Wednesday morning is here and we are all ready for the 4th leg of this amazing adventure up the east coast of the United States. The only mark? Leave the Continent on the port side.

    This morning the wind is practically non-existant. It is shaping up as another sea breeze day.

    They're Off

    As the Phantom would say, "These are the times that try men's souls!" The start was very trying. Practically no wind, yet still the same old typical big surf associated with Daytona Beach. The pushers were taxed heavily to get the boats out through the big waves while the sailors were paddling madly.



    With just 10 seconds left before the start, the sailors and the pusher tense up and focus. They must get these rocket ships through the surf and on their way to Jacksonville.

    Carl Roberts and Todd Hart of Team Lions International decided to duck the sterns of the port tack boats and tacked to starboard and skimmed along pretty fast, but right in the surf. This gutsy move seemed to pay off -- they moved through the fleet from 9th in the pole position to take a slim lead of this fourth leg from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville Beach, Florida.



    Carl Roberts and Todd Hart of Lions International did the old mark-rounding trick. With no rights, they quickly tacked to starboard, entered wide and then exited close to jump into an early lead.

    Smyth/Notary and the Aussies quickly noted the advantage of starboard tack and did the same. Both teams drove over Lions Intl. and began still another tooth-and-nail battle.

    Stay tuned -- we are heading north to Jacksonville and will be reporting anything that happens.

    Here They Come A'Reachin'


    Randy Smyth and Keith Notary took the lead for the first time today on this leg from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Winds at the start were almost calm. Then the sea breeze filled in to around 12 mph and it was a sc reaming reach the rest of the way.



    Rudee's Restaurant chutes through the surf to take a 2nd place finish, some 8 minutes behind Smyth/Notary

    Smyth/Notary jumped off to big lead in the first 15 miles and held on to the finish line. The Rudee's Team was hot on their heels, but could only get within 8 minutes and 25 seconds. This puts the defending champs a little over 7 minutes ahead overall.
    Most of the teams tried to use their chutes, but the bea-reach angle was a little too tight to hold the boat down after the winds picked up. Bart Hall and Alan Aldrin had the perfect sail for earlier part today's leg – they were flying a Hooter. Suddenly, and for the first time, they found themselves up with the Big Boys in about 3rd place.
    One team was able to fly the spinnaker nearly the entire way. Clive Mayo, a rather big guy, and Jamie Livingston used their muscle and weight and could hold the boat down and sail a hot angle. And it payed off! They finished only 14 minutes behind the leader. Almost all of the fleet could not hold the boat down with the spinnaker – they had to keep sailing lower and lower and just before the surf, drop the headsail and use the jib to get back high again for the spinnaker set.
    Randy Smyth just Wild Thinged the whole way. They saw all the other teams see-sawing up and down to use the spinnaker, but those teams never gained ground. Smyth went on to say, "It was definitely a ‘Wild Thing' day."
    Pomodoro was again right in there. They finished in 4th spot.
    But what makes this race so awesome is the finishes that Tybee Island, Outer Banks and Bog Brothers/Sisters had. Tybee nosed out Outer Banks by one second, while Outer nosed out Big Brothers/Sisters by seven seconds -- all of this with spinnakers in the crashing surf.

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    It was almost a 3-way tie at the finish between Tybee Island, Outer Banks, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Tybee eked out the advantage by one second over Outer Banks, who outdid Big Brothers/Big Sisters by seven seconds

    Finish Positions and Times:

    Pos Team Sailors Leg Time Time Behind Leader
    1 Chick's Beach Randy Smyth, Keith Notary 17.04.24 00.00.00
    2 Rudee's Rest., Brett Dryland, Rod Waterhouse 17.12.49 00.08.25
    3 Worrell Bros Clive Mayo, Jamies Livingston 17.18.24 00.14.00
    4 Pomodoro Hans Meijer, Brian Lambert 17.24.03 00.19.39
    5 Tybee Island Steve Lohmayer, Kenny Pierce 17.29.45 00.25.21
    6 Outer Banks John McLaughlin, Peanut Johnson 17.29.46 00.25.22
    7 Big Brothers/Sis Guy Selsmeyer, Tom Powers 17.29.53 00.25.29
    8 Ireland Peter Cogan, Steve Dodgson 17.34.48 00.30.24
    9 Turtle Alex Korakis, Scott MacDonald 17.36.57 00.32.33
    10 Lyons Intl Carl Roberts, Todd Hart 17.43.38 00.39.14
    11 Michigan Bart Hall, Alan Aldrin 18.00.40 00.45.46
    12 Extreme Dave White, Chris Webster 18.11.41 00.57.17

    The first boat to drop out was Entegra. It was not due to boat failure -- the skipper was simply sick and could not make it. We are now down to 12 boats left in the race.

    There is trouble brewing right here in River City, and that starts with T, and that rhymes with P, and that P stands for Protest.(a little "Music Man" humor there) The Australian team has been steadily complaining that Smyth/Notary are underweight and need to be re-weighed. Keeping in mind that all the teams were weighed in Ft. Lauderdale before the race. There seems to be no precedence for re-weighing and officials pointed that out to the potentially protesting team. They were also advised that if they could find the rule or some precedence to do so, officials might consider weighing again.

      Smyth and Notary are tremendously opposed to this idea. After all, they claim, has anybody ever been weighed in the middle of a regatta? Not hardly!
      But as of now, officials are calling for all the teams to weigh in still again.

      Here is an update on the issue


      Michael Worrell called for all teams to have another weigh-in. However, it was called off after a few teams were weighed. Randy Smyth refused to subject himself to still another weigh-in on principal only. "If we are going to have a weigh-in, then we all have to go back to Ft. Lauderdale and start over. The rules are very specific," Smyth said.
      To back this up, here is Rule 25.3: The sailing team members shall be weighed before the start in Ft. Lauderdale.
      However, Rod Waterhouse of Rudee's says that Rule 25.4 was violated and another weigh-in is necessary. Rule 25.4 says: Weigh-in shall be in bathing suits only. And it is claimed that Smyth and Notary were wearing baseball caps, shoes and sunglasses. The Aussie team keeps claiming that there are two sets of rules -- the rules for everyone, and the rules for Randy Smyth.

      Already a U.S. Sailing Senior Judge has unofficially stated that if a weigh-in happens before a regatta, that weigh-in is unchallengable.
      Worrell, who is the ultimate pacifier of minor problems, is beginning to think this situation is over his head. He has called ahead and is arranging for U.S. Sailing judges to hear the case when the teams arrive in Tybee Island today.
      Just a thought: does anyone out there believe that the weight of sunglasses, shoes and a cap can make the difference of eight minutes in a leg? Bathing suit only?!?!?!?! Does that mean you must take off your rings, remove your dentures, etc?