I was just reading a thread on SA about those 49er guys that did a 130km distance race and then the idea of sailing to Bermuda gets mentioned.
So now i'm wondering, with all this hype for the Cuba run... which of course is very cool.... why haven't we had a race to the Bahamas? I understand it would include crossing the gulf stream and so form but is it doable? It'd be a lot logistically easier than a race to Cuba.
It's only what... 60-70 miles to Grand Bahama?

All it would take is for someone like you Yankees to put it together and find an open date Todd.

That would be unlikely unless someone has a lot of time and money on their hands.

I think Leandro sailed over there a couple years back. It (a race) had been considered but I think it was an issue of cat accessible landing places with accomodation or something.

You got any of that glowfast tape left over?
p.s. Remind me to NEVER get you to measure covers for me.

125 miles from Miami to Grand Bahama. I thought it'd be something fun to do, but I pussied out and decided I didn't want to die. My plan was to sail to Bimini, pitch a tent, sail to grand bahama the next day, pitch a tent, then sail to Nassau. Course if the wind was right there's no reason you couldn't knock a leg out of that. I think I figured 200 miles one way.

Check your math Karl. Anyway, I knew a guy who did that on a Sunfish. Later he spent 2 months messin' around in the Bahamas on a H16, starting and ending in Key West.

Looks like a nice alternative to stuffin' yer boat in the basement.

It is only 44 miles to Bimini, and it has been looked at as a race for beach cats. Already have been races for larger boats, lot of them.

Weather can be a problem. If you are dealing with a strong NE wind which is bucking against a 3.5 knot Gulf Stream, you end up with 12 foot square waves, which will rip apart smaller boats.

I ran trips to the Bahamas for 10 years and would not venture out in that stuff with a 67' ketch, with twin diesels.

Rick

Rick, since we have your attention, what about a race across the Gulf of Mexico to...what ever the closest point of land is on the other side?

From say, Key West to Cancun?

Or from Blackwater Sound (Founder's Park) to Key West, no bridges to get under!

What would be REALLY interesting would be a race from Key Largo to Key West but all on the Florida Bay side. It would be more challenging than the Archipelago Raid. In fact, I'm not even sure it is possible. Look at the charts and aerials of the bay side of the Lower Florida Keys. Looks like it might involve more paddling than sailing, with an advantage for boardless boats.

That's what I was talking about Mary, go to KW on the Gulf side, not the Atlantic side. I didn't know it was so shallow though, couldn't you just head west out into deep water and then go south and avoid all the mangroves?

I dunno. You research it. I have heard that there are channels to get through, but you need local knowledge. And I don't know about going around outside all that. Like I said, it could be interesting.

A friend of mine sailed his 46' Hunter mono hull from St. Pete down the backside to Key West, I'll ask him about it, that thing draws a lot more water than we do!

One of the things that make the Archipelago Raid format possible is the benefit of sailing at 59degN. The days are very long and the sun just dips below the horizon before it rises again. This is different at 24degN. Just thought I would mention this as the Archipelago Raid was mentioned for comparison.

A lot of years ago Rick and I tried to get a group together to sail across the backcountry from Blackwater Sound to Flamingo. Nobody else wanted to do it, so we did it ourselves on our Hobie 18. It was one of the most fun things I have ever done. I wrote an article about it that was in the Hobie Hotline. But that was another case where you had to do some serious navigating and paddling and sometimes get off and tow or push.

Plus, the Archipelago Raid is in the summertime, whereas distance races here tend to be in the late fall, winter or spring, when we have better wind, but less daylight.

In places the bottom is like pancake batter! If you jump off you'll sink in up to your waist.

For those interested, I sailed the Tiki (14"draft) from Flamingo to Tavernier. My course was via Dump Keys and Billy Channel, through "toilet seat pass" to the Conch On Inn, which is right on U.S. 1.

It wasn't quite that bad, but almost. It's like quicksand. You don't dare let go of the boat.

We took a more northerly route that went through Crocodile Dragover.

A race from Founder's Park to Cape Sabal shouldn't be too bad. A day out, camp overnight, race back the next day.

Straight line is 34 miles.

Sounds fun!