The rest of the boats are in:
3rd -- Accelerated Chaos
4th -- Cat Fever
5th -- Chesapeake

Rick will have a story and pictures later on our race page.

Order of finish:
Tybee
Toshiba
Chaos
Cat Fever
Chesapeake

Story (scant) and pix up.
I won't be at the start in the AM as I have to put the coach in the shop for some minor work on the satellite dish.

But, should be at tomorrow's finish.
Rick

Jake,

Now that you've had time to rest, I have a few questions. were you glad when the race was over? Would you have gone on (time and money permitting)? i saw you guys when you came in to Hollywood and you were pretty tired from the incident with the rudder. Did the exhaustion get progressively worse each day? What would you say was the hardest thing you had to deal with on a daily basis both Physically and mentally? The first time I got out on the wire at the beggining of this winter (in this same ocean) I couldn't believe the feeling. It was awsome! but about 30 seconds into the experience my butt hit a wave and I was sent flying and spinning back into the rudder. I thought it was hillarious and couldn't stop laughing! Did you guys have any moments like that where you just lost it or was the mood throughout the race more intense because of exhaustion or because of the work you may bd doing aboard?

take care .
(Oops! I guess this is food for another thread)

The fleet had a beam reach start this morning out through 2-foot breakers, and then they bore off toward Cape Fear and raised their spinnakers and took off pretty fast in 10-12 mph wind out of the south.

The wind is supposed to build later today to about 15 and clock a little more to the southwest.

It's about 65 miles to the Cape, and then another 20 miles to Wrightsville Beach. After rounding the Cape, they should be jibing along the shore to the finish.

Mary or anyone, do you have the latest forecast approximate finishing time for the fleet? Are you thinking 6 or 7 hours?

Planning on taking off to see the loons arrive.

kh
Sailing - Wrightsville Beach, NC

Steve Lohmayer is saying mid-afternoon arrival.

Thanks for the tip... For a brief moment I was considering sailing out there and meeting them off Masonboro Island but then realized that with spinnaker, I would be left behind so fast, it would look like I was the Picasso sculpture of the GOAT at MOMA...

On another note, thanks again for the HUGE effort with the Atlantic 1000 as well as past Worrells. After reading Rick's post above, I realized what a MAJOR commitment this was, both in effort and especially financially. I had no idea you have invested this much in the coverage. I would love to see it utilized, especially the GPS tracking, which would enable me to get absolutely ZERO done on this swine machine during this two week period!

Kelly
Wrightsville Beach, NC

I live on the beach at Wrightsville and just popped outside to take a look at the conditions. Wind has definitely picked up a bit here looking like a nice SSW 10-15 or so. Light capping at the moment. The kite surfers are out.

Nothing on the horizon since it's too early but here is a great link to LIVE REAL TIME VIDEO of the FINISH LINE AT THE BLOCKADE RUNNER. You can see ONE of the finish line flags in the picture. This might be the first chance to actually see LIVE footage of the boats coming in.

The camera is up and running as I type. Take a look. See RED FLAG to right of vid screen. Not sure which flag this is, unfortunately. Judging by past Worrells, it could be the south flag. If it's the North Flag, it might be hard to catch the action. Still, it's worth a shot. Dig the WAVE sounds! heh.

Blockade Runner Surf Cam / OBX 500 Leg Finish

http://home.earthlink.net/~ktholsten/br_surf_cam.htm

Kelly
Wrightsville Beach, NC

Four boats have been spotted on the horizon -- but that's from the 5th floor of the hotel. Can't see them yet from the beach. They should be arriving by 4:00 p.m.

Tybee hit the each at 3:33 p.m. Cat Fever is coming in now, about 12-15 minutes behind Tybee. All the other boats are in sight. Wind is southwest at 12-15.

Volleyball anyone???

At 3:50 I see two boats on the beach (I assume they are all in) and a volleyball game in the foreground. Is that a pre-recorded sound of the waves?
Jack

There was a dramatic race between 3rd and 4th... I couldnt see who it was, but 3rd place capsized within four hundred yards on the line! And the 4th place boat, which had gone much farther outside, caught up and passed them...I know they thought they had 3rd locked. Turns out 3rd was Chesapeake passing Toshiba. I know Toshiba is beyond bummed. It was an unnecessary move and they threw in an extra tack they didnt need by coming in too close before the muffed jibe.

Got some pics of the pass.

See the BLOCKADE RUNNER CAM link - you can SEE the boats!
http://home.earthlink.net/~ktholsten/br_surf_cam.htm

kh

ps- ONE BOAT LEFT... have not passed Masonboro Jetty... about 20 minutes out.

Cat Fever was second in.
Toshiba was going to be third, but jibed in the surf and capsized, and Chesapeake passed them.

Accelerated Chaos is not yet in sight. Earlier sighting included an unidentified non-combatant of some other species.

I think I see what must be CHAOS on the horizon...

Chaos is in....not too far behind the other boats. The most exciting thing was the Toshiba capsize and losing of 3rd. Chesapeake was the only boat from this vantage point that appeared to go farther outside.

As Rick noted, Tybee is just killing it. Watching them come across the pier from the jetty, they just seemed to have the best boat speed and balance. Their line was excellent as well, throwing in less tacks. Toshiba elected to come in close to shore, far above the finish line, needing another few tacks; this ended up being costly as they blew that jibe with the capsize. They had the spinnaker up at the time which was an extra pain in righting the boat.

Know Cat Fever is hyped - they looked good as well today. Wonder what happened to Chaos - they had been doing really well but lagged behind the pack today.

kh
Sailing off Wrightsville Beach, NC

ps- Yes, the surf sounds are recorded...

Great morning! A nice breeze out of the WSW at almost 10knts already.

Check out the BR Surf Cam below to see the boats in full view... Looks like Cat Fever is just getting rigged, the rest have their mains up with a bit of activity. Really neat having the real-time cam going.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ktholsten/br_surf_cam.htm

Kelly
Sailing~Wrightsville Beach, NC

I wish I could access that camera from work! Alas...I can't get it through the firewall.

I think you meant Team Cat Fever - All the Team Seacats are back at their day jobs this week!

Only problem is that the sound of the surf keeps putting me to sleep. I think I will turn on that webcam at night when I go to bed.

Doh... Yeah, I mean CAT FEVER. Ye olde SeaCats is not sailing the OBX 500 (at least you got another plug!). Todd Hart of CAT FEVER said that yesterday was the BEST DAY on the water he has ever had. It sure didnt hurt to finish in 2nd, probably the best FINISH he has had in Worrell or Tybee or OBX.

Mary has it right... Leave that on for 10 minutes and things get hazy as the surf loop starts to loop within your skull.

kh

Rick's early story is posted at Catsailor Race Page. Please bookmark that page if you don't want to go through our home page to get there.