Here we are in Cocoa Beach, Florida on a beautiful, bright, sunny day with lilght winds from the northeast. This will be the first time the leg has not started out with a spinnaker run.

    As you can see below, it is really a tight race amongst the top five teams, particularlly between Dryland/Waterhouse and Smyth/Notary -- only 40 seconds apart.
    Pos Team Sailors Leg Time Total Time Behind Overall Time Behind
    1 Rudee's Restaurant Brett Dryland, Rod Waterhouse 17.46.44 00.00.00 00.00.00
    2 Chick's Randy Smyth, Keith Notary 17.51.01 00.05.01 00.00.40
    3 Pomodoro Hans Meijer, Brian Lambert 18.04.34 00.17.50 00.35.34
    4 Worrell Bros. Rest Robert Onsgard, Jamie Livingston 18.05.40 00.18.56 00.42.56
    5 Tybee Island Steve Lohmayer, Kenny Pierce 18.02.55 00.16.11 00.54.03
    6 Ireland Peter Cogan, Steve Dodgson 18.08.58 00.22.14 01.23.05
    7 Outer Banks John McLaughlin, Robert Johnson 18.37.48 00.51.04 01.38.16
    8 Lions International Carl Roberts, Todd Hart 18.42.14 00.55.30 01.59.09
    9 Turtle Alex Korakis, Scott MacDonald 18.43.20 00.56.36 02.09.56
    10 Big Bros, Big Sister Guy Selsmeyer, Tom Powers 19.11.21 01.24.37 02.14.56
    11 Extreme Dave White, Chris Webster 18.38.46 00.52.02 03.02.58
    12 Entegra Jim Stone, Dan Metcalf 19.43.42 01.56.48 05.30.19
    13 Michigan Bart Hall, Alan Aldrin 21.55.40 04.08.56 05.54.58

    And They're Off

    This is the third leg from Cocoa Beach to Daytona, Florida. The surf was not a factor in today's start. And I gotta tell ya, the start was nothin' to write home about.

    The wind is light and out of the north by northeast and is expected build when the sea breeze kicks in around noon or so. At this point the fleet has to go around the tip of Cape Canaveral. The wind is seemingly coming straight from the tip of the cape, so you could almost say the cape is the windward mark. Strangely enough, most of the fleet is heading to sea instead of sailing the coast line at this time. Only one boat has opted to sail the shore. We shall see what happens -- stay tuned to this station for more.



    Team Tybee Island (Steve Lohmayer/Kenny Pierce, with what seems to have the best graound crew and most sponsorship, get a rocket booster shot through the surf by Rick Loewen.

    Despite a year of planning and working toward this event, Robert Onsgard had to pull out of the race due an ongoing back problem. Clive Mayo of Miami, Florida replaced Onsgard at the helm and will continue on with Jamie Livingston (Jamie said to say "HI" to his wife).

    At this point in the afternoon (5PM) there are some boats on the horizon although they are not are expected for quite a while – the wind has been on the nose all day long and ranging between 8-15 mph. That means they have a 70-mile beat into the wind to reach the Daytona Beach finish line. Those that say this is an all downhill race will have to rethink this one.
    A big party was scheduled for 6PM for the sailors, hosted by the local Hobie Fleet. They have food, lots of Coronas, etc. waiting for their arrival. But with the present situation, they decided to move the scheduled start of the party to 8PM – that way maybe a few of the lead boats might get to enjoy some of the merriment.

    By the way, we just added the names of the ground crew in the page on meeting the Teams Face to Face. Click here to check it out

    They Have Hit the Beach With a One, Two Punch

    It was a neck-and-neck battle for miles as the two leading teams battled for the line honors and the lead overall. The Aussies would luff up Smyth/Notary, then drive off. Smyth/Notary would try to driver over, then peel off and drive undder. Smyth said, "They were way ahead after the point (Cape Canaveral) and we were back in 5th place. But we just kept grinding down the distance."
    Rudee's finished just a few boat lengths ahead of Smyth/Notary – a mere 7 seconds difference after sailing 70 plus miles. That is pretty outstanding.



    There was only about 4-boat lengths between them at the finish. The two leading teams battled it out for mile after mile and finished only 7 seconds apart.

    Getting first place honors around the Cape was Clive Mayo, who replaced Robert Onsgard on Team Worrell Bros. Restaurant. Every boat claimed he was miles ahead. But a few zigs and a few zags and the slipped back to a 6th place finish. Worrell and Smyth/Notary then sailed further off shore, and that was when four shore side boats slipped ahead.



    CliveMayo replace Robert Onsgard on the Worrell Bros. Restaurant. He started out with a bang and had a huge lead by the time the fleet rounded Cape Canaveral.

    There was one more point to make before the close reach to the finish. Those that could make the point without having to tack back out to sea, pulled away from those that could not make the point.
    Pomodoro continued her steady sailing ways by taking another 3rd place finish. Brian Lambert, with a grin and beer in hand, said, "Wait'll the wind comes up. That is our kind of air."
    It was then I asked, "Like Kill Devil Hills last year?"
    Lambert laughed loudly, "Not THAT much wind!" It was the heavy air and horrendous surf that knocked Lambert out of the race in 1998.
    There was a new kid on the block this year – a Taipan 5.7 from Australia. It is being sailed by Team Ireland (aka Taipan) with Peter Cogan on the helm and Steve Dodgson crewing. It is the smallest boat in the race. Some of you may remember attempts with smaller boats in previous years with designs such as the Dart Hawk, Hobie Tiger, etal. Like those smaller boats, the Taipan is doing pretty well, but has certainly not been a David and Goliath story.
    Today was the best finish for the Taipan – 4th place. Cogan has been unhappy about the spinnaker he chose and the boat has had some minor tuning probems. However, today he blamed himself for not finishing better than 4th. "There is nothing worse than a fast boat going the wrong direction," he said, using the old cliche.



    This "new-kid-on-the-block" has gotten a lot of attention. It is a smaller boat than the rest of the fleet, but lighter. Today was their best finish, taking a 4th place.

    Today's Finish Positions, so far:

    1 Rudee's Restaurant Brett Dryland, Rod Waterhouse 17.53.12 00.00.00
    2 Chick's Randy Smyth, Keith Notary 17.53.19 00.00.07
    3 Pomodoro Hans Meijer, Brian Lambert 17.59.35 00.06.23
    4 Ireland Peter Cogan, Steve Dodgson 18.08.47 00.15.35
    5 Tybee Island Steve Lohmayer, Kenny Pierce 18.11.13 .00.18.01
    6 Worrell Bros Rest. Clive Mayo, Jamie Livingston 18.23.15 00.30.03
    7 Outer Banks John McLaughlin, Peanut Johnson 18.34.58 00.41.06
    8 Big Bros., Big Sisters Guy Selsmeyer, Tom Powers 18.38.21 00.45.09
    9 Lions International Carl Roberts, Todd Hart 18.53.41 01.00.29
    10 Turtle Alex Korakis, Scotgt MacDonald 18.59.24 01.06.12
    11 Michigan Bart Hall, Alan Aldrin 19.19.31 01.26.19
    12 Extreme Dave White, Chris Webster 19.41.26 01.48.14
    13 Entegra Jim Stone, Dan Mecalf 19.50.58 01.57.06

    And here are the overall standings:

    Pos Team Sailors Overall Time Behind
    1 Rudee's Restaurant Brett Dryland, Rod Waterhouse 00.00.00
    2 Chick's Randy Smyth, Keith Notary 00.00.47
    3 Pomodoro Hans Meijer, Brian Lambert 00.41.57
    4 Tybee Island Steve Lohmayer, Kenny Pierce 01.12.04
    5 Worrell Bros. Rest Robert Onsgard, Jamie Livingston 01.12.59
    6 Ireland Peter Cogan, Steve Dodgson 01.38.40
    7 Outer Banks John McLaughlin, Robert Johnson 02.20.02
    8 Lions International Carl Roberts, Todd Hart 02.59.38
    9 Big Bros, Big Sister Guy Selsmeyer, Tom Powers 03.00.05
    10 Turtle Alex Korakis, Scott MacDonald 03.16.08
    11 Extreme Dave White, Chris Webster 04.51.12
    12 Michigan Bart Hall, Alan Aldrin 07.21.17
    13 Entegra Jim Stone, Dan Metcalf 07.21.44