Hi Jake,
Wow, you should have been at the Steeplechase. You could have won the whole thing. That is really a fast N6.0 you have. How many times have you won the N6.0 US National Championships?
The distances Mary is talking about came from a nautical chart. The distances are in nautical miles not statute miles.
The 50 mile stretch in the ocean was tight to windward. We had to tack out and go East a couple of times to clear islands which made no distance toward the finish line. Jewfish Creek was a real killer this year. The current was ripping West and we were trying to go East. Sometimes when you tacked back across the narrow channel, you found you had made no progress to the East. The race is indeed a Steeplechase and it takes two to three years just to learn the course.
Bill