The Leg From Atlantic Beach to Hatteras, North Carolina
Cape Fear behind, but Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras and Frying Pan Shoals Loom Ahead
Winds are blustery and cold
The Catamaran Sailor motorhome was rocking and rolling this morning as the gusty, cold winds buffeted the vehicle.
The forecast is for 25 knots and gusty winds out of the north with 8-foot seas. This will be the day to reckon
with – perhaps The Eliminator!
With heavy and gusty winds and big seas, it is very likely that many of the teams that are already near exhaustion,
will finally fold and then collapse. At the breakfast room tired eyes were saying, "Let's just make it!"
At least the winds are forecasted to be from the North. This allows the shoreline to shield the sailors from most
of the huge seas that they could expected if the winds were a little more easterly.
Our prayers go out for these Iron Men (and Lone Woman -Sandra Tartaglino), and Plastic Boats.
 Carl Roberts (left) and Robert Gaidos of 2 Salty Dogs |
Carl Roberts was once the hottest Hobie sailor in Division 10. He is a big guy – I would guess about 7 feet tall – and used to single-hand a Hobie 18 and carry weights to make the minimum weight. Then he really got fast when he employed Jim Frederick's and Debbie Schafer's daughter, Tammy.
But, as life goes and after competing in the 1987 Worrell 1000, Carl got married, had kids, got divorced, etc., etc. – he abandoned sailing. This year he decided to get back into a sport he loved.
Carl was looking for a boat for the Worrell 1000, and Robert Gaidos was looking to sell his. The two got together via Mark Biggers of the Cathouse, a Michigan-based Nacra dealer. "It's a blast sometime – it's hell others," is the remark about the race.
 Lee Queensbury share a story with us about a lost Jeep |
It was in 1986, Lee Queensbury, race official, recalled that we lost a Jeep here in Atlantic Beach. (And apologies go out for continually calling this place Atlantic City, instead of Atlantic Beach).
The seas were huge and the water was pushing all the way up to the Dunes. The strobe light and all the electrical wires were under water as they finish line was backed up right to the wall.
The Australian team missed the finish line and sailed on past, so Lee quickly jumped into the Jeep (already on the beach) and drove up the shoreline with lights flashing and horn blowing to get the attention of the Aussie team.
Meanwhile, another team had dismasted and was getting broken up by the seas and came to shore below the finish line. That team grabbed the remainder of the part of a hull and ran up the shoreline to the finish and drug part of the boat across the line. (By the way, this created the rule that the boat finishing must also be able to sail back out, if need be).
Meanwhile, A huge wave rolled over Lee and the Jeep. The engine quit and while he was trying to start the vehicle another huge wave hit and started taking the Jeep out to see. Lee had to swim back to shore.
He later appeared at the doorstep of Michael Worrell's room, soggy, beaten and head down and simply uttered, "It's gone!"
They're Off
With a strong offshore breeze and very small surf the start was rather uneventful. That does not mean the leg will
be.
Don't Despair, We'll get Back to You
Most of the day will be taken up by travel time. The ground crews and road entourage must quickly hasten to the
ferry. So, most of the day will be eaten up by travel time. Some of the race officials have already gone ahead
to be sure someone is there to score the boats – last year two scheduled ferry trips in a row were canceled due
to ship breakdowns.
Also, telephone lines will be very scarce on the Outer Banks. Please be patient, We will get as much news to you
as possible whenever we can.
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My Fun Adventure with the Ferry In order to get to Hatteras, the next stop after Atlantic Beach, all the teams have to pack up and hit the road
quickly in order to make the ferry that runs from Cedar Island across Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke, a 2-hour sail.
It was a very windy, winding road and I was really happy to arrive at the ferry docks upright. Meanwhile I was sympathizing with the plight of the sailors in this stuff. But, the adventure was not over. It seems I had only just landed in OZ. We loaded onto the ferry boat and left the dock. Right off the bat the boat was bouncing, rocking and rolling in the huge waves of the sound. The RV was again nearly airborne on the port side. What really got me was when the ferry started downwind quartering the waves and broached, heeling over at nearly 40 degrees. I maintained my composure however, closed my eyes, held on and continued listening to Rush Limbaugh. Now that I think back, I have to ask myself, "Self! Why didn't you get out of the RV?" And just when you thought it was all over, in Ocracoke I had to take a 9000-lb RV over a makeshift bridge made out of 2x4s. It was quite a trip. |
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The Finish, Disaster Strikes Fleet
(Heavy Winds and Seas Wipe Out Most of the Fleet, Smyth Pulls a 1 1/4 Hour Lead)
Chick's Beach hit the beach well ahead the rest of the fleet, sailing under mainsail only. After rounding Cape
Lookout Smyth felt he was overpowered with the jib. He was one of the few boats witouth roller-furling on the jib,
so he went to the beach, took the sail off, stored it, and took off.
 The Aussies are lost in the awesome surf and spray. They finishied over an hour and 11 minutes behind Smyth |
At the cape there were waves breaking everywhere. And at the inlet openings they were really awesome, as the wind had a long fetch across Pamlico Sound and then through the inlets to really blast the sailors.
Both Smyth and Sneed were very happy to get to shore. Smyth said, "The way I sail the Worrell 1000 is to take it one day at a time, but today I was taking it one wave at a time."
The second boat was Australia I with Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse, coming in an hour and eleven minutes behind.
When asked if finishing that far behind Smyth meant the race was pretty well over, Brett Dryland quickly replied, "Oh! The race is not over! There is an old sailing that the race begins right here." The earlier legs have always been considered much easier than the North Carolina coast – this area if often said to be the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
When asked if this is the kind of wind Aussies like, he said, "Well, we like a bit of a breeze, but not like this. This is bad, especially at the inlets."
 Rick Bliss and Sandra Taraglino of Rudee's look more like they are doing the Pipeline in Hawaii |
Tough Finish Line
Despite the finish line being on the leeward side of the island, the incoming tide was bringing in huge waves.
And those huge waves, opposed by heavy winds in the opposite direction, made for some magnificent breakers. And
those breakers could literally break things. They did.
Clive Mayo and Bobby Bailey of International Insurance crashed on the beach and totally doubled their mast back
in two pieces after they finished and then got cross-ways in the surf. A few miles back their rigging had gone
slack somehow and they nursed their way into the finish before this calamity. When asked if he could get ready
for the next day, Mayo said, "I've got most of the parts, but if it's the same weather, I'm not going to mess
with it."
And what was that weather? Winds were reported a 25 to 39 knots and heavy gusts into the mid 40 knot range. Those
strong winds opposing the incoming current at the inlets caused standing waves of 20 feet and more.
 A huge breaking wave plunged the bow of Worrell Bros. Rest. into the beach and they pitchpoled just before the finish line. |
While International Insurance had a disaster at the finish, the most points for the most spectacular crash while
finishing were scored by Worrell Bros. Restaurant. Robert Onsgard and Jamie Livingston road the wild surf perfectly..,
until the last steep breaker put their bow right into the steeply inclined beach and they flipped over the bow.
It tossed Onsgard into the air, landing with a thud which almost knocked him out. He was laying there in the surf
and could have easily drowned. People came running to help him and the boat.
Livingston said later, "I kept yelling, ‘get back, get back' but it was too late." He added, "I
gotta have a video of that one."
Onsgard was stunned and totally exhausted as he just sat on his boat afterward and said something about that being
the worst he had ever seen.
Later Onsgard said, "Jamie is constantly saying that he always finishes ahead of me, so when I was catapulted from the boat some 30 feet, I felt this was my opportunity to finish adhead of him."
 Brian Lambert was bleeding profusely from his face. He needed immediate medical attention. Teammate Mark Murray was so exhausted he had to be helped from the beach. |
Key Sailing II finished nearly 2 hours after Chick's Beach and any hopes for overall are seemingly dashed. Brian
Lambert was bleeding badly from a wound on his jaw. Crew Mark Murray was totally exhausted and had to be helped
off the beach area.
The last two teams finished just before 11 PM. Florida Keys with Peter Cogan and Steve Lohmayer dismasted right
at the finish line and the boat turtled in the surf on top of Cogan. They got the boat off of him, but found the
skipper was entangled in sheets and rigging. "One more wave would have drowned him," said Race Official
Davy Crocket. Cogan was badly shaken, but was OK.
Australia II was the last boat that finished, only minutes behind Florida Keys. These two teams used the buddy system to insure the safety of both -- forget the finish times.
A Great Bar-B-Q Thrown for Sailors
Huge broilers were broguht out and there was a pig and chicken roast with lots of trimmings and a couple of kegs of beer for the weary sailors and their ground crews. Many thanks go out to Rudee's Restaurant, Worrell Brothers Restaurant and Alexanders on the Bay Restaurant for doing such a great job. It was much appreciated by all.
Carnage Report
(The Graveyard of the Atlantic Claims Six More Boats)
The following teams did not make it through the leg from Atlantic Beach to Hatteras:
Austin (Michael Yost/Stephen Piche)
Cat House (Matt Struble/Eric Douglas)
Chesapeake Bay (John McLaughlin/Richard Pleasants)
NuClear (Robert Hill/Chris Webster
Pomodoro (Hans Meijer/Ron Jones)
2 Salty Dogs (Carl Roberts/Robert Gaidos)
 A boat in near ruins after dismasting and breaking the mast in the finish line surf |
Pomodoro and 2 Salty Dogs were washed into Portsmouth Island which is basically an isolated beach. However,
there is a remote fishing camp with little shacks. It was there that they were offered refuge from the screaming
winds and vast breakers.
They were given dry clothes, a spaghetti dinner and a bottle of Scotch. There is only limited ferry service to
the island, so they may be a while getting retrieved.
The name of the camp, in case you ever want to go fishing, or if you ever want to get comfortably ship-wrecked
is Branson's Fish Camp. This is not the first time the lonely camp has been invaded by sailors in distress. Famous
sailors Roy Seaman and Ian Bashford separately both dropped in for visit during previous years of this race.
Just before Cape Lookout Nuclear leaped off a 17-foot square wave and fell to the bottom of the trough. The impact
snapped them off the trapeze, the boat then capsized and turtled. The next huge wave snapped the mast off. The
Coast Guard rescued the two sailors, Robert Hill and Chris Webster, and returned them to Atlantic Beach. The boat
was left to the Seas.
Team Austin was airlifted by helicoptor from their upside down boat with a broken mast. It will also join the
skeletal remains of many ships in this area.
 Here lies the mast from the above boat. RIP |
Major damage was not restricted to those that did not make the leg. A number of boats simply trying to get through the finish line had sever damage in the awesome surf. Clive Mayo and Bobby Bailey broke their mast and bow foil in the turmoil of landing.
Worrell 1000 Race Abandons Leg From Hatteras to Kill Devil Hills
The seas at Hatteras are pretty awesome and destructive and would probably take out a lot of the fleet just
trying to launch back through them. And this is on the protected side of the island. In a quick drive, Michael
Worrell checked the seas on the other side of Cape Hatteras and determined that this leg would be an impossibility.
Teams are packing up and heading for Kill Devil Hills in hopes that the winds and seas will lay down for the leg
to Virginia Beach, Virginia.
So, there will be no races today. The races should start at 10AM tomorrow -- Friday Morning for the leg to Virginia Beach, VA.
Tonight a gala party is being hosted by Worrell Wear, the official T-Shirts folks that have been traveling with the show with their shirts and wares. Rumor has it that there will be a band and at least 3 kegs of beer.
Here are the Finishes for the Leg from Atlantic Beach to Hatteras:
| Position | Team | Time behind leaders |
| 1 | Chick's Beach | 00 |
| 2 | Australia I | 1.11.09 |
| 3 | Key Sailing I | 1.54.18 |
| 4 | Nokia | 2.01.19 |
| 5 | Rudee's | 2.04.24 |
| 6 | Worrell Bros. Rest | 2.06.24 |
| 7 | Key Sailing II | 2.08.56 |
| 8 | Int. Insurancc | 2.34.34 |
| 9 | New England | 2.47.07 |
| 10 | Tackle Shack | 3.11.53 |
| 11 | Florida Keys | 5.09.48 |
| 12 | Australia II | 5.12.02 |
Here are the Overall Standings:
| Position | Team | Time Behind Leader |
| 1 | Chick's Beach | 00 |
| 2 | Australia I | 1.18.11 |
| 3 | Key Sailing II | 3.39.18 |
| 4 | Key Sailing I | 4.45.52 |
| 5 | Worrell Bros. Rest | 6.24.33 |
| 6 | Rudee's | 8.24.52 |
| 7 | New England | 8.28.41 |
| 8 | Australia II | 8.53.19 |
| 9 | Int. Insurance | 8.57.41 |
| 10 | Florida Keys | 10.12.17 |
| 11 | Nokia | 10.54.51 |
| 12 | Tackle Shack | 17.02.27 |