2009 Doublehanded Leg Notes

• 30 JUNE  - I would like to thank those that have helped make this event a success:
In Bermuda:

Brian Oatley - Commodore, Event Coordinator & Dockmaster at SGD&SC, MC'd the awards in Bermuda, towed several boats into St. Georges'.
Verna Oatley - Came back out of retirement to take money for dockage, etc.
Frank - Vice Commodore and provided his boat for the Race Committee for the start out of Bermuda
Jane - Office Manager who helped us out continuously
Bartenders - Who put up with us during our stay

In Newport:
Ted Singsen - Safety Checks Chair, Duty Station on return and Offshore Committee member
Jeff Spranger - Safety Checks, Trophies and Offshore Committee member
Pat Clayton - Trophies, Duty Desk and Offshore Committee member
Mal Kaull - Offshore Committee Social chair, provided food for all the events and on Race Committee
Kris Wenzel - Skipper's Representative and Offshore Committee member, drummed up sponsorship which helped completely pay for the iBoatTrack devices so that there was mo cost to the skippers, and the social director in Bermuda
Bill Sauer - Photographer at Newport start and awards and Offshore Committee member
Charlie Wright - Commodore Goat Island Yacht Club and Offshore Committee member
Dave Del Nero - Race Committee
John O'Toole - Race Committee
George Houlihan & NYC Staff - For putting up with us for the month of June
I would also like to thank Horizon Marine and their wonderful iBoatTrack tracking devices and website which has made the Bermuda One-Two more of a spectator event and a safer event.

Last but no least, all the sailors that participated to make this year's Bermuda One-Two a wonderful and memorable event.

Some highlights:
- Perseverance was hit by a whale 10 miles from the finish in Bermuda. Robert spent 2 hours analyzing his situation then was able to continue but only able to make small helm changes and actually won his class on both elapsed and corrected times!  Robert took the rudder out once in the slip at St. George's Dinghy & Sports Club and was able to cut a wedge off of the top of the aft end of the rudder (post was bent backwards) and bolted the trailing edge of the rudder which was opened up by the hit.  Several skippers donated their West Systems Repair Kit which was donated to the race by Gougeon Brothers for Robert to seal up the rudder.  Robert was able to race back with this "fixed" rudder and ended up in 2nd place in his class.  Robert was very happy he didn't have to try to get a new rudder while in Bermuda.
- Palangi breaking his boom not long after leaving Bermuda
- Roy Greenwald on Cordelia slowed down for 1.5 hours so that Eko could catch up when Roy passed a butane lighter to Eko so Katie could light her stove.
- New comers Jonathan Green and Alex Mehran took home lots of trophies
- Lots of broken equipment, auto pilots, blown out sails, etc. on return leg which the start was delayed one day due to the tough looking low south of New England
- The return leg was agreed upon by the veterans to be the toughest leg they have run into due to weather
- Acadia broke both dagger boards but was still able to win the mini class.
- Jay Sharkey on Carbon Neutral had trouble the first night out from Newport when both rudders broke and his mast fell down when the forestay let go
- Brian Guck on Curlew stood by for Jay Sharkey
- Lots of family teams for the return leg
- Great time in Bermuda thanks to Skippers' Rep Kristen Wenzel setting up an entertainment schedule

27 June 1600-1800 - 2009 Bermuda One-Two Awards was held at the Newport Yacht Club.  About 70 people showed up  including Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano, Commodore Newport YC: Norm Bailey and Chairman of the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee Robin Wallace.  Mal Kaull, Rosa Tysor and Jennifer Tysor provided the food.  Betsy McClintock and Ted Singsen kept me straight during the awards.

26 June 2100 - Palangi finished at 2003 and showed up at the Newport Yacht Club to a rousing cheer from the Bermuda One-Two skippers and crew.

26 June 1400 - All have finished/arrived except Palangi who we expect about 1800.

26 June 0600 - More boats finished during the night; Choucas, Relentless, Weatherly, Frogger, Ariana and Kontradiction.  Five more to go; Pogo Loco, Panacea and Bluebird this morning early, Curlew early afternoon and Palangi may finish early Saturday morning..

25 June 2300 - Curlew emailed "We have had a beautiful day of sailing today. The wind was NE most of the day between 5-12 kts. We carried the Asymetrical spinnaker for a good part of the day and then went back to the Genoa as the wind went to the N and NW. The sun is now setting as we are loosing our wind again. We need to keep going through the night in order to finish on Friday. The forecast SW wind for this afternoon never appeared. Maybe it will come in overnight and kick us along. We will have an excellent angle for Newport on a SW wind. We saw lots of dolphins today, interesting birds, some fishing boats and lots of fishing gear in the water. We are now crossing the shipping lanes into NY and have three large ships either in sight or on the AIS screen. There are only four boats left in Class 4 that can finish this race. We don't know where anyone else is at this point so we have hopes for bringing home a bowling trophy. We will let you know in the morning how we went overnight."  Bluebird emailed "if winds hold, we expect to arrive at NYC tomorrow AM and hope for a slip. No radio contacts with anyone in last couple of days."

25 June 2000 - The following boats have finished recently: Warriors Wish, Bent and Choucas.

25 June 1410 - Wildeyes finished 1408.

25 June 1000 - It's been hectic and haven't been able to update the website.  A bunch of boats have finished/arrived: Acadia finished 0222, Dirigo finished 0404, Perseverance finished 0655, Josephine finished 0944.  Mirari and Mala have arrived.  The following communications were received.  Frogger called last night with wind about 3kts N and they have talked to Pogo Loco about .5 nm away.  Warriors Wish called this morning to tell us that he is at 41 09N 071 28W becalmed.  Arian called to say he is ghosting along at 3 kts NE breeze  61nm away.  Nimros phoned in that he is motoring the rest of the way (in fog) in and expects to be by mid afternoon today.  We have had several conversations with DragonJ and John's wife Bonnie.  John hurt knee during this leg of the race.  John's knee and foot have swollen.  He has turned on the motor to get to Newport asap to get medical attention. Robin said that they will be in around 6pm today.  Weatherly emailed "Hello, found the no wind center again. We are at 12:12 on 6/24 39.46N 069.21W and doing circles. Send wind."  Curlew emailed "Dave went up the mast again this morning at 0830. He is now down at 0905 and has had success getting control of his fore triangle back. The furling swivel is still stuck at the top of the foil but he has the halyard on the head of the sail and is able to raise and lower sails on the foil. He did a great job this morning. We were close enough to see the entire show.  He should now be able to set a larger Genoa and improve his speed to R 2.  We are moving well with a full may and A Sym pulling us along in a nice NE breeze. The forecast we got this morning predicts SW 10-15 coming in this afternoon and evening and holding through Friday. Palangi and Curlew should both be in sometime Friday if this holds and the forecast is correct."

24 June 1330 - Jeroboam called in to say he finished at 1327 almost an hour after Aggressive.

24 June 1140 - Aggressive finished at 1132, the first non Class 40 boat to finish.  Great leg!

24 June 1000 - Aggressive called in to say they are 8.1 nm from finish and close to fetching R2. Most everything is either repaired or a backup; very tough trip.  DragonJ called to say he has no wind and doesn't like the prediction of light wind.  Wildeyes called in also with no wind, 60 nm from finish, lost autopilot yesterday.

24 June 0800 - Warriors Wish called at 40 19N 71 19W, 66 nm from finish in flat water 6kts wind.  Frogger called with mostly no wind 136 nms from finish. Curlew emailed "Spoke Palangi this morning. We have 5-8 kts of wind from the SW, seas calm with rollers.  We passed Palangi during the night. Dave's LED masthead light is very bright.  Palangi is sailing with heavy No. 3 and trysail - going slow in this light air.  Dave can't get his No. 3 down as the furler swivel has jumped off the foil at the head of the foil. He is going to have to go up the mast to fix that and has decided to wait until he is in Newport for that. He is clearing up a lot of tangled halyards. Everything seems fine onboard. Sydney has movies but no popcorn!
Curlew has gone "live sheets" as we are trying to catch Bluebird which we can see ahead and to windward. His AIS transponder is giving us lots of great information on his speed and angle to the wind.

24 June 0500 - Toothface finishes at 05:11!  Slow out there.

23 June 2000 - Bluebird emailed "06/23/2009 05:56:57 EDT 38° 00.15' N  68° 21.71' W Greetings, all- happy to report that we have exited the Stream finally, although we still have some oppositional current- but the squalls and large waves are gone. We are sailing under full main and staysail. We lost our #1 jib, shredded, then overboard when we tried to get it in. We will set the #2 in a bit. Winds moderate 15 K from the NW, still not ideal for fetching Newport. Gone are the deep blue waters- still not the stony gray of the Continental Shelf, something in between. No longer hot and muggy as well. We must be making progress! We are in good spirits, eating and resting and will clean up the boat today- I won't begin to describe what the interior looks like! There is a lot of wet clothing hanging about..."  Curlew emailed "Good news on Warriors Wish. Weatherly went by us this morning and they seem to have things sorted out. We had a good radio chat. Barb is happy to be going in the right direction. They are on the correct course for R "2" and will beat us in. No contact with any other boats. We have a nice W wind at 15 kts right now which is allowing us to lay Newport at 6.5 kts. The forecast is for it to go to the N at 20 kts which also might allow us to lay Newport. We have 232 nm to go. All well here. The only thing we have managed to break so far are three sail slugs in the main."  Bluebird emailed "06/23/2009 05:56:57 EDT 38° 00.15' N 68° 21.71' W Greetings, all- happy to report that we have exited the Stream finally, although we still have some oppositional current- but the squalls and large waves are gone. We are sailing under full main and staysail. We lost our #1 jib, shredded, then overboard when we tried to get it in. We will set the #2 in a bit. Winds moderate 15 K from the NW, still not ideal for fetching Newport.  Gone are the deep blue waters- still not the stony gray of the Continental Shelf, something in between. No longer hot and muggy as well. We must be making progress!   We are in good spirits, eating and resting and will clean up the boat today- I won't begin to describe what the interior looks like! There is a lot of wet clothing hanging about..." Bluebird emailed "06/23/2009 05:56:57 EDT  38° 00.15' N 68° 21.71' W. Greetings, all- happy to report that we have exited the Stream finally, although we still have some oppositional current- but the squalls and large waves are gone. We are sailing under full main and staysail. We lost our #1 jib, shredded, then overboard when we tried to get it in. We will set the #2 in a bit. Winds moderate 15 K from the NW, still not ideal for fetching Newport. Gone are the deep blue waters- still not the stony gray of the Continental Shelf, something in between. No longer hot and muggy as well. We must be making progress! We are in good spirits, eating and resting and will clean up the boat today- I won't begin to describe what the interior looks like! There is a lot of wet clothing hanging about..." Cordelia emailed "It is with extreme disappointment that Cordelia announces that effective 2010 on 6/23 we have withdrawn from the race due to commitments at home and gear failures (as well as how slowly we are going!). We plan to head directly to Marion, MA and do hope to attend the awards dinner." Curlew emailed "Just had VHF traffic with Palangi, Nimross, Blue Bird & Mirari. Palangi has broken his boom and is trying to sail with trysail and storm jib. Nimross is motoring as he blew out his main and Genoa on Sunday night in the frontal passage. Mirari is sailing, or becalmed like Curlew, but has blown out his new auto pilot. Curlew is sailing again at 4-5 kts in a very light SW wind. We have broken only three plastic sail slugs on the main which I will replace once we are becalmed again. Blue Bird was sailing slowly. It is foggy and damp here and the water temp is down to 69F. We have a current with a set of 194 Mag and a drift of 2.1 kts which is not helping our progress." Toothface called in that they are 27 miles out but expect to finish around 0100 on 24th.  Acadia called to say NW 10 kts broke 2 dagger boards.  Mala called with his position at 1910 40 06N 75 50W heading NW.

23 June 0800 - Warriors Wish called in to my surprise.  The EPIRB was washed over by a wave.  They are OK and doing great.  They are at 39 02N 69 25W 169nm out in N winds. Kontradiction called that the winds have died down "light and variable".  Ariana called that he has WSW 15-18 kts moving 8 kts however only 6 kts over the ground.  Had a problem with taking on water the past 2 days evidently from the anchor locker (2nd boat to say that).  Was worried but much better now.

23 June 0330 - Dragon finished about 0311 this morning.  Curlew emailed "We just came upon Weatherly headed south in the Gulf Stream. They seem to have had some instrument failures - GPS.  We gave them their position and course to Newport, etc. They thought that they were out of the GS but I estimate we have at least 40nm more to go before the North Wall. We are at 37 42 N and 67 49 W and Weatherly is following our stern light until they overtake us."

23 June 0100 - Glory received an email saying that he hired a tow into Nantucket and is staying there until Friday.  Jay is fine and said he learned a lot during his 17 day excursion.

22 June 1920 - Coast Guard received one EPIRB alert from Warriors Wish, no GPS fix.  Talked to CG and passed info to them.  CG talking to Don's wife.  His tracker is not working.

22 June 1930 - Cutlass finished first at 18:57.  Cordelia called in with 25 kts NW with 1 knot against him in a warm eddy.  He was stuck in the Gulf Stream for 2 hrs with no wind going backwards 2 kts before the wind came back up at 25 kts.  DragonJ called in with 20 kts N and bumpy.  Lost autopilot 50 nm out of Bermuda.  Has heard from Choucas and Relentless.  Kontradiction called with 22 kts N 6-8 foot seas. Taking on water on one tack evidently through the anchor locker, using manual pump, all ok.

22 June 1730 - Cutlass emailed "favorable wind shift! At least something is going our way with the weather. AND... we are still having fun!"  Flying Tiger called to say she was not making any headway and decided to withdraw and start heading home to Cape May.

22 June 1515 - Wildeyes called that he is headed west with wind 30 kts N.  Not expecting to finish until next night.  Mala called to give his position at 1515, 38 09N 068 57N.  Frogger  called to say that the night was eventful, plenty of wind, squalls, rain 30 kts N.  Recently exited the Gulf Stream and now in 3 kts of wind in sunny dry conditions.  Acadia called but was unable to leave a message due to sat phone connectivity issues.  Weatherly emailed "we are at 37.25N 068.20W @ 12:00 Monday. All is wet but well."

22 June 0800 - Nimros called in that he is withdrawing.  His main was blown out during the night during squalls with winds up to 50 kts.  He is motoring slowly with a little Genoa showing and hopes to fix the main later.  Now he is seeing 25-30 kts.  Dragon stated that his tracker fell off the stern but still attached via a lanyard and thus may not be working which appears to be true.  He is at 40 03N 070 39W doing 8 kts at 320.  The winds are 20-30 kts N. Doesn't want to venture to the stern right now during the rough stuff. Flying Tiger had a completely different report, 10 kts NW currently with sunshine all of a sudden but clouds all around he.  They got out of the Gulf Stream about 9pm yesterday.  The Gulf Stream was all squalls and horrendous.  She must be in the center of the low at the moment.  She said Relentless said that he is in 7 kts of breeze. Ariana called to say he was still in 22-28 kts NW heading NE but he becalmed in the Gulf Stream after being hit with 30-35 kts. Hasn't heard from any one. Bluebird emailed "Rough night- winds up to 46K- big seas. Better now, 20's, staysail only.Bluebird good, crew hanging in there. Calling Herb/Panacea in 1 hour.  Miserable night with NW winds in the 30's-unable to head towards Newport, have been going W for a bit. Winds moderating, hope to be able to tack soon. Will try to consult with Herb this AM. No radio contact with fleet since hailing Pogo Loco yesterday. Boat wet but sound, all systems ok. We are safe and hanging in there."  Curlew emailed "We have had 25-30 kts from the SW and 6-12' + seas overnight. We went through a monster electrical storm last night and had to heave to for several hours. Conditions are better right now with the wind around 20 kts from the SW. Seas moderating somewhat. We have the blade and two reefs in the main taking us north and west toward the Gulf Stream. The wind is supposed to shift to the NW and blow at 25 for too long. We are almost half way with 352 nm to go to Newport. The boat is doing very well, the crew are in good humor but starting to dream of showers."  Cutlass emailed "25-35 from 035 10 foot seas" They may finish later today.

21 June 2000 - Warriors Wish 20kts W 37 41N 67 45W, in Gulf Stream it was down wind across the stream.  Ariana 30 kts all day NW, squalls, rain, close to Gulf Stream, storm jib 4 kts.  Panacea (via Ariana) never saw it this bad.  Dragon 17 kts NE, cold and wet night, rough sea, broken stem.  Cutlass 15 miles in front of Dragon. DragonJ called to say that, on that horrendous night, they experienced high winds that topped out at 45 and both the jib and main blew out. He and Glen have another jib up and what is left of the main reefed at the 2nd reef. Other than that, they are fine.

21 June 1200 - Dragon called to say he had another spinnaker wrap that took 2 hours to unravel and he broke a tiller (has two), he is close hauled on the rhumb line but expects to be headed later today.  Hopes to finish around noon Monday if winds don't lighten much.

21 June 0800 - I heard from the following: Mala at 35 32N 66 38W @ 0615, DragonJ was 15-20 kts good sea state, now W 11kts calm sea state and a Bermuda Long Tail stayed on the cockpit for 20 minutes, Josephine 10 kts NE overcast, Ariana 27-32 SW but moving well (heard from Palangi who is having boom issues and Marari who is having head sail issues), Robin who is "hove to" but moving 3.5kts NE strong winds, broke auto pilot and then the windvane, Frogger had 30kts sustained gusts to 40 last night with 25 kts now.
Glory is in port on Nantucket, wonderful, big sigh or relief!
Received the following emails: Bluebird "Rough night- winds up to 46K- big seas. Better now, 20's, staysail only.Bluebird good, crew hanging in there. Calling Herb/Panacea in 1 hour." Cutlass "12 kts @208 deg   38,18n 68,17w ,bad squall at 0300. 30knots."  Bent "I heard a com yesterday suggesting a wide westerly approach to the stream. my gribs and surface analysis show the western approach will bring strong northerlies. I am on the rhumb line, currently headed, but expect a lift in about 6 hours. We will pass through the stream in the center of the lp and proceed east for a time and then tack for Newport. Only one boat in sight to the west, it may be bluebird. Took a pasting last night. We are lollygagging with the storm jib only and resting a bit. Going back up with the main as soon as I check weather." Choucas (indirectly from Bent) "On Choucas we are also close-haul edon the rhumb line .  We were east of it for a long time but now sailing towards the narrow spot on the Gulf stream... We will have strong wind tomorrow 30+ but it is the fastest route to Newport. We are sailing through the low...."

21 June 0500 - The following are 4 day weather charts from Bermuda Weather for the area south of New England; 6/22, 6/23, 6/24, 6/25

20 June 2000 - Dragon and Warriors Wish called in.  Dragon is planning on going East to tack back on to starboard for the finish.  Cutlass emailed "Cutlass is good. We cant get anyone on the VHF. A few miles from the stream. Looking like a night time crossing. We have 16 knots from 273 degrees and are doing 10 knots. Great 250 mile 24 hour run from 1300-1300."

20 June 1500 - The only person we heard from on the phone was Ariana.  Noonish Curlew sent an email saying it was a tough first night; SW the WSW 15-25 kts.  Then at 1400 received email from Bent that he is following the rhumb line with one boat in sight, probably Bluebird.  And then received another email from Curlew: "It has been a wet and rough start to the return race. Bill and I have covered 155 nm in our first 24 hrs, which is pretty good for the Curlew with only a 23'waterline. We have been broad and close reaching in a changing combination of SE, SW and WSW winds with velocities between 15-25 kts. Our speed has rarely dropped below 6 kts and has often been over 8 kts. We are hanging on as the ride is quite rough. No gourmet meals being prepared. Today we decided to change down to the smaller jib (blade) and headed downwind for a while to lower the Genoa, stuff it down the forward hatch and hoist the blade. We are happy with the change. The boat is sailing more upright and is much easier to handle. There are conflicting weather reports over the next few days. Herb Hildenberg in Montreal is predicting 30-40kt SW winds and my morning GRIB file is showing 15-20 kts SW winds for the next three days and then a serious blow up to 25 kts from the N and NW just as we approach the coast. It will be slow if we have to beat into 25 kts for the last day or two of this race.
We are in good humor and have plenty of food left.
We are out of radio range with the rest of the fleet.

19 June 1300 ADT - We got them off.  It was raining and the winds were 15-20 out of the SW fortunately which allowed them to easily sail out of the cut (however they do loose the wind on the far side of the cut for a while).  Drew Wood on WAFI informed us before the start that he has to bow out due to a broken goose neck which must have happened on the way here to Bermuda.  Katie Ambach on Eko decided to hang back with Drew to sail back together.