesome and pretty chaotic, but out of the chaos came a lone Tornado with a huge lead. Right after the second day's start Robbie Daniel and Enrique Rodriguez sailing a Tornado broke out to a huge lead before going under the Channel Five Bridge (this is where the fleet goes back to the west side of the island chain) and then extended it to finish 35 minutes ahead of the next boat. This was not even close.
The LeManz start on the second day had a strong wind coming from behind the boats so many could not turn their boats around before the start. And then after the start there was a lot of chaos |
 Looks a lot like the Worrell 1000 as the top Race Officials of that event also helped run the Key Largo Steeplechase. L. to r. are Lee Queensberry and Neal Wilson |
 The two youngest sailors to ever sail this event were Tommy Fruitticher and Harry Newkirk on an Inter 18 |
  The action was wet and wild as the boats went through the bridge from the ocean side and started back to the finish line up the bay side of the islands. |
The winds were howling for the start out of the north, but as the day wore one, the wind dwindled. In fact it almost died at times. After the Tornado crossed the line, the wind died even more. The last boat in the fleet finished almost 4 hours later in dying wind.
Meanwhile, with a suspect rating for the Supercat 20, Eric and Bill Roberts grabbed 2nd place positiond.
Matt Struble and WF Oliver on an F18HT finished in 3rd place on corrected time. But a Nacra 6.0NA sailed by Clive Mayo and Sara Neewberry without a spinnaker nosed out Tommy Bahama (Inter 20) for fourth place.
|
Daniel/Rodriguez Take a 5-minute Lead with a Tornado, But Dogged by an F18HT
|
It was great sailing in the Florida Keys as usual -- Northwest winds of 15 knots and gusty as the 38-boat fleet headed for the 110-mile trek around Key Largo.
The Key Largo Steeplechase first happened just to see if it could be done. the sailing group of the Miami and the Keys, CABB (Catamaran Assn. of Biscayne Bay) had 6 Hobie 18s and a Tornado attempt the feat. It was blowing hard and heavy that year. The first event was won by Rick White and Jaime Ramone, taking only 8 hours and 3 minutes to complete the 110 miles, beating the Tornado boat-for boat. That record held for eight years despite the boats competing were bigger, faster, more high-tech and sported spinnakers.
One of the girls on ground crew had to slip into the woods for a moment at the first stop and presented White and Ramone with her discovery there -- an old dilapidated lawn chair. Rick White was excited by the presentation, declaring, "Great! Let's make this the annual perpetual trophy.
So,
now all these hot sailors are fighting for Ye Olde Lawn Chair.
In the running now for that grand prize is Robbie Daniel and Enrique Rodriguez sailing a Tornado. They were first through the Card Sound Bridge (the first obstacle of the race) and had Tommy Bahama right on their tails. The surprise was that Eric and Bill Roberts had brought a Supercat 20 Tall Rig out of the attic and were 3rd through the bridge. Dave White and Jack Hildreth on a Nacra 6.0NA were next.
All the spinnaker boats suffered Portsmouth points for the big head sail. There was only a few miles they could carry the big one, and it appears that tomorrow there will be even less time to use a chute.
As the boat emerged from Angelfish Creek and headed down the 50 mile drag race on a reach, it was Tommy Bahama in the lead for a short time, followed by the Tornado. Third out of the creek was Matt Struble/WF Oliver on an F18HT.
All the way down Hawks Channel it was a hot reach with a lot of sheeting in and out. The gusts increased and so did the speed.
The first boat to arrive at the finish line, some 60-miles from the start, made it in just four hours and nine minutes.