SINGLEHANDED LEG NOTES

15 June 2200 - Susan and Steve Hollis invited the group to there restaurant Beach House out by Fort St. Catherine for cocktails and a meal. It happens to be the 20th year since Susan & Steve met.  They met as a result of the Bermuda One-Two twenty years ago.  We finished a wonderful meal under the stars with great company.

15 June 1600 - Not a good past two days for the Bermuda One-Two scooter folks.  I fell off mine yesterday morning going to the Blue Hole for the Cave Tour; took a chunk out of my right fore arm.  Dan Stadtlander fell off his bike after doing an accidental wheele. They did not suffer any injury. Today Peter and John McCrea crashed on their scooter; hit a guard rail.  Peter broke his clavicle bone and John separated his shoulder. They also had road rash on their legs.  They are doing fine however there is no way they are sailing back.  Peter is hoping to get a long term mooring and fly back for recovery. 

15 June 1100 - Patrick Paley led a group of 11 on a tour of the caves, etc. that you can get to from the Blue Hole Park.  Several people jumped in the Dolphin training pond as well as swimming in one of the caves.  The walk was followed by lunch just up the street at the Swizzle Inn.

14 June 1830 - Dark n'Stormy hour on Goslings followed by the Fish Fry including a DJ were a hit.

13 June 1130 - Patrick Paley conducted a tour of Ft. St. Catherine.

12 June 1530 the final results are posted.

12 June 1222 - Carina withdrew and turned on his motor.

11 June 1900 - Partying officially begins with the night out at the Swizzle Inn.  29 of us participated in, ahh, sampling the Rum Swizzles and we had some food also.  Brian Flynn awarded me the trophy of Grand Poobah.  The trophy being a gigantic hat with horns.  Of course everyone took pictures of me with it on.  It was a wonderful evening and it got the skippers out and amongst  themselves to get the rest of the stay on the right foot.  Tomorrow is a tour of Ft. St. Catherine by our friend Patrick Payle and happy hour at the Dinghy Club.

1

1 June 1738 Tyche finished.

11 June 1722 - Heard from Carina.  Bob said he wants to be at Customs by 1400 so he will decide on turning on the motor during the night.  All is well.  Has been tacking since the wind has been out of the south.

11 June 1500 - Heard from Tyche.  About 10 nm from the finish.

11 June 1000 - The last two boats are still slowly making their way down.  With the SE breeze we have at the moment they can't directly make Bermuda so they have to tack thus taking longer.  Wind expected to shift to the SW which may help.

10 June 2133 - Tyche email from Pat Turner: "Mac is sailing ok now. About 24 hrs (?) out, the Ray Marine electronics said, "Extreme magnetic disturbance." The chart plotter and autopilot were not working properly. (He has another chart plotter on his iPad.) The Monitor was fine until the wind let up. This morning, he got the autopilot functioning and is sailing better."
From Tyche InReach: "Tyche is about 60 miles out from St. Georges. Hope to finish in the morning."
Carina called in: JHe is still sailing and sounded a bit more upbeat then when I spoke with him last night. He plans on continuing to sail as long as some breeze is there. He reports all is well on-board. He is predicting a Friday ETA. I admire his perseverance!

10 June 1330 - Tentative results for the single handed leg have been posted under "Results".

10 June 1300 - Carina: Laura emailed: "Bob called at 11:18 - he said he had a wonderful night. Winds out of the SSE. But at 05:00, the wind shifted and he couldn't use the Monitor -- too light of air .... so he was manually steering for some time. Not sure, but I think he's back on the Monitor because he said now he's sitting below... The electric autopilot did indeed break, but he got the Monitor going."

10 June 1123 - Nimros finished.
10 June 1056 - Panacea finished.
10 June 0832 - Trifion finished.  Trifion's motor won't start.  Will have to be towed some after he sails into the harbor.
10 June 0820 - Windswept finished.

10 June 0600 - Well, 6 boats left and they didn't move much.  It is unbelievably calm here; Bermuda High.  All the boats except for Carina are moving real slow.  Carina may be motoring to get here.  We should find out soon.
Trifion hailed me on VHF 72.  Windswept abeam of him, both drifting but ok.

9 June 2000 - Windswept emailed: With any luck this will be my last check in, at least outbound. I am about 25 nm from kitchen Shoals and moving at about 5 kts. The wind is getting flukey however so I could just drift around out here all night. I will give a shout on VHF 72 when I am about to finish. I see Trifion about five miles off my starboard beam. We seem to be pacing each other. I spoke with Peter on SSB. he reports being about fifty miles out and shares my concern over the wind. Besides that, all is well aboard Panacea. I could really use a chocolate ice cream cone!
Carina email from Laura: "He's sailing again and he said he'd see what tomorrow brings." Depending on the winds or lack of winds Bob my turn his motor on to get to Bermuda.  So Bob is fine. Bob called in: "His VHF is OK. He's out in a mill pond at the moment. He is giving some thought to motoring in. I suspect he'll see what happens overnight. I told him I'll be here tomorrow night as long as he still out there."
Nimros called that all was well then 10 minutes later he called and said his motor died.  May need a tow in in the morning daylight.

9 June 1825 - 806 finished.
9 June 1719 - Strummer finished.
9 June 1630 - Resolute finished.
9 June 1557 - Kontradiction finished.
9 June 1509 - Bluebird finished.
9 June 1318 - Agressive finished.
9 June 1222 - Halcyon finished.
9 June 1226 - Mirari finished.
9 June 1157 - Pogo Loco finished.
9 June 1136 - Dianthus finished.
9 June 1047 - Team Wichard finished.
9 June 1045 - Scallywag finished.
9 June 1036 - Bluebird emailed: 30 miles from Bermuda. Spinnaker up, still with a nice NE breeze...

9 June 1028 - Heard from Pogo Loco. Should be finishing within a couple of hours I believe.

9 June 1010 - Island Girl finished, first in Class 3.  They are coming in continuously!
9 June 1007 - Meridian finished, first in Class 2..
9 June 0936 - Flying Turtle finished.

9 June 0804 - Flight Risk finished!
Eagles Dare emailed: "Thanks for keeping an eye on me Roy and Coast Guard. As you do doubt surmised from the tracker, I made it to Newport last night where Mike was waiting for me. He took the boat up to the J-Boat yard last night."
Windswept emailed: Good Morning, Besides a sunburn in some unusual places, all is well on Windswept. I show about 90 miles to Kitchen shoals. Best guess is for a finish late tonight. Heard from Panacea and Scallywag on SSB. There was no traffic on VHF 72. I have had a boat on my Port hip all night at a distance of about six miles, but was unable to make contact. Panacea reports all is well and expects to finish late tonight or early Wednesday morning. Scallywag reports he is 17 miles from the finish and should finish within four or five hours. At the moment, Windswept is cranking along at 6-7 kts. The wind is ENE at about 15 kts. I am looking forward to a shore breakfast Wednesday morning. do you know if the gang will be making breakfast at the club as they did two years ago?
Team Wichard emailed: No contact with 806 or Pogo Loco, dispite trying multiple times to hail them. I am currently 16nm off the Mills bouy, it is 7:15am Tuesday morning. All is good on board Team Wichard.
Scallywag InReach: "ETA finish 1045 wind permitting"

9 June 0700 - Conversation between Meridian and Cordelia. Meridian broke his goose neck, took the main down and was able to repair the gooseneck during the calm last night and has the main back up.

9 June 0647 - Just saw Samba go by the Dinghy Club so we blew the compressed can horn for him.  Tristan returned in kind. Neal Petersen, return crew with Flight Risk, met him then in his rib.  Neal volunteered to help dock the boats at Customs and at the Dinghy Club dock.  Mark from Bermuda Yacht Services should be here soon in his whaler to help the boats dock.

9 June 0606 - First to finish and first in Class 1.  Samba finished after hanging around all night out there with no wind.  Took Tristan 6 hours to go 19 nm.  Quite the opposite of the majority of the race.  All this time the boats behind him were catching up as they still had wind.  Quite a few boats out there and close.  Looks like Flight Risk came out of no where and should be the next to finish.

8 June 2300 - The wind has died as the boats get closer.  They are bunching up.  It's becoming a parking lot out there.  Samba now projected to 0137 finish which may be optimistic.  It is going to be busy here between customs and docking!

8 June 2000 - Islander emailed: Under 70 miles to go. Looking forward to a hot shower and cold rum. Not necessarily in that order.  Cordelia lost main halyard so is sailing without main. Flight risk and Meridian somewhere close by speaking with.
Mirari - InReach: "No contact at 7 again. Plenty of wind still here including small squall. If it holds I should finish around 8 am or so. I'm amazed how well Mirari has done. I think the magic stick (aka mizzen) paid off with the wind direction and of course my special bottom paint finish helped!
Windswept - emailed: "no traffic on VHF 72. I did raise Peter on SSB. All is well aboard Panacea. The winds are down to 15 to 20 from the ENE. I have 161 NM to Kitchen Shoals. I am making 6-7 kts. directly for the finish line. If (huge if) all things remain status quo, I should finish late on Tuesday or early Wednesday. Today was a great day. Blue skies, cooperative wind, flying fish, just a little vibration from the center board pennant, etc.
Kontradiction called in. Was able to get his main halyard down with the spinnaker halyard and hooks.  Ingenious.  So he is now sailing with the old main up.   Winds out of the NE at 22 kts. Interesting because the winds predicted here are 5-10 out of the North!  He heard from Aggressive who is able to charge up the batteries with the solar panels during the day so she is able to use the autopilot some.  He also heard from 806 who has broke one rudder but is sailing ok with one rudder. Bluebird is doing quite fine.  Same for Strummer.
Carina called in. Heard no one on VHF, light from the NE.  Autopilot is dead however he has a monitor wind vane doing the steering and it is working well (smart).
Pogo Loco - Received a position report from his father.  Antoine has been communicating with his father. 33n41.63 065w30.32 course 163 speed 6.6

8 June 1430 - Eagles Dare - looks like Jonathan has some luck.  He is making Narragansett Bay with a strong southerly.  Hoping he makes it back.
Cordelia called me to tell me about his woes.  He tried to go up the mast, got 10 ft and decided against it.  Tried to raise the storm trysail but the main is in the way.  Each took about 1.5 hours.  He is still making 7 kts .  He still has about 15 kts out of the east but he is hearing different wind directions from all over the place.  Samba has a different wind from him, etc.
Mirari InReach: "Actually died here slightly. I now.have full main, mizzen and 135 up. Still sailing nicely. If it held I could be in before 7am but not holding my breath. I got about 130 to go."

8 June 1000 - Windswept emailed in response to my question about comms with Resolute: "I briefly saw an AIS transmission from Resolute yesterday afternoon. He was about five miles away and moving at about 9 kts in the proper direction . No response on VHF"
Mirari InReach: still more than enough wind here 150 miles out. If it's light coming in I will fish then. I assume many have now finished.
Scallywag email: "Reported in at 6/8/15 0700 on VHF CH 72 and SSB. Nothing heard. All is well."

8 June 0900 - Windswept emailed: "The sun is out, but the wind is down, so I was awakened by the dreaded thrashing of sails. The waves are still large enough to make it a study in frustration to fill the sails with the remaining gentle breeze. Every fifteen minutes or so, the wind picks up enough to get the boat moving. This is it you think, but alas, in a couple of minutes it is back to a rolling boat and slatting sails. To quote Louis on board Strummer the other night "now, remind me why this is fun?" Nothing was heard on the radio, either VHF or SSB. The fleet seems to be spreading out, and most are probably licking their wounds from yesterday. If I can get Windswept up to a respectful trolling speed, I may try my hand at fishing. A good friend set me up with the necessary gear. Frankly, I am a little intimidated by what I might catch!"

8 June 0800 - Winds have definitely lightened up and much nicer going however they will be heading into very light Northerly breeze into Bermuda; downwind in light air, lots of folks don't like that.
Team Wichard  emailed: "All is good on board Team Wichard, less than 24 hours to the finish, 160nm to go. I hailed Pogo Loco, I could just make out a response, but could not here what he said. I assume he is ok. Once again, no response from 806."
Island Girl emailed: "Heard from Flight Risk and Cordelia. Cordelia has issues with main halyard and is contemplating going up rig to repair.
Aboard the good ship Island Girl I proved that despite rumors there are no shrimp in this part of the ocean. During an attempted spinnaker set I ended up trawling for 45 minutes. Getting a spinnaker out of the water when you are the only one on the boat is difficult. On the bright side the waves have calmed down enough that I was able to hire a new short order cook after the chef quit yesterday. With promises of an island full of rum the short order cook will be opening Cafe Island Girl any minute now."
Updates from the NYC Duty Desk: Flight Risk called in.  Unable to talk to anyone in Class 1 (he is taking up the rear and probably out of reach with them). He reports 22 kts wind.  Cordelia broke her main halyard and the main got jammed when trying to take it down.  Needs to go aloft to free the main and retrieve the halyard but has to wait for calm conditions.
Kontradiction said he has 26 kts out of NE and lumpy.  Couldn't talk to anyone in Class 2.  Has talked to Aggressive, Bluebird and 806 (he is ok).  Mike said he can only put out one third of his genoa due to the main halyard wrapped around the top of the forestay.  He needs to go up also but is waiting for calm.  Aggressive is having engine problems; will not run for long thus can't charge batteries.  Has turned off AIS and autopilot so she is hand steering thus her position in the fleet.   

7 June 2000 - Looks like the winds have lightened up and out of the ENE.  Great. Eagles Dare is making good time now heading towards Narragansett Bay!
Windswept: emailed "i brought the tracker up to 97% charge and put it back on the rail. I pushed a few buttons and it showed the tracker to be on. Let me know if you can see it.
The wind and waves are abating some. The wind is down to the high 20's from the ENE. There are still a few large waves that fill the cockpit just often enough for me not to want to spend much time there! The water temperature is about 84 degrees. I show about 327 miles to go to Bermuda, just short of the halfway point.
Mirari - InReach  "Kontridiction having mainsail halyard issue. Hopes to sort it out"
806 - InReach "All ok on 806."
Island Girl - email "1900 radio chat. Cordelia and Flight Risk. All good. Either we are really lost or everyone else is. I guess we'll find out in a day or so. Seas reasonable. Wind clocking to ENE and dropping to 18. The water seems like a bath tub compared to 12 hrs ago.
Windswept - emailed: "No contact on either VHF or SSB this evening. Wind speed is down to the middle teens, still ENE. I am back to full genoa, but I am keeping a couple of reefs in the main to avoid any unnecessary heroics in the middle of the night. I don't know if that makes me older, or wiser, or just chicken."
Team Wichard - emailed: "After speaking to Pogo Loco a few times today, I have been unsuccesfull in hailing him this evening. I also tried to reach 806, but had no reply. All is good on board Team Wichard, 240miles from Bermuda. "
Kontradiction - called.  Has no main, waiting for calmer conditions to retrieve the halyard.  Heard Mirari and Team Wichard trying to hail Pogo Loco.
Carina - Seas calming down, auto pilot issues.

7 June 1600 - I'm in Bermuda and online.  Lots of stuff to report. 1st are the email I have received while flying to Bermuda.
Team Wichard - "I managed to make contact with Pogo Loco at 10am. His position is: 36 deg 42.68N 68 deg 11.97W
Antoine, suffered a head injury, and was bleeding. He said he has it under control, but I will call him again in an hour to get an update. He is attempting to restart his tracker."
Cordelia - Gail email "Heard from Roy2 just now. He's fine, but says it's been really rough out there. He thinks the seas are at least 10-15 feet, and he's taking a lot of big waves. He lost a weather cloth and it took the lifeline with it, but otherwise Cordelia is holding her own."
Pogo Loco - Philippe email: "SMS (satellite) from Antoine Lacasse on Pogo Loco : Sunday June 7, 11h47 = 36 degres 30.62' North 68 degres 6.86' West. Bad vocal communication : Was in the boat, one wave more challenging than the other = failed down, hit his head. Managed to stop the bleeding and feeling better now. Has spoken with his father and it seems they're is no concussion. Slowing down and resting for a while. Vernon Hultzer, Team Wichard, is close to him (they see each other). He has taken his spinnaker down and will stay with Antoine as long as necessary."
Island Girl - emailed: "No contact with others. Wave state now breaking on Island Girl. Looking forward to getting past the stream. Onboard the good ship Island Girl the chef quit citing inhumane working conditions. Now looking at menus comprised of various power bars and Gatorade."
Tyche - from InReach: "Tyche is fine but overwhelmed!"
Windswept is back on the map!  He charged up the tracker! I can see Resolute's AIS signal five miles ahead."
Mirari - InReach: "I was really hoping to do some fishing" to which I replied "be careful for what you wish for." another text: "Not able to make contact with other racers. I'm ok. I'm not happy that it looks like no light wind from here to the finish. Have had some boat issues but no show stoppers yet."
 

7 June 0930 - Eagles Dare Mike Piper tells me that he has arranged towing when Jon can get within a certain distance and that he has contacted the CG and watching his progress.

7 June 0800 - I am in the Phili airport so am posting only those I have received emails from. Scallywag emailed: "All is well. Finally heard Windswept on SSB. Finally heard from Dianthus on the VHF this morning. Quite a ride.  Team Wichard emailed: " I tried hailing Pogo Loco and 806 this morning. I did not recieve any respose from either. I assuming they are out of range. It was a wid night in the Guf Stream, I hope everyone is safe? All good on board Team Wichard."  Windswept emailed: "Nothing heard on VHF 72. Raised Scallywag on SSB. He reports all is well, but that I was the only SSB contact he was able to establish. I am running out of adjectives for the sea conditions! I was awakened this morning by a totally new sensation. It felt as if Windswept was picked up and thrown about twenty feet sideways. I am used to being rolled, or spun around, but this was unique! Of course, I might have still been dreaming, but I was burred by all of the gear that had been in the other bunk. The wind is veering more to the east. Gusts are occasionally hitting 40 Kts. I am well into the stream and hope to be exiting the south wall by nightfall.
I can't wait for them to get out of the Gulf Stream!  Of course they are even more so!
Cordelia called in to say that he talked with Meridian who asked for us to pass along to Hillary that the sat phone wasn't working which we did. Carina reports his autopilot has been working.
The following is from the Duty Desk.
Cordelia - "wild and crazy conditions."
Kontradiction - "you’ve got to love this; now blowing 38-43, down from 48 last night, waves 12-15’, mainsail ripped and some damage to life lines. Otherwise OK.” He did not have much luck connecting with other boats this morning.
Carina - “windy, messy, sloppy seas, big waves in the gulf, but getting better.”
 

7 June 0530 - Dianthus emailed: "This is some nasty stuff! Seeing 10-12 foot waves in GS. Boat speed 9. Dog higher "  Some of them are in the Gulf Stream now.

6 June 2100 - Evidently Nimros called but said "Ok, call you in the morning."  That's Doug.

6 June 1800 - Yikes, things are happening out there.  First Tyche for some reason looks like he hove to for over an hour but is back heading towards Bermuda (maybe shortening sail).  They are getting 30 kts of wind NE so it's lively.  Someone tried to get me three times but I heard no voice.  Received call from Patrick Mouligne.  Tristan on Samba called his father.  Eagles Dare has broken his rudder and has switched to the emergency rudder and is now headed towards NJ at about 4 kts.  Eagles Dare can't use voice on his sat phone but email works and I have received an email from him.  I have contacted the Coast Guard and forwarded Eagles Dare's email to them so the CG is tracking him.  Also we are not receiving tracker readings on Windswept and Pogo Loco.  I have been receiving emails from Windswept so I will post lat/long from him.  I have told Team Wichard to get Pogo Loco's lat/long when he contacts him.
Island Girl emailed "Panacea is dropping main to deal w sea state. Will continue on under jib alone."  Also: "Aggressive, Cordelia, dianthus, island girl all ok. Lots of little things. No show stoppers. Wind high 20s with occasional gust to 30. Large quartering waves. If they get any larger they will start to break onto the boat in lieu of against it."
Team Wichard emailed: I as unable to reach 806 & Pogo Loco. All is good on Team Wichard, pretty rough entering the Gulf Stream.
Windswept emailed: Boy, it would be a hell of a trip home from where I am right now! Unless things change, it would undoubtedly take longer to get to Newport than Bermuda.
Today I spent an hour recovering my big red chute from under the boat, put a (small) rip in my mainsail, and was nearly garroted by the main sheet when my jibe preventer broke, resulting in two crash jibes in as many seconds, full main in 30 Kts! My eyeglasses were whipped off my face. I just happened to notice that they went neatly down the companionway hatch. They were completely undamaged! No word from Nimros, but Doug is probably after the case of beer for last in!"
Another email: "Made contact with Tyche via VHF relay courtesy of Carina. All is reported well. Also spoke with Strummer. Louis had recently spoken with Panacea and reports all is well with Peter.
The NE wind has freshened to 30-35 kts in my neck of the woods. There is a confused sea making for a lumpy ride. I am under double reefed main and #4 jib hanked on the inner forestay. I am still hitting nine knots in surges. I am about fifty miles from entering the stream at the meander. The water temperature is up to seventy. Frank was right on the nose with his prognostications. There is a significant right to left set relative to my course.
I am flying to Bermuda Sunday morning and will be out of contact till afternoon.

6 June 0800 - Resolute called in: had a spinnaker wrap as well as Samba.  Flight Risk, who warned us about the traps at the Continental Shelf actually hit one (maybe embarrassing John).  Wind was down during the night but nice now.  Wind down the Rhumb line.  Was wet during the night.
Kontradiction had a nice night if not wet.  Hearing from lots of boats but not Scallywag.  Seas 3-5', wind 15 kts from the North.
Island Girl emailed: "All good. Fleet scattering. A few minor spinnaker issues but all now good. French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Need to eat up before tonight's expected rough conditions." He also texted me: "All good. Able to speak with Aggressive.  Bluebird on AIS. Everyone spreading out. Minor spinnaker issue on island girl around 4 am - in the rain. Does the fun ever stop."
Team Wichard emailed: "Pogo Loco and 806 reported in this morning, in good spirits. All is good here, enjoying the building breeze from behind."
Windswept emailed: "Seas are a bit more settled this morning. The wind is NE at about 15 KTS. The water temp. is up to 65 with the air temp about the same. Only communications heard were between Panacea and Strummer. Nothing like a hot shower to freshen ones disposition.

6 June 0500 - Sidney Van Zandt emailed me that Sandy (Shandygaff) retired. "He has had major problems with charging his batteries also with the VHF. He is heading back towards Block Island which is 80 miles to windward. If he gets a more favorable slant he may head for Noank. He sounded fine."  His tracker is being left on for the trip home.

5 June 2000 - Resolute was first to call in.  Heard from all but Samba and Eagles Dare. Lumpy seas; boats a bit back complaining about the seas but Scott isn't getting sea sick.  15 kts NE.  The wind kept backing since the start.
Kontradiction said the seas are 3-5 ft 20 kts(??) NE.  Island Girl is on his right.  Hearing from a lot of boats and all in his class.  He was working on a problem with his furler and when he was done the rest of his class were gone.
Island Girl first called but bad connection.  Little while later called back and better but still not very good.13 kts NE.  Brian then emailed me that all class 3 boats are fine.  Then he texted me as a test.
Team Wichard emailed me that he is in sight of his class.  Vernon asked about Frogger so I informed him that Frogger had retired.
Looks like they are in for some wind from behind starting Saturday evening.
Windswept emailed: ""It is cold, lumpy, and bumpy, but I have good vibes about this race! Too rough for much typing. Heard from the following boats on VHF 72.  Class 3 (no issues reported), Aggressive, Island Girl, Trifion, Bluebird. Class 4: Panacea is having chicken pie for dinner and asked that I not run into him while he is enjoying it Mirari is moving well Carina had an autopilot issue, but it has been resolved Strummer asked if any one could see his AIS signal, no one could, Shandygaff, Tyche. That is it for now."

5 June 1300 - Frogger called in to say he is retiring.  Hopes to come back in 2017.

5 June 1200 - And they are off!  Winds about 10 kts out of the SE building towards the end of the sequence.  The temperature went down then.  Samba, Tristan Mouligne, hit the line first at speed in Class 1 to a cheering crowd in two boats: Rum Runner with about 40 people including his return crew, his brother John Jay, and a huge rib with his father on it, Patrick.  Eagles Dare, Jonathan Green, insisted on flying a Code 0 which overpowered him just before Castle Hill with one big round up.  Dianthus spotted his class some time being quite a bit late to the line.  Just as the sequence started for Class 6 the minis Frogger hailed us that he had to pull out.  We found out that the port side back running stay clutch broke.  He got the motor started, dropped the main and to Goat Island to fix the problem.  Let you know when I hear.

5 June - Frank Bohlen has sent me yesterday's brief and it is posted now.  Frank said he will be sending us another brief for the start in Bermuda.

4 June - Thursday afternoon the Skipper's Meeting was held which is the day before the start. Bell Biewenga gave a weather brief and Frank Bohlen gave the Gulf Stream brief. Susan Oatley briefed us on Customs and Docking at the Dinghy Club. It was nice to see Susan involved in the race. The Skipper's Rep gave a brief on entry into St. George's Harbour.
And they are off tomorrow. First start is at 1100 tomorrowq Friday 5 June.
Looks like all the trackers are working and all the boats seem to be in the right place. Ready for the start.,

3 June - Wednesday the 3rd lots of people attended the Skipper's Sendoff Party. Much food and liquor was had. Lots of gabbing was heard. Seems like it was quite a success.
Thursday afternoon the Skipper's Meeting was held which is the day before the start. Bell Biewenga gave a weather brief and Frank Bohlen gave the Gulf Stream brief. Susan Oatley briefed us on Customs and Docking at the Dinghy Club. It was nice to see Susan involved in the race. The Skipper's Rep gave a brief on entry into St. George's Harbour.
And they are off tomorrow. First start is at 1100 Friday 5 June.
Over the past several days we had two more withdrawls: Robin, Douglas Campbell, and Perseverence, John Van Slyke.  Sown to 27 boats  now.

2 June - The tracker website is up.  Obviously the boats aren't moving yet; not till Friday anyways.  Dam cold and wet here but looking for nicer weather starting tomorrow, Wednesday.

30 May - Our first boat at the dock at Newport Yacht Club.

30 May - Frank Bohlen has generated a second analysis of the Gulf Stream.

Skippers planning on doing the race in 2015: Bert Barrett, Murray & Hillary Beach on their Tartan 4600 Meridian, Dave Bonzon on his Peterson/Wiggers 37 Bootlegger, Roy2 & Gail Greenwald, Vernon Hultzer on his mini Wichard Ocean Racing, Eric Johnson, Paul Kanev, Zachary Lee on his Morris Justine 36, Paul Kamev, Tony Leigh on his mini #806, John Lubimir, Rick McCally (new boat?), Peter McCrea, Louis Meyer, Mike Millard (looking for return crew), Tristan Mouligne, Josh Owen on his mini Frogger, David Paine on his C&C 33, Josh Reisberg on his mini, Douglas Shearer, Dan Stadtlander in his now yawl Bristol 39 Mirari, Noel Sterrett, Gust Stringos, David Tabor, Erick Thorkilsen on his Little Harbor 54 (with Ned Caswell return crew), Mac Turner on his Valiant 32 sloop named Tyche, John Van Slyke on Perseverance, Sandy Van Zandt on Shandygaff, Kristen Wenzel, Mark Winslow.

New Skipper/Boat Successful Qualifier: Jonathan Green on Eagles Dare, Vernon Hutzler on his mini Wichard Ocean Racing, Antoine Lacasse on Pogo Loco (mini), Tony Leigh on his Pogo 2 Mini USA 806, Josh Owen on his mini Frogger, David Paine on Trifion, Josh Reisberg on Abilyn (mini), David Tabor on his Canadian Sailcraft 36M, Mac Turner on Tyche, John Van Slyke on Perseverance, Sandy Van Zandt on Shandygaff, Thomas Vander Salm on Whisper.

10 May - That was short.  Already have a mod to the mod.  Amendment #2 to the NOR is now posted.  It totally supersedes Amendment #1.

8 May - Frank Bohlen has provided us his first notes on what the Gulf Stream is doing now.  Click on "Gulf Stream Briefs" on the left.

6 May - Amendment #1 to the Notice of Race was posted today

31 Mar - Magically we have 31 boats signed up.  Must have something to do with 31 March!

14 Mar - Skippers' Forum/Shore Party.  36 people showed up for this last event before the race.  A bunch of new people, skippers and crew, were present for the meeting.  Tristan Mouligne, the skipper's representative, led the introductions, Frank Bohlen gave a brief on the Gulf Stream and I provided information about the coming up race.  It was wonderful to so so many new people and some prospective skippers. I will be forwarding materials mentioned at the meeting to all existing registered skippers and any future registered skippers.  We have 24 boats registered as of this writing.

9 Feb - The March newsletter has been posted.

2 Jan - And another one joins us; last year's OSTAR winner Jonathan Green on a new boat.  Now we have Classes 1, 4 and 6 represented.

1 Jan (later on) - Actually two people signed up; first new skipper Vernon Hultzer in his mini and returnee Gust Stringos (wanted to make sure he got in before we were sold out!).  Great start.

1 Jan - Online registration is now available via "Register Online" menu item on the left.  The link redirects you to the Newport Yacht Club website for registration.

2 0 1 5     2 0 1 5    2 0 1 5    2 0 1 5

30 Nov - The Notice of Race and Calendar of Events are now published and available for download.  See menu on the left.  On line application will be available 1 January 2015.

1 Nov - Skippers' Forum/Party held a the Newport Yacht Club.  An amazing number of people showed up; about 50 people.  Jonathan Green gave an accounting of his trip to the OSTAR start last year and the actual OSTAR race.  During introductions three mini skippers identified themselves as planning on doing the race next year which makes for 5 planning on doing the race.  There were quite a few potential new skippers hoping to do the race next year.  A lot of the new skippers were asking questions about the race.  We hope to post a FAQ on the website at some point hopefully before the race.  Caryn Cummings with help from Don & Sarawyn Berrett provided a wonderful spread of food.  On a side note Doug Campbell was expecting to show his book and sign some however he locked them and didn't have the key to unlock them for the meeting.

20 Oct - I heard back from Susan Oatley and Commodore Lacey Jennings with respect to the impact of the hurricane Gonzalo on Bermuda and specifically St. George's Dinghy and Sports Club.  Lacey said that the Dinghy Club suffered minor damage: one electrical  pedestal on the dock broke off, lost one of the berth poles and a few windows in the dinghy shed broke.  Lacey said all can be replaced and fixed.  Susan said that she had no damage to her house although some houses did loose their roofs but thankfully no one lost their lives as a result of the hurricane.

30 Sep - The October newsletter is now posted.

11 Feb - Stanley Paris is in town meeting with various people for the boat project which will be conducted here in Newport this summer.  Stanley will be in Newport off and on through the summer as the boat gets ready for another attempt around the world.

10 Feb - The spring newsletter has been made available.  You will find it in the Newsletters page.

1 Feb - The Ocean Cruising Club has announced on 10 January 2014 that Dan Alanso  will be awarded The OCC Seamanship Medal for his rescue of Jan Steyn off Solid Air in last year's race.  The award will be presented at the OCC Annual Diner and Awards Ceremony on 12 April 2014.  Also, for those that race with SSB radios Herb Hilgenberg Southbound II will be awarded the OCC Award of Merit "for more than 25 years of dedicated service to safety at sea".  Congratulations to both from the event.  The press release from the Ocean Cruising Club can be viewed here.

21 Jan - Stanley Paris ran into problems with his boat and decided to pull into Cape Town, Africa.  The current plan is to deliver the boat back to Maine for boat repairs.

5 Dec - Brian Oatley passed away in front of his family due to a very aggressive form of ALS.

3 Dec - Stanley Paris, who raced this year in the Bermuda One-Two as a trial run, is now on his way. He is now on his way to Bermuda for I believe his official start of his trip around the world single handed and using no hydrocarbons.  He is being tracked on Yellowbrick at: http://my.yb.tl/kiwispirit.

4 Nov - Brian Flynn pointed out this article in Sailing Magazine on this year's Bermuda One-Two by David Liscio.

2 Nov - We had about 26 people show up for the Skippers' Shore Party. Bob Dresser (last raced in 2001 and skippers' Rep in 2003) who we haven't seen in a long time showed up and is expecting to race in 2015. There were another couple of new people hoping to partake starting with the Offshore 160 next year. John Lubimir is taking his newly acquired 58 ft sailboat to Annapolis starting tomorrow. Plenty of great food again was provided by Caryn Cummings and helpers. The bar folks at NYC ate well also.

17 Sept - The October Newsletter has been posted in the Newsletter page.