Welcome to
Catamaran Sailor Magazine's

On this Exciting 1000 Mile Race up the Nation's East Coast

[Archives of the 2000 Race] [Archives of the 1999 Race] [Schedule & List of Hotels along the route] [Team List and their Site Links] [Stories Published before the Race] [Leg 1 Miami to Ft.Lauderdale] [Leg 2 Ft Lauderdale to Jensen Beach] [Leg 3 Jensen Beach to Cocoa Beach] [Leg4 Cocoa Beach to Daytona Beach] [Leg 5 Daytona Beach to Jacksonville Beach] [Leg 6 Jacsonville Beach, FL to Tybee Island, GA] [Leg 7 Tybee Island, GA to Isle of Palms, South Carolina] [Leg 8 Isle of Palms, SC to Myrtle Beach, SC] [Leg 9 Myrtle Beach, SC to Wrightsville Beach, NC] [Leg 10 Wrightsville Beach to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina] [Leg 11 Wrightsville Beach to Hatteras, North Carolina] [Leg 12 Hatteras to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina]

Stay Tuned for our Brand New, Constant Update System. We are calling it our "Hot Line Reports" by Mary which will bring you instant, brief reports of what is going on, or what is supposed to be going on, or what is rumored to be going on.. Click Here for HOT LINE Reports by Mary

Leg 13 From Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina to Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Last Hurrah! The Final Leg!

Unbelieveable! Still Light air with forcasts of 5-10 (which translates into YUCK!)

There are some very tired sailors, but all are raring to go on this last leg. Wouldn't have been fun if the conclusion was sailed in good air?

Team PIsailing does best job of communicating By Mary Wells This is the first year the catsailor.com web site's Worrell 1000 coverage has included regular and very frequent update information, and I don't know why we haven't done it before. I guess the concept was too simple -- just have someone with a cell phone at the beach call me here at home and let me post information as soon as it becomes available. It was PIsailing's web site that finally turned on the light bulb. I kept telling Rick how ridiculous it was for me to have to keep going to PIsailing's web site to keep updated as to what was going on when we have our own web site that is supposed to be doing that, too. So thank you, Steve Piche, the "Mr. Communications" of PIsailing, for giving us all a push toward doing a better job of keeping information flowing to relatives, friends and fans of the sailors. Steve is so into the communications thing that he even sends his ground crew reports from out on the water during the race. Catsailor has been covering this race since Mike Worrell revived it in 1997, and PIsailing is the first team I can remember ever posting such frequent updates on their website. Of course, their postings are primarily about their own team, but is so nice to hear a voice from somewhere saying that something – anything – is going on. It just makes the whole event seem more real. Maybe Steve's obsession with communications has to do with the fact that three years ago he and his crew had to be plucked from their disabled boat by a helicopter during a storm on the leg sailed yesterday from Atlantic Beach to Hatteras. It is not very likely that other teams will start doing the same kind of thing as far as communications, because most ground crews are too busy, and it is hard to find somebody back at the ranch to do the postings (most people work), and most of the sailors do not have the talent or desire or self-discipline to write articles every night after getting beat up on the water all day. Steve Piche and Ian Billings are obviously exceptions. If they aren't here next year, that source of information will be gone. I hope we will still be there to keep the information flowing – now that we know how.

Carl Roberts has a different kind of ‘race face' By Mary Wells Rick and I have known Carl Roberts, of Team Sail for Sight since the 1980's when we were racing Hobie 18's in Division 10 (Ohio/Michigan/Indiana/Illinois). Carl is a big guy, and at 235 pounds, he mostly singlehanded his Hobie 18 (carrying weights on the boat). The thing I most remember about Carl back in those days of triangle racing with him is his unique "race face." You know what a "race face" is, don't you? The guy who is your best friend around the beer keg after the races suddenly becomes a different person on the water. When he puts on his sailing gear and his sunglasses or goggles, he suddenly looks like Darth Vader. His face becomes grim and determined. Well, not so with Carl Roberts. His race face was even more scary because it was so different. The whole time he was racing, he always had a big smile on his face. It was not an evil smile. And it was not a smile that seemed to say, "I gotcha that time." It was just a smile that looked like he knew a secret. We never quite knew what to make of it. It drove us crazy. Every time we crossed tacks with him, Rick and I would ask each other, "Why is he smiling like that?" This is his fifth year doing this race -- and he's still smiling. I now think that he just can't help it because he has such a wonderful time sailing.

Speaking of light air, we have this story filed by our own Mary Wells:

Light air worse than heavy air? By MARY WELLS Ironically, light-air racing can be much harder on sailors than heavy-air racing. After heavy-air legs of the Worrell 1000 the sailors come to the beach physically tired, battered and sore, but emotionally excited and highly energized, adrenaline keeps pumping and probably makes it hard for them to go to sleep for a while. In a way, it's like being in battle conditions in a war, with the adversary being Mother Nature. After long, light-air and no-air legs, the sailors come to the beach totally exhausted, physically and mentally and emotionally. They have nothing left. Not much adrenaline is generated when you are basically drifting along on a raft -- no danger, no excitement, no speed, no war except the battle against frustration and fatigue. Very-light and no-air conditions make the sailors feel helpless – more so than when they are out in a storm with 80 mph winds, because at least then their survival instincts kick in. When you are drifting, with your "engine" useless, it is more like Chinese water torture -- eventually, you are going to crack and say, "Okay, I'll tell you whatever you want to know – just let me off this boat!" Physically, sailing in light air strains different muscles than sailing in heavy air. In light air, you have to have the strength and agility to move around on the boat like a cat, without jarring it and without shaking out of the sails what precious little wind there is. Your neck gets very stiff in light air because you have to be looking up at the sails and the telltales constantly, whereas when there is any kind of decent wind, you can "feel" the boat and the helm and you glance at the telltales as a reference. On an upwind leg in a light-air distance race, the tacks are usually very long, and changing tacks is a great relief, because you can tilt your neck in the opposite direction. Not many beach-cat sailors are good at handling light-air situations for long periods of time. And most do not have any experience at maintaining their concentration in those conditions because, #1, nobody goes out and sails in it just for fun or for practice; and, #2, when the air is too light in a triangle race, the race usually gets abandoned and everybody says, "Hurray." Most people got into catamarans precisely because they want to go fast. If the Worrell 1000 had a reputation for being a light-air race – which it definitely does not – almost nobody would want to race in it. There are sailors who do love light air and have the talent and temperament for being able to do well in it. But there are not many sailors like that, and in a race like the Worrell 1000, there is only a slim chance that BOTH sailors on the boat have this talent or interest in the challenge of light air. For many teams a long, light-air leg probably results in major tension between the two crew members on the boat. As Randy Smyth said when I talked to him this week, "The Worrell 1000 is a once-a-year chance to put together so many skills." Well, the long-term concentration and focus to handle light-air conditions is one of those skills. It's just not a skill that many people care about having or acquiring – and probably one that doesn't even occur to sailors preparing for the Worrell 1000.

The Start is Coming Up Fast

The weather forcast is ??????? The weather bureau has promised us that there will be weather today.., they just don't know what it will be. However, some folks say it will be out of the north.., some say it will be out of the the south.., most think it will stay the same and be out of everywhere.

Right now the wind is out of the north at around 10 mph, which would be great for getting through the surf. Just like yesterday, the seas remain huge despite the lack of wind. Can't figure out how those waves can develop without the help of wind

And They Are Off

Wind! What a concept! Sure enough there was wind out of the northwest at around 10 mph. There were no mishaps going through the surf, although the curlers were tought enough they could have caused havoc. Three teams opted to use spinnakers and almost met with disaster. One boat was so far on its side the mast was parallel to the water for nearly a minute, but they saved it somehow.

We are headed up the highway to the finish line.

Keep posted to our Hot Line Reports for up to minute reports.

Here are the winners. On the left is seasoned sailor, Jamie Livingston of Miami, Florida. In the picture to the right the TV folks are interviewing Brian Lambert of Ft Walton Beach, Florida. They have both sailed this event four times before and have payed their dues heavily. Finally they not only won, they dominated and won going away.

The Grand Finale and Alexanders Wins it Going Away

Brian Lambert, Jamie Livingston and manager Beetle Bailey had lots of reasons to celebrate as they finally captured their first win of the Worrell 1000. And all three have being paying their dues for many, many years in this awesome Tour de France of sailing. They will now have their names immortalized alongside the other great winners on the Carlton Tucker Memorial Trophy that is housed at the Ft. Walton Yacht Club in Ft Walton Beach, Florida. (There are two other stories elsewhere in our coverage -- be sure to check them out)

And this is what they have won -- to be immortalized alongside many great sailing names and Hall of Famers on the beautiful Carlton Tucker Memorial Trophy. Congratulations to Team Alexanders on the Bay and all of the crew. Awesome job!

In Appreciation of All of Those That Helped

First of all, presenting coverage of this phenomenal race is not the easiest thing in the world to do logistically. But we want to especially thank Team Sail for Sight (Carl Roberts, Dave Lennard, Bill Wallace and Dave Wallace) for tolerating us always being in their room and using their phone lines. None of this stuff would be available without phone lines.., and this team literally opened their doors and phone lines to us. These people are very special and were really helpful to our crew is getting the information to you. Please visit their site at http://www.worrell1000challenge.com

Also, I want to thank our own Catsailor.com crew. Veteran of the Worrell 1000 was Dave Carlson who has now discovered that he is a very good writer -- be sure to watch for the next great American novel by this guy. Thanks Dave!

Newcomer to the race was Cristy Schimmoller who did a great job of interviewing, snooping out stories and reporting. She added a great new dimension this year! Thanks Cristy!

We also want to thank PI Sailing who grabbed up by the throat and shook us, literally waking us up to simply using our cell phones to report moment by moment happenings. In the past we just never thought about that idea -- we would get pictures and stories and when we finally found a phone line, we would post it for your pleasure. Well, here we were with a high-speed, high-tech computer at home with a great writer and editor at the helm.., Mary Wells, publisher of Catamaran Sailor Magazine. So why not use the technology and the expertise available? DUH! It was a no-brainer, but it took PI Sailing to get us on the ball! Check out their website at http://www.pisailing.com

And, of course, thanks to Michael Worrell for having this race. Most of us would not have what it takes to put it on. Although I personally (Rick White here) am still miffed that every cub reporter in the world had availability to take aerial shots from the Worrell chopper. All except me. Funny, but this magazine was helpful in resurrecting this race, we are the largest beach cat magazine in America, the biggest website in the world for multihull sailing and with the most traffic, but did not warrant the opportunity to offer you our own pictures. But, he is forgiven and is still a very good friend. Although next year maybe we can have our own helicopter and get our own pictures.

But mostly we want to thank YOU! Without your interest there would be no point in presenting any of this. It would all go for nought. During the race our hits/sessions went from our normal of 1.25 million per month to 1.5 million for the two week period.

Folks really came out of the woodwork for this event. We belong to a ranking service that tells us out overall relative position in the world based on traffic and links. It was amazing to see the Worrell 1000 site which was ranked at around 1,540,000th in world, move up to 222,000th. Wow!

Meanwhile, our site which was 209,000th last year was at 93,000th going into the month of May, but is now ranked at 69,000th. Another WOW! All thanks to you all -- and who says multihull sailors are a dying breed? We see no evidence of that.

Finally, We have an idea that would bring you this event in almost like live-TV format. But we first need YOU to answer a poll. Please Click Here to Go to Our Polling Booth!
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