1. Bug Light Double Distance Race, April 9, 2006, Miami, Florida

It was a two for one day. That's two races for the price of one. And the races were free, so it was a really good deal. The annual CABB Bug Light Double Distance Race is one of our more popular races each year. The reason it is popular, is because we get to sail our boats to a pristine white sand beach on the world famous isle of Key Biscayne. What could be better?

Nine boats with seventeen sailors registered for the races. Jay Sonnenklar also showed up with his Nacra-20, but he couldn't race because his crew had to cancel out at the last minute. Those who participated in the races were treated to a perfect day of sailing. Conditions could not have been better. The winds were out of the southwest at 10 to 15 all day. Temperatures were in the low 80's. There was a cold front moving down the state, but it wasn't forecast to arrive until the evening hours.

The race started just off the Rickenbacker Causeway. The boats tacked and beat their way along the west shore of Key Biscayne. We sailed in a nice single or double trapeze breeze down the bay. The tricky part of this leg is negotiating the three shoal areas on the west side of Key Biscayne. You can save some distance by short cutting across the sand bars, but you risk running aground and losing time getting back to deep water. It is a gamble; that's what makes it fun. Most of the boats gave the shallows a wide berth. Jared Sonnenklar and Jamie Livingston took an early lead on their Nacra 20. John Esquivel and Max Everett were hot on their heels with John's Tornado.

Next, the race course departed the bay out through Biscayne Channel and past the historical white lighthouse at Cape Florida. From there, we proceeded into the ocean towards Bug Light. The winds and waves picked up on this leg, and it was double trapeze time. It was a close reach the three miles out to Bug Light. Wilder Robles reported flipping his F-16 Blade on this leg. There was a lot of wind for this single handed, light weight, Blade. Wilder said he got very fatigued righting the boat. We sailed on to Bug Light, a 37 foot steel tower, which marks the entrance to Biscayne Channel. Oriol and I, on my Hobie 20, were the third boat by Cape Florida, but Terry Greene and his nephew, Shaun Greene, were able to slowly catch us on this leg with the quicker Nacra 20.

When Oriol and I reached Bug Light, we made a jibe to head back to Key Biscayne. When the main sail flopped across the boat I heard a loud bang. The shackle holding the clew to the boom had broken. The main sail was now bent around the starboard shroud. Oriol broke out a spare bit of line, and we were able to engineer a temporary repair. While we were luffing to make the repair, we got passed by Ivan Loya and Mark Herendeen on Ivan's Tornado. They had the chute up now and were really cranking. We also got passed by Rafael Corral and Fermin de la Camara on the Prindle 19. Jared and Jamie lead the whole race until they flipped during a jibe while maneuvering just off Key Biscayne. This allowed John Esquivel and Max Everett, on the Tornado, to slip in front of Jared and Jamie for the line honors. John and Max also took first on corrected time.

Despite all the flips and breakdowns, everyone made it to the finish beach okay. We broke out our sandwiches and enjoyed lunch on the beach. Numerous beach walkers stopped to gawk at the flashy boats and ask what we were doing. During the break between the two races, Terry Greene pointed out to me that the sky to the north had started to turn very dark. This was because of the approaching cold front due later in the day. Because the sky looked menacing, we decided to cut short the second race of the day. We would leave out the Bug Light turning mark and simple sail around Cape Florida and back to the Rickenbacker. We did a Le Mans start off the beach for the return leg. This was a short upwind beat to the cape. From there it was a broad reach until we reached the middle of the bay. Then it was a downwind run to the finish. The winds were building, and this was a fun run north to the Rickenbacker. Jared and Jamie kept it pointy end up this time and were first to finish. Ivan and Mark were doing very well flying the chute on this downwind leg and finished second. There was some rumbling in the sky overhead about the time we finished, so it was probably good that we shortened the race. The actual front did not come through until later that evening. It was a perfect day. A good time was had by all.

Crew--------------------Boat-------Rating----Race 1--Race 2

1. Jared Sonnenklar-----Nacra 20----59.3------2-------1
Jamie Livingston

2. John Esquivel-------Tornado-----59.0------1-------4
Max Everett

3. Ivan Loya-----------Tornado-----59.0------3-------2
Mark Herendeen

4. John McKnight-------Hobie 20----65.0------5-------3
Oriol Cruzeta

5. Rafael Corral-------Prindle 19--66.4------4-------6
Fermin de la Camera

6. Terry Greene--------Nacra 20----60.48-----6-------5
Shaun Greene--------no spi.

7. Wilder Robles-------Blade-F-16---67.1-----7-------7

8 Rafael Quesada------Hobie 20-----65.0-----no times
Mike Laughlin

9. Peck Sukphisit------Prindle 16---77.5-----no times
Dave Schulman


2. The Miami Key Largo Race is coming up next Saturday, April 22. This is always a very popular beach cat race each year with 30 to 40 beach cats from around the state participation. Each year, I ask those who participate in the MKL race to write me a story of their adventure. All year long I write stories about the CABB events. But for the MKL I have no idea of what went on in your race because everyone gets so spread out. People take their boats out at different locations, so I do not have the opportunity to interview the participants to find out what happened. So I would appreciate it if you would send me an email with the story of your race. Look around during the race and try and remember what you see, feel, hear, and taste so you can put it in your story. What went well? What didn't go so well? Did you flip? Did you run aground? Did you go through Midnight Pass? Was this the first time you have done this race? Will this be the last time you will do this race? Everyone would like to hear your account of the race. So send those stories in to me as soon as possible, and I will pass them along to the membership in the next CABB newsletter.

John McKnight