Team Seacats

It’s another gorgeous day here in Florida. The teams took off from Fernandina with the wind blowing about 10 knots directly off the beach this morning. The ocean was extremely calm for this final, long, and often tricky leg of the Tybee 500. It’s shaping up to be a spinnaker run which should make for a beautiful finish and we’re hoping that everyone makes it in before dark this year. The teams will be on the lookout for the mud flats and frequent shore changes or some may choose not to cut the corner and sail out further, which is always a gamble. After having been released from the hospital yesterday evening with a case of exhaustion, Tad Pecorak of Team Velocity decided to continue the race this morning. Around 1pm, a member Team Velocity’s Ground Crew called to say that they had broken a rudder irreparably to the point that they were taking on water. Fortunately, this happened during the portion of the leg where the boat was still accessible via roads so they have just picked them up and are continuing up to Tybee Island.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

What a ride yesterday. We got a good start but struggled early and slipped to the back of the fleet. It didn’t take us long to get in stride and start plugging away though. With the wind out of the north-west, there were huge holes of no breeze surrounded by gusts up to about 18knots. Buildings on the shoreline would also leave big wind shadows to avoid. The way the wind and the holes were working meant that some people could simply just pull away. Team Tybee checked out early and was out of site. We got ahead of Castrol 2 and Castrol 3 and somehow got into a sequence that they missed with the gusts and the holes and we quickly caught up to the lead pack. We worked hard – Frank on the mainsheet and me working the main traveller and we started picking off boats one by one. Tygart was ahead with Castrol 1 when Tygart got hit with a “gonzo blast” that caused them to capsize immediately (we’re guessing it was a sudden gust over 25 knots of breeze). That left us and Castrol 1 duking it out. We actually held 2nd place for a short period. It wasn’t long before Space Coast got on a groove and passed all of us. Then Frank and I got caught in a 5 second moment of letting our guard down and a gonzo blast got us. We had capsized and both of us landed in the mainsail which pulled it out of the luff groove in the mast. We had to lower the main and rehoist it once we righted the boat. That left us in a solid 5th for the day. We’re something like 45 minutes ahead of 5th place and about 20 minutes out of 3rd (Tygart). Tygart would have to have a major problem today for us to get 3rd. We’re going to try and stick with Tygart and keep an eye on Castrol 2 – making sure to make no major mistakes. The wind should allow us to run the spinnaker most of the day today – so it should be a fast run.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

The leg to Fernandina was feast or famine, wind-wise, blowing either zero or twenty knots. They’d be sailing along double trapped, teeth clenched and humming Wagner then…nothing. That, or else a wicked puff out of nowhere that would leave them trying to keep the boat pointy side up with all their might. Team Seacats were last in the starting sequence, along with Castrol 2 and Castrol 3. They got a lead over them as the finally got in sequence with the pattern of holes and puffs that were happening on the water and were able to catch up with the front of the pack. As they were battling Space Coast for position, they saw Tygart flip and later flipped over themselves, pulling the main out of the track. By the time they had dealt with that problem they had lost a lot of real estate on the front of the fleet. Both Castrol 1 and Seacats fell in some holes and Space Coast made up some ground to have a great finish today. Team Tybee absolutely walked away from the rest of the competitors today, finishing at least twenty minutes ahead of the fleet. Team Seacats hit the beach at 6pm. The order of finish for today was Tybee, Space Coast, Tygart, Castrol 1, Seacats, Castrol 3, Castrol 2, and Team Velocity. Team Velocity has just rolled up onto the beach safe and sound as of 7:20pm and Tad was released from the hospital around the time that Team Tybee was coming in. Team Velocity’s Ground Crew reports that, at this point, Tad plans to continue racing tomorrow.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Team Velocity suffered a capsize and a pitchpole early on in the race this morning, one of which was difficult to recover from and left them fighting to right the boat for a time in the water. As a result, Tad became exhausted and opted to switch out with their alternate, Alan Stewart. As a precautionary measure, Tad was met by his Ground Crew and taken to the hospital for evaluation. He was given fluids and will be kept for observation for another half hour and then released. The rest of the fleet is reported to be about 35 miles out so we hope to see them around 5:30.

It was interesting start this morning at Ormond Beach. Waves were low, the breeze was light, and everyone seemed to have a different strategy as to how to attack the leg to Fernandina. Some teams began to head further out immediately trying to gain boat speed and position, just enough to dirty the air and temporarily stall the boats closer to the shore. A few teams went twisty and everything stalled momentarily until they began to separate and get their own air back and head away. Team Tybee, Castrol 1, and Team Velocity didn’t have to contend with the cluster. I may have missed other details as I was taking these fantastic photos! Plus, I have a memory like a sieve. We don’t really expect them into Fernandina until about the same time as yesterday…’round 5-ish. We’ll keep you posted.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.