The 2009 Tybee 500 Race Coverage

They Finally Arrive

It was amazing.., using the tracking information it was apparent that most of the fleet made pretty good time until they got to Ponce Inlet. And then they all just died there.That was at 4PM. We easily expected the fleet in by 5PM and at 6PM on the outside guess.

No, it was around 7PM when the first team drifted through the very choppy surf. And it was Team Royal Green with Leondro Spina and Jamie Livingston taking the line honors for the first time.

Many-time winner of this and the Worrell 1000, Kenny Pierce was ground crew for the Royal Teams. He said, "I knew they had it in them. Leondro was saying he just wanted to finish, but I told him that he was better than that." Livingston, of course, if a very seasoned sailor of these events and we all felt for sure he "knew the way."

Another new-comer to the head of the fleet was Key Sailing's Jonathan Farrar and Stan Schreyer coming closely behind Royal Green. Trey Brown and Alan Steward on Velocity 1 captured the third spot.

I could be wrong, but could it be today's conditions maybe favored the Nacra20s, as it seems the first 9 boats are Nacras. The Dutch Team finished in 10th place, followed by the the "Bats." I guess I like calling team Velocity/Magic Marine that because the sails are all black. I cannot imagine sailing with all black sails. How in the world could you possible see your backside telltales?

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Because the light was going down quickly, I only was able to get picture of the top 5 boats. Most of which are the first to finish boat, Team Royal Green: Take a look

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And here is Key Sailing

And Got this from my balcony of Royal Yellow:

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And The Fleet is Off to Daytona Beach

At the skippers meeting the teams were all again warned not to go near the NASA launching site. Chuck Bergeron read a letter supposedly from someone in command there saying the area was being patroled by the same Navy Seals that offed the pirates in Somalia. That brought some nervous laugh to the group

There was very little surf and very little wind. Consequently there was absolute chaos as they simply could not break through the waves. The surf would knock the fleet backward by two feet for every foot they gained. Finally, they all made it and the boats headed out around Cape Canaveral and the NASA Launch site. Had they fleet been here a few days earlier, they would have had to trail around the Cape, as Security would not let them within 125 miles of the area when they are about to launch a shuttle

The last two that finally made it through the surf was Carey How and JC, and Team Chums

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Here are some pictures of the mess getting out

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Be sure to check our Hotline for up to the minute rumors and thoughts. Also on that Forum are a number of interesting discussions on various aspects of the race and decisions made about it.

On the Way to Daytona Beach, so stand by.

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