The Tybee 500 Race Coverage

Team Castrol I takes big lead in first place

Jay Sonnenklar and John Casey came in well ahead of the fleet, and particularly well ahead of the favorites of the race. Tommy Bahama, Key Sailing and Alexander’s were running alongside of Castrol when Castrol decided to cut back to shore in the light and dying southerly breeze. The other three continued out toward the Gulf Stream, near Key Largo. By the time the trio saw the breeze fill in by the shore, they were way back in mid-pack.

The second boat to the finish was Halsey Lidgard with Paul VanDyke and Brad Cavanaugh. Van Dyke said, “We were right around Key Largo and were the first to jibe in toward the shore, and it really paid off.”

Fully Involved, skippered by Linda Bauman, with husband Les crewing, finished in third spot. When asked what their game plan was, Les said, “You (Rick) taught us three rules for sailing the Worrell, and those rules are: Rule 1, Stay close to the shore; Rule 2, Stay close to the shore; Rule 3, Stay close to the shore.

All of the first 10 boats that crossed the finish line were Inter 20’s except for Accelerated Chaos, a Nacra 6.0, who took 6th place. Team Alexander’s with Brian Lambert and Jamie Livingston finished way back in 11th spot. They were sailing the Bimare Javelin 2 (F18HT), the boat selected for the Worrell 1000 this year. (That race was canceled at the last minute.)

Team Sunnucks was the second F-18HT in that class to cross the line.

And They are Off, Albeit a Pretty Poor Start on the First Leg -- Islamorada to Hollywood

The starting line was a deep water start with the line squared to the direction of the course to Hollywood, Florida. This made the windward end where the RC Boat was sitting the very favored end. So the entire fleet wanted that line right by the boat.

Only one boat hit it -- Tommy Bahama nailed the start and jumped to an early lead. The rest of the fleet paraded by in a long line, one after the other.

Tommy Bahama hit the line perfectly for the ONLY good start in the fleet.

The race started promptly at 10:00 a.m. and literally with a loud "bang." The problem was that the "bang" was the sound of Brian Karr's starboard daggerboard hitting a rock (coral head). The impact stopped the boat and spun it into the wind. No word on damage, because they finally got organized and continued sailing. Apparently, that was the only rock and they were the only ones to find it. The start was in about 4 1/2 feet of water. (Brian Karr and Chuck Harnden are on an Inter 20.)

The boats all started on a beam reach and were all flying spinnakers in light winds, 7-8 knots.No ETA has been officially announced, but in these light winds, the soonest they could make the finish line would be around 4PM, but most feel they will be much later than that.

Was this the Race Committee Boat? Well no, but it was the mark boat. Good thing it wasn't the Crash Boat!

Stay tuned, as we will be there at the finish line.

(Story from this morning is below)

Sailors Readying for 10AM Start

Here is the forcast for today's leg of the race:

Monday:
Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 88F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Monday night:
Clear to partly cloudy. Low 77F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

For only the first leg of the race, there will be a deepwater start with all the boats starting between a RC boat and a mark as in normal racing. The reason for not having a beach start is there simply is no beach. The rest of the legs will still have the LaManz start off the beach.

There are 27 teams now ready and raring to go. Shortly after the start we will have pictures and a story of the start.

Skipper's Meeting Today at 1PM

We learned late last night that a skipper's meeting is scheduled for today (Sunday) at 1PM. We will be there and try to get more information for you, as well as how many and who are the competitors.

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)

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