Here are two stories that I received from the very windy Hogsbreath-Keys 100 race that took place April 29 and 30. Mark Herendeen and Terry Greene were good enough to pass along their sagas. If anyone else who participated would like to tell their tale, I will be glad to pass it along. I heard there were other capsizes and crew/boat separations. Terry Greene's story shows how things can go bad in a hurry. All it takes is one little equipment failure and all hell breaks loose. Through his quick thinking, seamanship, and external help, a near disaster was averted. Kudos to Bill Roberts for the rescue. Mark story is of a very fast ride on his Tornado. Check out catsailor.com for some great pictures and the final standings.
John McKnight
(305) 251-7600
CABB Forum:
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Hogs Breath 100 Distance race
Inter 20, Terry Greene and Chris Runge
The weather was supposed to be NE at 15 to 20. It was all that and a little more. We started at 10am Saturday with 50 miles to go, 30 miles dodging sandbars and small islands on the bay side of the keys and 20 miles in the ocean. We thought the start was going to be more of a jib reach but at the start most boats got their chutes up quickly. The bay side turned into a perfect sleigh ride. I was all the way on the back corner of the port hull, one foot in a strap and a line in my belt tied to the rear gudgeon. I was well strapped in, very able to sit back and enjoy the ride working the puffs with the spinnaker. We let the spinnaker feather rather then take it down when we hit the few channels. We were having a really great sail and made it past Peterson Bank, when suddenly our tiller bar broke in half at the hotstick. Anyone make a floating hotstick? We immediately flipped and a couple of fishermen seeing our crash came over and offered assistance. We were able to get a handle off a small net and attempt a repair, but the handle was too small and the tape gave out after a few hundred feet and we flipped over again. This time after another fisherman gave us a deck brush. The long handle worked great, we were able to use the rest of our tape and some zip ties to make a second repair. It was now a reach to the bridge at an incredible 22+mph. The repair worked well for about half an hour, until we got under a big cloud two miles south of Channel Five Bridge. A gust twice as big as we’d experienced all day hit just as I was getting the spinnaker back out. With the hot stick gone Chris wasn’t able to hike and that gust threw us over very violently. I hit the boom and luckily didn’t break any ribs. Chris was thrown clear of the boat and had to grab a rope and swim hard to make it back. We got the boat righted but I was hooked on the mast rotation line under the trampoline and after two attempts to free myself finally had to take off my lifejacket. With Chris’s help I was able to get on the boat but the current and wind combined to make it impossible to get Chris back onboard. His grip finally let go and he wasn’t able to grab the mainsheet or the righting line and was quickly out of my reach. The tiller bar had flipped all the way back when we righted the boat and I wasn’t able to reach it to turn the boat, so with Chris quickly floating away I grabbed the main sheet and pulled it in to flip the boat again. It was a slow flip and I was able to stay on top of the starboard hull. Keeping an eye on Chris, now about 100 yards away I was able to get to the cell phone and call 911. The Coast Guard was more concerned about me without a life jacket then Chris, even though I was on the boat. They dispatched a boat form Islamorada but didn’t tell me it would take 30+ minutes to reach us. I rigged a longer tow line and tried to slow the boat down by snagging a crab pot but missed. Next, I tried to tie up a corner of the spinnaker and use it as a sea anchor, we where drifting farther apart and I could only see Chris’s head between the crests of the waves. The Coast Guard called back and I let them know that I had about 15 minutes before the boat drifted into Long Key Viaduct. At this moment I could see a sailboat coming right for where Chris should be, I couldn’t see him anymore over the waves. Bill Roberts had taken down his Main sail and was bringing Chris back to the boat. The Coast Guard wanted me to get on the other boat but there wasn’t time as Chris jumped back in the water grabbing the tow line. After I got Chris back on the flipped boat we decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to right the boat because of the missing lifejacket. So we rode her a few minutes on her side until a fisherman came along and towed us away from the Viaduct to a sandy beach. The Coast Guard arrived and made sure we were safe and left us for another call. I usually carry a VHF radio, whistle, epirb, GPS, cell phone, throwable float and first aid kit and some tools. But I was only able to use the phone that was in the pouch in the center of the trampoline. You can’t use anything in the hulls. The fishermen, our closest help, never heard our whistling over the wind and didn’t have a VHF. I guess you have to stack the deck in your favor and hope you never have to play the last card. Castrol’s ground crew showed up, eager to help, and we took the boat down. We have nothing but praise for the fishermen who helped. Thanks again.
Terry Greene
2. Tornado, Mark Murray, Mark Herendeen
Both days were a slay ride. Each day provided moment after moment to pitch pole. We had one foot on the throttle and the other on the brake. Seemed like trying to slow down was more dangerous to keep the speed up. The boat was on rails, top speed 27mhp, yes...27. It only happened once but it was fast. Most of the time speed range from 17mph to 22mph. Consistent gusts lasting several seconds was 22mph. We just kept pushing. Only error really, on a long distance race like this, was letting JC/Kenny get too far away on angles. And not covering them when we were all jibing back in forth lining up for the run to make the pass under the Channel 5 bridge. After that we tried to run 'em down & started to have lots of rudder kickup issues. Just could not catch them; with the Tornado and Nacra 20 similar in many aspects, you need to keep it close to capitalize on the little extra speed the Tornado gives you. At the end of the day we were 2nd fastest and a well earned trophy and finally after 6 years of trying, I have a Hogsbreath trophy.
Mark
