All about the Second Leg from Ft Perce to Cocoa Beach, FL

Morning Recap Before the Start

Still wondering what happened to Randy Smyth, are you? He made it, but not without problems. His spinnaker pole started coming apart due to faulty rigging, so he sailed to shore, dropped the spinnaker and then continued on.

Brian Lambert (upper, left) of Key Sailing II and Kevin Smith (below, left) of Key Sailing I psych-up for the second leg to Cocoa Beach, Florida

He had been in the lead when this all transpired, but dropped way back. He finished ahead of only two boats. The team is not discouraged, however, as they quickly made repairs and are ready for today's racing. Despite the misfortune, the defending champion is only 47 minutes behind the leader. And last year he won by many, many hours.

The wind is very light, but as happened yesterday the seabreeze is supposed to kick in again, giving the racers a nice medium air spinnaker run to the next destination of Cocoa Beach, Florida, some 79 miles away.

They're Off!

(left)Capt.Kirk Newkirk pushes the second place boat to a great start. (right) The poor pole position boats were able to blanket the boats with better pole positions at the start

It was a case of getting penalized for doing well -- sort of like the IRS, the harder you work and the better you do, the more is taken away from you.

In case you didn't know, the seeding for the starts every day is determined by the place you finished the first day. Sounds good, right? But, today it wasn't so good. The wind was light and directly from the south, meaning it was running parallel to the beach. The boats that did the worst were directly upwind of the better finishers yesterday and therefore, right after the start, blanketed them from the wind for a very long time.

Brian Lambert and Mark Murray of Key Team II quickly saw what was happening and jibed back to shore to clear their air. Kevin Smith and Glenn Holmes of Key Team I followed suit.

Meanwhile, Randy Smyth and Jason Sneed of Chick's Beach were upwind of all but two boats. They steamed over everyone and appeared to take the lead.

Storms, Lightning and High Winds Joined the Finish
The race started in light southerly air that looked as if it would clock to the southwest. It did for a short time and then really lightened up instead of building.
The reason became obvious. A huge storm was building to the west of the course. It was literally sucking all of the surface wind into its volumous gullet. Then it struck!
The lead boats were hit by winds of nearly 40mph and really got a light show. Lighting was striking all around as the crowd on the beach "ooohed and aaahed" like it was the 4th of July.
As of 6PM all but one of the fleet is accounted for except Team Datek of Texas. Last minute replacement, Shane Nestle of Austin, Texas fell overboard and has not been located. Each sailor must have on their person a worn PFD with attached EPIRB, plus waterproof VHFs. So, there is really no reason for alarm at this time -- the US Coast Guard now has planes aloft in search and with the modern EPIRB systems they should find the sailor very quickly.
Michael Worrell, race organizer, said, "Because if the incident at the Key Largo Steeplechase, this year I mandated that EACH sailor must have an EPIRB on his body at all times." Then he thought for a second and said, "Even though this was rough for these guys, they haven't even looked the Tiger in the eye yet. Wait till they get out of Florida."

The Races – Lambert and Murray Do It Again
The Key Sailing Team II took their second consecutive bullet today finishing only minutes ahead of Australia I.
Brian Lambert/Mark Murray of Key Sailing Team II said they were juking it out for first place with Robert Onsgard and Jamie Livingston of Team Worrell Bros Restaurant after about 10 miles in light downwind sailing. Worrell Bros. Was a little too close to shore, so they jibed out to sea. A number of other boats that were very close went with them.
Apparently Rick Bliss/Sandra Tartaglino of Rudee's, Kevin Smith/Glenn Holmes of Keys SaillingI, Steve Vanderbol/John Bowerfind of Challenge98 and Martin Peacey/Gerard Loos of Nokia thought that was a good idea and jibed out with the Worrell Bros. Team.
That tactic turned out to be mistake. Key Sailing Team II moved into the lead. Not without a lot dicing it out with Australia I sailed by Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse.

(Left) Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse finish only a couple minutes behind Key Sailing II
Australia II manned by Martin Thompson and Greg Barber did extremely well by finishing in 3rd spot. They are sailing a Hobie 20, which has not been considered a boat of choice for this tough event. Last year there was only one entry and a bow broke off during the first leg.

(Right) Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse of Australia I are only 5 minutes bhind the leader
Mike Worrell said, "Hobie ought to really be thanking these Aussie guys – there making people believers about the Hobie 20."
A horse of a different color finished fourth. Actually is was a Hobie of a different color – the Hobie Tiger. Now this is like David and Goliath. Here is this little 18 foot Hobie competing with these big, 20-foot guys, and competing well. Team Nokia with Martin Peacey and Gerard Loos were in that group that headed for England, but woke up in time to salvage a good position.

(left)The Hobie Tiger is sailing much faster
than its 18-foot length
After these boats hit the beach, the storm that had brought them in quickly went out in the ocean and all that remained was light (if any), shifting winds. It appeared that Kevin Smith/Glenn Holmes Key Sailing I would grab 5th just ahead of Randy Smyth/Jason Sneed of Chick's Beach. The wind radically shifted at least a dozen times as spectators watched the dual.
Then suddenly it was not a dual. Matt Stuble and Eric Douglas of the Cat House caught a big shift and entered the shuffle of boats. They lost the shift and Chick's Beach got it next and rode it to a 5th place finish, just a boat length ahead of Key Sailing I. The Cat House had to settle for 7th.
Early-on favorite to defend his title, Randy Smyth said "It was really fun. We got the lead then broke the spinnaker pole. We went from1st place to last place. We fixed the pole, then we passed a bunch of boats and flipped the boat. We went to last again and then passed a bunch more. I never have passed so many boats." Smyth is not out of this by any stretch of the imagination. Last year he won by over 5 hours over the 2nd place boat. Keep your eye on him.
Team Rudee's with Rick Bliss and Sandra Tartaglino and International Insurance with Clive Mayo and Bobby Bailey landed in 8th and 9th.