DOUBLEHANDED LEG NOTES

27 June - Awards was held at the Newport Yacht Club with about 60 people attending including Newport Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano and Commodore Stewart Abramson.  It was wonderful to see all the people and the comradery.

26 June 1700 - Final double handed and combined results are posted.

26 June 0054 - Nimros finished!  Last boat in!

25 June 3 finishers within 24 minutes of each other. Just Doug on Nimros is left (again :) ).
1544 806 finished!
1533 Windswept finished!
1520 Carina finished!

25 June 1400 - Windswept emailed "17 miles to go. I am right on course. I have the code 0 asymetrical flying!  You will never guess who I see about two miles ahead! I can spot those boats miles away after all these years of playing tag with Peter!  Of course you know who it is. You can see the trackers!" Carina

25 June 1300 - Windswept emailed "It feels as though the South Westerlies are filling in.  I have 22 nm to go and I am headed more or less in the right direction!  The computer now says I should be in by five tonight.

25 June 0800 - Windswept emailed "Last night started with a clean course to Newport, the boat doing 6-7 knots through the water, and about 70 miles to go. It was a clear night, the stars were bright, and there was enough of a moon to see the porpoises frolicking in the bow wave. Sounds pretty idyllic right!  Well, the wind started clocking ever so slowly, but by 2:00 AM it was evident I was not going to clear No Man's Land. the night degenerated into a fickle wind that ranged from just south of west to north east. There was always plenty of it to keep the boat moving fast, but at the end of each tack, it seemed to shift just enough to wipe out any gain that tack might have achieved.  So here we are, still 30 miles from Newport, with the wind now fairly stable at NNW, having lightened up to about 6 kts. I am making about 3.5 Kts. with a VMG of about 1.8 Kts. Mr. computer is now predicting about 10 hours to go.  The NWS is forecasting strong southwesteries for this afternoon. I hope they are right!  While I was writing this, I managed to boil over my chicken noodle soup, completely covering the stove. Sigh, at least I will have something to do after breakfast!"  Is Rick trying to compete with Mike Hennessy?

25 June 0715 - Draft double handed and combined results are posted.
Carina called in.  The finish looked in sight then the wind shifted and dropped.   Wind now NW about 6 kts.  His finish now projected to be about 3:30pm!

25 June 0400 - Windswept emailed "Well, the wind shifted to the NW again, so I had to take a long tack out into RI Sound.  Got tangled up (figuratively) with a trawler. Those guys can be real jerks! I guess they are just bored and torture sailboats as a sport.  42 miles to go."  Think Rick is counting down the miles to go?

25 June 0218 Trifion finished!  Engine wouldn't work, again, so they had to sail up to the yacht club.

24 June 2000 - Windswept emailed "I just got clear of the last of the friggin tidal currents in the Nantucket Shoals. Davis shoals, I think that was where the Offshore 160 used to turn until they took away the buoy!  I f the wind holds (like it hasn't for the past four nights), it is a straight shot to Newport from here. I am doing 6-7 kts. through the water. I have 70 miles to go. You might see me by daybreak. This might be my last report for two years!  If I decide to head straight back to Barrington, what is the deal with customs? I bought the sticker. Do I just call someone. There were many years that I just went home and didn't say anything!  See you tomorrow???
Carina called; nice weather winds 10 kts out of the NW.  Haven't heard from anyone.  Even though they are near Windswept and Nimros!

24 June 1407 - Halcyon finished!
24 June 1341 - Strummer
finished!
24 June 1122 - Tyche
finished!

24 June 0940 - Windswept emailed "I am about 107 miles from Newport.  Yesterday, I made great progress until about 9:00 PM when the winds increased to 28-35 kts and clocked around from the SW to the NW. They are now blowing directly from Newport!  First, I rolled up the big racing genoa and put up the #4 jib on the inner forestay. I also put the first reef in the main.  I ended up dropping the mainsail completely and sailing with just the #4 jib. Every now and then, a large wave would break over the boat and spin it around, freaking out the autopilot. so I would have to go up on deck and get soaked straightening things out.  Then the engine kept shutting off because there is so little fuel left in the tank that with the boat heeled over, the intake was sucking air. I finally hove to for an hour to charge the batteries. I have a spare five gallons of diesel deep in the cockpit locker, but I wasn't going to mess with that last night. I would have gotten gallons of salt water into the main tank.  Around 3:00 AM the water temperature dropped from 79 degrees to 63 degrees over the course of a mile, so I guess I am finally clear of the warm core eddy I have been riding for a day or so.  Because of the wind shift, I am now well off course. I am headed for Nantucket shoals and the main NY shipping lanes. As soon as I clear the lanes, I plan to tack over onto starboard to head back to the rhumb line.  I am running with a single reefed main and the #4 jib. after I send this, I plan to go to the full main and the big genoa. the winds are down to 15 kts, but there is still a nasty wave pattern that requires quite a lot of power to muscle through. I seem to have a foul current of about 2 kts that has my speed over the ground down to a dismal 3.5 - 4 kts.  I went up on deck this morning tired, cranky, cold, and generally pissed off and witnessed one of the best dauphin shows ever! There must have been 20 or 30. They came right up to the boat and tail danced! That really cheered me up.  They were also playing around with half a dozen birds (shearwaters ?) that have been following me since Bermuda. The birds would land in the water, and the dauphins would leap out on all sides of them. The birds seemed to go along with it 'cause all they had to do was fly away, but they kept landing close by and pretending to be all annoyed off when they got showered!  The weather forecast is for "light and variable winds" so I am not exactly sure when I will be in.  This is turning into an epic, or perhaps more of a saga!Rick out did himself this time. Must have a lot of time on his hands.

24 June 0728 - Dianthus finished!

24 June 0301 - Mirari finished!

24 June 0059 - Bluebird finished!
Mirari called in to say they are 4 nm out however dead in the water; no wind.

24 June 0034 - Team Wichard finished!

24 June 0000 - Scallywag called to say they are withdrawing and have started there motor and will be pulling into Newport.

23 June 2237 - Dianthus emailed "Dianthus is standing off shore due to the severe storm. Anticipate a 3-4 am finish. David"
Mirari InReach "wind died so it looks like another long one".
Kontradiction called; was low on fuel so he pulled into Menemsha, Martha's Vineyard for the night. They are safe and all bundled up in a slip for the night.

23 June 2100 - Pogo Loco safe at the dock.  They had no electrical power on the boat due to the wetness within the boat.  Quite the light show.  The boats south of us must be getting hit with rain, wind and lightning; my sympathies.

23 June 1800 - Team Wichard emailed "We are 17 miles from the finish and beyond ready to be finished! All is well on board. We just heard from Scallywag and they are about 6 miles behind us, we look forward to seeing them at the dock.  No response from Pogo Loco.  See you soon!
Windswept emailed "I am back to a single reefed main and the #4 jib on the inner forestay. It is gusting to 32 kts. from the SSW. I have been riding a warm core eddy all day long making up to 11.5 kts. over the bottom at times. The water temperature is about 80 degrees. I figure I will loose this push when I hit the continental shelf in about 30 miles. I am about 155 miles from the finish. My computer predicts I will be there in twenty hours if the current conditions persist. However, we both know that there is very little chance that they will! So expect me when you see me!

23 June 1750 Pogo Loco called.  12 nm out 13 kts wind.  Boat is sopping wet.

23 June 1442 Cordelia finished.  Gail is the navigator and thus does all the navigating on this leg.  However! Gail gave Roy one task back in Bermuda to put R2, the finish mark at the entrance to the Narragansett Bay, into the chart plotter. While they were going up the "bay" Roy2 (who had been sailing Narragansett Bay his whole life I might add) suddenly asked where the Newport Bridge was and instantly realized what happened.  He had put R2 off of Sakonet Point into the chart plotter vice R2 at the entrance to the Narragansett Bay and had not finished yet thus the excursion up the Sakonet River.  The one task Roy2 did for navigation!  A big oops! A first for the Bermuda One-Two!

23 June 1428 Island Girl finished! With Cordelia hot on her heels.

23 June 1300 Mirari InReach "Lost the Asym spin halyard. Recovered the sail in record time. Sailing on full main, full genny, full mizzen. Gooseneck completely severed but lashings are holding boom to mast, not pretty but it's working. Barreling along at 7.5 on straigh track to newport. 78"

23 June 0823 - Aggressive finished!

23 June 0722 - Meridian finished! Said there was a little bit of everything in this leg but glad to be finished!

23 June 0700 - Cordelia called in with wonderful stories.  When the wind died yesterday morning there was about .5 kts of current taking him away from the finish so he dropped his anchor in about 150' of water; he had to add extra line.  Figures it saved him 1 hour in time.  Then when the breeze started to overcome the current he had to wait for the wind to set him into a position that he could put up a sail. Decided to put up an old asym without the main so it wouldn't be obstructed.  Got going and eventually the asym blew up into two triangles; one on the deck and water and the other still up.  Said it was pretty easy to bring in.  Great story!
Mirari InReach "Doused the main because of the broken gooseneck, sailing under Asym and mizzen. Doing Good. Hope the wind holds. Yep magic stick is making up for lack of main sail. Actually sailing just fine without it. We can still put up main if required."
Tyche InReach "All's well. See you soon." A boat of many words!
Team Wichard All good on board Team Wichard. No contact with Pogo Loco or 806. I heard via radio, that Kontradiction, is taking on water, and has retired. I see him behind me on AIS, he is heading for Long Island Sound.
Windswept emailed "No wind last night. I was able to get into a large warm core eddy, so I did make about 1.5 kts towards Newport for most of the evening. It is a very large eddy, so I hope I get wind today or I will ride this sucker right around and back towards Bermuda! The forecast is for strong SSW winds today. I am starting to see a little action from the south. I am actually sailing again at about 2 Kts. added to the eddy is giving me about four towards home.  My navigation software (Coastal Explorer) developed a very weird and annoying glitch last night. For some reason, it now sees my own AIS signature as an immanent threat! I am being constantly warned that a collision with myself is immanent and indeed has already occurred. There seems to be no way to silence the alarm. So I have the choice between having an alarm beep every two to five seconds (random timing), or turning off my AIS broadcast, or turning off my navigation software.  I tried and failed to raise Scallywag II this morning. I was a bit after 7:00 AM.  The weather for the next three or four days promises to be very complex according to the latest offshore forecast. No one wind pattern is likely to last more than about 12 hours.  Maybe I will try my hand at fishing. It will have to be casting or jigging, because it certainly won't be trolling at this rate!

23 June 0213 - Samba finished!

22 June 2000 - Carina called that winds are 16-18 W with seas moderating; actually fairly nice.
Team Wichard emailed "A quiet day in comparrison, figthing current. Finilly out of the Gulf Stream, and heading for Newport. Damage assessment on board Team Wichard, following last nights storm: Torn Mainsail, Cracked starboard rudder.  All else is good.  No contact with Pogo Loco or 806"
Windswept emailed "Well, I am clear of the Gulf Stream. I also sailed out of the nice SW winds that got me this far and into a NNW breeze. So at this time, I am headed for New Hampshire. The Southwesterlies should return tomorrow.  I hope to be in late on Wednesday.  I had a brief chat with Scallywag II on SSB. It was a very scratchy connection, but it sounded like Bob was about 150 miles from Newport.

22 June 1803 - Flight Risk finished!  3rd boat.
Take a look at the confused boats.  Looks like a bunch of boats are stuck in the Gulf Stream with very little wind; pointing in all directions and little speed.

22 June 1100 - Mirari emailed "today is a better day, now if we could just get the wind to shift more W or better yet SW it would be a nice final sleigh ride home. BTW, we released the 12 swordfish we had hooked up like Santa's reindeer because they refused to pull us to Newport. Something about a union contract."

22 June 1040 - Flying Turtle finished!
22 June 0744 - Resolute
is the first boat to finish the 2nd leg!

22 June 0800 - Cordelia called.  Only talked to Aggressive.  12-15 kts out of the West.  Can't lay Newport.  Had minor problem with genoa, slow tack resulted in lazy sheet getting all balled up.  Had to attach another line to it to untangle it and in the meantime the life line sort of broke but was able to fix it.  The 20-30 kts died down around 4 am.  Long night.
Flight Risk a very tired sounding John called in.  Tough night.  No contact with anyone for the past 2 days.  Heard Meridian talking to Dianthus though. 8kts out of the West about 70 nm to finish.
Carina called in. OK, 6' seas winds 16 kts to West, worst conditions have died down.  No VHF contact."
Scallywag emailed "We are out of the "hunker down" mode and finally raising a few sails to make tracks for the finish line. All is well. Nothing heard on VHF this morning. Heard Windswept on the SSB and he seems to be moving along nicely. "Bill" won't be bothering him."
Kontradiction called.  They had some excitement during the night.  The boat started filling up with salty water.  They finally found that a sea cock was letting water in.  They fixed it and pumped it out.  Very happy Mike Stevens was with him.  Still around 20 kts of wind out of the North.
Team Wichard email "all is good on team wichard, very bumpy seas hoping to be finally out of this soon havent heard from the others hope all boats are ok"
Windswept email "Well, I'm in the belly of the beast for sure! I entered the Gulf Stream at around 02:00 this morning. The true wind is 28-35 from the west. The water temperature ranges from 83 to 85 degrees with the air temperature a couple of degrees lower. I am being heavily set in a NE direction. I am sailing under stay sail and double reefed main at an apparent wind angle of about 60 degrees. My speed through the water is 6.5 to 7.8 Kts. My speed over the ground is a disappointing 3.0 to 4.5 kts. It will probably take most of the day to get through the stream. The wave conditions are about what you would expect if you set your washing machine on the "heavy soil" setting. I have never seen my decks so clean! I spoke to Scallywag II on SSB. Bob reports all is well aboard, but that it is slow going. He also mentioned that he overheard part of a radio transmission between a cargo ship and a B1-2 racer, name unknown. The racer reported being hove to under storm jib and drogue.  I show that I have about 300 miles to go.
Nimros Barbara emailed in that "Doug called me this morning to let me know that he and Nimros are okay. Due to the rough conditions last night, he was not able to call in.
Bluebird emailed "Bluebird back in action after a bad night"

22 June 0540 - Mirari InReach "I'm sure others are having equally horrible conditions. Dianthus was laying to a drogue and storm sail. We have slowed down but still moving."
Dianthus emailed "0510 mon. Just re hoisted main, recovered drogue, resumed racing"
Tyche InReach "All's well but rough seas."

21 June 2330 - Mirari InReach "This is absolutely my last race!"

21 June 2000 - Cordelia called.  Talked with Aggressive and Dianthus.  Dianthus reported a gust of 47 kts.  Dianthus is using a drogue.  Cordelia said seeing 30-35 kts WSW.  Expecting 20 kts by morning but a wet and sleepless night.
Kontradiction called.  No contacts.  35-40 kts NW, yuk!  Tough seas. 
Carina called 20 kts SW big seas.
Scallywag emailed "We are both well, the wind has topped out at 48kts,seas very large and the wind direction not cooperating. Guess that's what sailing is all about. We have been in cruising mode in view of the conditions with all sails down and only the staysail pulling us along at 8 kts. We hope to be in Newport Tuesday. Just heard from Windswept on the SSB that he had to return to Bermuda with injured crew. Hope it was nothing too serious. He is presently underway again for Newport."
Windswept emailed "This sure has been a port tack race! I am starting to pick up the remains of TS Bill. The winds are SW at 22Kts., gusting to 29. I am beam reaching with a full main and the #4 jib on the inner forestay. I had to strike the 135 racing genoa after the winds started gusting over about 24 kts. I will probably put at least one reef in the main before I loose the daylight this evening. I figure it is about another 40 miles to the south wall of the stream. I should get there a little after midnight. I will then be just about exactly half way home. I spoke to Scallywag II on the single sideband. He is reporting 40 kts. and more from the SW. He has about 217 miles to go. Hopefully, I can keep moving as there are supposed to be light and variable northerlies on the other side of TS Bill.
I was unable to raise anyone on VHF 72, which was not surprising. I did see Tyche while steaming towards Bermuda yesterday."
Island Girl texted me "All safe on Island Girl. Through worst of storm.  Gust to 48. No contact at chat hour."
Dianthus emailed "Finally got the main down and are sitting pretty at 3 kts.  Dianthus was under storm jib and dbl reefed, boat surprisingly well behaved and easy to control, even in 35 kts. After surfing at 15 kts + several times in 40 kts gusts, we deployed three big heavy lines which made things much nicer. The next round of gusts sent us further to the NNE and the seas were like a recalcitrant teenager; confused, disorganized and angry. Out came the Galerider drogue?"
Team Wichard emailed "All is ok on Team Wichard."

21 June 1700 - Mirari InReach "We are north of the 38th and doing a little better. We lost main VHF. Using spare one on mizzen. This is not getting better out here. Good news is with jury rigged gooseneck we are able to reef, which with recent wind shifti s a good thing."
Tyche InReach "All's well - rough"

21 June 1000 - 806 emailed "Becalmed 5 Hrs during night. Now humming along under spinnaker in 17Kt SW. Seeing 9 kt surfing. YeeeHaaaa!"
Mirari InReach "Broke the gooseneck. We have it lashed and it may hold. We may be sailing in with just jib and mizzen. Good news for windswept!  We have had little radio contact. We are getting pushed all over. Seeing 30 knots. Doing 8.5 but only 6 over the ground. Lashing is holding, not sure for how long or if we can reef. "

21 June 0800 - Pouring rain here with the wind out of the SE.  
Cordelia called.  Heard from Island Girl, Kontradiction, and Meridian.  Heard Meridian talking to Aggressive.  Miserable night in that it was very light and had trouble keeping going.  Some boats flew spinnakers, Cordelia did wing on wing.  They are out of the Gulf Stream now.
Kontradiction called.  Talked with Meridian but heard conversations with Cordelia, Island Girl and Aggressive.  Everything is ok. Wind is south at 10-12 kts.  Getting a little push from something; an eddy.  Most of the time the stream was against them.  Mike has a headache from partying on Island Girl last night for Brian's Birthday!
Samba called.  I had accidently sent text message to him vice someone else about the rescue on Windswept so he wanted to know about it.  He said they are having the best wind since the start.
Bluebird emailed "Finally making our way West....

21 June 0100 - 806 InReach "Becalmed. Not a breath of wind."

20 June 2130 Windswept email "in a somewhat harrowing night time operation, Jim was successfully transferred to the Norwegian Dawn. The transfer occurred about 170 nm from Bermuda. Jim should be there in the morning. Windswept even came away unscathed in spite of rafting up with a heavily built steel lifeboat in two to three foot ground swells. I plan to head directly for Newport and should arrive a day or two behind the fleet."  That's a relief!

20 June 2100 The Coast Guard Portsmouth called me to say that the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship is supposed to pick up Jim Coughlin from Windswept for medical reasons. The cruise ship at the time was 5 miles away from Windswept.  The next port of call for the cruise ship is Bermuda.

20 June 2000 - Flight Risk called, still in the Gulf Stream but it is mild. Talked to Flying Turtle.  All ok.  Seas 2-3 feet, wind 13 kts NE.  Expecting to finish Monday afternoon. (dreaming?)
Kontradiction called.  Wind 4-5 kts NE. Heard from Cordelia, Island Girl, Flying Turtle and Dianthus.  All fine.
Carina called that all is well. 6 kts out of the N. Doing 5 kts.
Cordelia emailed a lengthy piece "Tonight's radio round-up included a rendition of Happy Birthday by Roy2 on Cordelia for the benefit of Brian Flynn. Brian offered creme brule for anyone who could round up with him and Island Girl. Apparently he has rehired a dessert chef for this leg of the race. All was well on Island Girl. Aggressive checked in and is moving nicely. They had had some problems with AIS and their radio but that appears to be fixed now. Dianthus is well and flying her chicken chute. It seems like most of the class has their spinnakers up in about 8 to 10 knots of breeze from the east north east. It is a beautiful evening out here. On Cordelia we celebrated the clear warm day with showers and a small batch of laundry, which provided some relief from the heat by drip drying on our heads from lines run across the cockpit."
Team Wichard emailed "I did not hear any chatter tonight, and no response to hails from 806 or Pogo Loco. I guess im out of range. All is good aboard Team Wichard. Wishing Brian on Island Girl a happy birthday today."
806 emailed "Slow frustrating day today. Light upwind w chop."
Windswept emails "Fairly calm sea state, wind NE at less than 10Kts."
Dianthus email "It was a beautiful sunset, wind starting to fill in with asym up."
Nimros called. Wind 6 kts out of the N.  Doing 5 kts. Getting out of the Gulf Stream.

20 June 1800 - Bluebird email "Approaching the Gulf Stream. Halcion 8 miles to the NE of us."

20 June 1350 - Tyche InReach "All's well on Tyche. Windswept is returning to Bermuda."

20 June 1100 - Windswept is taking precautionary measure of heading back to Bermuda (somewhere between 1000 and 1100 EDT) due to a health problem with crew member Jim.  Windswept has not declared an emergency however he is playing it safe.  I have contacted the Coast Guard and they have contacted Bermuda. 

20 June 0700 - Cordelia called wondering how they were going to get west; of course they are very west with a bunch of other boats.  Heard from Dianthus and Halcyon.  Nice day, winds 10-12 kts NW, calm seas.
Tyche InReach "We have not heard from anyone"
Kontradiction called in that he just tacked onto starboard to head west.  The conditions are nice; 14 kts from the North, 2-4' seas.  All is well on his boat.  Haven't heard from anyone this morning.
Carina called in and also hasn't heard from anyone.  Winds just died down to 8 kts out of the west.  Heading back towards the rhumb line.
Scallywag emailed "No contact on VHF CH72 or SSB. All is well despite the head winds."
Flight Risk called in that him and Flying Turtle are in the stream but it is nice; seas 1-2 ft wind 12 kts at 010 degrees.  Didn't hear from Resolute this morning.  Suspects Resolute might be out of the stream.  Expecting the winds to go real light which isn't good while in the stream for them.
Team Wichard emailed "All is well on Team Wichard. Unable to reach 806 and Pogo."
806 InReach "No contact with rest of fleet, no wx download capability. "
Bluebird emailed "Windswept noted 8 miles behind on AIS last night."

19 June 2000 - 806 InReach "All ok on 806. Tiller repair holding up. Too far from fleet for vhf. Did anyone find my black storm trysail fleece?"
Team Wichard emailed "I'm assuming Pogo Loco & 806 are out of range. I had no response to hails.I can see Windswept and Trifion in the distance behind me to the south. I did not hear any chatter tonight. All is good on board Team Wichard.
Tyche InReach "All's well aboard Tyche."
Scallywag emailed "Nothing heard at 1900 VHF or SSB. All is well on board. Will try again in the AM."
The following called into the Duty Desk:  The Eastern Group as they call themselves since they are way east of the rhumb line.  Mirari, Kontradiction and Dianthus.  8-12 kts.  Expecting the wind to get lighter Saturday.
Flight Risk all is well. Resolute is ahead by 13 nm, Flying Turtle is ahead by 3 nm, Samba way west.  8 kts out of the west expecting it to go North.
Kontradiction is quite east.  All is well. Nothing from Meridian.  3-5 foot seas, 18 kts NW (I wonder about his wind readings, always much more than anyone else). Heard Cordelia, Mirari and Island Girl but they didn't respond to him.
Carina all is well.  Wind out of the west at 10 kts, 2-3 ft seas.  Doing 5.2 kts, everything is working.
Nimros Now that Doug has his watch on EDT vice Bermuda Time (which he did during the first leg) Doug is actually calling in at the right time!  He was an hour late during the 1st leg because for some reason he had his watch ahead one hour.  Wind 8-12 kts going west.
Samba sent text to me: "All good on Samba!  We couldn't help ourselves.  Intrigued with the westerly route and decided what the hell, lets roll the dice!  Its a long term plan."

19 June 0800 - Team Wichard emailed "All good on boad Team Wichard, after a really bumpy night. Hailed Pogo Loco & 806, but had no reply."
Bluebird emailed "all's well aboard Bluebird. Winds NW, 10 Kts, Dolphins yesterday evening
Windswept emailed "I listened to the morning radio chat and then fell asleep, sorry! There was little radio communication. I did hear Team Winchard try unsuccessfully to reach others in his group. Right now, Team Windswept is cranking along at 5-6 kts. over the ground headed roughly for Newfoundland. We are about 100 miles from Bermuda. The wind is NW at about 12 kts. There is a nasty underlying ground swell with the wind waves superimposed over it. This makes moving around the boat quite an adventure! I have Trifion about 3 miles back on my starboard quarter. There is an unidentified vessel about two miles off my port beam that we have been slowly overtaking for the past twelve hours. It has dark grey sails. I can't make out any other features as binoculars are useless with the present sea conditions. It could be Team Winchard. Breakfast this morning was two hard boiled eggs and a can of ginger beer. A breakfast of champions for the winner within! Last night, we had to make a crash tack to avoid getting run down by a freighter. It was crazy. We could see his AIS signal for half an hour. Presumably, he could see ours, and the signals from the four other racers in the immediate vicinity. When it became clear he had no intention of changing course, we tacked just behind his stern. I could hear his bow wave! More news this evening.
Tyche InReach "All is well."
The following called the Duty Desk: Cordelia nice night, 12-14 kts NW. Heard from Dianthus, Island Girl, Kontradiction and Trifion. Trifion's auto pilot not working (if I read the notes right).
Flight Risk Heard from Resolute and Flying Turtle, nothing from Samba (because he is way west of the crowd.). Expecting to hit the tropical depression Bill on Sunday, probably in the Gulf Stream.
Kontradiction all is well. Sat phone not working on Meridian but doing fine.  Scallywag fine.
Carina doing fine. No other boats.  Wind 14 kts out of 310 degrees. East of the rhumb line and will tack soon towards the rhumb line.

18 June 2000 - Scallywag emailed "All is well on Scallywag II. Ami and I are enjoying the first night out and will welcome a nice shift to the SW. Wishful thinking but we can dream. Only Meridian was heard from. New 806 returned and am glad she is underway again."
Windswept emailed "All is well aboard the good ship Windswept. I was rocking out to "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys. It seemed appropriate. This was an historic day. I think for the first time ever I didn't get busted while show boating with my bid red spinnaker! I have heard from all of the class four boats. No problems were reported. There is a bit more wind than I feared, but it is right on the nose! We are close hauled and making 5-6 knots directly towards Labrador! More news tomorrow."
Team Wichard emailed "All is good with Pogo Loco and Team Wichard. I can still see Pogo Loco off our port forward quarter, high and faster than us.
1904 hrs - Flight Risk - John Lubmir. Class 1 all accounted for. Everyone within 5 miles. Wind out of the NW, 10-12 kts. Beautiful evening for sailing.
1919 hrs - Cordelia - Roy Greenwald - Reports all of Class 3 is accounted for. Heard from Halcyon - Roy was breaking up, but either he or Halcyon had lamb chops on the grill. Lost telephone contact. Roy called back at 1922. Cordelia also heard from Island Girl. NW wind at 10-12 kts.
1925 hrs - Contradiction - Mike Schum - Class 2 is fine. Seas 3-5 ft, wind N, 15-18. Nice night.

18 June 1608 - 860 - saw them off from the Dinghy Club.  Ocean Sails put a splint around the rudder/tiller interface.  And they are back in the hunt; obviously a bit behind.

18 June 1420 - One of my committee members suggested that for the 2017 race we need to add a new requirement to the NOR; scooter proficiency!
860 has pulled into the Dinghy Club.  They are trying to get someone to fix there rudder problem. The problem is where the tiller interfaces to the rudder.  It has become non solid.  Looks like this fix will be a solid metal rod drilled into the rudder. Ocean Sails is helping them.

18 June 1300 - 806 hailed me on VHF to say his fix for the rudder problem didn't work and is coming back in to the Dinghy Club to try to fix it.

18 June 1200 - And they are off.  We had wonderful weather for a start.  Winds were out of the WNW about 10 knots with the sun shining through.  They were able to sail through the cut but of course they lost wind for a period in the cut. 23 boats started.  Panacea of course was the only boat to not start.  It is on a mooring by the sunken wreck for a couple of months.

17 June 1530 - Just posted Frank Bohlen's Note #4 on the Gulf Stream for tomorrow's start.

17 June 0845 - First rain during the day since I have been here; thunder storm even.

16 June 1830 - Andrew Holmes of Goslings conducted a rum tasting of the various Goslings products.  People were also able to purchase rum for taking home.  After the rum tasting the Awards for the first leg were held upstairs in the Dinghy Club.  The Mayor of St. Geroges's the Honorable Quinell Francis invited the crowd to St. George's and handed out the trophies.  Commodore Lacey Jennings also welcomed the group.  Susan Oatley was the MC for the evening.  Patrick Paley took plenty of photos for us which I will be posting to the gallery later.  Afterwards we took several photos of the single handed skippers.  And after that we had a wonderful steak fry topped off with a cake that had the 2015 Bermuda One-Two logo on top.  It was a very nice and friendly evening.
The winged ones - Peter & John

16 June 1500 - A tour of the Bermuda Radio facility was held.  About 8 people attended and were quite impressed.  Another tour was held last Friday for those that were leaving before today.