This race proved to be very valuable to us because we identified several issues that we will be able to correct before we head to Islamorada next week.  One of those is the jib on the Nacra 20 catamaran that zips around the forestay wire with a zipper running the length of the front of the jib.  Minutes before the start, the zipper car mechanism pulled off because of how it had been secured with a line that was too short.  5 teeth had separated and we were very concerned that it would not stay zipped for long.  Time would tell....

The wind was strong out of the southeast at about 10 knots with occasional strong gusts.  We immediately started with the spinnakers flying and the water spraying off the hulls!  All seven Nacra 20's hit the start line within seconds of each other and the battle ensued.  David Ingram showed a lot of strength early and broke out into a pretty good lead from which he never looked back.  He was followed closely by Jay and J.C. while the rest of us wrestled to try and stay ahead of each other.  The wind was blowing straight down the river which meant that we were gybing back and forth from shore to shore.  We run about 45 degrees off the wind since the boat moves incredibly faster when the air flows properly over the sails than going straight downwind just 'catching' wind.  Team Seacats got stuck near a shoreline where the wind wasn't as great and slipped back to the back of our fleet.  No worries though, there was still a long way to go and we were slowly gaining it back.  We did note with pleasure, however, that the jib zipper was still holding. 

After 45 minutes from the start, we started catching our first monohulls that had started earlier.  Our whole I20 fleet screamed by them with our spinnakers tugging hard, one hull in the air, and water spraying everywhere!  Most of the monohulls gave us a whoop and a holler of encouragement while we grappled with our own boats to stay on the fine edge of speed and control.  We eventually found some additional boat speed and managed to catch a line of wind with a slight change of direction that allowed us to run straight up the river.  All of a sudden we realized that we had just rolled our fleet and were almost in striking distance of Jay and J.C. in second place!  And then the thing we fear most happened...while I was at the helm and the boat making 20+ knots our attention was immediately pulled away from the race when we heard a loud "BANG!" and the boat decelerated so quickly that we both almost toppled forward!  The starboard daggerboard hit something large submerged under the water.  We didn't hear any cracking or tearing noise but were nonetheless concerned that our starboard daggerboard may only be a stub now...or worse; that we might be taking on water.  We quickly dropped the boat out of warp speed to inspect the board.  With a sigh of relief we discovered that all of it was still there and it only had a ding in the back of it where it had jammed into the case in the hull.  We also checked inside the hull for any signs of water intrusion but thankfully there was none.  We also noted that the jib zipper had released a couple teeth.  We grinned nervously at each other as we re-engaged warp speed and set our sights back on second place. 

With only eight miles to go, rain clouds started building and we watched as Jay and J.C., in second place, were caught under a shower as the wind started slacking all around.  The river was several miles wide at this point and we had just been handed an opportunity.  In a fading breeze we turned for the opposite east side of the river where it wasn't raining and managed to stay in some geographical wind while the westward boats sat frozen while caught under the raining cloud.  We were overtaking them!  Then we were captured by a rain cloud with no wind while the boats in our fleet behind us scooted right up to us until they too ran into the same spot that had captured us.  This was amazing; 7 identical boats, 30 miles traveled in about two hours, and we are still neck and neck fighting for position.  This is one evenly matched fleet of sailors!   In the sketchy wind, we gybed and tacked back and forth to try and take advantage of every zephyr for at least 1.5 hours.  It looked like we may have a strong position on second place!  It all depended on who got the wind first when it came back.  While we were doing great in the race, all this back and forth was aggravating the jib zipper and it had released almost two feet at the bottom now - nervous grins were turning to nail biting because we were starting to get concerned that it might not hang on to the finish! 

While waiting for the wind to make a solid decision, our weather radio starting signaling alert tones.  A quick flip to the weather station told us that some substantial storms were headed our way.  For the next hour, several smaller rain showers rolled through and then, to our disadvantage, the wind started building on the west side as another set of random rain clouds approached.  The wind got to us shortly afterwards but the boats to the west had gotten a head start and jumped back out in front.  Never-the-less, it felt good to be moving quickly again.  With the two other Nacra 20's hot on our tail and only 100 feet back, we started the drag race to the finish in the pouring rain, at full speed, with airborne hulls, and water spraying everywhere again!  A small  mistake resulting in a short delay on the next spinnaker hoist caused us to loose position to both of the Nacra's behind us...aaarrrggg!  With the huge inflated mug a couple of miles in the distance signaling the last turn of the race, and us fiercely pursuing the two boats that snuck in front of us, storms started building again.  A quick check of the jib zipper showed another couple of inches undone but it looked like it might make it to the finish!   We could hear the rain roaring on the west side of the river as the huge drops pounded the water out in the distance - these were serious clouds this time.  Boats that were 100 yards away started disappearing from view in the incoming rain.  This was the line of storms that we were alerted about and they brought a ton of rain, huge wind speed changes, and {gasp} lightning.  While most people would consider us 'brave', nobody out here was very excited to be sitting under a 32' lightning rod in the middle of a huge expanse of water in an active thunderstorm.  It's not as if we weren't already going as fast as we could but there was now a new sense of urgency where "Finish and finish fast!" was on everyone's mind.  We rounded the mug on the west side of the river and made a hard right turn toward the finish line on the other side.  We rounded the mug on the west side of the river and made a hard right turn toward the finish line on the other side.  With lightening popping all over the place, we were side by side with two other Nacras, trapezed, tight reaching, and galloping toward the finish line with the second place boat just ahead.  We fought hard and managed to pass the Loewen's just before the finish line to capture 4th place in our Nacra 20 fleet and 9th overall.  After we turned to cross the river to the Rudder Club, the wind completely died and we got a tow back to the club from a large Hunter sailboat under power.  The lightning continued to pop around us.  The radio kept sending alert tones - more severe weather was heading our way.

There were a lot of other boats still on the course and with the storms getting more severe it was going to get crazy.  We felt fortunate to be on dry land because after we secured the boat on shore, we watched and listened on the radio as violent squall after squall blew across the river.  In 30+ knot winds, several catamarans capsized, several monohulls suffered rigging failures, the two sailing canoes were towed in completely swamped, and a lot of boats abandoned the race.  The Race Committee managed an incredibly coordinated effort with Sea Tow and the Coast Guard to get help to a few boats that needed it.  At one point, even the beer tent took flight and came to rest in the rigging for the VHF antenna atop the Rudder Club.  Do you think sailors are tough yet?  Try this:  After someone insisted on medical attention for an elder sailor, he was heard to say "I'm 80 years old - I'm supposed to shake!  I just need a beer".  The tent was gone but fortunately for him Julie was bravely serving in the wind and rain.  Thanks to the superb coordination, everyone made it in safely and a great 51st Mug Race goes down in history.  Total results should be available soon at http://www.rudderclub.com

Top 10 results: