The logistics were a total nightmare. On Saturday the boats had to be sailed down to the location on the beach in front of the Hugh Taylor Birch State Recreational Area on Ft Lauderdale Beach. This all was transpiring during the hugely popular Shell Air & Sea Show, which required all traffic on the beach to be totally shutdown for the weekend.
For the sailors to return to the motel, they car pooled. But the traffic was so bad it took hours to return the three miles they had just traveled by boat. Those that rode in cars took hours to return to their rooms. Some walked and got back to the Yankee Clipper well ahead of the riders.
And then on Sunday morning, the sailors were all herded into a couple of RVs and vans and driven back to their boats -- heaven help anyone that forgot their harness, or water, or sunblock as there was no returning.
To get to the boats, the vehicles were forced to head back west all the way to US Route 1, then go north to the edge of town and then back east again until they arrived back at Ft Lauderdale Beach. Of course, the entire way they were being harassed by the police and Department of Natural Resources guards.
The Good Part, The Bad Part
The start got off in great shape and right on time in light winds of around 5-8 from the SSE. There was an announcer broadcasting on a loudspeakers to0 the entire beach about the race and some of the favored sailors. Very informative, but there was no one there to hear. The crowds were just beginning to arrive as the race began. So, the grandstands and the beach were pretty much empty.
There would probably been a lot of sailors there to send them on their merry way, but the Beach and Park Gestapa wouldn't allow anyone near the boats, the beach or anything. The poor catamaran sailors that wanted to be there couldn't get in. These same enforcement people were also extremely cooky about parking. One RV driver was told to park in Area 6, and somehow he went a coupole of hundredsw past and parked. The driver said, "There was no one even in sight. I was all by myself amongst this huge forest, and yet somehow a police car came rushing at me with flashing lights and told me I had to back up to Area 6. I wondered where the hell he had come from. Did they survelance cameras mountedf in these woods?"
This plan may need a bit of doctoring up, if it to be used next year.