Fowey Light Distance Race
Miami, Florida
October 14, 2006
By John McKnight

October is undoubtedly my favorite month to sail. Each October the first of the plethora of the annual cold fronts creep down the Florida peninsula and bring us relief from the stifling humidity of summer. The days are still quite warm, but the stickiness is more subdued and less oppressive. The water is still bath tub warm in the mid 80s, so no wetsuits are required. The winds are good year round on Biscayne Bay and October never disappoints. The Rickenbacker Causeway beach is never too crowded in October like it can be in the summer months. It just seems that the best of all worlds culminate in this Halloween month to create the synergies for idyllic beach cat sailing in Miami. Thus, the stage was set for CABB's annual Fowey Light Distance Race.

The Fowey Light Distance Race is a classic for beach cats. The race started back in 1968 and has been held every year since. This was the 38th annual running of the event. The race course is deceptively simple. There is only one mark to round, Fowey Light. Fowey is about 13.5 miles from the start, making this a 27 mile round trip distance race as the crow flies. The race involves all the elements that make up for a good distance race. There are tides and currents to deal with going through the many channels of Biscayne Flats. There are shallows off Key Biscayne onto which you can run aground. There is open ocean sailing with waves to surf when the conditions are right. There are dolphins, sea turtles, and flying fish to see. The smell of the sea air permeates your senses. There are spectacular sights on the course. You pass not one, but two historic lighthouses during the race. First you pass the blindingly white Cape Florida Lighthouse, and of course the infamous Fowey Light which looks like a childs Erector Set project.

Fowey Light was built in 1878. This is ancient for Miami. I think the only thing in Miami, at the time, was a small outpost and village at the mouth of the Miami River. The lighthouse is a 110 foot tall structure made of cast iron. It is a testament to its design and construction that it has withstood the many hurricanes which have battered it over the years, including Category 5, Hurricane Andrew, which passed right over it in 1992. This is the turning mark for the race. It is awesome to glance up at this massive structure as you pass it during the race. If you want to see pictures of Fowey Light, you can do a search for Fowey Lighthouse or go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowey_Rocks_Light to see pictures and read its history.

Five boats turned out to contest the race. The boats that showed up were two Inter 20s, a Tornado, a Blade 16, and a Hobie 20. Jerry Wolfe was planning on attending with his Prindle 18, but had to abort his drive down to Miami when a trailer tire started smoking due to a fender rubbing on the tire. He spent the rest of the day on trailer repairs and wishing he were out sailing with us. A weak cold front had slithered through Miami the night before the race and the winds were out of the north about 8 to 10 mph. This made it an awesome day for the spinnaker boats. They were able to carry their chutes all the way to Fowey. The race started just south of the Rickenbacker Causeway and proceeded south down the bay, out through the Cape Florida Channel and into the ocean. The spinnaker boats loved this leg. They were flying. The two Inter 20s were particularly fast. Jay Sonnenklar and Jamie Livingston sailed one of the I-20s and Kenny Pierce and Terry Greene sailed the other. These two boats were almost perfectly matched in boat speed all day. They traded leads several times during the race and finished within 30 seconds after racing for two and one half hours. These guys are all top Inter 20 sailors and have extensive Tybee 500 experience. They did a literal horizon job on the rest of us mere mortals. Kenny said they had the lead on the return leg as they approached the flats, south of Cape Florida. He said they ran aground and gave up the lead to Jay and Jamie. He and Terry were never able to get it back.

This was really two races in one. The Inter 20s were having their race and the rest of us were having ours. The remaining three boats finished within 5 minutes of each other after three hours and 15 minutes of racing. Oriol and I were on my Hobie 20, the only boat without a chute, I might add. Wilder Robles was sailing his Blade F-16 with Emmanuelle Topiol. Emmanuelle is a student at the University of Miami and a member of their sailing club. This was her first CABB race. John Esquivel was sailing his Tornado with Casey Hill. Casey is also a student at the U of M. He is vice president of the UM sailing club. Both Casey and Emmanuelle work for the beach cat concessionaire on the weekends. They both said they thoroughly enjoyed the day of racing on the cats. It was good to have the Casey and Emmanuelle join us from the UM sailing club. Hopefully our association with the UM students will create more symbiotic relationships in the future.


It was a fun race. There was lots of action with many position changes during the day. The winds were more than adequate with single and occasionally double trapezing conditions. Wilder had his GPS going during the race. He has downloaded his track during the race to a web site. You can check out his track for the day at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/1161128551-17718-adsl-153-67-253.mia.bellsouth.net.html. It is very interesting to see the aerial view of Key Biscayne and his path overlaid. Dennis Mayer is a scientist and oceanographer who sent me the following website after hearing about the Fowey Light Race. It is the NOAA site for Fowey Light. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=FWYF1. This site gives the weather readings at the light in one hour increments 24/7. I looked at the website for the time when we rounded the light. The winds were 9 knots with gusts to 10 knots. The air temperature was 81.9 degrees and the water temperature was 83.8 degrees. They also give the water's conductivity number. Conductivity you say? That is what I asked Dennis. He sent me a lengthy explanation and I can guarantee you don't want to know what it is used for unless you are an oceanographer, and then you probably already know.

This is the Bottom line. The weather was good. The competition was keen. The day was a winner and so was everyone who participated. Congratulations to Jay and Jamie on their first place finish, boat for boat and corrected.

2. Ken Reid has recently purchased a Hobie 20 from Dan Lozano. Ken is excited about his new boat. He is in the process of fixing it up a bit before he sails it. Ken has sailed and raced a variety of boats in the past in California and the Chicago area. Ken is the newest CABB member and he is planning on participating in the CABB events in the near future. Ken needs a set of Cat Trax for his boat. If you have a set or know of a set for sale, you can contact him at H 305 476-0446. Ken's 10 year old son, Jamie, is an active Opti sailor with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Jamie is currently in the Green Fleet. Welcome to CABB Ken and Jamie!

3. The Fall Harvest Regatta is this weekend, (October 21 & 22) at the Miami Yacht Club. The Conch Cup is Saturday, October 28 at the Miami Yacht Club. The NOR's can be found at miamiyachtclub.net.

John McKnight
Commodore, Catamaran Association of Biscayne Bay (CABB)
(305) 251-7600
CABB Forum: http://www.catsailor.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=CABB