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Final Race in the ILC Maxi Newport Championships
Author: Ian Moore
Newport - Bermuda Driftathon
We started the race in a building SW breeze making the first half of the race a white sail reach straight down the rhumline toward the gulfstream. The warm air behind the recently passed front was cooled from below by the cold water north of the stream to create a thick Horror Movie style fog
which was lit by a full moon to create a very eyrie scene as we reached south at 12-14 knots. Larry Ellisons "Sayonara" took an early lead using her extra waterline length to full effect pulling away from us aboard Sagamore and overtaking Boomerang who started 10 minutes in front. Then as the fog thickened and the fleet separated we concentrated on sailing our own race, no longer aware of which way our competitors were going.
We had been sailing a little low of course waiting for a lift. As it arrived we arced up a little to our chosen entry point in the famous gulf stream. As the water warms the fog clears and suddenly the water temperature changes from 15 to 26 celcius and you're in 4 knots of east going current. We had chosen to enter on the east side of a ridge in the stream where the flow was pushing us more to the SE than just east which worked really well for two hours then as the steam became more easterly we cracked off in search of a cold eddie which brought us another 3 knot ride to the south.
After sailing for 36 hours at record breaking pace the wind died. A high pressure has been sitting over Bermuda for a week and doesn't look inclined to move. There's no real way around it so you just have to work your way through in the little breeze that you can find. So this morning as the sun comes up who do we find but Sayonara 2 miles ahead and Boomerang 2 miles abeam. There is less than 3 knots of wind at the moment and we are 60 miles from the island, dead upwind but at least we are moving. We recently caught a little puff and over took Sayonara but the wind is so fickle the lead could be reversed at any stage.
The overall prize will almost certainly be won by one of the small boats as they all pile in from the back in building pressure but the winner of the maxi class is extremely uncertain at this time.
Ian Moore - Navigator on Sagamore
More Information: www.bermudarace.com
See also: COLGATE 26 for sale
