Only 11 boats showed up for what we think is the 9th annual running of this two-day, 100-mile race from Key Largo to Key West. But all 11 are highly experienced teams.

The race started at 10:00 a.m. today, Saturday, April 29, with 25 mph winds (over 20 knots)out of the Northeast. About half of the fleet started with spinnakers flying, and the other half were trying to get them up.

Rick got pictures at the start and is driving down to the Channel 5 Bridge to get more pictures as they pass under from the bay side of the Keys to the Ocean side. Maybe he will be able to post some of them later today when he gets home.

In my next post I will list the competitors and boats. It will take me a little while, so bear with me.

Dave Calvert of Calvert Sails hosts this race, and he will be taking the finishes at Marathon today and Key West tomorrow and calling them in to us to do the scoring.

We will try to post the first day results on this thread later today.

Stay tuned.

I really wanted to do this race. Maybe next year.

Here is the competititor list:

Mark Herendeen/Mark Murray, TORNADO
Carla Schiefer/Jack Jennings, MARSTROM 20
Eric Roberts/David Weir, ARC 22
Claas Vanderlinde/Bill Roberts, ARC 22
Scott Hubel/Jon Cruden, F18 TIGER
Larry Ferber/Jackson Smith, NACRA 20 (#460)
Steve Lohmayer/Jay Sonnenklar, NACRA 20 (Castrol 1)
Brian Lambert/Jamie Livingston, NACRA 20 (Castrol 2)
Chris Runge/Terry Greene, NACRA 20 (Castrol 3)
John Casey/Kenny Pierce, NACRA 20 (Team Tybee)
Marc Newlyn/Jim Barrett, NACRA 6.0 (#405)

They must be hauling A on that course with that wind. Too bad I had to miss it.

By the time the boats left Buttonwood Sound (where the start was)they were all dropping their spinnakers and reaching.

It is going to be interesting to see whether Rick can get to the Channel 5 Bridge by car before the boats get there.

NOTE: The Tiger with Scott Hubel and Jon Cruden capsized very soon after the start. They had their spinnaker up at the time of the capsize. They righted their boat quickly and continued on, without using the spinnaker.

From the weather buoy reports, it sounds like where the boats are right now it is blowing about 23 knots.

12:30 p.m. report:
Carla Schiefer on the Marstrom 20 broke down soon after the start and has pulled out of the race.

As of 11:30 the order of boats going under the Channel 5 Bridge were:

1 Tybee (John Casey/Kenny Pierce)
2 Tornado (Mark Herendeen/Mark Murray)
3 Castrol 1 (Steve Lohmayer/Jay Sonnenklar)
4 Castrol 2 (Brian Lambert/Jamie Livingston)
5 F18 Tiger (Scott Hubel/Jon Cruden)
6 Nacra 20 (Larry Ferber/Jackson Smith)
7 Castrol 3 (Chris Runge/Terry Greene)
8 Nacra 6.0 (Marc Newlyn/Jim Barrett)

Team Tybee had a 2-mile leada over the second-place boat. The Tornado had a two-mile lead over the third-place boat. Castrol 1 had a two-mile lead over the fourth-place boat. Castrol 2 had a two-mile lead over the fifth-place boat.

And from there on they were REALLY spread out.

We are not sure about the ninth-place boat, but it has to be one of the ARC 22's. It came under the bridge flying jib only.

Only one boat unaccounted for -- the other ARC 22.

Tybee on the beach about 15 min ago.

After flipping on the way in!!!

Go Kenny & JC

NEWS FLASH:
Castrol 3, with Chris Runge and Terry Greene, is being pulled to shore on the ocean side by a fishing boat. No details yet, but apparently there is boat damage and at least one of the sailors became separated from the boat. Boat and sailors are reunited and everybody is safe.

NEWS FLASH 2: The ARC 22 that went through the bridge under jib only was the one with Claas Vanderlinde and Bill Roberts. The ARC 22 that is still unaccounted for is the one with Eric Roberts and David Weir.

UPDATE: The person who was separated from the boat was Chris Runge. From a very spacey cell phone message from Terry Greene, it sounds like Chris was rescued by Bill Roberts on the ARC 22 and returned to Castrol 3, which was then pulled to shore by a fisherman. The Coast Guard checked them out somewhere in the process.

It also sounds like Terry Greene was somehow entangled in lines and had to cut himself loose. Again, this is all from very hard-to-understand cell phone communications. (Maybe this will give you a flavor of what it is like to be the ground phone communication site for these distance races.)

Still no word about Eric Roberts/David Weir on the other ARC 22.

So far seven boats have finished at Marathon. Only nine boats are still in the race, so the only two boats that have not finished are the two RC 22's.

The RC 22 with Claas Vanderlinde and Bill Roberts is expected to finish soon, under jib alone. And the other RC 22 with Eric Roberts and David Weir is still unaccounted for.

hope those guys are alright, I know they are experienced, but thats one big butt ocean. please let us know as soon as you hear

you know how it gets out there power dave. Even if you are experienced, things happen that you can't control.

Here's to hoping the sailors are safe and unharmed.

Is there any word on the other RC 22 with Eric and David?

According to Noodle over at 1design.net, all racers are accounted for. The rest of his message, as is typical, is a little difficult to interpret.

Mary was having trouble posting but e-mailed me last night that Eric and David on the other ARC 22 pulled out yesterday morning on the bay side of the Keys. She didn't know know exactly when or where or why. This is just secondhand information from the race organizer. But they are okay.

I'm a little ways north of there, and the wind was SMOKING all weekend, perhaps a bit too stiff, but then it's better than dead calm or light air, eh?

The kiteboard crowd was in heaven, but equipment failures kept my buddy and his N6.0 (and me) on de beach...

Sorry I wasn't able to continue posting race reports, but as of Saturday afternoon we lost our ability to post anything to our own forums for about 28 hours. Really weird. Chip Short was able to correct the problem Sunday evening, but none of us knows why or how it happened.

Murphy was haunting us all last week. He first attacked power boats and then our web site -- I hope he is gone, at least for another year.

1) N20 Tybee John Casey/Kenny Pierce
2) Tornado Mark Herendeen/Mark Murray
3) N20 Castrol I Steve Lohmayer/Jay Sonnenklar

I will get full results and story up this afternoon.
Rick