Team Seacats

That was exciting to watch. All the teams approached closely to the jetty and we were within “whooping” distance of several teams including our own. I had a lengthy post written last night that included some predictions for today and one of those was that this was a day for Team Velocity. They were behind Tybee at Jensen Beach but had managed to pass them. Those guys are fast in heavy upwind sailing. Marley’s Yellow having another strong showing very close behind those guys. Then the Seacats showing good form clearing the currents at the Jetti followed by the “other blue boat” Cat Fever who are doing well despite a backup mainsail with some miles on it.

As far as the stories go; Team Cat Fever had to turn around to the beach because of an incident that involved two breakages. In the gusty breeze and in a very heavy gust, the leward rudder casting exploded while the hull was in the air and giving them no immediate control. They capsized as a result and the skipper, Todd Hart, fell softly into the mainsail when crew, Karl Langfeld, fell ontop of Todd driving his noggin’ through the window in the main. They called their shore crew, met them on the beach, and made the repairs including the backup main. They’re down but not out as there is a lot of sailing to do and they’ve showed speed when the boat stays together. More later…

Here’s Team Seacats rounding the Fort Pierce jetty about 30 minutes ago.