2001 Worrell 1000
Leg 2 Ft Lauderdale to Jensen Beach, FL
Latest News as of May 7 6:30PM:
Start from Ft Lauderdale Has Crashes Galore in Troubled Surf
The fleet pushed off exactly at 10 AM into huge crashing seas. The wind had switched a bit more to the east and the surf had built tremendously. At the horn the boats crashed into the waves.., literally. There were at least a third of the fleet that had breakage, capsizes and some minor injuries.
 Sailors literally crashed into the sea! |
 It was very difficult for boats to get through the surf with those long boards up and the skinny rudders up and extremely ineffective. |
 Fully Involved skidded to the right and went charging down the beach in the wrong direction |
 Fully involved finally jibed and capsized in the surf |
 Folks ran to help |
The worst that can happen to a team is to lose control of your boat right at the start, have it veer sharply to the right and head parallel to the shoreline and into other boats heading perpendicularly to the water. Just this scenario became the nightmare of team Fully Involved. The jib had been sheeted to tight and the boat was teetering on a ridge of sand. The wind saw this problem and immediately shoved the bow hard downwind, right at their competitors.
The crew of Craig Callihan and Les Bauman tried desperately to stop the rampaging hulls as it barrelled down the sand, spinnaker pole aimed at its quarry like it was in a jousting match.
The boat hit a couple of boats, jibed by itself and then capsized right in front of two other boats attempting to start.
The only damage appeared to be to Fully Involved and not to any other teams. They were lucky. Their port bow was quickly taped up with that trusty Duct Tape we all use, battens replaced and they were again off on their next adventure.
Todd Hart and Randy Williamson had trouble with Cat Fever as it was pushed back by a wave and snapped the rudder casting in half. A good many simply capsized because of the intense waves and the heavy winds.
Florida, which is usually considered the warmup section of the race, is flexing its atmospheric muscles.
| Note from Yesterday's Report: Sandra Tartaglino broke both bones in her lower leg and was scheduled for surgery this morning. And we earlier reported that Tom Weaver was just bruised, but after the Heineken wore off, he discovered his ankle was also broken. |
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How Do I Love Thee, let me count the ways.., remember that line? Well, we have changed it to How many things can go wrong in reporting the race to you all? Let me count the ways:
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| This is a Special On-the-Beach Report from Dave Carlson: .Monday Morning, Ft. Lauderdale This is the second day but really the first long day of the Worrell. However yesterday's 22 mile leg was a painful day for some racers already, and sadly two are out of the race.  After a fair start at South Beach yesterday afternoon, some boats stayed in the short chop close to the beach. As Nigel Pitt put it, "Bumpy: People will have to live with the bumps. Some days you don't go out unless the Race Committee does!" Nigel and Alex Shaefer as Tommy Bahama started in 18th and finished in 8th place, and their ground crew manager, John Williams, said they were happy to have picked up10 boats. They are excited because it is their first year. At the start they were worried because the red boat to their lee had headed up too much and come close to their fragile rudders. P-Yacht members said that some boats went out into the Gulf Stream which helped them if they stayed out far enough. Otherwise there was much tacking, as many as 25 tacks by some teams, with some flipping, usually during tacks if the cats are stopped by the chop. Alexanders by the Bay with Brian Lambert and Jamie Livingston did very well despite one crash. Brian was wearing a special lower-back-strain icepack, and he was hit by a big wave at the wrong time. The boat was flipped over by the force, emphasized by the back-pack effect. Happily, righting was very quick, and they kept their speed up to finish first. Brian says that he feels good in the trapeze but walking around on the beach feels not so good. Beetle, his ground crew, says they may try a different arrangement today. Guidant with Carl Roberts and the heavy team, was, count them - 1-1000, 2-1000 ..just 4 seconds behind at the finish flags. But they hit the beach very hard, and were changing shrouds this morning. Kirk Newkirk's crew suggests that Kirk as a bit long in the tooth for this kind of activity, although they didn't use exactly those words. Kirk would be happy for the wind to be in a different direction- presumably as in reach! At the moment they were struggling with their flogging jib, which was a serious handful even on the beach with 4 guys when changing mast rake. I-20 jibs have short vertical battens to aid furling. But there were no broken mast yesterday. I asked Kirk if the masts were tougher than Nacra 6.0 masts, and he replied that they were more fragile, especially with spinnakers. We won't see spinnakers today. Maybe tomorrow. The coast curves away toward West Palm Beach, perhaps laying the chop down a little, suggested several skippers. Kirk said he was very sorry to lose Sandra the first day. So here is the personal damage report. Happily, the all-woman team from P-yacht did well, capsizing once when the skipper flew into her boom and put a big dent in it. But she is tougher than the boom, and is apparently fine this morning. Todd Hart from Cat Fever lost a diamond wire, but managed to save their mast and get to the beach. They capsized the boat and pulled the wire back into place and finished. At the finish Sandra's boat hit hard. Her trap wire sailed her around the front of the boat and into the dolphin striker: In the resulting tangle both bones in her leg were broken, and she was taken off to the hospital. Tom Weaver from P-Yacht was the other casualty, again at the finish. They confirmed this morning that his leg is broken, and Christophe from Miami will replace him. Note these I-20s have sharp bows with a vertical stem. Sailing is wonderful, but there are steeply rising sand beaches here on the Atlantic. The sand is unforgiving toward a sharp stem. Remember Hobie Alter's Old design, banana-shaped hulls, specifically designed to........surf and land safely! |
The Finish at Jensen Beach was Fast and Furious
Brian Lambert and Jamies Livingston had a great start and were the first to be sheeted in and trapped out. The stayed near the shoreline walked away from all comers in this the 2nd leg from Ft. Lauderdale to Jensen Beach, Florida. The finished ahead of Tybee Island by nearly 14 minutes, giving them a bit of a lead overall by 15 over that team.
Sail for Sight again did well and holding down 3rd spot only a few minutes behind Tybee Island, but is only a minuted ahead of Guidant. This is truly going to be anyone's race to win.
