at 12:44 a.m. they crossed the finished line—still in time to hit a few bars in downtown Key West. So much for worrying about making it in by Thursday’s happy hour! Their elapsed time was 14:29:39—clearly a new record—and that does not include the hour and a half late start. (The tender was trailered down to Key West and towed them into a dock from the finish line.) With a PHRF rating of -242, their corrected time was 30:35:18. They took first in their class, which had one other boat. Steve says it’s a good thing the boat is fast as there are no accommodations; no galley, head, berths—nothing. The hulls are only about two feet wide, and there is no going below. Getting into Key West that night was important so they could sleep, eat, drink, relax. The rest of the race fleet arrived on Thursday at more of a “normal” pace. First to come in from Clearwater, with a 10 a.m. Wednesday start—a 216-mile race—was most of the Spinnaker A fleet with Wired finishing at 2:15 Thursday afternoon, although it took a third in corrected time. First in corrected time (01:01:38:41) was George and Ann Cussins’ Fire and Ice, which was fifth in the class to cross the line. Bop Glaser’s Orangutan took second in corrected time. Other first-place finishers from Clearwater were Shibumi taking first in Spin B, Prime Plus in Non-Spin A and Ooh La La in Non-Spin B. Long Gone took first in True Cruising A and True Cruising B was Sonia-Cate. First to cross the line in the 168-mile race from Sarasota, with a 4 p.m. start Wednesday, was Constellation, in Spinnaker class, coming in at 03:03:35 p.m. on Thursday—a little under 24 hours of actual time. Mother Ocean, crossing the line second, took first in the Spin fleet with a corrected time of 17:50:52. First in Non-Spin was Misty, crossing the
News & Views for Southern Sailors
line at 6:42 p.m. First in True Cruising was Adelie, arriving at 4:52 p.m. From Boca Grande, a 132-mile run, the seven boats racing agreed to start at noon on Wednesday— hours earlier than the last two years. First to arrive in Key West was Bahama Hunter, a multihull, arriving at 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning, although they took second in corrected time behind Bilbo. First to cross the line—and first in corrected time in Non-Spin—was Fancy Free, arriving at 4:55 a.m. Its corrected time was 12:59:41. The only boat in True Cruising, Ironic Breeze, crossed the line at 9:21 a.m. on Thursday. In Naples, with 16 monohulls and two multihulls racing, the 95-mile race started at 7 p.m. Thursday evening. The first boat to cross the line—and first in corrected time—was Passion III, a multihull, arriving at 8:12 a.m. Another firstplace finisher was, in the Non-Spin fleet—and also first in corrected time—Steve Romaine in his Jeanneau, Air Supply, finishing at 11:05 a.m. Friday morning. His corrected time was 11:21:59. In the Spinnaker A class, first place was won by Renegade with a corrected time of 11:14:24. Shady Lady took first in Spin B with a corrected time of 11:00:55. In True Cruising A, Miz Liz won with corrected time of 12:59:38, and True Cruising B was taken by Island Time with corrected time of 12:46:15. The race back from Key West to Naples, which starts at 11:40 a.m. Monday morning, was taken by Midnight Rider in Spinnaker with corrected time of 24:03:16, although only two of the five racers finished. First in Non-Spin A was Fancy Free with corrected time of 23:55:32. First in Non-Spin B was won by Steve Romaine on Air Supply with a corrected time of 23:21:17 (although the three other boats in the class did not finish).
SOUTHWINDS
July 2006
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