UP COMING EVENTS

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NOTES

6/23 1000 Windswept emailed: That song was sung by the Kingston Trio in support of George O'Brien's political campaign promise not to raise fares on the MTA. No one remembers what happened to Mr. O'Brien, but it became a sensational hit for the Kingston Trio. "He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston, he's the man that never returned". Not bad considering I have no internet out here :)! Now, if I could just remember to duck the boom! It got me good last night in the middle of a disaster on deck, which was itself in the middle of an amazing thunder storm, all of which woke me from a sound sleep. The inner forestay broke right where it joins the mast. Lowering the staysail got the lot into the sea which took much effort and harsh language to get back on deck and down the forward hatch, right on top of the last of my dry clothes. The main sail was not set at the time. It was only the rolling of the boat that sent the boom my way. As of this writing, I believe that I am still in the stream as the water temperature is 85F. There are scattered showers. The wind is down to 12-15 knots and is oscillating between NW (boo) and West (yeah). I have full main and genoa set and am heading for the barn, which is still well over 250 miles away. Another two or three days and this saga will be history.

6/23 Finishes
0332 Adventure-us
0507 Topaz
0509 Dauntless
0510 Rocinante
0516 Corvus - this leaves Windswept left to finish.

6/22 2100 Windswept emailed: As you can probably see from the tracker, I cut back to the staysail again. The SW winds have built back to into the high thirties and the sea state is pretty grim. Every hour or so I get completely washed over, which leaves the cockpit full to the brim. The side lockers are not adequately sealed, so a lot of water gets inside the boat. For the first time in the 25 years I have owned her, I had water above the floor boards. Not dangerous, I have great pump capacity,just really freakin annoying. I am about 30 miles from the suggested GS entry point. I think that I may have already entered it as the water temperature has steadily risen to 83.5 degrees. I am also starting to see a strong left to right current set. This could also explain the sea state. I will be watching for thunder storms on the northern edge. Well, that's my story. Undoubtedly my reward will be a period of persistent light air directly from Newport :)!

6/22 finishes
0741 Luna
0750 Relentless
0942 Glory
1027 Cepheus
2123 Melantho, slow going out there since the front went through.
2200 Gryphon

6/22 0700 Adventure-us called: Talked with Rocinante and Topaz. Heard Highlander and Corvus talking but they couldn't hear us. 19 kts now. Last night was light and on the nose but very variable.
Melantho emailed: Another frustrating night with frequent calms and foul current.  Finally crawled out of warm water thanks to a light NE wind.  Looking forward to a nice clam chowder. Conditions:  Wind SW 12 kn, Seas 2 - 4 ft, mostly clear Highlander is just 1 nm ahead of us.
Highlander emailed: All is well on Highlander. We were well positioned for Claudette and only saw a brief gust to 27. No squalls and AB amazing sunset. We are currently sailing side by side with Melantho only a few hundred yards from us. Wind is SW around 16 knots surfing down some big swells left over from Claudette. Fantastic sailing. We chatted with Corvus this morning and they are well but saw a very different experience than us with Claudette. Our ETA is late tonight into Newport. Looking forward to getting home to get the eye checked out. My eye doctor is not overly concerned due to the slow improvements seen since the injury occurred. From Highlander. Jon and John.
Corvus text: All is well on Corvus, great sailing this morning. Corvus established a new speed record yesterday when the effects of TS Claudette were felt. We hit SOG of 13 kts. As we surfed down a wave in a 40+ kt gust. Not something we want to repeat lookng forward to getting in tonight.
Windswept emailed: I lost the solar panel array. It was so violent on deck that it would have been too dangerous to try and intervene. I did save one panel which is lying flat on the afterdeck and still seems to be generating power. The other lies on the sea floor nearly five miles down! The decks were continuously awash from breaking waves. A good deal found it's way below, partly through numerous small leaks and partly by my going on deck.  It a good thing I got the second bilge pump running. Everything is wet down below. Conditions seem to be improving. The waves are getting smaller and more regular. The top wind gusts are now generally under 30 knots with the steady winds in the low 20s. I am going to raise the double reefed main soon. I am starting to have trouble maintaining my target 5 knot average speed over the ground. I have 99 miles to go to the GS entry point. If conditions prevail, I should get there in the early morning hours tomorrow. And we do this for FUN!

1900 Adventure-us called: talked to Topaz but could only hear Corvus and Highlander talking but they couldn't hear Adventure-us.  Had a period of 30 kts but now 15 kts, nice and comfortable. 148 nm to go!
Cepheus emailed: Cepheus is in bound. We fixed the autopilot (though not calibrated ) lots of hand steering since yesterday at 4am. Phil the electrician fixed the mast head tricolor and something else but I need to sleep and can’t totally remember . Life is GOOD! Phil and Coop
Windswept emailed: As you may have figured out, I am once again headed for the finish line. The storm finally arrived in my neck of the ocean. What had been SSW winds at 19kts. gusting to 25 became due S at 25 gusting to 35. I am on port tack with only my #4 jib set on the inner forestay. The sea state is very confused, with long 9 plus knot sleigh rides cut short by dramatic sudden stops. I am thinking that the winds will tend to slacken as the storm races on ahead of me.  The plan would then be adding the double reefed main to maintain speed. I have a school of porpoises playing with the boat. They are much smaller and much darker than the bottle nose variety that usually pick me up at the continental shelf. Hopefully, the south westerlies last until I am through the stream, sometime during the day on Wednesday.  Usually a big storm flattens the wind field for days, but these mid ocean south westerlies had been so well established that they may survive.

6/21 Finishes: 0859 Kiwi Spirit 2 2nd again!
1201 Gryphon Solo 3rd again!
1452 Alchemy finished first in his class, Class 1.
1541 Kent Racing finished.
1701 Young American finished 1st in his class, Class 2. Following in a tight race Reveille and Choucas 3 possibly overtaking Reveille.
2101 Choucas 3
2106 Reveille

6/21 0700 Melantho emailed: The Gulf Stream was not kind to us. Yesterday we stayed on deck all day to deal with the thunderstorms. One squall hit us with 45 kn, with the usual attendant damage. Lost another mainsail batten, so now with all my spares used I'm still missing half my battens. The head also pulled out of the track slug, but that has been repaired. Jib has some leech damage. Last night we had light conditions, which allowed us to rest. The sun has risen. Today is another day.
Dragon emailed his last: This edition started in Fog, and perhaps was destined to end in fog. From about 5 miles out, visibility went from a clear night sky filled with stars to a struggle to see the top of our mast. Dragon wrapped up in fine style, spending most of the 12 hours preceding her finish creaming along in champagne conditions, on a broad reach in smooth seas. The bonus was piling on miles against our competition who were set up to the west and had a deeper and slower approach. We finished with some pretty wide gaps on the chasing boats. Time will tell if they are large enough to offset the handicap adjustments, but we have our fingers crossed. In the meantime, we are maybe 2 hours out from Stonington in our delivery home. The boat is stripped and tidied up, almost fully decommissioned before we even get to the dock. No breakage or issues in this leg - I wish they were all like that. Until the next edition - and a huge thanks to Roy and all the other volunteers who make this special event possible!
Adventure-us called: Bad reception via sat phone. Still in contact with Topaz. Wind is 17 kts SW, moving right along.  Decided to head directly for Newport vice a waypoint they were headed for. Squalls during the night and now out of the Gulf Stream.
Windswept emailed: I am thinking that it is about time to turn around, power up, and head for the finish.
Corvus text: Good morning. Corvus reporting all's well after leaving the GS. Encountered two squalls in early morning hours one of which had winds of up to 40 kts. This morning Rocinante reported on radio chat that all's well on board.
Glory emailed: Glory has been out of radio range for the past 24 hours, we had been close to topaz and relentless but we got split up in the second round of thunderstorms. We broke or second reef line again and lost some time repairing it and now we are slightly east of rhumb in about 1.5 knots of adverse current. We are both well and spirits are good, inside of 150nm to Newport!
Topaz emailed: Just wanted to update for the blog. Topaz has just exited the gulf stream, not without a bang! We had some nice squalls right at the end and got pushed along hitting boatspeeds of 15 knots. A little bit of excitement, especially in the dark of night. Taking a beat to reorganize the small cabin and then powering up the sails a bit to keep ahead of claudette

6/21 0504 Dragon finished.  1st to finish on return leg as well as the 1st leg. It's only appropriate; they started in fog and finishing in fog! Although not quite as dense. Kiwi Spirit coming up next followed by Gryphon Solo. By the way Gryphon Solo's reporting again and it's complete track is available. Don't know why it wasn't reporting yet.

6/20 Adventure-us called: Talked with Topaz. Topaz talked to Rocinante. Corvus in the area. All is well. In the Gulf Stream and expect to be out early morning Monday. Triple reefed main moving along. Several squals.

6/20 1500 Highlander emailed: we are abandoning the race and motoring to find wind and try to be in a better Osiris to deal with Claudette. I also need to get to a eye doctor ASAP. Still having vision issues. We are currently 283 miles from Newport. Motoring position 372417n 680280w Jon
Kiwi Spirti 2 emailed: Alls well. Once again can a kiwi slay a dragon? It's possible
Corvus emailed: All aboard Corvus is well, we are in the Gulf Stream double reefed main and no jib making decent progress. winds are at 251 degrees M and high twenties to low thirties. Just had a radio chat with Rocinante, all is fine there. He was attempting to fly rig has solent when a squall hit and his solent halyad got away
Luna emailed: We checked in with Relentless on VHF this evening and they are doing well. We had seen Cepheus on AIS a few hours ago but could not reach them this evening. Luna had an eventful morning. We broached after the main autopilot failed. Later in the morning we lost the rudder on the hydrovane. But thankfully Luna actually has three steering methods and we limping along on a groaning backup autopilot. We're hoping this one makes it to the finish line. Responding to a 30 knot breeze early this morning We popped a batcar off the mainsail track at the 3rd reef tack point. The car is now lashed to the mast and we're stuck at the 3rd reef till the finish. We're hoping it doesn't get too light as we get closer to newport.
Relentless text: All good to report on Relentless. Luna nearby under 3 reefs due to a broken batton car. Getty chilly this side of the GS.
Windswept emailed: He who fights and runs away gets to fight another day :)!
Dragon emailed: Home stretch, and Dragon is speeding her way towards Awesome Town. Today turned out to a bit more tricky than we had planned for. Around 11 AM, the steady 10 knots of breeze first moved forward, heading us, then died out and left us struggling for a solid 4 hours. All we could really do was keep the boat moving and hope was that Kiwi Spirit and Gryphon Solo were going through the same ridge. But after the whammy we laid down last night, it was a mood killer. Persistence paid off and the SW breeze filled back in around 3 and got us back up to speed. We crossed over the continental shelf shortly after, the last major milestone before the finish. We continue to point at the finish, with 80 miles to cross to get there. The boat and crew are in great shape, the sun just set on a beautiful day, and we are lucky to be here.  Dragon, rumbling along in the North Atlantic.
Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Oooh! Ooh! You sure no how to hurt a guy. We start racing at midnight

6/20 0700 Highlander emailed: Slow going. Adverse current slowing us up. Entering GS around 4 this evening. Currently 25-30 TWS with very lumpy seas. Spoke with a NOAA RESEARCH ship informing us to get west ASAP to avoid the worst of the storm. We are making every effort to do this. Currently at 3645n 6754w heading 340 cog doing 6 SOG 7 knots Through the water
Melantho emailed: Rough approaching Gulf Stream. Conditions: Wind SW 28 kn Seas confused 6 - 10 ft.
Windswept emailed: 1 am currently 166 miles from my GS entry point. That would have me entering the stream about this time tomorrow (Monday AM) and leaving it about 12 hours later (Monday around 6 PM). This is based on current speed and conditions. I have plenty of fuel and supplies to loiter out here for a while. As I recall, this should be a fast mover.  I just downloaded fresh GRIB files. I will look them over. Tough decision!
Adventure-us emailed: Communicating with Corvus, Topaz and Rocinante.  All OK. Low 20s now, was near 30 earlier.  All reefed. Topaz hand steering. Cross North boundry of Gulf Stream 8am Monday morning.
Young American emaild: VHF update - assume until further notice that our 25w VHF is not receiving or transmitting. the good news that the bolt of lighting that basted right next to us did not take out the rest of the electronics.
Luna emailed: Luna had a fine night under two reefs in the mainsail and jib with 20-25kts. The early morning was more exciting. Wind built to 28-30kts, we furled the staysail and put in a third reef. After a while the lower mainsail car parted from the mast track. We have to sail conservatively for the rest of the race to make sure the extra load on the other cars doesn't cause cascading failure of the mainsail. A little later the autopilot ram failed causing us to accidentally heave-to. We recovered and switched to the back-up autopilot (glad to have it now!). Wind is still in the low 30s and we are doing 7kts toward the GS entry about 35nm away. At 0650 we connected with Relentless and Cepheus. All is fine on board of Relentless, sailing with two reefs in the mainsail and a small jib. They are just wet! Cepheus reported an autopilot failure that are trying to sort out. Don't know if it is the ram or the computer. They are steering by hand. Could not hear from any other boat and none of us could see each other on AIS.
Gryphon Solo email from his wife: "he contacted me via txt this am that all is good after some squalls and is about 213 miles to Newport.
I asked him to txt you."  Gryphon Solo's tracker stopped working Saturday at 1420. When he passes position to me I will update his position on the tracker map.
Dragon emailed: Well, Dragon spent her night snacking on Kiwis. Good for vitamin C, or so we have been told. Forecast was spot on, with winds remaining from south west but building to 25+ after dinner through to about 0200 hours, then low 20's until dawn. Now they have settled to mid teens. We used the pressure to haul the mail, blast reaching up the rhumb line at speeds that occasionally made it as high as 18 knots. It was wet and violent sailing. The Stream itself was virtually a non event. We reached it around 2245 hours (10:45 pm) and were through it by just after midnight. It was maybe 20 miles deep at most, and only noticeable because of the 81 degree water temp and the fact that the sea state calmed down while we were in it. Just before dawn we crossed a long line of squalls, marked out in front of us by the lightening that would blossom in first one cell, then another, then the first cell then a third. We ended up avoiding all but one, which dumped torrential rain on Cole who was standing watch at the time, and served her up 35 knots for a good 10 minutes. Now we have mostly clear skies, with mares tails at high altitudes perhaps warning of Claudette's approach in the next 36 hours. Seas are fairly light. We expect the breeze to fade down to as low as 5 knots as we go through the day, remaining SW. Kiwi is west of us, and for her to get east it will mean sailing deeper angles in a light breeze which won't be fun for them. They have 13 feet of boat length on is, but we like our chances given our better angle as we sail right down the rhumb line. The only wild card is Gryphon Solo who's tracker has not transmitting since yesterday morning. Dragon - on the prowl in the north Atlantic.
Alchemy emailed: I am through gulfstream. 30-40 knot winds all night. I have been communicating with Fred on Choucas. lots of lightning in the stream. I hope his boat didn’t get zapped. If so his electronics could be out.
Highlander emailed: We entered the GS at 10 am seas better. Warm temps making good time now. Wind SW high 20’s pushing the boat to get way away from this area where Claudette is expected to pass through area on Monday. Boat and crew are doing fine. The NOAA ship we saw earlier seems to be shadowing us. They told us they were heading back to Newport, so we are comforted by that.

6/19 1900 Adventure-us called: Either called or contacted via AIS: Relentless, Rocinante, Dauntless, Corvus. 21 kts SW sailing with 2 reefs in the main and a jib. Current in their favor.  Expect to hit the Gulf Stream Sunday night about 11pm.
Dragon emailed: Doing the rhumb line rumba out here. It's blowing from the southwest and a sporty 20 to 25 knots so we are blast reaching parallel to the rhumb line. We are set up a few miles to the west right now, prepared for the Gulf Stream to sweep us east as we cross it. It's been a sunny day, and very wet. The sea state has built to 2+ meters and the combination of waves and our speed that occasionally spikes to mid teens means there is water coming over the deck regularly. Going on watch means suiting and booting for protection. Dragon is doing well with two reefs in the main and Solent reaching. The auto pilot is earning her keep, given a sea state that is throwing the boat around a bunch. Good spirits as we are finally making good speed towards the finishbin what has been a slow race up until now. Otherwise, we are keeping an eye on Claudette. We should hopefully be in the barn by the time she reaches the race course, but that will still leave a bunch of boats that have to contend with her. Fingers crossed.
Cepheus emailed: all well. Spoke to Luna and they are good. Winds picked up to 18-20 this afternoon but declined to 15. Pushing for the GS

6/19 1332 Choucas 3 emailed; Had a radio contact with David from Alchemy last night. He was in good spirit and doing well. On Choucas, we had some halyard issues. First right after leaving St George harbour the main halyard broke at the cleat. I had a spare one so we were able to remove the old one and install the new one. Second, the Code 0 was stuck at the top of the mast and we could not lower the sail. So Ernie had to hoist me up the mast so I could cut the halyard and retrieve the sail. Thankfully, it was relatively calm mid-morning.
Cepheus emailed: nice sailing out here. Making some good head speed

6/19 Check out the pictures of the start in Bermuda yesterday, video by Cepheus and other pictures from our stay in Bermuda on the St George's Dinghy & Sports Club Facebook page.

6/19 0700 Highlander emailed: All is good on the SV Highlander. Currently heading directly to our GS waypoint entrance 200 miles away. Wind still NW at 8 knots expecting the SW shift later today. Beautiful moon light sailing last night. The sun is out with few clouds. Still working out the autopilot issue. Hope to have this resolved to day by doing a recalibration, all hardware has been checked and working. The best news is my vision in the right eye is improving. The human body is doing its healing work. We spoke with Glory, Luna, dauntless and rocinante in last nights Radio check. All is good with them. Dr. Richard Rohrer was able to provide me with piece of mind as he explained what he went through with his own eye problems years ago. Highlander signing off till next time. Cheers Jon
Adventure-us called: Moving along slowly in 6kts NW. Heard from Rocinante, Topaz and Corvus. All ok.  Relay heard about Luna and Highlander (eye sight better, autopilot sort of working). Waiting for the SW to kick in later today. Expecting 15kts.
Alchemy emailed: We had to stop for a bit as I noticed the rudder bearing was loose. Fixed it and we’re back at it. David I think we got it for now. Luckily I caught it early and had spare bolts
Melantho emailed: All okay. Trying to get west to line up for Gulf Stream. Spoke to Cepheus yesterday and verified my AIS is not working. Have to wait to figure that one out. Conditions: Winds WNW 12 kn Seas 2-3 ft
Dragon emailed: After fighting our way to the back side of the front on Thursday night, our nex navigational challenge was dealing with the light and variable air that was in the high pressure ridge that followed. We never got to flat calm and saw at least 3 knots and as much as 10. It meant we were able to keep the boat moving. The original expectation was that we were going to see NW breeze that we could use to ooch our way towards the west side if the rhumb line, but it stayed more WNW which meant we ended up on a long VMG tack on the east side of the line where we were crossing tacks with Kent Racing for a while in the early hours of Friday morning. Through the day on Friday, there were multiple instances of large wind shifts, leading us to make tacks to stay on the favored board and all of which brought us back to, and then a little bit west of the Rhumb line where we met up with Gryphon Solo. That turned into a drag race down the rhumb line. Straight line for most of Friday afternoon, then some tacking with the wind shifts on Friday night. We ended up with some separation last night, and now they are doing a bit deeper than us and sliding a bit further west than us. The wind has made an expected shift to the SW as we have sailed out of the ridge in the past 5 hours and into the new system. We are expecting this direction for the rest of the race, with a build from the current 15 knots to as much as 25 knots tonight before settling back down on Sunday. Meanwhile, it's partly cloudy skies and 76 degree air Temps. We are slightly cracked off and near reaching in a light chop. Nothing wrong with a day of that kind of sailing!
Gryphon emailed: I can RECEIVE email now as well as SEND, just so u know. All is fine here. (wordyWalter)
Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Alls well. Kiwis also have long beaks it would appear. But traditionally a beaks length is measured not from its appearance but from its nostrils. Kiwis nostrils are uniquely at the end. Better for sniffing out worms and its favorite hu hu grubs.
Windswept emaied: That westerly jaunt was intentional. Hoping that it sets me up for the SW winds and GS entry point. We will see if it was worth it! All systems on Windswept are back to full operational status. Have a safe return return flight.

6/18 2100 Windswept emailed: Quiet windless day until about 16:00. A nice breeze filled in, from the wrong direction, but better than rolling around. I got to the bottom of the engine starting issue. Simple fix once found.  How is Jonathan's eye?
Adventure-us called: becalmed most of the day but wind filled in and moving nicely now. Heard from Corvus, Topaz, Luna, Relentless, Glory, Rocinate, and Highlander who is addressing autopilot and eye issues.
Cepheus called: All is well. Forgot to call in again. Was taking a nap. Clothes are dry and ready for the night.cheers Phil

6/18 1122 Windswept emailed: After an exciting departure that saw class 4 maintain a pretty tight formation, a series of thunder squalls beat me up pretty badly. My roller furler control line broke during a 30+ knot squall, instantly deploying my entire genoa. I really didn't think that the mast would take the load. I lowered the sail, but with that much wind, it kept going into the drink or trying to take me parasailing. It took about twenty minutes of strenuous effort to get the sail down and stuffed down the forward hatch. I then rigged the inner forestay and storm jib, just in time for the the wind to drop to zero! It is still zero some eight hours later. I have replaced the furler line and reinstalled the genoa and repaired all of the minor issues. However, I just discovered that the engine will not start. I have plenty of battery power, so it is probably a wiring issue in the starter switch. It shouldn't be a big deal to do a work around. More later.
Kiwi Spirit emailed: Kiwis can't fly or swim. Lay only one egg a year. Not much fun. But they are tenacious.
Glory emailed:  just a quick blurb from Glory All is well on the ship. You've probably already heard stories from the other boats about the 47 knot squall that came through yesterday. We put in two reefs and kept the jib up unfortunately the outboard end of our second reef line chafed through and so we went through the second squall with a single refin, which felt a little dicey. Last night was very calm after the storms went through, and we woke up to very little breeze as well. This let us fix the outhaul issue so we're ready for the next line of squalls. When the wind filled in we were able to fly the Spinnaker for a couple of hours, but then the wind shifted to the northwest and then to the northeast before dying out completely. While we had the Spinnaker up, there were about 50 squid that were literally flying over the waves. Three of them unfortunately landed against Glory's deck house, but I think I was able to rescue all of them. One of them even inked the deck! Right now the winds seem to have gone back to the west, and we're closehauled trying to stay close to our stream entry point doing about five knots. I can see a cluster of boats on AIS to my South and slightly west. Cheers

6/18 0700 Highlander emailed: Roy, Highlander is fine after going through many squalls since start. Wind is NW we changed to stb tack heading west. Hope to catch SW later today. I had a incident on the boat injuring my right eye by a flogging line during a squall. Vision is blurry. No pain. I need to talk with a eye doctor today to help diagnose what’s going on and what to do. John looked in the eye and saw blood in the color portion of my eye. Not the white part. Hoping it’s not serious. We are dealing with it ok Jon Wind direction is NE not NW. at 3 knots boat is moving 2.3 over ground
Corvus text: Boats calling in at 0700 all nearby and all becalmed. Corvus, Gryphon, Highlander, Luna, Adventure-us, Reveille, Topaz, Rocinante, Melantho, Dauntless. Jonathan Bixby's eye injury was caused by a flailing sheet during sail change. He is in touch with his doctor and takin Dramamine to dilate.
Topaz text: Life aboard the Topaz has come to a stanstill. We survied the weather leaving Bermuda and now we wait in a alm windless sea to get moving again. No equipment failure, morale is good!
Cepheus emailed: Been a busy and damp night. But right now there is no better place to be
Adventure-us called: spoke with Reveille; Rocinate; Melantho; Topaz; Corvus, will fix vang issues today; Highlander; Dauntless has battery charging issues but will work on it today; Windswept. all becalmed now.
Cepheus emailed again: All is well but damp. Wind just returned
Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Alls well on KS2 at 8:15am. Number squalls and calms. Did a 360 on my watch - horizontally of course
Young American emailed: all is well on YA - would like more wind then we have at the moment but sure that will change.

6/17 1900 Dragon emailed: Heard no one during chat hour, and can't see anyone on AIS. Blazing start out of St. Georges then down shifted as we passed Kitchen Shoals. We have been rhumbline for now, but know that will change after the front comes through. Speaking of which, we reached the forward edge around 1430 hours and I think we are just now seeing the backside with a pretty big wind shift towards the NW. Up to and while in the front it was blowing 20+ with gusts to 28, now it is settling a bit to high teens. It's a sloppy 2.0 meter sea state with waves from both beam and Stern quarter. Lots of weed catching on keel and rudders. The auto pilot is working overtime. Have a good night!
Cepheus emailed: - all well on Cepheus. Got a bit Damp in a squal but conditions have just calmed . Cheers Phil and coop
Corvus text: evening report from Radio Chat. Windswept lost his furler during one of the squalls. Rig is secure. he is setting up innner forestay for a staysail. Highlander Jon Bixby repporting right eye injury and is has called his eye doctor of advice. Gryphon has eye first aid kit and is standing by to see if it is needed.
Alchemey emailed: Beautiful sunset with a full rainbow. Much slower now, but we’re not complaining after the squalls.
Adventure-us called: they are jib only taking it nice and easy during squalls, "rocking out". highest single puff they saw was 40kts. about 3 squalls all very short in duration.  they spoke with Reveille; Glory; Relentless; Corvus has a broken vang, 2 reefs, partial jib; Luna has 2 reefs in main and staysail, broken jib top; Rocinate has 3 reefs in and small jib.

6/17 1300 The rain/thunder stroms went north and south of us so we had a sunny day with winds out of the southwest 16 to 20 kts. All boats, 22, started except for Rubicon which is in Dock Yard repairing his weak cockpit floor to be able to sail back maybe next Tuesday. He has a tracker and it will be displayed. Not long after we finished we heard Bermuda Radio hail Dragon, Gryphon Solo and Kiwi Spirit 2 that they were heading toward the reaf and to turn east, now.  Dragon actually went over the reef.  Sounds like a change to the SIs is called for in 2023.
Just looked at the radar picture here and they will be running into thunder squalls in a little while.
Larry Roberts provided his boat Estrella Del Marfor Race Committe, Tom Clarke, Sheila and Michael Gringley all participated in handling the start.

6/16 Frank Bohlen has sent us his Note 4 on the Gulf Stream today.
Ken Campbell zoomed in to give us a weather brief for the trip back at the beginning of the Skipper's Meeting. Boats got their Gerry Cans filled with diesel fuel and propane tanks filled thanks to Verna Oatley at Godet & Young and ice blocks were delivered.  Tomorrow is the start at 1100 EDT (Noon here).

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.

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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!

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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.

6 July - Pictures from this year's racing is not posted in the Photo Gallery.

29 June1615 - The Awards ("Prize Giving" as they say in Bermuda) was held tonight.  We had an amazing turnout of 60 people including Brian Gray showing up late (just like his sailing!). It looked like all had a good time including those that had to return to Newport from the Bermuda to Newport start.  Very nice to see them also appear.   Commodore Tom Rowe presented several trophies.  Andy Tyska of the Rhode Island Sailing Events Commission was present also.  We had 13 new skippers this year which tied 2017 however we had smaller turnout this year thus a higher percentage.  We had 3 family teams.  An this year we started a Team Trophy the Jeff Spranger Team Trophy.  Many of the new skippers said they expect to return in 2021.  Much food was devoured by all.  The food was provided by Caryn Cummings and crew: Cathy Singsen, and a bunch of my racing crew; Donna Bouressa, Alyce & Bill Croasdale and Father Tom O'Neil.  The final results have been posted.
A vote was held for the next Skipper's Representative. Tristan Mouligne was nominated, seconded and voted back in for a third term.

28 June 2228 Trouble No Trouble finished!  With 806 not far behind. We had fireworks at Fort Adams in their honor.
2251 806 finished and with that all that's left is the Awards at 1600 tomorrow!

28 June 1839 Trouble No Trouble text "We are 20 miles out and the past three days have been a back and forth cat fight. Wedge breast so much fun we all devoted to make a loop around the Vineyard. Well we were all in agreement until Reeves said he couldn't take me wearing those wet cotton boxer shorts another week. So we will all be arriving soon. breeze finally picked up and it is a drag race to R2. will check in via channel 72 in a couple of hours. wow, this had been so fun..."
806 emailed "Finish ETA 10:45 Spinnaker drag race to finish at the moment."

28 June 1037 806 emailed "Good tacking duel to finish going on between TNT & 806. Exciting end to a very long race."

28 June 0521 Trouble No Trouble text "Fun night racing 806 out of the becalming fog. Predictwind called for the wind to fill in at 0200 and it came in at 0140. Hopefully it stays around longer than expected."

27 June 1941 Trouble No Trouble text "We are having SO much fun. No need for radio chat time with Tony (806). I actually had a live chat (as in, from 10 feet away)...  Reeves was sleeping and we finally were flying the code 2 in 5 knots of breeze . sure enough I see Tony a couple miles ahead and downwind from me. They had no kite up and both guys on the foredeck. So I sailed down on them and literally hailed them from 50 yards away. Checked that they were ok - they were, just finishing fixing a broken pole. So we've made a proper race of it. We're both of on our final 85 nm. Presently in full fog, 1 knot of breeze, dew so heavy that everything is wet, rumpy so bad my boxers jumped overboard and flying our biggest chute on kite string. What's not to love?? See you in the next week or so...

27 June 1712 806 emailed "Brian just sailed past a boat length away as we were repairing our broken spin pole. Game on!" (comment: maybe they will get here faster!)

27 June 0615 Trouble No Trouble text "Sleepy night with the wind staying mostly below 5 knots, calm seas allowed us to make a little way instead of bobbing about."
806 emailed "You know you've been out here too long when a shark starts following you."

26 June 1900 Trouble No Trouble text "Roy we are still chugging towards new port."
806 text "806 checking in. Finally on the move again after most of day spent drifting in chilling fog. Back in clear air with a hint of sun."
1915 Bluebird finished!
1942 Yeah Baby finished!
Just the two minis left!

26 June 1300 806 emailed "This am discovered spin pole damage from a broach yesterday. With 129 to go sitting here becalmed in fog reviewing our options. Tea or Coffee?" (comment: at least it isn't quit or not)
1439 Zipporah finished.  Mary is doing much better today and has been talking with a doctor.  They will be picking up a mooring for a couple of nights.

26 June 0740 Trouble No Trouble text "Wet had a nice windy night and a bit this morning. Now it is cole, driving rain and 25-30 knots. All is well."

26 June 0358 Flying Turtle finish.  It was torture waiting for him to finally finish.  Real slow out there.
0530 Dirigo hailed us that he was 7 nm out and 7hrs or 7 days away from the finish.

26 June 0140 Trouble No Trouble text "We arrested thought we were mini sailors. That guy (Rodolphe) is a stud. See you in a couple days. At least we finally had mini weather tonight."
0230 Foggy and real slow out there now. Almost no wind. Outer boats look like they still have wind.

25 June 2100 Yeah Baby emailed "Update-90 miles to Newport. All is well."
1659 Wild Goose II finished.
1903 St-Pierre & Miquelon finish.
Trouble No Trouble text "All is well aboard TNT. Have not heard from 806 or 830 since this morning. Beautiful spinnaker day for all boats!"

25 June 1125 - Yeah Baby emailed "We sure were wishing for lighter wind Then what we had the first two days. Last night we both got five hours sleep with no sails up. But today its torture.  have both fishing poles out, Thought I would try my luck fishing."
Zipporah emailed "Ops NORMAL!"

25 June 0800 - 806 emailed "Spoke too soon. No wind, becalmed all night, current carrying us back towards GS. Sunrise was lovely though."
Yeah Baby emailed "YB is underway. Using it's Cruising spinnaker"
Trouble No Trouble text "We stopped by the Gulf Stream Yacht Club. All they eye serving was Light and Shifty's."

25 June 0000 Bluebird emailed "Our starter ignited tonight. We are sailing in energy-conservation mode. All otherwise ok."
Yeah Baby emailed "There is no wind. Took the sales down. Still 5 miles from Zipporah. Will send the next update when we raise the sails again."

24 June 2112 Seriana finished.
2144 Lark text "Dropping out, no issues with boat or crew, other commitments. See you Saturday."

24 June 2000 806 emailed "Through the GS. Easiest transit across, nice 3 knot current pushing us along for most of day. Home stretch now. Just have to figure best way with light wind."
Yeah Baby tracker battery is dead.  He is reporting his position via InReach which I am updating the tracker website with. So Yeah Baby report times will not match the other boats.
Bluebird emailed "All is well on Bluebird. We are sailing West in light winds, making 3-4 K. We hope for a wind shift to the East this evening that will allow us to track to Newport. The event of the day was curried goat stew from Bermuda, for lunch. It was delicious! Radio contact with Flying Turtle- all ok with them."
Trouble No Trouble emailed "830 reports having breakfast on deck with a beautiful ocean view this morning. 806 and Brian are very excited for some Sheapeard Pie at the Black Pearl. All is well aboard TNT - Reeves"
Zipporah emailed "Ops NORMAL!"

24 June 1835 First Light finish.  All the Class 40s are finished!

24 June 1330 Zipporah emailed "Mary is not comfortable and coping.  Doug is continuing to race. Engine charging system down. Still have solar. Will use to try and keep autopilot running. All else incl refrig off."
1353 II Tender finished!

24 June 0800 - Flying Turtle called: Zipporah is unable to charge his house batteries but the motor battery is ok and allowing the motor to start.  Mary who hurt herself flying through the cabin is uncomfortable but doesn't appear to be in trouble. Doug is hand steering..
Zipporah text "Ops NORMAL!" (so much for ops normal give Flying Turtle report)
Bluebird email "All’s well on Bluebird, except that we are a long ways from Newport! But gaining slowly. We are getting GRIBS, and appear to be sending mail, but not receiving. I assume problem is at our end. Will keep sending in hopes that you are reading." Evidently Bluebird isn't receiving my responses.
Lark text "long night, had to detour around the gs. sailed into a new location of the south meander. Wind 270 T 17 kts."
Trouble No Trouble text "Bonjour! Reeves feels much better. we are happy with progress last night having a nice sailing day. mini 830 reports all is well. Tony hasn't gotten back to me but he contributes to move ahead of us according to my wife. all is well. have a great day.
Yeah Baby emailed "everything is OK on YB. Good Winds this morning and bright sunshine"
Lark text "going around gs bad current starting to head up. Now running out of wind. not an easy trip!"

24 June  about 0330 Marauder finish.

23 June 2000 - Trouble No Trouble - "We are havng a nice saiol. we can't make out over too the meander due to the current and hve decided to just shoot the rhumbline. all is well. The minis are good. Tony reports a lot of wee. i told him just because it is now legal doesnn't mean it is good for you. o no, jut Keel weed, lol."
Yeah Baby emailed "YB is doing just fine except there is no wind! Tood down the sales, tired of hearing them slap."
Yeah Baby emailed "After steak/lobster and the barbecue grill is put away, "Yeah Baby" is underway once again."
Lark text "Wind went light this afternoon, back at it now, 294 T 13 kts."
II Tender text "15knots from WNW for most of the day, light seas and most importantly nothing else broken. hard to call it champagne sailing when it's on the nose, but after past two days, does feel like it. approaching banks and shipping lanes just after dusk."
Wild Goose II called: motor isn't charging the batteries. Continuing on.
806 emailed "806 checking in. All ok, beautiful sunset tonight and a nice breeze. Had our first hot meal to celebrate!"
2146 Dragon finished!

23 June 1500 - Dirigo emailed "It's a hard go of it for team Dirigo. Wind and current from the wrong direction. We are working hard to press forward."
1507 Privateer finished.

23 June 0800 Trouble No Trouble text "Good morning! i hope had a pleasant evening. we were thankful for a quiet night, finding 2 squalles. both minis checked in ok. best wishes for a great day.
Corvus emailed "As you can see, its a rough go. After my staysail deck tack fitting failed i could not control boat sufficiently to stay west of the rumb line. That was two days ago. Got caught up in currents on the east side so trying to get west again before i tack and find a place to get across the stream"
Lark text "All is well on lark. had up to 6kts current pushing us east. never found teh north current. heading north before tacking. 309 true, 10 kts."
Zipporah emailed "Ops NORMAL!"
Bluebird emailed "Very nice breeze NW this AM, flatter water, much more comfortable. We are still heading East because of a strong current pushing us that way. Once we are past it, we will take a jog to the West. We are feeling much better, eating and staying hydrated. Good chats with Dirigo,, Flying Turtle and Zeb (comment: Zipporah?) last night."
Dragon emailed "Last night was one of those nights. Steady breeze, mostly in our favor, clear skies and beautiful forever. The moon rose early, a 3/4 ball in bright orange as it climbed into a star strewn sky, there to light out way across the continental shelf and towards home. Cool temps led to the need to break out the thermals and sleeping bag, good sleeping weather as they say. And sleeping was easy since the conditions allowed Dragon to pretty much guide herself on port tack and on her numbers. Champagne sailing, topped off by an incredible sunrise that started with a purple glow at 0345 and culminated with the stab of light crossing the horizon a delicious hour or so later. Don't you wish you were out here? Maybe if you ignored the 60 or do hours invested in reaching this point."
Seriana called: All is well on Seriana.

22 June 2315 Trouble No Trouble text "hello. sorry for this late check in. its midnight. Reeves has been sick and i have been at the helm. we were stuck in an eddie and couldn't make any head way. the current was 3.5 knots. but all is well and Reeves is feeling better. both minis chucked in at chat tome and are well best wishes for a nice evening."

22 June 1800 - Bluebird emailed "Hanging in there! Winds moderating into 20’s, seas still quite big and lumpy. Clew of solent has blown out, we are making way with staysail. Heard Wildeyes (comment, think he means Wild Goose II?), Dirigo and Zip on radio." 
Lark text "all ok, 306 True 14 kts, Heard chat between flying turtle and Z." 
Zipporah text "Ops NORMAL!"
Wild Goose II called the winds in the mid teens, sea state calming, nice sailing.  Haven't heard from anyone.
II Tender text "Steady NWN 20 knot breeze; tough morning with main halyard and then rigging kit out fixing reefing lines - 30+ knots on the nose takong its toll. Better afternoon with clear skies and steady breeze/wave period.
Marauder text Doing ok, been a long upwind slog. broken staysail halyard, radome broke off mast. going slow to preserve sails, but conditions are improving.
Yeah Baby text "Roy everything is real good tonight with Yeah Baby. We actually have nice 12 kn winds but it is close hauled"
Dragon emailed "All good on Dragon. Tacking up through the last bits of the stream. Still blowing in the 20s with an occassional 30 gust. No radio contact from other boats."

22 June 1700 - Dirigo - Doug on Zipporah said that his wife got slung across the cabin and landed against the bar at the stove.  She's bruised up and in some pain but Doug says he's continuing to Newport and will be from time to time heave to when he needs some rest and wanted you to know. Murray on Flying Turtle has been trying to call the duty desk several times with no luck. On Dirigo, I got caught on the wrong side of the weather and between the meanders of the stream.  Very slow going.  The wind has diminished to our delight.  It's been a tough one so far. Not our best race or favorite for that matter.
Zipporah emailed Mary has taken a fall... ribs bad bruised.... she incapacitated.  Will first off still try to limp to Newport but will stop for rest.

22 June 0800 - Lark tetxt "Chat with Flying Turtle, all is well on both boats. 320 True 26 knots."
II Tender - text "25-30 knot patches; had a sustained 34 for close to an hour at dawn. Bust main halyard; not sure of cause yet, maybe just a shackle. Crew a little out of breath after a lot of reefing and two main sail hoists. Pressing on."
Trouble No Trouble - text "good morning. all is well on 831. and you? waiting to hear back from minis this morning. will report any issues. Have a nice day."
Zipporah - text "Ops NORMAL!"
Corvus - called Everything is well onboard. Winds are 303 degrees at 20 knots. We are working our way out of the eddy we're in as current against us is starting to decrease. We have a lot of work to do. Standing by…"
Dragon - emailed "Good morning. Well, more gooders than last night. Tough one last night, hard on the wind from about midnight on, and blowing 25 to 30 with puffs all the way to 40. Violent at times, wet all the time. The only drama was when the top of the solent unfurled in 30 knots. Not a good thing. Had to go dead down wind to blanket it and then pull down on the clew to get it to rotate the other way, like an hour glasses spinnaker. Otherwise, all good out here. Sun is out this morning and wind is in the teens. Settling in for a slow beat for the remaining miles to Newport."
Yeah Baby emailed "All is good on yeah baby. No issues except for the wind is on the nose."
Seriana called that all is well on board. (Unintelligible sentence.) Was not able to raise any other vessels either last night or so far today, so he is just reporting on himself as being good.
Abilyn emailed "We switched to the J3 at dawn to try to allow us to point higher (ie, to Newport). But even without the main, we were over powered. We have the storm jib up right now. Both Sam and I are beat, and the motion is nausea-inducing. So auto is driving. We cannot make way towards Newport (or really, the east coast) until the wind shifts back to the west. The reason for this is that we have not crossed the stream yet. We need to be concerned about power management. Our current plan is to conserve as much fuel as possible given the conditions, get within 100 miles of land by sail, and then motor. Could be Newport. Could be somewhere else."
Privateer emailed ". We have some broken stuff on board but nothing race-ending. We’re just beating our way up to Newport. See you tomorrow."

21 June 2000 - Dragon emailed "We are in the main body of the stream and being swept east hard right now. The wind has started its forecast clock forward, and we are seeing mid twenties with gusts occasionally to 30. We are hard on it st this point, and two reefs in the main. We will be swapping down to the trinquette (staysail) soon. No other boats heard on the VHF during the scheduled chat."
Zipporah - emailed "Ops NORMAL!"
Wild Goose II - called, They are plowing along, but wind conditions are 33-35 knots with very big seas. Conditions are very wet. Said they would check in with us later today.
Corvus - called, Reporting that everything is fine, but they have slowed things down to make things as comfortable as possible. Winds 34-40 knots with gusts over 40. Sailing under a triple reefed main. Unable to use stormsail because the tack blew out, so they are hunkered down, proceeding slowly, and just waiting for the weather to blow through. And while they are going slowly, the ride is much more comfortable now.
Abilyn - emailed "South of the meander, we’re seeing gusts to 32 knots. Two reefs on main and storm jib. Trying our best to stay out of the elements, although I spent 15 minutes under water in the bow hooking up the storm jib. Not pleasant. "
Yeah Baby - emailed "All is good and yeah baby. Still windy and rough. The wind just show up a little around from Southwest towards the west"
Bluebird - emailed "We have been dealing with rough conditions and seasickness but all otherwise ok. Staysail and double reef. Winds starting to drop."
Trouble No Trouble - text "Checking in for minis. Tony hadn't gotten back to me. ROdolphe doing well (of course, lol!) we are ok. Strong breeze and messy seas. All is well."
II Tender - text "Steady 20-25 knots, with occasional squalls at 30. Seas building. Otherwise clear sunny day rolling into dusk an alls well aboard II Tender"
Lark - text "We are taking our time. Storm jib and 3rd reef, 238 True, 28 Kts."
Abilyn - emailed "Our mainsail separated from the mast in big breeze and we had to use the engine to get it aboard and lashed down. We are ok and are moving slowly towards Newport. Our next move is to change the storm job to the number three to make way towards home. I’ll keep in contact." Abilyn withdrew.

21 June 0800 - Abilyn emailed "Seas are really turnt up out here. Extremely uncomfortable. Haven’t been able to sit at the nav table long enough to look at latest weather. But looks like we have 24 hours more of this stuff."
806 emailed "Seeing gusts in the 30's. Very wet and bumpy ride. TNT was in close visual yesterday until we went through a big Thunderstorm. All ok on 806."
Yeah Baby emailed "Friday morning update – No contact with any other boats. Everything is fine on Yeah Baby'"
II Tender text "late check in as iridium temperamental. Sustained 25-30, large seas but slow period. II Tender warmed by good bolognese last night - shame no claret aboard."
Dragon emailed "Sorry about the lack of update last night. Had a few things going on. Heard no one on VHF this morning, and only a broken transmission from First Light last night. All is good in Dragon, other than the beating we are taking from Privateer. We tried to cut a bit to the east to get to the meander but are taking as much as a knot of adverse curreny fron the eddy which appears to be further west than forecast. Blowing mid 20s, from WNW. It's a highly agitated sea state and wet all the time. Sun is out at the moment."
Seriana - I heard from Lark that all is good. Same with Seriana. wet and bouncy but fine. winds 20-30 wsw, large seas"

20 June 2000 - Lark text "Talked to Seriana, all is well, 220 True, 21 kts."
II Tender text "all well aboard II Tender, steady 20 stepping up to 2 knots at the fringe of a squall - had good catch up with flying turtle on VHF."
Zipporah text "Oops Normal"
Abilyn emailed "Josh on Abilyn. It’s a washing machine out here. Sailed through two fronts. Saw 30 knots. Reefed main and J3 keeping us moving. Breeze is up and down. Other than some upset stomachs, all good here."
Trouble No Trouble text "all is well in the mini world. Rodolphe is fun and wet. Tony is lumpy. Us, well we're just along for the ride."
Seriana emailed "I heard from Lark and Zipporah, both doing well. Seriana is too. Winds 17-24, SW, seas not bad, good ride so far."

20 June - A squall came through just as some of the boats were trying to leave the dock and others were up the harbour towards the planned starting line; increased  winds and raining like !!. The weather cleared out with the wind hovering between 15 and 25. All 19 boats successfully started.  We followed the Minis out of the Town Cut. They had a rousing start with the wind out of the SW so it was a broad reach and some of the boats were daring and flew their spinnakers (asymmetric that is). Privateer hit the line first for Class 5 with Dragon screaming up from behind with his spinnaker flying (checking 7 hours later showed Privateer 15 miles ahead of his class), Yeah Baby was cruising down the line and hit the line just after the gun, Bluebird was first to hit the line for Class 4 with Gryphon quite a bit behind Bulebird and Corvus.  Trouble No Trouble led Class 6 over the line followed closely by 806 and St-Pierre & Miquelon trailed them by quite a bit however by the Town Cut they were leading Class 6. After 7 hours new entrant, II Tender, doing only the return has left his Class 1 and is sailing amongst the pack of Class 40s behind Privateer.
After the fleet started and we returned to the dock, we helped Juan Perez, by himself, back out of his slip, saw him head into the harbour to set his sails then head out via the cut. We cheered him on. He promised to call me when he gets home. Below is Juan sailing to the Town Cut.

19 June - Skipper's at 1400.  BYS requested that all boats on the outside of the pier move today to other facilities due to the expected 20 kts of South/South West wind tomorrow morning which would complicate leaving the dock and to avoid potential damage. 
The latest briefing by Frank Bohlen on the Gulf Stream was provided today.