2021 SH Leg Notes

SINGLEHANDED LEG NOTES

6/15 The Awards Party was started with cocktails in the bar. We then moved down to the tent in the back of the Dinghy Club. About 60 people participated in the food which this year was provided by a contractor mainly due to Covid-19 restrictions. Following the meal the Awards was held. Both the Mayor of the town of St. George The Honorable George Dowling III and Commodore Sheila Gringly handed out the trophies with Roy Guay the master of ceremony. See the "St George's Award Party document.

6/14 Another taxi trip to Hamilton for Covid-19 PCR tests. Peter Bourke on Rubicon left the harbour for the Dock Yard to fix his steering column problem. Will probably not make the start back to Newport.

6/13 We hired a van to take a group to Hamilton for their Covid-19 tests. 15 people participated in bring your on food grill night. Wonderful relaxing time.
In the evening we had a wonderful time. People brought their food and grilled up on the deck. Worked out great.

6/12 We are having moderate to strong southwesterlys but everyone seems to be survying nicely. We currently have only 7 boats in the Dinghy CLub marina; Reveille, Choucas 3, Young American, Melantho, Corvus and Windswept. Before dusk Gryphon transistioned from the hook to in the marina so we now have 8 here.
In the evening we had the Skipper's Arrival Swizzle Party on the main floor as the bar. 23 plus attended. I'd like to thank Brenda, Patricha and Kim who coocked and served the drinks (rum swizzle of course) and food.

6/11 0842 - the results are finally posted. The Covid-19 process and the slow finish resluted in delays trying to get the results out.

6/10 Finishes:
0105 Highlander
0305 Adventure-us what a grouping!
0314 Corvus
0313 Topaz
0318 Glory
0319 Cepheus
Rubicon emailed that he is withdrawing and motoring in to minimize stress on steering.
0942 Windswept

6/9 1900 Windswept email: Another gear failure.... I broke my toilet seat! Yes, everything is fine. Weather is beautiful. It is just that the wind and a 1-2 knot current are coming directly from the finish, resulting in unproductive saw tooth tacks.
Cepheus emailed: Evening Roy - all is well on Cepheus. Also spoke to Glory. All well there too. I just got a smell of the island! Getting close. Cheers Phil
Windswept email: I am 80 miles from Mills Buoy. I suspect that I will finish around 3:00 EDT (04:00 local) I sent BHR an email. In the meantime, I took a nice hot shower and am cleaning up the boat. It is very calm out here. The boat is moving along at nearly six knots but it is so smooth that you can move about without holding on. See you tomorrow. There is a huge current running parallel to the rhumb line. Windswept was tracking nearly 45 degrees to the right of the steered course. I have never seen anything like it.
Rocinante crossed the finish line at 2122. Unfortunatley he had motored part way during the real light stuff after tearing his main jib.

6/9 1400 Kent Racing called his finish time in and also that his drive isn't working. Motor runs but forward and backward does nothing. A tow boat was sent out.
Rubicon emailed: All ok. After being slowed by problems, set up for forecast E/SE Winds to bring me in today, but got SW. Discouraging but that's sailing! Will be tacking soon. Rather disgusted! But not so disgusted to start the engine. I may come in last but at least it will be a civilized daylight arrival.

6/9 Finishes:
1823 Relentless
1720 about Dauntless finished. Could get his time. Wait for better reception. Relentless is not far behind.
1413 Melantho
1336 Kent Racing
1013 Young American 1st to finish in Class 2
0907 Choucas 3
0842 Alchemy 1st to finish in Class 1
0730 Reveille 1st to finish in Class 3

6/9 0700 Cepheus emailed: Morning Roy - several 360s and being hove to seemed to help and am getting some speed back.
just spoke with Glory and Highlander. All is well for the three of us. We are all getting thirsty for Bermuda specials.
Melontho emailed: All is slow. 20 miles from the finish, but still all upwind. Conditions: Wind SSW 5 - 7 kn Seas 1 - 2 ft Still looking forward to finishing.
Hilander emailed: We are doing great. Had a good evening. Cepheus reported that he had weed on his keel slowing him down. Got it off and now moving along. Looking forward to that D and S. See you soon in Bermuda.
Windswept emailed: I spent part of the night listening to the all too familiar Bermuda 1-2 lullaby of slatting sails and bits of gear rolling from side to side! Yep, must be the dreaded final approach doldrums! I am presently 63 NM from Kitchen and have found a little SW breeze that has me going along at 5.5 knots,but then I must give back nearly one for a persistent head current. It looks like a night time passage of the Town Cut with out electronic navigation. Hopefully, this will be my last e-mail of the outbound leg.
Adventure-us called: all is well, wind is back, going 5 kts with 7 kts of wind. Spoke with Cepheus, Topaz, Glory and Highlander.
Relentless called: no contacts but spoke with Bermuda Radio. 6kts of wind doing 2 kts.

6/9 0400 Cepheus emailed: Morning Roy. You may have noticed that Cepheus has been slipping in the last 24h. I initially managed to floss the keel of seaweed, but then performance deteriorated again. Currently making 03kts when target is 6kts. Clearly something not right, rig is fine, must be beneath the waterline. I will make it but will be slow. In morning after some rest I will check under again and see if there is anything I can do. It feels like I am dragging something. Have tried 360s etc. time for a nap, followed by a cuppa and then address the problem in daylight. Otherwise all is well. Cheers Phil

6/9 0200 Kiwi Spirit 2 reported finishing at 0133
Gryphon Solo reported finishing at 0141. Next is a group of 3 boats; Reveille, Choucas 3 and Alchemy finishing in about 3 hours.

6/8 2300 Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: "Now you might get position. Long approach to Bermuda. Going to be close for second. Alls well." What looks like maybe a final tack to the finish. Dueling with Gryphon Solo.
Rocinante emailed: a very enjoyable day sailing. Wishing never dropped out to motor back (thinking it would get into port faster to get to work on the torn jib).

6/8 1900 Rubicon emailed: Rubicon checking in. Slow but steady. Cheers
Adventure-us called: 2-3 knots of wind. He spoke to Glory, Highlander, Cepheus, Relentless. Topaz, Corvus.
Relentless called: dead calm!

6/8 1523 Dragon finished. Second race in a row Dragon, sailed by Michael Hennessey, has had line honors winning both in different ways; from the East this year and the West in 2019.

6/8 1236 Dragon emailed me that he is 90 minutes away from Mills, the finish line. Said he tried to hail me but I didn't hear him.

6/8 1200 - Windswept emailed: I can almost taste the Ginger Beer. My GPS reports that I am 130 NM from Kitchen Shoals. Unfortunately, that is more or less dead to windward. If conditions hold, I should be in tomorrow afternoon. Besides starting in pea soup fog, having my navigation program crash irretrievably, and having my autopilot dissengage at random times, once or twice a day, this has been a relatively uneventful race. I have been on starboard tack since clearing the East Passage. See you soon.
Glory emailed: I haven't heard anything from relentless or rubicon lately, but all is well on the good ship glory. 3 days ago I had to drop my main so I could fix the out hole, and yesterday I had to go up the mast to fix a batten pocket that had come loose from its track slide. I made the mistake of sailing straight into the high pressure system, but I appear to be in good company because I'm in regular contact with dauntless Highlander, and for quite a while adventure us and cepheus is right in front of me by about 6 mi. Highlander wanted to relay that all is well with him as well, and he had what he thought was a sperm whale surface next to him during his rain squall this morning!

6/8 0700 - Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Light breeze. Alls well.
Melantho emailed: All good. Just a bit slower than the first few days. Conditions: Wind SSW 5 kts Seas 1 - 2 ft Partly cloudy Looking forward to arrival.
Highlander emailed: Sailing last night was wonderful. Trucking right along. Caught up to Glory currently about 1.5 miles starboard beam. Had a short uneventful rain squall this morning. Wind dropped to zero. Have been visited by Bermuda Long tail birds this morning so first indicator of Bermuda approach. Saw a very large whale what I think was a sperm whale only 100 yards from the boat. Amazing to see. Till next time. Cheers Jon
Kiwi Spirit emailed: Trucking east. Alls well.
Adventure-us called: he had spoken with HIGHLANDER, who had been in touch with both GLORY and DAUNTLESS, who he could not hear as they were both well to the east of AVENTURE-US. He did not hear from RELENTLESS at this morning’s comm hour as he had tacked away last night and was now to the west of ADVENTURE-US. There were rain squalls earlier this morning, and after one of the squalls, HIGHLANDER reported seeing a sperm whale, which was quite close to him. Other than that, all is well with everyone mentioned here. While the weather has turned beautiful, the wind has unfortunately dropped considerably. At reporting, ADVENTURE-US had about 5.5 knots or wind, and remarked that, “seven knots of wind would be a gift right now!”
Relentless emailed: “Everything is excellent this morning!" He is experiencing, "a beautiful morning with beautiful seas." Partly cloudy with a nice breeze from 253 degrees, and he said he was currently making 6.5 knots of speed.
RELENTLESS had radio communications this morning with TOPAZ, who said that he had experienced radio issues, and therefore had not spoken with anyone for two days. But the radio issues seem to have been resolved, and everything OK aboard TOPAZ. RELENTLESS had no major issues to report, but hopes his course correction to the west would eventually pay off. He just wants to get to Bermuda before the high settles in… (Oops, its here!)
Dragon emailed: Does anyone else find it intriguing that the three boats in the lead of this leg are named after mythical creatures. Sure, Kiwis exist but they give off a mythical vibe. 25 miles to go with clear skies, 5 to 8 knots of (finally) a SE breeze. The SE was predicted way back in our pre-race prep and has always been part of the Dragon plan, setting us up a clean line into the finish. Taking the east side of this course is always tempting, particularly if the meander does lure you away. Doing the initial half of the course on a broad reach is a tempting way to build an early lead. But too often it sets you up for a slow uphill beat to the finish, giving up all your early gains and then some to boats coming in from the west side which is exactly what happened in the 2019 edition of this race. In 13 outbound legs to Bermuda, I went east one other time. This time, however, it all lined up. The broad reaching, advantageous current from multiple eddys, and a SE to finish in. I have had my doubts in the leg, all the way until this morning when the South Easterlies finally kicked in. A couple more hours will tell the tale, and answer Stanley Paris' question. Can Dragon's slay Kiwis and Gryphons?
Rocinante called: He started motoring at 2300 last night. At 0500 this morning he noticed he'd made little progress and that there's a heavy current against him. His usual 10 miles per gallon is down to 5 miles per gallon. At that rate there won't be enough fuel because he's still 148 miles out. So he's back to sailing now. Has unreefed his main while he's in light winds (when the unbalance problem shouldn't matter ) and is proceeding under the wind vane. He plans to sail till he's about 30 miles out, when there will be sufficient fuel to get in.

6/7 1900 - Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Bugger!!!!
Rubicon emailed: A very revolting development on Rubicon. Lower housing around steering column has cracks and is flexing. Steering ok but sounds wonky. Took ugly video & jury rigged a fix. Moving well now. Thank God conditions are benign. Will need prof expertise in B. Fingers crossed for a quick repair. Other than that it's been quite the sail! Will probably have to change my plan to anchor out and find dockage or a boatyard, but that's not today's problem.
Adventure-us called: Light air no problems, spoke Highlander, Relentless, Glory.
Dragon emailed: If you let me choose between a day of 35 knot sailing or a day of 3 knot sailing, I would pick the gale over the calm every time. In the gale you gear up, reduce sail, and hunker down. Other than the fear, it's pretty simple. The calm is a misery. It's hot, it's frustrating and it's never ending work trying to squeeze even a knot of boat speed out of the whispers of wind. You are constantly looking for cats paws of wind on the water's smooth surface and wishing you could teleport the boat to those patches of good fortune. And when it gets below 2 knots, often the best you can hope for is to keep the bow of the boat pointed in generally the right direction. For more specifics, I have fought for the past 18 hours to ouch my way generally south. Not able to point at the island, but generally close. I had a half knot of favorable current for most of the day, but that was about the only gift. Otherwise I am waiting for the forecasted shift to the SE, one that I can use to tack towards the mark and that will also put the whammy on my pursuers given their more westward location. But that shift is proving to be coy and my patience is tested. So...how was your day? Sorry, I should add that there still is no one within hailing distance for the chat window.
Highlander emailed: All is well aboard Highlander. Lighter winds today changing between 7-12 knots more from the southerly direction. Seas less than 1 foot. Currently about 140 miles out from Bermuda. Another amazing sunset. Talked with Adventure-us and all is well there. Was visited by Bermuda Longtail who left gift on the deck of Adventure-Us. Can see Glory off my bow about 5 miles out. Have not been able to reach via VHF but can see his AIS signal.
Cepheus emailed: hope you are now able to enjoy Bermuda. I look forward to getting there. One day. All is well out here. Slowly making progress. Cheers Phil
Choucas3 emailed: Had a chat with David from Alchemy this evening. He lost his AIS system but we were sailing with eyesight of each other. All is well for both of us.
A little frustrated of the slow finish considering the fast conditions of the first two days. But at least this gives us the opportunity to see another beautiful sundown. But looking forward to a dark and stormy in Bermuda.
Rocinante called me: Looks he will be turing on the iron geny to get home and get his sail repaired for the trip back. Sails left are not good for beating into light winds.
Relentless called: He apologized for calling in so late, but said that he had experienced several distractions. He reported being a call with ADVENTURE-US, and could hear but not communicate with DAUNTLESS. Reported that all is well, with no significant activities to report. The weather conditions had gone flat and the wind was very light from 180 degrees. Partly cloudy, but no storms currently in the area. “Just trying to make my way to Bermuda…”

Entry Process to Bermuda

I’m producing this now to help those coming into Bermuda. The key is having vaccination complete. I’m not even going to talk about not vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, don't think about coming to Bermuda.

Traveling by Air:
You arrive into the new Airport, by the way, get funneled into a line. The first check is your Covid-19 paper work, TA, vaccination proof and PCR pre test.
The next is Customs (same as before)
The next is pickup your luggage.
The next is PCR test (this is quicker than the other stages). They have a number of stations.
You then have to go to your apartment and wait for the test result email which mine came in at 9pm! I didn’t find a way to get food but there might be. Fortunately I was able to find a restaurant after I received the negative test result that would give me takeout. They all supposedly closed at 9pm for food.
In the PCR test result email will be a link to the “Safe Key” for you. Click on the link and save it to your phone and or print it out. You might need this to get into restaurants.

For mariners:
Go through customs if not in the middle of the night.
May have to wait for the PCR test which is in the back of the Customs building. While waiting BYS will put the boats on the town dock till PCR test.
Once having been tested you will be moved to either the Town Dock or the Dinghy Club. You will have to stay “with the boat” until you get the negative result.
In the PCR test result email will be a link to the “Safe Key” for you. Click on the link and save it to your phone and or print it out. You might need this to get into restaurants.

6/7 1300 - Windswept emailed: The past 20 years of using navigation programs have apparently eroded my manual skills! The old rhyme "West is best, East is least" refers to whether to add or subtract the variation to (from) the true direction to find the magnetic course. Well, I screwed up resulting in my compass course being in error by about 30 degrees. I couldn't understand why I kept getting farther and farther to the left of the rhumb line. I discovered my error using a free compass app that I had loaded on my phone as a hail Mary contingency!
Now, with the wind slowly backing to the South, it is unlikely I will be able to make this up without a long corrective port tack.
Anyway, the weather is beautiful today. Last night I saw the most amazing shooting star against the back drop of the Milky Way!
Young American emailed via Joe Cooper: the update for today is the weather 1 started off nice then the wind crapped out and headed. there a bunch of thunder clouds and only one did i get to intersect to get better wind for 20-30 min, now back to light but direction is better and holding the A3. the short bit of rain was nice. still cant get the expedition to down load possition reports so blind. the 7:00 radio chat i could hear someone but not the other party they were talking to.. I called out 2x both 72 and 16 with no reply. I must be monkey in the middle. Tim Kent showed up breifly on AIS as the wind was dieing and he was 15 nm at a bearing just fwd of the beam. I was 1 kts faster SOG He was in foul current. Hope all is well ashore - looks like I maybe out for an extra day.
Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed me twice: 1. 3 kts, 2. No wind. Auto-helm not able to steer. Sailing southeast at present. Alls well.
Kent Racing text: Glad to be back...I think that the earlier texts did not have +1 on your number. User error. LIGHT wind - have been using a combination of had and APst (huhn).
Corvus text: 1000 fy (ft?) of sail that wants to sweep you overboard is to drop it in the ocean and winch it back aboard. back to the race.
Reveille emailed: doing well. on port. Wind is light, SSW at 170⁰. Wind direction does not correspond with what his GRIB file said it would be. not been able to raise anyone at radio check in, but in good spirits and sleeping a lot.

6/7 0700 - Melantho emailed: Got woken up with a squally wind pattern this morning. All is well. Conditions: Wind W 14 kn Seas 2 - 3 ft. Partially overcast with rain showers visible Water temp 82.0 deg
Dragon emailed: Good morning. Tough night out there. Wind faded around 0100 and went pretty variable at various points. Several tiring sail changes. Weather is slightly cloudy, minimal wave state and slightly shifty winds. We are in the final push.
Corvus text: nobody in range for radio chat today. All's well on Corvus, am flying the Code zero. Wind 12 kts at 263.
Adventure-us called: he had been in communication with DAUNTLESS, GLORY, RELENTLESS and HIGHLANDER. He said that all conditions were OK among those boats with whom he had spoken. After a night with light and very shifty winds, the breeze had picked up to 17 knots, so he was hoping to make up time now that the wind has freshened.
Relentless called: confirming that he also had been part of the communications with ADVENTURE-US, DAUNTLESS, GLORY and HIGHLANDER. He reported that weather conditions as “wonderful" at the moment as the winds had shifted and began to pick up between 5 and 6AM, and that it currently is at 272 degrees. He also said that the sky was overcast, but that he is waiting for more squalls to come along, with his hopes that they will help to keep the "Bermuda High" away from the fleet.
Kiwi Spirit emailed: Alls well. Lost some ground overnite but breeze now back in. Many friends watching a yellow brick.

6/6 1900 - Highlander emailed: All is well aboard Highlander. Sailing has been great all day. Winds SW 10-14 seas minor 2-3 feet. Saw Adventure-us, Glory, rubicon and dauntless all on AIS all about 10 miles out in different directions. Can not visually see them.
Gryphon emailed:You may have heard I had starter issues. Water was sloshing around engine bay due to clogged drain. Cleared clog and rinsed starter with fresh water. Engine started right up. Onwards to Bermuda. All good. I can send but cannot receive emails.
Kent Racing emailed: I'm currently at 35.38N, 66.19W. All systems go. It's been 18 years since my last solo race and I'm a bit rusty, but fitness is good and the platform is excellent. About 10 knots of wind now, heading for the Island.
Windswept emailed: All is well aboard excepting the previously mentioned equipment failures. Today was a beautiful day,so I decided to set the code zero to make up some time. What I found was a grapefruit size mouse nest! After a disgusting half an hour separating mouse nest from code zero, I happily discovered that mice do not eat mylar. I flew the sail most of the day until the wind freshened to about 18 knots. My hand held GPS shows about 330 miles to Bermuda, so I should hit the halfway point later tonight.
Adventure-us called: Doing fine. Slow but moving. Heard three boats but talked to Highlander.
Relentless called: Beautiful evening, beautiful clouds and sailing. Dauntless, Adventure-us and Highlander heard.
Melantho called: SW 12 kts, seas 3-4 ft.
Dragon emailed: Greetings from the eastern eddy. Been getting a bit of. About over her in the east. It helps offset the fact that I am more upwind now and the breeze is down to about 11. It's been mostly cloudy today, which is giving a nice sunset right now. Temps were cooler today, also nice. And the Sea state has smoothed out from last night. I have been moving ground to Kiwi Spirit, a bit inevitable given her water line length advantage over me. But I seem to be holding my own over the other Class40s. I still can't raise anyone from Class 5 on the VHF during the chat windows. Tonight should be straight forward, sailing into declining breeze. Tomorrow will be more interesting is the high pressure extends north and east. Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.
Cepheus emailed: Hi Roy - by now I hope you have had at least one dark stormy . All is well here - totally forgot to tune in to 72. Interesting touting choices for us all to make.....
Rubicon emailed: Hi Roy, I couldn't raise anyone on Ch 72 today. Maybe they're all way out ahead, but I called a freighter, the 'Thamesburg' so I know my VHF is working. Very pleasant sailing, winds 12-13 from the west, and flattish seas. Hope all the competitors are doing well.
Kiwi Spirit emailed: Alls well. Down to 4 mile lead over me. However KS2 not good in light winds.

6/6 1600 - Kiwi Spirit emailed: Can a Kiwi slay a Dragon?

6/6 1355 - Rocinante emailed: all generally well, but damage on Rocinante. Around noon today, in gusty 15 knot wind, with rolling swells, the jib ripped horizontally 2/3s of the way up, too big to repair. Put up Solent instead and reefed the main sail to balance the sails and avoid damaging the main. Proceeding under wind vane. If needed, have enough fuel to motor in from 200 nautical miles out. Current distance 320 nautical miles. Hoping to get there under sail, and to patch the jib in St. Georges if possible. Thinking the jib may have been weakened in rough weather en route to Newport, and then blew in moderate conditions.

6/6 0700 - Cepheus emailed: all is well here. Successful crossing of the Gulf Stream through the night. Spoke with young American and all is well there. I think you fly down today - think of us in your 2 hour journey. See you later in the week. Phil
Highlander emailed: All is well. Star studded perfect sailing last night. Glory is five miles in front of me. Talked with him over VHF. He could see my lights all night. Highlander is performing flawlessly with the exception of a few minor leaks. Sea state through the G Stream was maybe 3-4 feet. Nice sailing with wind and current and waves on the beam. 14 knots true holding steady out of the SW.
Melantho emailed: Still doing well. In the Gulf Stream. Seas are quite lumpy and confused. No problems to report. Conditions: Wind WSW 15 kn Seas 4 to 6 ft Baro 1018.2 Jack
Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: A bit rough last night. Now Dawn. Reef out if Genoa and soon out of main. Alls well.
Corvus text: Not able to raise anybody on radio check in. All's well on board. Wind 16 kts at 279. Gentle swells 2-3 feet. Getting a 3 kt push.
Dragon emailed: Good morning, Roy. Decent night of sailing. Saw as much as 25 in the gusts, and a steady 18-20. I down shifted to 2 reefs in am abundance of caution and probably gave back to much as a result. I am trying to make up for it this AM by pressing more canvas. Skies are overcast, sea state has settled to a bit less than a meter. I am about 2/3 rds done and now comes the tricky bit. Do the westward boats take a hit from the eddy? Do I get the expected boost from the feature that we think is to the east? Do I have the better angle for the expected high pressure when we get closer to the island? Stay tuned! It's gonna be exciting.
Adventure-us called: He reported that he has crossed the Gulf Stream, is moving along very well, and is close-hauled at the moment. The pack of boats in his proximity, which include HIGHLANDER, RELENTLESS and TOPAZ, all communicated this morning to him that they are OK, with none of them reporting any sort of issues or equipment problems/failures. Said, "It's a lovely day out here today!" and added that, "I'm not sure where I am supposed to be, so I'm just sticking to the rhumb line!”
Relentless called: Doing fine. Wind 10 kts. Haven't talked to anyone.

6/5 2100 - Kiwi Spirit emailed: No contact chat with my Class. Will start racing tomorrow!! Alls well.
Rocinante emailed: All is well on Rocinante, sailing a westerly route by design (lacking a Genoa for final approach). Using the wind vane and loving it. Could only hear fragments on Class 2 check in call, due to distance. Recognized voices of Topaz, Adventure and Relentless.

6/5 1900 - Windswept emailed: All is well on the good ship Windswept. Besides some occasional static on channel 72, I have heard nothing from the fleet. I think my decision to fly my 110 genoa at the start created quite a gap before I wised up and switched to the 135. It appears that I am traversing the stream, lots of Sargasso grass and water temperatures in the high seventies. It is pretty lumpy making typing a real chore. My chart plotting software crashed so I am using the charts. My autopilot also picked up nervous tick. Randomly, without cause or warning,it simply disconnects. It starts right up again, but in the meantime, it puts the boat head to wind, an alarming way to be awakened from a sound sleep. More later when the typing is easier.
Highlander emailed: I could not reach any boats to check in so the reason for email. Went East and picked up some great current push now heading back to Rum line at 50 degrees apparent. Yes I have Rum on my mind when I get to Bermuda. Great sailing. Wind has been around 17 true most of the day. Dropping now. I can see the clouds over the Gulf Stream in the distance. Cheers, Jon
Dragon emailed: Howdy from the eastern frontier. So far, am pretty happy with my routing choices. The second half of the race is going to be interesting since I have invested a lot of miles to get into the favorable arm of a hypothetical eddy. I reached the northern wall of the Stream at 1300 this afternoon, right on schedule. I am in the process of exiting now. Wind is blowing high teens to 20 from 260 to 265 True and it means a broad reach while I pile up some more easting. I should hit my selected eastern boundary around 0100 Sunday morning and see what fortunes await. Back to work....Sea state is maybe 2 meters and messy - it's bullying the autopilot. Hopefully that calms down when I am fully out of the stream. Skies were partly overcast, and Temps are comfortable.
Sorry, I should have added that no one responded to my hail during the comms window. I am pretty much out of range at this point.
Rubicon emailed: I could hear chatter on VHF call this evening but very muffled and I couldn't make myself heard. All good on Rubicon. Wind at 15 knots from WNW.
Corvus emailed: Radio check in could only raise Gryphon for class 4. No issues to report. Corvus experienceing 1.2kt of adverse current. Wind 17 kts at 251. Sunny skies.

6/5 1500 - Kiwi Paris 2 emailed: Air temp 83F. Sorry
Young American emaild: fog is gone and the sky is clear, reaching nicely with the JT and staysail. almost through the back side of the eddy and 45 nm to GS north wall.
models show lots more wind than i xperience so staying on guard for the heat of the GS and thunderstorms. We forget how nice it is out to ses no matter what the conditions. Single is a challenging situation to DH which mnakes it that much more fun. that said excited for the DH leg with Leah. Success reconnecting the B&G to the laptop. one challenge at a time. All good for now. PBB

6/5 0630 - Melantho emailed: All is well. The sun is finally shining. Conditions are: Winds WSW 12 kn, Seas 3 - 4 ft., Water temp 78.3
Cepheus emailed: All is well on Cepheus. Finally no fog! I heard adventurous this morning but no others. Cheers Phil
Highlander emailed: Had a good night. Went through a uneventful rain shower in middle of night. Was able to steer between the cells. No thunder and lightning. Winds have dropped but expect them to pick up slightly. Currently 11 knots of true wind beam reaching the sun is out. It cleared out around 2 am so enjoyed amazing night sky. Had to weave my way through ship traffic during the night. Soon I will be off the continental shelf so will see less traffic. Have been able to communicate with fellow racers. Have been able to rest and feeling good. Was able to run the engine this morning to cool fridge and top of batteries. All is good. Cheers.
Dragon emailed: Good morning, Roy. Please email me back to confirm that you are getting these. Crossed the continental shelf at 0100 in dense fog, but as the water warmed the fog lifted. We are now at 69 degrees, up from 58 in Newport, and life is more comfortable. The water temp is also a sign that we are nearing the northern reaches of the Gulf Stream. That and the first signs of sea weed. The wind reached 20 knots last night, on reach to shy reach. It's now gone aft about 30 degrees and dropped to low teens.
No boats responded to my hail during chat this AM. Have a great day.
Odyssey - I've decided to drop out. Slow start and witout autopilot it will take more than a week. Heading now to Cape May and then Annapolis.
Kiwi Spirit - Again no contact with group. Alls well on KS2.
Gryphon emailed: i can hear Corvus, but he cannot hear me. I see two sails on the horizon. I couple minor problems yesterday forced me to do projects, but now all is well on G.
Alchemy emailed: Greetings from alchemy. I missed the call in this am but talked to Cepheus last night. The weather yesterday reminded me why I left England, but this morning is sunny with a 14 knot wind, so everything’s drying out. Best David

6/5 0257 - Wildeyes called in to say he had catastrophic autopilot failure and heading back.

6/5 0200 - Melantho emailed: Wild Eyes reported that I am transmitting an intermittant SAR signal. I am fine. I've checked my EPIRB and it is not turned on. Not sure what is transmitting the signal.

6/4 1900 - Odyssey - All good. We lost the autopilot before leaving Newport but okay with wheel lock and hand steering. Also starboard runnin light... Lost electrical contact. We installed NaviLight and also turned on tricolor. All ok.
Corvus - reporting in for class 4 radio check in. All's well on Corvus. Wind is 10-11 kts at 231. Rolling swells about 2-3 ft. A great ride but poor visibility. Gryphon reports a chafed line on wind vane monitor. Line has since been repaired. Could not raise a highlander or Windswept.
Rubicon - Heard from Reveille and Glory on afternoon VHF session. Dense fog, wind sw at 12, all good but a slog getting out of the bay. Cheer
Adventure-us reported hearing from Rubicon, Glory, Corvis, Daultless, Melantho, Reveille, Rocinante. Foggy with winds at 12 kts.
Kiwi Sirit - No contact with any Class 5 during chat time. Alls well. Doing 10k. No wind instruments.
Dragon emailed: Good evening. Wind is 223 True and blowing 12 to 14. Fog has shut visibility down to 0.10 since the start. Sea state is maybe 1 meter. Start was relatively slow tacking out the passage but was successful against Kent Racing and Kiwi Spirit. Graphic Solo's AIS is not being received, so not clear how I did there. Once I cleared R2 and was able to free up a bit, it's be steady progress. Batteries are acting up a bit, and I missed radio hour because I was charging. I tried to hail class 5 on 72 and 16 at 1918 hours and got nothing. It's possible I am out of range. Otherwise all is good an pushing to clear the continental shelf in the next few hours. I hope like hell that if there are fishing boats out here, they are transmitting AIS!
Rocinante emailed: All is well on Rocinante and all Class 2 boats except Topaz - who didn't call in.

Windswept emailed: I started with the wrong Jib! Silly me for believing the weather forecast! The wind is about 10 kts. from the SW. It is pretty rolly. I did change jibs and have picked up the pace a bit.

6/4 1200 - 23 boats started in foggy conditions. Follow them on the ybTracking webpage. See the menu Tracker Map on the left.

3 June - Frank Bohlen has provided us his 3rd Note on the Gulf Stream. At the Skipper's Meeting Frank gave us a brief on the Gulf Stream and retired Ken Campbell gave us a view of the weather to come. I liked the prediction!

2 June -Registration was today and afterwards we had about 40 people attend the Skipper's Send Off Party; food and Dark n'Stormys.

25 May - Frank Bohlen's second note on the Gulf Stream is now available.

5 May - Frank Bohlen's firsts note on the Gulf Stream is now available.

$100 Increase in fee delayed from 1 April 2021 to 15 April 2021.

Potential Skippers for 2021: James Barber on his Camper Nicholson 35 WISP, Jonathan Bixby, Luke Brockman, Colin Brown on his Pogo 10.5, Jon Burt on his J/130 Lola, Jack Clayton, Fred Cosandey on his new boat Choucas3, Chris Dowling on a J/121 called ACE, Richard Geis in his S2 9.1 Renegade, Brian Gray, Roy Greenwald, James Hammitt on Reveille a Sigma 41, Philip Haydon, Tony Leigh, Mike Millard, Thomas O'Connell on his J/99, Stanley Paris, Alessandro Pagani, Rick Rohrer, Walter Rush, Lance Ryley, Henry Schultz, David Southwell, Chris Terajewicz (I'll never get his pronunciation), Steve Tofield on his Tartan 41 Tyger Tyger, John Yanusas.

Skipper's Qualifying - James Barber, Ken Bordieri on his Hanse 415, Jon Burt, Luke Brockman, Jack Clayton on his Benetear First 36.7 Melantho, Fred Cosandey on his new boat Choucas3 a RM 1370, 45 feet long, Richard Geis on his S2 9.1 Renegade, Tony Giarrantana on his Hinckley So'wester 52, James Hammitt on Reveille a Sigma 41, Zach Lee on a J/122E Hot Sauce, Thomas O'Connell, Richard Rohrer on his J/109 Rocinante, Marc Rotenberg on Odyssey a Jeanneau 409, Lance Ryley on his Freedom 45 CC Glory.

21 March - I received info from the St George's Dinghy & Sports Club that Bermuda had do to 16 new Covid-19 cases recently and now the Dinghy Club is closed (except for the outside heads). It is unknown how long this may last.

20 March - A friend to our offshore sailing as well as all of sailing, Dr Robin Wallace passed away today. Sail Newport has made available a video about his life. Robin Wallace Thank You Video

6 March - 29 people participated in the Zoom Skippers' Forum which worked pretty well. After the usual introductions of everyone Frank Bohlen gave a brief on the current conditions of the Gulf Stream. Tristan Mouligne gave a brief on getty prepared for the race. I gave my few words about getting ready for the race. Frank's brief and links are posted on the Gulf Stream page.

14 February - The March Newsletter is posted now.

1 January - Online registration is now open and we have our first two entrants. For your information I fully expect to run this race this year however should we have to cancel due to Covid-19 we will return most of the fee to the registrants.

2 0 2 1 2 0 2 1 2 0 2 1

11 November - The Notice of Race and Calendar are now posted for next year's race.

3 October - The October newsletter has been posted. Big news is that the November 7 Skipper's Forum/Shore Party was cancelled due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

20 February - Gust Stringos has a article about his participation in the 2019 Bermuda One-Two Race published in CCA's Voyages Magazine.

3 February - The March newsletter has been posted.

10 January - A new section in "In the Media" was created for video of the race. Vernon Hultzer provided this one from the 2017 return leg start in the Towne Cut (since he wasn't doing it due to a problem with his mini). There are other videos on YouTube.

9 January - Now Vernon Hultzer's mini is up for sale.

8 January - I finally got around to creating an area to display only boats for sale from Bermuda One-Two skippers. Paul Grimes is the first!

2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0

14 November - I was informed today that Bermuda One-Two skipper Brad Tripp has passed away.

2 November - 40 people attended the Skipper's Shore Party at the Newport Yacht Club. One of our skippers Phil Haydon, Ph.D., is both a neuroscientist who studies the regulation of sleep and a solo offshore sailor. He has integrated his scientific knowledge with sources of information provided by others to develop his own “checklist” to follow when racing offshore. He shared this information with us in the hope that it will be helpful to other sailors and prevent them making errors, that can be serious, after prolonged periods of sleep deprivation. Phil has provided the slides for all to use. Past sleep seminar slides are here and also an example of a sleep log is here. Of course Phil's brief was followed up by gab and food from Caryn Cummings and crew.

22 September - Peter Bourke, Rubicon, and Richard Lett, Velocity Girl, have registered for the 2020 OSTAR. Both are veteran B12 skippers. Peter Bourke did the OSTAR in 2009 and suffered equipment failures; here's hoping for a better ride in 2020. Richard did the singlehanded B12 leg in 2019 then went on to Europe from Bermuda. See the OSTAR website for further info: www.rwyc.org/ostar/

16 September - The October newsletter is now available for download.

6 August - 2021 Bermuda One-Two dates announced. Friday 4 June is the start to Bermuda, 14 June is the Awards/Prize Giving in Bermuda, 17 June is the start to Newport and 26 June is the Awards in Newport.