16th Annual Steeplechase

First Leg, From Barnes Sound to Anne's Beach

After about 7 miles across Barnes Sound the first boat through was Lloyd Beery/Lou Adiano on an ARC 22, with WF Oliver/Mike Phillips on a new Tornado in 2nd place, and Jim and Nora Zellmer on a borrowed Taipan 5.7 in 3rd. Randy Smyth was sailing his Prindle 19MX and was back in the pack, as was Robbie Daniel/Enrique Rodriguez on a Marstrom 20.

But after exiting Angelfish Creek into the Ocean Side, the Marstrom had the lead and held it to take line honors after 60 miles. Oliver/Phillips were 2nd across the line, followed by the ARC22, and then Tybee Island. Smyth had worked his way up from mid fleet and finished in a photo finish with Tommy Bahama (Alex Shafer/Nigel Pitt) on an Inter 20.

It was a screaming reach in 15 mph winds all the way down Hawk Channel to the finish line at Lower Matecumbe. No one was able to use spinnakers because of the wind strength and angle. They Keys begin to curve westward near the finish line, and soon there were some chutes popping up.

First to the finish was the Marstrom 20, completing the 60-mile trek in just three hours and twenty-four minutes. Oliver/Phillips Tornado was 2nd around seven minutes later. Then came the ARC22 and Team Tybee Island, an Inter 20 with Steve Lohmayer/Kenny Pierce. There was a nip and tuck battle between Team Tommy Bahama (Alex Shafer/Nigel Pitt) and Randy Smyth/Tommy Gonzales with Tommy Bahama edging out Smyth/Gonzales by 2 seconds.

For Results of the First Leg, Click Here!

Robbie Daniel & Enrique Rodriguez Take Line Honors and the OLD LAWN CHAIR PERPETUAL! Smyth/Gonzales Wins Overall!

The winds were still around 15 mph and out of the eastern quadrant, which meant is was going to be still another reach to the finish line some 50 miles away. It was an off-the-beach start and those that had spinnakers had some advantage. The first thing you must navigate is a mud flat between the Channel Five bridge and the starting line. To go around it would take you out of the running. And going across with just main and jib, with boards up and rudders dragging makes for difficult steering. The use of the spinnaker balances the helm more and make steering with boards and rudders up much easier.

Naturally, the boats with chutes took an early lead. But once through the 65-foot bridge and into the Bay Side of the Islands, those that continued carrying spinnaker were quickly overtaken by main/jib boats that were going higher and faster.

Dave and Bob Ingram on a Inter 20 were through the bridge first followed by Tybee Island. Again Smyth was back toward mid-fleet.

The Bay Side of the course is the reason for the name "Steeplechase." In merry old England a steeplechase was a race from a given spot to a visible steeple of a church that could be some miles away. There was no given course and you could get there any way you wanted -- over fences, through creeks, or you could take the long way around and go by road. Your call!

Very similarly, the backside of this race course is simply get to the finish line off the dock at Rick's Place Motel and Sailing Resort. There are a number of spots along the way that you have three options:

1. Follow the Intracoastal Waterway
2. Go over a sand/mud bar to the left of the Waterway
3. Go over a sand/mud bar to the right of the Waterway

In some cases you could find "prop cuts" which are channels through the sand bars made by power boats. Powerboaters then mark those channels with small, hard-to-see markers. These make life a little easier in crossing bars, but at high speeds it is difficult to spot these markers. Most prefer to just pull up the boards and rudders and blast across the thin water, often throwing up a mud rooster tail a hundred feet behind.

The only mark on the course is just off the dock of the Westin Hotel, the location of Caribbean Watersports, one of the major sponsors of the race. This also makes a nice spot to view the racers and their positions. The Westin mark is about 10 miles from the finish line.

At the Westin Mark Daniel/Rodriguez had the lead, followed by Tommy Bahama, Tybee Island, the ARC22, and Oliver/Phillips.

The last two problems to navigate to the finish are Grouper Creek and Dusenberry Creek. Both are mangrove channels that are narrow, usually have a good deal of current (Almost always against you), and not much wind (also usually against you).

The first boat to emerge from the mangroves and reach to the finish line in Blackwater Sound was the Marstrom 20. They completed the 50-mile second leg in 2 hours 49 minutes. Tommy Bahama finished second, followed by Tybee Island, ARC 22, and Alexanders (Brian Lambert/Jamie Livingston).

Despite the awesome overall finishing time of 6:13:12 for the 110-mile race, this did not set any records. In 1999 Hans Meijer and Enrique Rodriguez completed the venture in 5:40:25 on a Nacra 6.0NA. Nonetheless, Robbie Daniel and Enrique Rodriguez won the Old Lawn Chair for the line honors (best real time overall) and corrected out in 2nd place.

Sailing very consistantly was Clive Mayo/Timmy Zenderman on a Nacra 6.0 without a spinnaker, surprising everyone by nosing out Tommy Bahama by 40 seconds on corrected time to take the 3rd place trophy.

Smyth/Gonzales finished in 7th position on the Prindle 19MX and corrected out to win the Rick White Perpetual Trophy for first place overall, eking it out by only 2 minutes over the Marstrom team.

Results of Leg Two!

Combined Overall Results!