Here is Carla Schiefer's account of the now infamous 2006 Hogsbreath-Keys 100 Race. It was wild and windy as you have read in the previous accounts I have passed along. Carla was sailing her Marstrom 20 in this race. Her account follows.

I started the Hogsbreath on Saturday with a new crew who had less that 2 hours cat experience. It was not the kind of day for an inexperienced crew. I kept thinking I wish Clive were here. His experience and his weight would have been the ticket for this day. Needless to say we did our share of cartwheeling down the bay side of the Keys. The puffs did not look that big but they were shifty from all directions so you never knew what was coming at you. On out second and last flip my crew went forward into the pole for a very fast and furious pitch pole. I was sitting all the way back behind the traveler so I went over the back to try not to break any more carbon, but in the end, I put my head into the leeward inside hull causing a nice crack in the boat and head. I was glad to see Mark and Jim when they came by to see if we were OK. We cut the shoot and pole off and limped back the Islamorada. The problem we had then was that as we got near shore we could see that the power wires were between us and the shore and not very high. I have heard enough horror stories about the electricity jumping to masts that I was not going near those things. We ended up pulling up to an island by Papa Joe's and taking our sails down and a nice power boat guy towed us to the ramp were my wonderful ground crew helped us take the boat apart. The damage to the boat was not that bad and only part of the reason we decided not to do the Mug Race. My daughter Kelly qualified to go to State in Pole-vaulting and we went to see her jump. She won.
Carla

Thanks for the story Carla. Does anyone else care to tell about their Hogsbreath adventure? I know there are more stories out there. We would like to hear them.

2. As previously announced, the CABB Chicken Key Cat Challenge Distance Race is coming up Saturday, May 27. This is a 20 mile distance race in Biscayne Bay. The weather, water temperature, and winds are usually perfect for cat sailing in May. Make your plans to attend this fun race.

John McKnight
(305) 251-7600
CABB Forum: http://www.catsailor.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=CABB