the crazy thing is, those videos don't look as bad as I recall it being in person. Maybe because you couldn't hear the "thunk" of the masts as they broke, or the shoreside audience response.
JC has a killer picture taken overhead while his boat pierces a wave in the vertical position. Makes my sphincter pucker just looking at the photo. Kenny is visible through the water clinging to the hull for life...
That was the Tybee 500 in '07...we tried twice to get out. The last time, we made it way out to the second sandbar and I yelled to Frank (who was belly down on the bow with one hand on the spin pole and the other on the chicken line to help counter the flipping force of the waves) "one more wave and we're out'a'here!". As I squared up to the wave a strange motion caught my attention in my peripheral. It was a second wave coming in at 45 degrees to the one I was squaring up to and they both met right under our bows. Didn't even have time to say "****!". Frank landed above the spreaders in the main and I landed somewhere behind the boat. I was hanging onto the mainsheet but making the boat turn an odd angle into the surf and I was concerned about the mast - so I let go. As I watched Frank and the boat ride the waves to shore I rolled over onto my back to catch my breath for a few minutes. I rolled back and realized I was, what felt like, 1/4 mile away from the beach. It took me 20 minutes to backstroke and surf my way back in. I felt very thankful for my lifejacket as there was no way I had enough energy left to keep my head above water on my own. And then I realized I lost my sunglasses.
