2011 Doublehanded Leg Notes

25 June 1900 - The awards was held at the Newport Yacht Club and about 70 people attended.  Lots of trophies were given.  See the results page for the awards given during the ceremony. another Bermuda One-Two is over!  See you in November for the Skipper's Party.

23 June 1510 - Sharkey has finished!  And he was very excited about it.  All boats have finished now!  Phew!

23 June 1330 - Nimros called that he has finished at 12:58 and Jay Sharkey called that he is making progress however very slow.  He is about 4.9 nm from the finish going against the tide and wind. but he is determined to finish.

23 June 1115 - Jay Sharkey on USA-415 called to say he is 8 nm from the finish but he is only making 2 kts toward the finish.  His rudder is barely hanging on but he is determined to make it to the finish.  He wasn't aware that his tracker hasn't been working since 7 pm yesterday.

23 June 0200 - Strummer and Pogo Loco have finished.  It's foggy out there.

22 June 2000 - Panacea finished around 1630. Nimros called again to say he has been seeing quite the lightning show.  Nimros seems to be taking up his position at the back of the fleet again; light winds not so good for him since the chute doesn't come out of the bag.

22 June 0800 - The following boats have finished since Greyhawk: Dirigo, Aggressive, Beau Blue, OneGirl'sOceanChallenge, Kontradiction, Blue Bird, Windswept and Island Girl.  See the results.

22 June 0330 - Greyhawk has finished.  The preliminary doublehanded results have been posted.

21 June 2000 - Been kind of busy so sorry about not identifying the finishers.  After Toothface the following boats have finished: Samba, Resolute, Solarus, Sola Fide, Pastime, Flying Turtle, Choucas, Flying Tiger, Adhara, Ariana, Cordilea and finally Jeroboam at about 7pm.  Next group of boats may not be in till early Wednesday morning.
Windswept emailed: "The wind is at about 10 knots from the WSW. We are making between 6 and 7 knots over the bottom with our code zero spinnaker. If conditions hold, we should be arriving before dawn tomorrow. After drifting around for about 18 hours, the wind finally filled in around 7:00 this morning. Today is a beautiful sailing day. Bluebird is about 2 miles off our port beam. Kontradiction is 3.5 miles dead ahead. One of the minis is several miles to leeward. We heard Greyhawk hailing a large vessel on VHF a couple of hours ago. I never knew how much commercial traffic there was out here until I installed the AIS. We frequently see a dozen large ships at any given time. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the trawlers either don't have AIS or choose not to turn it on."
Greyhawk emailed: "Talked with Beau Blue, overhead Aggressive and Windswept. Also heard faint signals from Bluebird and Island Girl but not able to make contact. Winds SSW at about 5 knots, seas pretty calm, just under 40 miles to go."
Nimros called to say he has caught a fish!  First time in all the races he has done.  Even ate part of it.  He is a professional fisherman now!

21 June 0800 - Greyhawk emailed: "Talked with Aggressive (116 miles to go)-- it's still a drag race to the finish. Also talked to One Girl (120 miles to go) but she's a bit distant. Also just picked up a faint signal from Island Girl (140 miles out). We're at 108 miles to go, have 10 knots of wind from the SW and are making about 6 knots towards Newport. If this keeps up, we'll probably get in around 2 in the morning"

20 June 2000 - Greyhawk emailed: "Last night we had a chat with Aggressive, but that was all we heard. This morning the radio was silent. Mid afternoon we overhead Aggressive, Cordelia (finally back in range!), Beau Blue and Tyger Tyger, all complaining about the lack of wind -- it wasn't the designated chat hour so we have stayed quiet for now, not wanting to give away our position (although we are broadcasting on AIS because of the shipping in the area). We see a sail on the horizon off our port quarter which we assume to be Aggressive -- we're surprised that he apparently hasn't seen us."  He reports having seen a pod of whales one of which put on a show for them.
Resolute: Ruth Miller called to say that they have been able to start the motor and all is well.
Nimros called: He is ghosting along.

20 June 1540 - I guess Jay Sharkey on USA-415 saw the error in his ways and decided to continue on to Newport vice Virginia so he is still racing.

20 June 1210 - Our first finisher for the doublehanded leg from Bermuda is Toothface, Mike Dreese and Ken Luczynski, at 1201 for an elapsed time of 97 hrs 1 min with the next boat about 80 nm away.  Great job Toothface!

20 June 0800 - Kontradiction called that he is sunny conditions, seas 2-4 ft and winds 22 kts.
Tootface has called several times saying that he is trying to finish but the winds are extremely light.  He should finish by 1000 I would assume.
USA-415 - Jay Sharkey's father, John, called to say that Jay's boat broke a rudder and has decided to head towards Little Creek, VA thinking that would be easier sailing.  Both are fine and have enough food, etc.
Dirigo emailed: "Nothing new to report. We're cruising along close hulled. Seems either we're drifting or we have it on the nose this trip. All is well, however. Looking forward to finishing."

19 June 2000 - Windswept emailed: "Have had limited radio access to other boats. Speaking only to Flying Tiger in our class. All is well with both crews. Flying Tiger lost an Asymetrical yesterday and I lost my number four jib in a squall. Spent an hour at the bow today with breaking waves fishing the broken furling line out of the drum on the genoa and re-sewing the pieces together. Always knew that underwater basket weaving course in college would come in handy some day."
Dirigo emailed: "We're out of the stream and for a challenging 2 days with the wind on the nose and a nice squall, we're drifting around again in little wind. The latest gribs show 10 to 15 out of the north east to bring us home. Waiting for it to happen. All is well, cooking dinner, now."
Kontradiction called that he has fixed his autopilot and is doing much better.  The seas are 1-2 ft and winds 18 kts NW.  He is out of the Gulf Stream now.
Cordelia emailed: "All we have to say tonight is: Wind please don't die, oh please don't die. Oh please oh please oh please don't die. We are strapped in and heading for home right now."
Resolute's wife called to say that Resolute has engine problems so is minimizing electrical use but is continuing on and expects to finish.

19 June 1600 - Windswept emailed: "It was too rough to type yesterday. We didn't do the chat hour, but I did hear Ariana call Herb at about 17:30. He sounded as if he was very close to us. We are out of the stream and have lost the head current we have been fighting for the last three days. Progress should be better from here on. We just went through a 35 knot squall. I am writing to you in the calm after the storm."

19 June 0800 - Kontradiction called to say he lost his autopilot during the night and had to hand steer.  He is in the Gulf Stream and the winds were 30-33 kts and tough seas.  Now the wind is around 27 kts.  He has done some time hove-to but he wants to get out of the Gulf Stream before he can try to better investigate his autopilot problem."
Samba emaild: "All is well aboard. Spoke to Resolute this morning but that's it. They're doing fine. Passed our first Marion racer just now. Looked like a big boat so must be the front of the fleet....great....passing through them all day. Very happy to be out of the stream. We never saw more than 30kts but it was a very wet and bumpy ride with really confused seas."
Greyhawk emailed: "this morning we only talked with Aggressive, and we overheard Tyger Tyger.  Wendy here, Tim is finding it hard to be below, motion wise, I understand we will see how long I last. Please forgive typos I may not fix them. We have been moving along on a reach since yesterday - 6-8 knots! Our main is reefed. last night 11 ish we reefed the jib. it slowed us down a knot, but made it less scary. It amases me how fast we are moving through the water. It's been wet ride. A wave (6-10 ft. seas) comes up the side every 15 30 minutes- it's a warm wave. I just talked to Aggressive, sounds like were have made some time. He says it will be a drag race to Newport. I'm wondering how Cordilia is doing, we did not download any information last night. Tim had a flying fish join our crew from the windward side last night. After figuring out what it was,he was able to toss it back - this is doublehanded not triple. Right now we are in the middle of the Gulf Stream, current now more with us than against us. The auto helm is generally working well, we do have a hold-down line across the top of the tiller though."
Dirigo emailed: "Saw 3 ships last night. One was a drift and had to alter course to go around him. He said that he was having engine trouble. We are sailing in 18 to 20 kts of wind out of 324 and we're pretty close to the wind. We have a reefed jib and main and hoping to be able to reach off soon. Hard to move around in the boat. We're almost to our entry point of the stream and looking forward to getting across."

18 June 2000 - Toothface called that they had entered the Gulf Stream with significant waves and 26kts of wind.
Flying Tiger emailed: "Spoke with Sola Fide and cannot reach any other boats today. Amazing fun day taking advantage of the eddy we came all this way east for and sailing at eight to ten knots and more all day! Now we are in the stream and being punished with giant seas breaking across the bow and twenty to twenty eight knot winds. Puttering along under double reefed main alone until things calm down! Looking forward to the sunset, goodnight! "
Cordelia emiled: "Roy #1, We have surely been "hauling the mail" all day. Big winds, big waves, and big speed. Hitting over 10 knots now and then as we hit the eddy we were aiming for dead on. The only boats we have heard on the radio for over a day are all Class 1 so I guess we're doing okay. Gail was absolutely dead on in picking this route to the Gulf Stream. Foul currents for 15 hours and none or favorable the rest so far. We flew every sail in the locker as the wind clocked. Today has been all Genny, staysail and single reefed main. The first half of this race seems to have been a navigator' race. The second half as the makings of a drag race to the finish, with the key being reading the wind and no mistakes. Gulf Stream crossing tonight. We'll see what happens next!"
Dirigo emailed: "Still plugging along going pretty fast. 8's and 9's winds 324 @ 20 kts. Sailing along close reaching with a single reef in the main. Quit a contrast then the first day out. All is well. Still haven't heard from anyone. We haven't seen any other vessels either so far."

18 June 0900 - Brian Oatley tells me that Frogger came in before dark last night.  Chris Dowling was not in great pain (sciatic nerve), but enough to make a crossing much too uncomfortable and he’s worried it could get worse, especially if they continue.  Christian Reimer  (the owner) is working on getting someone to take the boat back for him.

18 June 0800 - Received the following emails.
Dirigo: It's an hour early I know but thought I'd check in while I'm doing a log entry. It's pretty slow going out here. Trying to keep the boat moving the best we can heading to the west of the rhumb to stay out of foul current, stay in wind and hopefully get to the stronger breeze early. HA! We'll see what happens. Thank goodness that we have plenty of sunblock! Haven't heard any other boats since we left Bermuda although we do see a boat on our stern on the horizon. Don't have any idea who it might be.
Greyhawk: Made contacts with: Ocean Girl -- doing well, trying not to wipe out. Pogo Loco -- hit something yesterday around 13:00 that took out the starboard rudder, they are continuing racing using the port rudder but under somewhat reduced sail.  Aggressive is  battling a head current -- the longest he's ever dealt with such. Island Girl all is well. no contact from Cordelia or Beau Blue. Overhead Panacea, Ariana, Tyger Tyger, Bluebird, and Sola Fide on the SSB. Raised Tyger Tyger but my signal was weak.
Tim, GREYHAWK where the wind is SSW at 15 and we've been experiencing a warm current of 2+ knots going SW perpendicular to our course.
Samba: Not much to report. Pastime is just next to me and we spent the night gybing and dueling which was fun. Lost track of Flying Turtle and have not heard from them this morning. Resolute is just a little in front of us and they're doing well also. Peter on Pastime is having trouble transmitting on VHF. I can see him but can't hear him. All is well on Samba...just trying to keep up with the big boats!!!!!
Dirigo emailed again: "Good news since last report. We have WIND! We're moving along at 7's and 8's SOG with winds 257 @ 15 kts reaching along for our entry point to the stream. Still haven't heard any other boats. All is well on Dirigo."

17 June 2000 - Samba emailed: "All is well. Heard from Resolute, Flying Turtle and Pastime. Everyone is doing well. Flying Turtle, Samba and Pastime are within in site of eachother which is pretty fun and should make for an entertaining night! Dark n' stormy looking night...no pun intended..."
Windswept emailed: "Tonight I spoke with Tyger Tyger, Choucas, Ariana, and Bluebird, all of whom were on or west of the rhumb line. I also heard from Panacea who has taken a more southerly route. Sola Fide called in their position (34 52N 65 08W) and reported that along with Flying Tiger, they were inadvertently headed for Nova Scotia. They expected to be back on track soon. Nothing was heard from Jeraboam, Nimros, or Strummer."
Greyhawk emailed: Tonight I talked with Bluebird, One Girl, Aggressive, and Island Girl on VHF. I also overhead a lot of chatter on 4012 KHz USB -- Tyger Tyger, Choucas, Ariana, Windswept, Panacea, and Sola Fide who also reported talking to Flying Tiger. There is a lot of talk about Herb Hillenberg's forecast -- possible gale force winds for the Gulf Stream... My SSB radio doesn't seem to be putting out a strong enough signal for anyone to hear."
OneGirl'sOceanChallange called to say she hasn't heard from anyone in her class.

17 June 1200 - Chris Dowling on Frogger called me to say that his back was hurting him and he decided to return to Bermuda as a safe move.  They are doing fine and expect to return to Bermuda late Friday night.

17 June 1000 - Frogger evidently is headed back to Bermuda.  I have put out some feelers however from the looks of it Bermuda will hear from them before us probably later this afternoon.
Greyhawk emailed: "I had conversations this morning with Bluebird (faint), Island Girl, and Beau Blue -- could not raise Aggressive of Cordelia, but I was late to the party and had my radio detuned initially (squelch up, volume down). I also overheard Samba (good signal), Pastime, Resolute, Strummer, Tyger Tyger, Ariana. On AIS, I am picking up Windswept, Kontradiction, and Bluebird. We do have several boats in sight on our eastern horizon. Currently Greyhawk is making 1/2 a knot in various directions but generally in the N to W quadrant, in about a knot of breeze from the SSE. There is a swell from the N, and there are some showers ahead if we can get to them."

17 June 0800 - I'm flying home this afternoon and will be on station at NYC Saturday morning.
Windswept emailed: It was a pretty slow night! We were sailing in convoy with Nimros, Strummer, and three Minis. Bluebird and Panacea tacked over fairly early in the afternoon. We tacked over when the wind shifted to the NE and are now in amongst the class 3 boats. Bea Blue is about a mile to leeward. The wind is still shifty, but we are making time with the code zero chute. Herb is talking about some stinky weather coming in on Saturday and Sunday. He advises going well west of the rhumb line. Naturally we are east of the line and seem to be making good progress directly towards Newport. I just can't make myself steer away from the finish line based on theories of currents and winds sometime in the future.
Samba emailed: "Thanks for a great start! It wasn't the prettiest spin set I've ever had but it sure was fun once we got it up and led Class 1 out of St. Georges! Smallest boat too! Everything is cool aboard but had a very slow and tedious night of sail changes. John Jay and I worked our butts off! "Heard from the following this morning: Resolute, Flying Turtle, Pastime Ripped their jib but its been fixed, Solarus. No word from the others.
Greyhawk emaild: "Last night and this morning, we were making as much progress back towards Bermuda or towards South Carolina as we were towards Halifax. In any case, we were not making much progress towards Newport! There was very little wind, and miscellaneous current, and we were left hunting and pecking. With the sunrise came a nice gentle breeze of 6 to 7 knots that allowed us to make way on our course, but as the sun climbs higher, that is now gone and we are left bobbing along as best we can. But it seems most of the rest of Class 3 is in a similar situation, and we are still ahead of Aggressive, Beau Blue, and Island Girl, Cordelia is well to the east and must be in different wind and current than the rest of us..."

16 June 1920 - Greyhawk emailed me the following: "This evening I made contact with Cordelia (who's way over the horizon to the east), Aggressive (in sight to my east), Island Girl (between Aggressive and Cordelia), and Beau Blue (who is behind me). That accounts for all the Class 3 boats. I also spoke with Windswept on VHF 72 and Panacea on 4012 KHz.I also overhead conversations or hails from Sola Fide (33:07N, 64:41W), Flying Tiger (33:02N, 64:46W), Resolute, Pogo Loco, Frogger, Pastime, Choucas, Tyger Tyger, and Strummer. I have Ariana, Windswept, Strummer, and Kontradiction on AIS, and have Ariana, Beau Blue, Jeroboarm (I beleive), Aggressive, Island GIrl, and an un-iidentifed boat from class 2 in sight. Winds are down to  under 10 knots still out of the WNW. There's a good swell running, but wind-waves have moderated."

16 June 1300 - And they are off.  29 boats had a successful start at 1100 EDT with a NW breeze from the St. George's Harbour and out the Town Cut.  We followed the minis out to the Spit then toured the little islands in the Harbour.  The only boat that didn't leave was Palangi due to Dave Sherman's scooter accident.  Dave is flying home Friday with Sydney.

15 June - Another update of the Gulf Steam from Frank Bohlen has been posted.  We took a picture of the singlehnaded skippers then realized 4 or 5 were missing.  Oh well.  We had a brief from Dr. Mark Guishard from Bermuda Weather Service.  We followed that with the Skipper's Meeting then Customs checkout.  Tomorrow is the start noon Bermuda time or 1100 EDT.

14 June - Started the night off with cocktail hour then with a Goslings Rum Tasting.  The Bermuda Awards were held downstairs while pictures from the Newport start, thanks to Carol Gaffney, were being projected on the wall behind the presenters.  See the Bermuda Awards page.
Dave Sherman had a scooter accident late afternoon and as a result he will not be able to sail back during the race.  Dave and Sydney will fly back Friday and come back to get Palangi when he is recovered enough to handle the boat.

13 June - This was a lay day allowing time for the skippers to work on their boats getting ready for the return leg.

12 June - After breakfast again put on by the Dinghy Club a good size group of scooters went to the Dock Yard then took a ferry back to Hamilton and drove back.  One elbow scrape and one leg scraped up were remnants of this trip.

11 June - The day started out with a continental breakfast provided by the St. George's Dinghy & Sports Club (which they have been doing since Wednesday).  Twenty of us went to the Blue Hole Park for a tour led by Patrick Paley.  We toured the forest there and observed several caves finishing off with swimming in a cave.  The water seemed warmer than back in 2007 when some of us did the same tour.  We finished the outing by having lunch at the Swizzle Inn.  Everyone pretty much split up at that point.  Ray Renaud and his daughter BJ and I went snorkeling at Tobacco Bay.  On the beach there was a plastic container with a sign warning that there was a Portuguese Man Of War in the container.  Thought nothing of it and promptly when snorkeling.  I got stung by a tentacle on my left ear and right wrist.  I was taken to the Hospital in Hamilton by Ambulance.  Not a pleasant experience the whole thing.  Made it back just in time to get some fish from the Fish Fry the Dinghy Club put on for us.

10 June - Last night we had a social at the Swizzle Inn.  27 signed up and we ended up with 33 on the upstairs outside porch.  Most of the boats showed up.  It was a great success; good way to get everyone talking to each other and start building relationships.  And talking we did.  We also had a few (alright a lot) of Rum Swizzles.  We hired a bus to pick us up at the Dinghy Club to take us to the Swizzle Inn and to return us so driving was never a problem.
The results were updated to to an error in the Fleet Corrected numbers of Flying Turtle and Jeroboam.

9 June - With all the boats in the final results are posted.  The social activity plans are in the making: tonight is the Swizzle Inn social, Friday is Happy Hour at the Dinghy Club, Saturday is a tour of the caves by Patrick and a Fish Fry with a Dark n'Stormy party before, Sunday plan is to take a scooter trip to the Dockyard, eat dinner there and take the high speed ferry back to St. George's.  Tuesday night starts with a Gosling's Rum tasting session then awards then steak dinner.