The first day of the Key Largo Steeplechase is under way in northwest winds ranging 15-20 and gusty. That means offshore oceanside for most of today's leg.

There are 38 boats registered. About 13 Inter 20's and about 13 Nacra 6.0's. Should be interesting. Several of the Nacra 6.0's opted to not register with spinnakers because it looks like a reach for most of the first day and maybe tomorrow, too.

Eric and Bill Roberts are sailing a Supercat 20 for the first time in a long time, so that will be interesting to see how the boat does. It's a 1982 Supercat 20 with tall rig.

I'm sure Rick will be posting a story and maybe some photos on our catsailor.com home page by this evening.

Right now I am just worried whether Rick will get to today's finish line before the boats do. After the start he was following the cats with a powerboat to get pictures and was going to get dropped off partway down the course and go the rest of the way by car. With this kind of wind and a reaching situation, it is really difficult to get there before the first finishers.