The Tybee 500 Race Coverage

Coconut Grove Sails Walks Away

The purebred Marstrom 20 finally got it in gear and sailed like the thoroughbred that she is. The wind kicked up to a close reach around St Augusine Inlet and the lightweight, all-carbon boat swung into action.

Carla Schiefer and Clive Mayo suddenly found themselves finally walking away from the rest of the fleet. The hit hit the beach with a 10-minute lead over the second place boat, Team Pirates.

Meanwhile, during this leg Pirates, Tybee Island and Sailmax I had been yoyoing back and forth. Coco was in the mix for a while, until they kicked in their afterburners.

But, Pirates finally slipped into the lead and reached to the finish line ahead of Tybee.Tybee was not worried, as they only lost 2 minutes in the Overall Standings. Tybee is still in solid first place overall, with no one really challenging them. The closest team is Sailmax I -- and Tybee added to their 38- minute lead by another seven minutes.

Keep in mind that the long leg from Fernandina to Tybee Island has always been one that really shook up the standings traditionally in the Worrell 1000 in years past. So, a 45-minute lead could not be a real safety net. Team Tybee will more than likely stick with Sailmax I like glue in tomorrow's final leg. The 3rd team is well over an hour back and probably not a threat.

The winds were around 12 mph for the finish but the surf was fairly tame. Below are pictures of the finish.

Rod Waterhouse and Rob Remmer managed to finish in a strong 2nd place in today's leg, but did not gain much significant time on Team Tybee, the overall leader

We were able to get a good series of shots of Team Tybee on their approach to the finish. They never let up and kept the hammer down all the way to the beach.

Sailmax I was also going for it. Mike Krantz even stayed on the wire until they hit the beach.., and that threw him forward in a near crash.

Sailmax II team Carl Roberts and Jake Kohl get their video interview by Robert Feldman. Feldman has been shooting this and the Worrell 1000 Race for years and makes his finished product available to the sailors and the general public. They are a very good quality VHS coverage.

Windy Hill almost got caught sideways in a wave, but came out of it unscathed.

The youth sailors of Key Sailing have hung in there and have had some very good races.

Mark Herendeen of Spacecoast leaps off the boat just before hitting the beach

Team St Louis hit the beach in 9th place

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Big Surf and Light Winds Do Not Stop the Fleet

This leg is from Ormond Beach to Fernandina Beach, the last stop in Florida. After which is the final home stretch to Tybee Island.

A slight easterly breeze filled in just before the start, making it a close-hauled beat out through some pretty large surf. And the curlers are breaking pretty far out as well.

But, armed with paddles and the desire to get to Tybee Island, the fleet managed to blast their collective way through the big rollers. There was some real smack-in-the-face waves. A couple of times it appeared that some boats might be in problems when they allowed the wave to catch them sideways. But, they all made and are slowly inching their way up the coastline. The seasbreeze should fill in later and hopefully they will have a nice ride.

Take a look at the pictures below:

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Two Teams Were Penalized Last Night

Team Pirates and Spacecoast were both penalized 20 minutes for not rounding one of the Cape Canaveral marks to port. The decision was made by PRO, Sean Ferrell, and a board of other Race Officers.

The rules say that the infraction MAY result in disqualification from the event. Although the race organizer, Chuck Bargeron specifically said, "...you WILL be disqualified." in the skipper's meeting prior to the start, the judges determined that Chuck is NOT an official of the race and cannot make those determinations.

It would seem a pretty fair judgement as opposed to total disqualification. After all, there are only 11 boats in the race (pretty sparse for a race of this stature), and Rod Waterhouse came all the way from Australia to participate.

The Weather This Morning

Areas of fog early in the morning. Otherwise mostly sunny... becoming partly cloudy by afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Although at the moment there is absolutely not a breath of air, yet the surf is still up. Could be a problem.

Stand by for the start

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