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it was 14-28 on sat in dunedin
it was 15-25(ish) yesterday here too
it was 7-20(ish) today here

if the wind is anything similar (and since we are under the same bermuda high pushing east ....) it was probably light, and getting gusty in the afternoon

Royal White is out of the race. Crew had severe cramping. Knot 2 Slow still out there. Unfortunately it's the only tracker not updating.

Last Boat in sight!

All Boats are in

Maybe you armchair sailors should actually go out sailing.

@Tad, I sail in places beside the Chesapeake. Come talk to me after you've gotten a new boat and done Catacup. Today was much tougher than any leg in the last Tybee 500, 5'+ swells w/ confused chop on top in big breeze.

It was gusting to 27 on Saturday at Molasses Reef.
It was gusting to 25 on Sunday at the dock at the Islander according to the anemometer, with sustained 23.
It was blowing closer to 18 at the start today. Both the M20 and the F20C went off on port tack, everyone else started on starboard. No one was tacking out and hoisting a kite at any point today. It was FULL breeze on, 23 gusting 25 at Fowey Rock when the teams went past (just in case my Chesapeake Bay wind readings aren't good enough: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=fwyf1). Everyone is wiped, tomorrows forecast is for more 20+ kt condition but at close reaching angles. I expect the kites will remain in the bag until Wednesday or Thursday.

Finish order:
M20
F20C
Waveyhaven on the ex. Ronstan Rocket F18 Infusion, in touch with the F20C
Royal Yellow, N20
Ding, F18 C2
SMS Racing, Chris & H.M N20, Open 20 sail plan
Turtle Mojo, Dick & Mark, Cirrus R F18
Team Cat Fever, Todd Hart & Dalton, C2 F18 (my boys forgot to do their P.T before committing to the race).

Not sure who came in after that, the Hobie Tiger I believe was last to the beach. Royal White sailed the same distance but to Hobie Beach for a pullout due to illness.

He's such a sensitive boy.

I'm confused....Sam is racing in the Florida 300?...and Catacup?
Yes, I'm a little more than "arm chair" after doing 2 Tybees and 11 GT300's (one of which had us beam reaching in 35-40 knots of breeze on the 105 mile leg, which broke apart more than a handful of boats).


That's no Bay Sailing Cake Walk for sure but not the crisis you think it is.


Fixed it for ya.

Below are the race results:

Day 1 Race Results >>>

OK b!tches it wasn't blowing that hard and it was quite pleasant at the start. But the chop was relentless and it appeared to pay if you worked the shore and flatter water. As the day wore on the breeze picked up. Plus the route presented some interesting obstacles. The washing machine coming out of Biscane Bay was not fun and seemed to go on forever. Oh the wind never came off the nose for us. We didn't have to tack as much but it was still a grind and the chop was relentless, not brutal by any stretch it just ground you down.

Tomorrow is another day and we're showing breeze so grandpa needs to sleep now.

Later B!tches

Edit; I fell asleep before I hit the send button and I didn't finish is my beer...damnit!

My crew (brother bob) and his support staff will be posting go pro footage from yesterday later today. It's a bit boring because grandpa is driving but it's something to do besides working. Go to solarwind.solar for the video links. All feedback on form and execution will noted and put to good use. Mr. Jay I'm looking forward to your feedback the most :-)

Ummmm...yeah. Remind me how many Tybee 500's you sailed in? Kid needs to learn some manners. Besides, it was only a 55 mile leg, you sailed half of it inside the reef, and there are two 65 year old dudes in this thing that aren't complaining (wait, how old is Ding again?).

You also need to remember that the only data we have is a tracker that pings every 10 minutes or so. They were showing between 6 and 7 knots of boat speed so either there was a lot of tacking going on that the pinger wasn't capturing at that resolution or something. Sorry you had a tough day, cupcake.

For any regatta organizer, that is the best news at the end of the day. Great job Craig (and team), looking forward to a great remainder of the regatta.

Obviously, great job by all the competitors as well. I hope the illness isn't serious.

Mike

Sam, let us not get into a dick measuring contest here. While I'm fairly confident in my sailing resume (most of being outside beach cats FWIW) versus yours - I'm even more sure that it pales in comparison to Jakes and other commenters here.

Sack up son - that was only 55 miles. I've done that upwind slog in chop for 120miles from Jupiter to Cocoa. That was pretty tough too.

"Live feed from Google Glass"!? Dude, your brother is a grade A geek. Awesome.

OK guys - I used the word 'brutal' that started this pissing contest. Not being there it was probably a mistake.

I had seen a wind forecast of 20+kts out of the NNE, took a look at the map and decided it would be a very tough uphill slog in reasonably large waves. That in conjunction with rip current warnings for Miami Beach prompted the 'B' word. I am sure there have been worse conditions.

FWIW, today looks great. Wind direction should be ENE at around 17kts.

Nah, that's not what started that - Sam's demeanor was the issue. It does appear that it was a much rougher day than was indicated by tracker speed and some of the (irregular) wind data I saw. I might even agree that it was "brutal"...but it was most certainly not the worst sailing day in Tybee 500 history.

Looks like they're off. Kirk is hauling the mail at 12knots while Marspeed's tracker is of course, not updating :P

Looks like the breeze is about 12mph and is going to stay steady out of the NE for most of today building up to 18mph around 5pm. Should be pretty close to a one tack day but close hauled and double trapped. With the day they had yesterday, those without really comfortable trapeze systems are going to be certainly feeling it tonight after two days of upwind trapeze work. Hopefully they're taking steps to make sure they stay fed and hydrated on the wire - this is really important when you have subsequent days with extended trapeze work.

Given the wind forcast for today, I would expect the teams to stay very tight to the beach just outside the sandbars and breaking surf so they can get the advantage of a little more easterly angle on the breeze (the breeze will likely bend a little more northerly further off the shore line). It will be an upwind drag race and the semi-lifting foils on the Marstrom (Marspeed) and the Nacra Carbon 20 (Key Sailing) should provide a nice speed advantage today. Boat speed will be king today and most of that will come from the fine trimming of the main sail through the gusts and waves to keep a hull flying and the sails efficient through the air. The F18 is pretty refined for upwind work compared to the older sail and hull shapes on the Nacra 20. We should see the Marstrom/Carbon 20, F18s, and Nacra 20s hit the beach in roughly this order today.

The wind should clock further east over the next couple of days. They may be able to use their spinnakers some tomorrow. That leg to Vero Beach should be really quick.

All 11 boats are off. Two Spots not tracking. There was a bit of a tangle at the start but no casualties. We will try and post the footage. Lighter day today and was able to fly the drone. No tacking needed today.

Tracking Link:
http://kws.kattack.com/GEPlayer/GMPosDisplay.aspx?FeedID=1234