Worrell 1000 --
Catsailor's Beach Hot Line by Mary
(Note: The most recent news postings are on the top, toggle down for previous posts)

TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2002, MYRTLE BEACH, SC TO WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC, 80 MILES

6:15 p.m.
Based upon what W.F. Oliver told me in the posting below about the minimum crew weight for the Formula 18HT being probably in the range of 315 to 345, I decided to get a second opinion. So I called Pete Melvin of Morrelli & Melvin Designers (world-famous designers of beach cats and maybe best known for Playstation).
Among his many other credentials, including representing the United States on the Tornado in the Olympics, Pete Melvin is a world champion in A-class catamarans, having won it on his own A-class design, the Waterat.
So I told him what the specs are for the Formula 18HT and asked him what his opinion would be as far as optimum crew weight of two people for the boat. He said 280-310 lbs, "and you could probably get away with 270 lbs."

5:10 p.m.
TWO BIG CORRECTIONS:
W.F. Oliver, the person who orchestrated the coming-out of the Formula 18HT Javelin B as the boat for the Worrell 1000 next year, just called me and is extremely upset because he says he never said the optimal crew weight ranges from 295 to 325 lbs. He says Rick made up the whole thing. He says he has consistently said he has no idea what the ideal crew weight is for the boat but would guess it is somewhere in the range of 315 to 345 lbs.
He says the optimal crew weight for the boat, based on comparison testing with other boats, would probably be only slightly less than for the Inter 20.
I am printing this correction at W.F.'s request, but Rick is standing by what he says W.F. told him. On the other hand, Rick IS getting hard of hearing.
W.F. also said he has nothing to do with supplying boats for the Worrell 1000 and that that is being done entirely by Bimare. (I did not say he is supplying the boats -- I just said he is importing them to the U.S.)
Later addition to the last correction: I see now that Rick said on his Main Worrell 1000 Page that W.F. Oliver is "supplying the boats" for next year's race. I am not able to post a correction on that page; I only control my page. I also do not control Rick.

This calls for an editorial comment:
The issue of crew weights on boats is such a highly political issue that you can't believe what anybody says - manufacturers, designers, sailmakers, promoters, dealers, reps…..
Optimal crew weight assigned to boats seems to be based almost entirely upon what is going to be likely to sell the most boats. It is very unfortunate, as far as I am concerned, that W.F. has said the optimal crew weight for the F18HT is much higher than what Rick thought he heard W.F. say.
I thought it would be really nice if the race could be opened up to more lighter-weight teams and I thought it would be a boon to that class in its development stages. This weight range estimate of 315-345 lbs. only requires the existing Worrell teams to lose 10 pounds between them. How is that going to help broaden the base of sailors who can compete -- whether in the Worrell 1000 or around the buoys? And building classes for one-design racing on closed courses is a lot more important than this one crazy race if you want a class to succeed on its own merits.
Oh, well.

4:00 p.m.
Dimension Data finished 3rd! Allan Lawrence and John Van der Vyer, the two South Africans, have to be REALLY ecstatic. Their prior finishes have been 10, 18, 18, 13, 16, 17, 5, 13. Wow, this leg really turned some tables.

Tommy Bahama was 8th and Alexander's was 11th. Maybe Rick can sort this all out for you on the Main Worrell 1000 Page. The team is working on posting new stuff even as I punch these keys.

3:45 p.m.
Apparently, Rick and lots of others are not able to call out from that location on their cell phones, so I finally called and found out what is going on.
Castrol was narrowly in the lead coming to the beach, almost neck and neck with Lexis Nexis. Wind was fluky coming to the shore, and Lexis Nexis nudged out Castrol by maybe half a boat length. This is a major deal for Lexis Nexis, whose finishes have been all over the board - Starting from day one, their finishes have been 15, 6, 10, 11, 13, 5, 4, 11, and now a big FIRST. Brendan Busch and Jim Korkosz have to be ecstatic.
Castrol now has the overall lead because Tybee Island finished 5th or 6th - results are probably on the official Worrell 1000 site by now. And Tommy Bahama was also late, and Alexander's was even later.

3:30 p.m.
Oh, well, I'm sure boats are on the beach, but the catsailor crew is doing videos and interviewing, and they don't have time to call me and tell me what's happening.

3:12 p.m.

LexisNexis and Castrol are coming in now and going to break another record. Record is 5' 17" so if come in before 3:17 p.m., they will break the record.

3:00 p.m.
Unfortunately, Reigh North of Baywind I was injured after their boat capsized at the start. Reportedly, the team has withdrawn from the race and the boat is on the trailer. According to the Baywind website, Reigh was not hurt too badly - it is something to do with his knee.

Meanwhile, five boats are in sight -- see our Main Worrell 1000 Page. But I will be updating you from here first.

1. TEAM WEIGHTS
   I thought it would be interesting to look at the crew weights for the teams in this race.
   For the Formula 18HT which is the boat for next year's race, there is no designated minimum crew weight for that class. (A question would be whether Mike Worrell, as race organizer, would require some sort of minimum.) But W.F. Oliver, the U.S. Representative for Bimare, and the person who is importing the Javelin B or Javelin 2, depending on what it actually is, says that the optimal crew weight for best performance ranges from 295 to 325 pounds. None of the teams listed below are close to falling into that weight range, except for Caliente at 326 lbs.

   
   The minimum crew weight for the Inter 20 is 325 pounds (total for two people) and in this event nobody had to add weight to the boat, because everybody was over the minimum.

   
   Here are the crew weights on the boats in this year's race, and I am going to list them according to the current overall standings in the race as of Tuesday morning, May14. Except in the case of Athletes in Action, which keeps changing crew members, all the teams have been weighed twice, once at Miami and once at Isle of Palms. So each team member has both weights listed, separated by a slash. The combined crew weights also reflect the weighings at the two locations.

   (Actually, these weight stats are not very interesting, and it is hard to see any correlation between crew weights and finish positions in the race. Maybe if each individual leg was analyzed, something would show up, but I'm not going to do that. The only thing it does show is that all these teams are heavier than the optimal weight on the Formula 18HT. Of course, if all the teams are heavy, it wouldn't make any difference. And we don't know at this point whether heavier or lighter would be better on the 18HT in the Worrell 1000. We will have to wait until next year's race to find that out. We can only hope that this new boat will not discourage the veteran Worrell teams from participating because of the weight factor. But we can also hope that it will encourage more lighter sailors and women to participate in the race.)

   Tybee Island
   Steve Lohmayer 181/186
   Kenny Pierce 165/165
   Combined crew weight: 346/351

   Castrol
   Jay Sonnenklar 162/166
   John Casey 181/183
   Combined crew weight: 343/349

   Alexander's
   Brian Lambert 192/195
   Jamie Livingston 153/156
   Combined crew weight: 345/351

   Tommy Bahama
   Alex Shafer 183/186
   Nigel Pitt 165/165
   Combined crew weight: 348/351

   San Antonio
   John Tomko 163/159
   John Oliveira 180/179
   Combined crew weight: 343/338

   LexisNexis
   Brendan Busch 175/174
   Jim Korkosz 194/194
   Combined crew weight: 369/368

   Athletes in Action
   Chris Sawyer 187
   Matt Struble 164
   Jim Zellmer 144
   Will Rottgering 185
   Combined wt. Sawyer/Struble 351
   Combined wt. Sawyer/Zellmer 331
   Combined wt. Zellmer/Rottgering329

   Antieau Art
   David Lennard 161/161
   Carl Roberts 224/231
   Combined crew weight: 385/392

   Caliente
   Tommy Gonzalez 171/171
   Mark Murray 155/155
   Combined crew weight: 326/326

   PI Sailing
   Steve Piche 179/177
   Ian Billings 168/168
   Combined crew weight: 347/345

   Bay Wind I
   Reigh North 155/157
   Richard Pleasants 226/229
   Combined crew weight: 381/386

   Rudee's Restaurant
   Gerard Loos 174/173
   Piet Heemskerk 186/185
   Combined crew weight: 360/358

   Caribbean/Cat Fever
   Todd Hart 183/184
   Davis Murray 229/233
   Combined crew weight: 412/417

   Bay Wind II
   Rob Lancaster 196/193
   Craig Callahan 156/155
   Combined crew weight: 352/348

   Fully Involved
   Mark Herendeen 161/163
   Les Bauman 207/205
   Combined crew weight: 368/368

   Outer Banks
   John McLaughlin 193/192
   Rick Parsley 193/190
   Combined crew weight: 386/382

   Howard's Pub
   Mark Stopforth 190/186
   Doug Kirby 200/200
   Combined crew weight: 390/386

   Dimension Data
   Allan Lawrence 201/200
   John Van der Vyer 189/181
   Combined crew weight: 390/381
   * * * * *

12:30 p.m.
Wind speed has dropped off to 15-19 at Frying Pan Shoals. If Tommy Bahama's tracking site is working right, they are averaging about 9.7 knots per hour.

11:13 a.m.
One of the boats that capsized after the start was Bay Wind I with Reigh North and Richard Pleasants. One of them fell into the boom, breaking the boom, so they had to come back to shore to replace the boom. Not clear which one fell onto the boom, but reportedly Reigh North is injured. They were still on the beach as of this posting, but were preparing to go back out, with Reigh stocked with pain pills.

10:40 a.m.
The wind report from the Frying Pan Shoals Buoy has dropped another couple of knots, but is still reporting a steady 25 knots.

10:00 a.m.
Off on a reach, no spinnakers - too close a reach. No problems. Hardly any surf. Wind very strong offshore and keeping surf flat.
Whoops, got a boat over, hit by a puff - wind funneling around buildings. Don't know what boat it was. Yes, it was Howard's Pub. Now, two more boats over -- they are out too far to tell who they are. They are getting slammed by these unexpected gusts.
Looks like a beam reach to Cape Fear, maybe a little more broad, but too heavy to put up a spinnaker.
On beach doesn't feel like much, but probably 20-25 after you get out about a half mile.
Some video of the start and pictures will be forthcoming on our Main Worrell Site.

* * * * *

Posted on our Worrell 1000 Forum:

The top 10 reasons why records are being broken:

10. The boats are better. I don't think so.
9. The sailors are better. Not better than Randy Smyth.
8. The wind is better. Good yes, not best ever.
7. The sea is flatter??
6. East Coast is shrinking.
5. El Nino
4 Global Warming
3. The beautiful women are in VaB (see checkpoint photos).
2. Super pinpoint navigation. This is my guess. For most of the history of this race "keep the continent on your left" (and hope you don't pass the checkpoint) was the level playing field. Today's boat goes right to the finish line without sailing any additional miles. Comparing these records to the "good old days" il like comparing pole vault records before and after the introduction of the fiberglass pole.

And the #1 REASON?......(The poster has left that as an open question for others to answer on the forum.)

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