2013 Key Largo Steeplechase
Great Distance Race
Overall
Sailed: 2, Discards: 0, To count: 2, Ratings: USPN, Entries: 8, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank Class SailNo Club HelmName CrewName USPN Leg One Overall Total Nett
1 F18 712 Dick MacDonald Mark Herendeen 62.4 5.50.37 5.50.37 2.0 2.0
2 F18 Can 12 Todd Riccardi Brendon Scanlon 62.4 5.53.48 5.53.48 4.0 4.0
3 Supercat 22 2230 Eric Roberts Dave Weir 57 5.58.55 5.58.55 6.0 6.0
4 N20 Royal Steve Lohmayer Terry Greene 59.3 6.03.40 6.03.40 8.0 8.0
5 F18 286 Karl Langefeld Jeff Dusek 62.4 6.03.41 6.03.41 10.0 10.0
6 F18 1717 Laura Muma David Ingram 62.4 6.17.07 6.17.07 12.0 12.0
7 F18 241 Scott Rathburn William Dolan 62.4 6.25.43 6.25.43 14.0 14.0
8 Tornado 824 Buzz WentZ Tyler Gruen 59 1.0.24.14 1.0.24.14 16.0 16.0

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What were the conditions?
Conditions on my jobsite were cold, windy and regretful.

It snowed all day in Toledo, covering a frozen Maumee Bay, so it had to be better than that! The bay is wrecked for iceboating... ;-(

So we need to live vicariously through the detailed race reports!

Read via a Facebook post that they were sailing at a tough angle in 15-20 (too tight for a spin I think) 64 miles in 3hr50min.
Sounds like a tough day #1.

Day 1, was work but manageable, had a great time. Day 2.was a rare south breeze leaving the fleet thinking an inside route across a half mile of flats was a good idea and if Steve Lohmeyer is leading the way how could it be wrong? Eric Roberts was having none of that and crushed the fleet. The rest if us fought it out the remainder of the day. Conditions again were beautiful. As expected Eric finished first making up their deficit from day 1 to win the event. Karl Langfeld and Jeff Dusek sailed a solid day 2 capturing the F18 trophy for the second year in a row.

Gilbert's was great and treated us well .

when you say "outside" route, are you talking the one where you end up going through that west cut to blackwater?

I'd always wonder under what conditions that pays. I suspected a west breeze, but maybe south works too?

I figured Saturday would be work for you guys. It was a little much for me singlehanding with main/jib only. Actually, docking was the only real challenge.

Sunday looked ideal for me, but I could imagine it was a bit more challenging for you guys actually racing to get somewhere...

Docks: Entertainment for people who have spent the day going too slowly...

Mike

The inside route I'm referring to is the route between Lower Matecumbe Key and Mangrove. It isn't a half mile it's only about two tenths of a mile it felt much longer. To add insult to injury we found out later Steve had never gone that way either. Just goes to show that you need to make your own plan and stick to it.

The Boggies (the cut from the west to black water sound) is a gamble. Ricks story said this is where Eric made his big gains. Eric made his money in the first hour of the day when he split from the fleet. Steve went through the Boggies too and it looked like a break even to me. We paddled very little through the creeks this year.

U.m.m.m.m.m.m ... You do mean: ""I" paddled very little through the creeks this year."

You were the crew-B%$#tch, right? Geez, you ALPHA types never change!!

Very true Mr. Back I was very much the crew-b!tch but I only paddled a short while. I paddled for about thirty seconds and was promptly releived, I guess she got tired of the whining. Sometimes the grandpa card comes in handy.

Race recap from the F18 fleet at the Key Largo Steeplechase:
http://usf18.com/29th-annual-key-largo-steeplechase/

Very nice write up Jeff. Thanks.

It's easy to write about such a fun race! So glad I was able to be a part of it!

Whining or Wheezing?


(keep lobbing 'em up, buddy! I'll keep swinging)

teaching kids to dock the boat = practice with epoxy repairs.

"In a great innovation and something we saw on the gorgeous Groupama C boat, the weather board is lifted not by a block and tackle, but by the weight of the crew as he or she wires up on the new tack."

sounds like a cool trick for straight board boats downind, too?

I'm shocked no one called me out on this sooner...

Yes, I'm extremely jealous that you guys get to sail all year.

No, I cannot dock a boat to save my life. I'm up to about a 60% success rate with a RIB, won't attempt it with a hard-sided boat. I usually just get it close and pull in with the dock lines...

Mike

Mike, all you need is a factor of laziness for motivation. I sail my J22 into it's slip now to save the effort of excavating the 2hp outboard from the cabin to slip it onto the stern mount. The thought of sailing it into that narrow little spot surrounded by boats terrified me a year ago.

Too funny. I'm always on a borrowed boat (RC duties), so I'm way extra careful. If I had my own powerboat (or any boat with an engine), I'd have licked it by now. I don't like the idea of practicing with someone else's boat (although they probably wouldn't mind at Sail Newport).

Mike

OK, now that I can identify with. When I'm driving club boats, I'm Warner Bro's Cecil Turtle when it comes to putting those things into their slips. It's really not for care of the boat...just that I don't want to have to live something down. ;-)