On the Road to Virginia The Leg from Kill Devil Hills to Virginia Beach, Virginia
(The Winds Have Eased Off, but Surf Is Still Huge If They Make it past the Breakers, They're Home Free)
There is this weird, strange light that suddenly fell upon everyone on Thursday afternoon. One of the Elders remembered
hearing about this odd and unusual light and believed his ancestors had named it the Sun.
Yes, the sun actually did shine and it is still shining as we ready for the start from Kill Devil Hills, North
Carolina. As you look out over the sea, there are huge breakers for about 200 yards and after that just a beautiful
place to sail with 10-15 mph winds. This sea wall barrier, howevfer, poses a problem.
To go or not to go, that is the question. The race is on, but it is an individual question can I make it? If
I make it, it will be great and I can claim victory in the fact that I will have made it all the way! If I don't
make it, certainly my boat and perhaps my body could be severly damaged. I guess this is why this race is billed
as "Iron Men/Plastic Boats."
As we start into the homestretch to Virginia Beach, 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 |
On the Road to Virginia The Leg from Kill Devil Hills to Virginia Beach, Virginia
(The Winds Have Eased Off, but Surf Is Still Huge If They Make it past the Breakers, They're Home Free)
 Jim Zellmer of New England studies the wave patterns just before the start |
There is this weird, strange light that suddenly fell upon everyone on Thursday afternoon. One of the Elders
remembered hearing about this odd and unusual light and believed his ancestors had named it the Sun.
Yes, the sun actually did shine and it is still shining as we ready for the start from Kill Devil Hills, North
Carolina. As you look out over the sea, there are huge breakers for about 200 yards and after that just a beautiful
place to sail with 10-15 mph winds. This sea wall barrier, however, poses a problem.
To go or not to go, that is the question. The race is on, but it is an individual question can I make it? If
I make it, it will be great and I can claim victory in the fact that I will have made it all the way! If I don't
make it, certainly my boat and perhaps my body could be severely damaged. I guess this is why this race is billed
as "Iron Men/Plastic Boats."
The Start They're Off
 Jim Zellmer and Garrett Norton of New England capsized and dismasted |
It was not the big rush to the sea that we have learned to expect, rather the individual reading of the water
after the start gun went off. Each team surveyed the waves and then made the call to go forward. Only 8 of the
12 teams made it through the monstrous waves.
Nokia's Hobie Tiger was one of the first to eat the big one the went over, then dismasted and struggled in the
surf for quite some time. Finally, with the help of most of the crews and spectators, the boat and sailors were
retrieved from the washing-machine like waters.
New England was another fatality also dismasted.
 Teams were blassting through the huge breakers that remained after the winds lightened |
Kirk Newkirk, Key Sailing's Team Manager told Smith he could have the beam and rudder ready to go in half an hour and the asked if should go ahead with it. Smith grinned a little and said, "Nope!"
Robert Onsgard and Jamie Livingston of Worrell Bros. Restaurant dismasted after making it through the worst of the breakers. They jury-rigged their jib and were able to sail the boat back to the beach.
 Nokia's Hobie Tiger took the worst spill and suffered the most damage |
 The Hobie Tiger continued to get plummeted by the seas, relentlessly piling on the damage |
 The remains of the Hobie Tiger on the beach |
| We Just Got this E-Mail from Ron Jones of Pomodoro We're OK, just disappointed that we won't be able to finish. We cracked the front crossbar where it meets the starboard hull all the way around, the only reason it didn't collapse was the bolts through the dolphin striker. Luckily, Hans spotted the imminent failure and we were only about a half mile from shore so we managed to tack and ride into the beach. But what a ride in. We were trying to slow the boat down to go in between two breakers but the wave behind caught us and we ended up surfing the boat in. I swear the front half of the boat was 4 feet in the air and completely out of the water. We were dong a hang 10 with a 20 foot Mystere. Hans managed to keep the boat straight with the tiller while I worked the sails but we still hit the beach hard enough to snap one rudder casting in half. But the surf really pushed us pretty far up the beach so we didn't have far to get out of the water. We theorize that the beam failed due to the repeated pounding by the sea states. We were sailing directly into big seas, then falling off the back side of the rollers/waves. Some of the rollers were higher than the spreader on our mast, 15 feet? or so with a really steep back side. These were definitely the biggest and worst sea states I have ever sailed in. Yet, we got to within 30 miles of the finish and were just behind Tackle Shack when we had to "retire". The alternative was to keep pushing and completely break the beam and end up in the water waiting for the coast guard to pick us up. Hans (engineer) figured we were minutes from disaster. Or one more big roller. Think about the forces we put on our boats that day. Just imagine picking your boat up 15 feet (more or less) and dropping the boat, then doing that over and over again for 8 hours. Its a wonder that these boats hold together at all. Incredible! But we have some good luck to go with the bad. We were rescued by some fisherman, "Handsome" Bill and "Big" Ray who pulled our boat onto an access road with their 4x4 and took us to a fishing camp (Morris Marine Kabin Kamps). There, Branson , the caretaker, let us have a cabin, clothes, bedding. The guys next door, Charlie Taylor, Allen Brown and H.C warmed us up with coffee and cookies, then brought us some Campbell's Veg/Beef soup and pots, pans and dishes. About the time, Hans and I got warmed up and soup on, we had some company drop in ....... Team Salty Dogs/Error Proof from Michigan with Carl Roberts and Robert Gaidos sailed right onto the beach in from of our cabin. They were basically sinking with about a third of the starboard hull full of water. Boy, were they surprised when Branson meets them and asked if they had just sailed up from Lauderdale! Then Hans and I show up and tell them that soup is on and invite them to "visit". It was a hoot to see the looks on their faces!!! Later, I found out that Katie? from the marina had seen the start on TV from Atlantic Beach and was actually expecting some of us to land on "her" beach. About this time, we got out our cell phone and called in and notified our ground crew, families, and race committee of our situation so they wouldn't have to worry about Pomodoro or Salty Dogs. Thank God we had the sense to bring the cellular. Perhaps it should be in the required safety equipment for next year, after all, most of us have one anyway. Mike, what do you think? After we all got cleaned up, warm, and dressed, Handsome Bill and his 11 fishing buddies from the Greensboro area of Carolina invited us for a real supper of wonderful spagetti, salad, drinks and comraderie. Doctor Phillips and I talked shop for a while, then just hung out with Hayes, Butch, Jenkins, Bill, Ray, and the rest of the guys whose name I just can't recall right now. Then off to a cozy warm cabin for the night. Branson fed us breakfast and we got off the island by ferry today at 5 pm. What an adventure. My heartfelt thanks to all the people who generously offered us there help and kindness. And my congradulations to the teams that finished. Way to go!!!!!! Take care the rest of the way, we'll see in Virginia Beach - Ron Jones, TEAM POMODORO |
| And We Just Got This E-Mail About the Lost Jeep War Story: Rick, Just wanted to say thanks, for such a great job covering the Worrell 1000. It brings back great memories of my days, participating in the event in '84 as a sailor, and '87 as land crew. The "remember the good old days" paragraph, in your May 13th report was classic, bringing back a flood of memories (pun intended). I think that evening after Lee Queensbury trashed the leased Jeep, we all were beaten and exhausted but still got a chuckle watching Lee "sipping" on a fifth of Jack Daniels or something similar. (memory recalls he drank most of it that night, straight) Team Texas was the team that carried a hull up the beach, and through the finish line after dismasting within 200 yards of the shore. The next day, they were back in the race with a new boat. The following day approaching Cape Hatteras, the strobe was not working and our team, Team Studebakers missed the checkpoint. We continued sailing for the cape until the search plane circled us a couple of times, and got us turned around, heading back to "the Durant" in Hatteras. The waves were huge but the wind had died. As we approached the beach, a huge wave picked our boat up, and slammed it, down on the sand. Our boat was immediately turned into a "pile of rubble". The first scene, on the National Geographic documentary of the Worrell 1000, is our boat, broken up, on the beach. With Team Texas setting the standard the day before, we also found a "new boat" over night, and a competitor's land crew, stayed up all night putting our "new boat" together, allowing us to get some sleep. It's not that we were a factor in the race standings, it's just that our fellow competitors wanted to see us finish, and their land crews pitched in to keep us in the race. The next morning, we were back in the race, able to finish. To say competing in the Worrell 1000 is one of my life's highlights is, an understatement. The camaraderie of the teams and land crews, at least from my experiences, is unmatched anywhere in the world. Again, thanks for the great coverage, and allowing me the chance to relive some of my experiences. Mike Niver |
(At last! We are in another state Chick's Beach Still Holds Big Lead Only 7 Boats Left out of the
Original 21)
Come Hell or High Water is a term we can all remember someone saying. This leg seemed to represent all of that.
Getting through the walls of water breaking onto the shore at Kill Devil Hills was both Hell and High Water. It
appeared that it would be clear sailing and an early arrival time in Virginia, but a Hell of another color reared
it head.
The Hell was a dead calm that befell the fleet.
Race Officials were standing by for an estimated arrival time of around 3PM, then we heard 4-5PM. And then the
official word was a shrug of the shoulders.
 While waiting for the becalmed sailors we all had a chance to cuddle, hold and play with this darling, baby Golden Retriever |
Sure enough, tagging close behind the Aussies was Randy Smyth and Jason Sneed of Chick's Beach, finishing only 12 minutes behind the Piglets (an affectionate name for the Australian Teams because of big, pink pig graphics on the mainsail.). The Pigs cut Smyth's lead to one hour and six minutes. But that was Smyth's tactic exactly stick to the Pigs! That way he stays in the same air and will always finish close in time to them perhaps even ahead of them. His lead over the Aussies is comfortable, but his lead over the rest of the fleet is awesome. So, he really could care less about the finishes of the rest of the fleet the only concern is the Aussies.
As an interesting digression, we had talked about scoring this as a regatta, with each leg counting as points, and then the lowest points wins. (See Scoring Change Possible for 1999). If that format were used, this could possibly change the tactics employed in the above case.
Not discouraged, however, Brett Dryland said, "The race is not over til it's over. Who knows what the last day will hold?"
Key Sailing II was the third finisher. They came in over an hour after Dryland and Waterhouse of the Pigs. Then a group of boats found enough air to finish the race. They were led by Peter Cogan and Steve Lohmayer of Florida Keys, then Australia II, with Martin Thompson and Greg Barber, and Rudee's sailed by Rick Bliss and Sandra Tartaglino. These teams came in nearly 4 hours after the leader.
The last official finisher of the leg was Clive Mayo and Bobby Bailey of International Insurance, finishing around 5 hours after the Aussies.
Those That Didn't Make It
Team Worrell Brothers valiantly managed to rig up their spare hulls and made it through the surf safely. However, there was something they didn't count on something they overlooked Yes, something they forgot. It was their spinnaker.
Would you believe the wind died! And would you believe this team left their chute behind. Ouch!
To make matters worse, one of the sailors ripped his drysuit going through the surf and was very wet. As the night moved on it became very cold he was really freezing under the conditions.
At one point the ground crew for Worrell 1000 said they had heard from their team and after 8 hours could still see the starting line area. And their GPS ground track said they were heading south, even though their bows were still pointed north. It was all very discouraging, but they kept going. They finally arrived at Virginia Beach around 9 AM on Saturday, well beyond the 8-hour limit rule and are disqualified.
Team Tackle Shack with Woodie Cope and Clark Keysor did a great job of making it through the surf in the morning, but gave up the ghost after an all night episode of drifting. They pulled into a beach and found a motel.
Those that lost in the surf were:
Nokia Martin Peacey, Gerard Loos
New England Garrett Norton, Jim Zellmer
Key Sailing I Kevin Smith, Glenn HolmesThe Finish