BK great third episode, awesome footage of the guys on Marleys Orange.
Speeds: Jackson's GPS had a max of 36 but I don't believe it, but there were long stretches where we would average 19-20 sustained. Day six toward the end we were flying like dolphins at seaworld, up until we stuffed the whole boat in a wave and wreckaged when the wind kicked up to 40 sustained. Great day of sailing the last third of the leg!
Happy epilogue: At the end of day 5 when we went a little long on a gybe and wiped out in the surf, we lost the whole rudder assembly as well as the mast breakage. Today, on the way home from Tybee, we went back to Fernandina, I put on a wet suit and swim goggles, and dredged our landing zone hoping to trip over the rudder assembly (and not a shark!). With the goggles on however I couldn't even see a foot in front of me, despite an offshore wind with low tide and minimal surf. Finally giving up, we then reached the lifeguards who were posted at the beach where the race finished. There were 5 of them there, and one of them, Cindy, said she saw a rudder 2 miles north sticking up in the sand. I asked her if she would drive me down there on the beach and she agreed. A mile in, there on the left, was my other rudder, crossbar and tiller extension completely intact. A mile further we came upon the rudder she saw. All told all that was broken was one lower bracket and one rubber connector doohickey. I was completely psyched. Pam said the rudders were trying to catch up with the boat in Tybee, but just couldn't make it.
All and all a great race this year with generally excellent wind, 3.5 days of spin runs, 1 day on the nose with a fast close reach finish and one day of screaming beam reaching in difficult variable winds.
Our goal is to get 20 boats to the start line next year, so if you've done the race before but have been sitting out lately, or if you want to take a run at the best race we have going, please sign up at tybee500.com. I'm happy to answer any new teams questions either here, or through a pm, or over at 1design.net.
