The Tybee 500 Race Coverage
Check our
Beach Hot Line Often -- Postings are often minute-by-minute and
most up-to-date -- Click
here to get there! |
| Check our Beach Hot Line Often -- Posting are all the time and most up-to-date -- Click here to get there! |
| Forum/Discussions |
| Leg 1 - Isla to Hollywood |
| Leg 2 - Hollywood to Jensen |
| Leg 3 - Jensen to Cocoa |
| Leg 4 - Cocoa to Ormond |
| Leg 5 - Ormond to Fernand |
| Leg 6 - Fernand to Tybee |
| The Teams and their links |
| Official Race Results |
And
they are off
With winds close to 20 knots the fleet started off on a close reach -- almost close-hauled -- to clear land. None had to tack to make the landfall ahead of them, so it would appear they will be streaking up the coastline at great speeds on one tack.
Jumping off to a great 9AM start was Kirk Newkirk and Glen Holmes of Keysailing, with Steve Lohmayer and Kenny Pierce of Team Tybee right behind.
This first leg is from Islamorada, FL in the Florida Keys to Hollywood, FL. Hollywood lies between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The leg is around 100 miles and the expected speed of the boats could be around 25 mph. That could possibly place the first boats at Hollywood by 1PM
Key Sailing nailed the boat end of the start and took the
early lead
Team Tybee Island had the second best start.., and you
can see the Yellow boat below them -- that is Team Oz with Rick Bliss
and Brandy Wood
It was a tight start for most of the fleet.
Semp Toshiba, with Duncan Ross and Roberto Pandiani, show
great form off the line.
Sixteen boats were scheduled to start, but Team Weathermark
withdrew due to an injury to on of the sailors. The rest of the fleet
were off and running to a nice start.
Stay Tuned for the Finish at Hollywood and be sure to check the Beach Hot Line
A Skipper's Meeting Yesterday at 2PM
Today the sailors had their first skipper's meeting with introductions of the race officials. That was followed by weigh-ins. It was brief and fast, letting the sailors get back to rigging their boats in preparation for tomorrow's exciting start.
During that time we were able to get photos of all the players and their website addresses. Just click on the following to check them out: Tybee Island 500 Teams
Winds are forcasted to be around 20 knots from the east -- that promises to make a very exciting and fast leg from Islamorada, FL to Hollywood, FL.
We will be setting up a Hot Line Page in addition to this page where you will be getting minute-by-minute reports on any happenings. Mary Wells will be making regular posts on that page as she gets cell-phone messages from our reporters from different locations. So be sure to stay tuned to both this page and the Hot Line Page.
Stay tuned to this Site for full coverage of the race from Islamorada (in the Florida Keys) to Tybee Island in Georgia (near Savanah)