| |
Blue
Yankee wins inaugural Baltimore to Key West Race
Key West to Baltimore in 95 hours…
Bob Towse's 66 foot Reichel Pugh-designed Blue Yankee was first
to finish and was confirmed as the overall winner of the Storm
Trysail Club's inaugural Key West to Baltimore Race for the
Hemingway Cup. This new 1,000-mile ocean race started from Key
West on 23 April and Blue Yankee set what is now the course
record elapsed time of only 95 hours to finish at Baltimore's
inner harbor just before noon on Thursday 27 April.
The race was extremely challenging and featured gale winds and
severe squalls which caused the two fastest yachts - Zephyros
II and Chessie Racing - to be dismasted. The gale winds were
caused by two developing low pressure systems which combined
South of Cape Hatteras to create storm conditions. The thunderstorms
spun off a warm front and battered the fleet with winds over
50 knots. Several hours later a cold frontal passage brought
in strong and chilly north winds.
The start...
The fleet left the start off Key West in light easterly breezes.
Blue Yankee won the start and sailed to a lead of about half
a mile in the patchy conditions. Toward evening the breeze filled
from the east-southeast and Zephyros overtook Blue Yankee. Chessie
Racing was close behind and the three yachts paced through the
night on port tack heading offshore and looking to pick up the
elusive Gulf Stream. By early Monday morning we on Blue Yankee
found about two knots of fair current and elected to tack to
starboard to make better progress toward Baltimore. Zephyros
covered and Chessie followed. Blue Yankee was the first to set
a spinnaker, selecting her new Banks Series 2200 VMG spinnaker,
which is specially designed for the lightest wind speeds.
The early set worked well for Blue Yankee as the breeze continued
to veer into the south. By the next morning the three leaders
were exchanging gybes in the Gulf Stream east of Florida's Gold
Coast. Blue Yankee won the first crossing but it was not long
before the much larger asymmetrical spinnakers on Zephyros and
Chessie carried them past Blue Yankee. Zephyros also picked
up some favorable bursts of Gulf Stream off of Palm Beach that
was surprisingly close to the beach.
Gale force winds...
By Tuesday the wind was really starting to blow out of the south.
Blue Yankee peeled up to her new Banks Airx 600 running spinnaker
and then to her all-purpose 0.75 ounce spinnaker which was used
up to thirty knots (not recommended!). Ultimately the yacht
was literally planning in gale force winds approaching forty
knots, with 1.5 ounce spinnaker, sustaining speeds in excess
of 20 knots. The crew reported a top speed of 26.0 knots surfing
and planning down a wave with mainsail and jib top!
Track damage...
Blue Yankee was forced to take her spinnaker down due to four
incidents. The first occurred just before sunset on Monday right
after a spinnaker peel to the 1.5 ounce spinnaker when the car
holding the inboard end of the spinnaker pole tore off about
a one-foot piece of the track. The screws holding the track
into the mast sheered and ball bearings rained all over the
deck. The pole was crippled, but luckily it stayed almost in
place as bowman Pete Pendelton was out on it at the time! Repairs
were made by "jury rigging" the car using a splicing fid in
lieu of the balls.
"The forward hatch is gone!"
The second incident occurred very early Tuesday morning when
helmsman Steve Benjamin buried the bow into a huge wave and
the solid water staved in the forward hatch. Pitman Lat Spinney
on the offwatch shrieked up from below "the forward hatch is
gone!" Before the spinnaker could be dowsed Benjamin put the
boat under again and water was absolutely gushing into the yacht's
forepeak. Repairs were made by screwing the pieces of the hatch
into the carbon fibre deck with self-tapping screws.
51-knot squall...
Incident three occurred just after midnight on Tuesday, as the
warm front passed. Tactician Dee Smith was helming and severe
thunderstorms were in the area. Navigator Jack Harvey was watching
the squalls on radar and saw a massive cell bearing down on
Blue Yankee. Prudently, Smith called for the spinnaker to be
dowsed just in time. As the watch was about to reset the full
force of the squall kicked in and the offwatch observed a maximum
gust of 51 knots. Blue Yankee ran off with the squall under
full mainsail and #5 genoa. Mainsail trimmer Jez Fanstone alerted
the crew as the squall hit "she's gonna blow!"
A warm front, then a 37-knot gust...
After the warm front passed it got really windy. There was a
steady 33 knots and gusts to 38. Smith was driving and debating
with Benjamin whether to keep the spinnaker up. Benjamin, eager
to close the gap on the two leaders, urged keeping it up but
Smith was afraid of crashing and doing severe damage to the
mast, boat or crew. As the discussion continued, a 37-knot gust
ripped the clew of the 1.5 spinnaker cleanly off and the crew
calmly retrieved the spinnaker almost as though it was a planned
takedown. Discretion became the better part of valor as the
crew set a jib top genoa which was used until the cold front
passed and shifted the wind to the northwest.
High-speed racing and water everywhere...
Other than these four incidents, the crew enjoyed
hours on end of exhilarating downwind sailing. The 40,000-pound
yacht was actually planning with sustained speeds over twenty
knots and surfing waves that saw frequent bursts of speeds over
twenty-five knots. Spray was shooting off the topsides the way
you would expect of a high-speed racing motorboat. Down below
the incredibly loud crashing sounds were accompanied by a shrill
humming from the rudder that increased pitch as the speed increased.
There was water everywhere inside the boat and everyone and
everything was completely soaked. Benjamin remarked it reminded
him of a tropical rainforest.
To the finishing
line...
Early Wednesday morning about 80 miles south of Hatteras, near
Cape Lookout, the cold front brought in gusty cold northwest
winds forcing Blue Yankee to take in the first reef in the mainsail
and reduce the genoa to the #5. The leftover seas from the southerly
gale were now colliding with the southerly winds. Add up to
4.5 knots of Gulf Stream current and the conditions served up
a severe pounding.
During Wednesday the wind quickly veered. Blue Yankee sailed
offshore from Hatteras on port tack looking to take advantage
of the expected easterly shift. The tactic worked and Blue Yankee
entered the Chesapeake Bay at its southern end by sailing over
the tunnel section of the Bridge Tunnel.
In comparison, the leg up the bay was a pleasant reach and run
that took Blue Yankee about 13 hours to complete the race to
the finish line off the Rusty Scupper restaurant in Baltimore's
inner harbor.
The winning crew...
In addition to those previously mentioned, Blue Yankee's fourteen
crew included Farley Towse, Jon Gundersen, Ed Smyth, Ken Thompson,
Pat Daly, John Hayes and Chris Malloy. Bob Towse has competed
in and won many of the world's toughest yacht races including
the Bermuda Race, the Fastnet Race, and the Marblehead to Halifax.
He now adds the prestigious Hemingway Cup for the best corrected
time from Key West to Baltimore as well as the City of Baltimore
Trophy for being first to finish.
A bright
future for the race...
The Storm Trysail Club had hoped to start this race from Havana,
Cuba. Recent political events got in the way, though, and the
application for a license was denied by the State Department.
The Club hopes that a Havana start will be possible in 2002
and that the fleet will grow to a much larger number than the
seven yachts that competed in this year's race.
The Key West to Baltimore Race will undoubtedly earn a place
amongst the world's classic ocean races. As word gets out about
the exhilarating and challenging conditions the fleet encountered
this year there are certain to be many more entries in 2002
to challenge Blue Yankee's record run. But it is unlikely that
these conditions will repeat any time too soon!
Congratulations to Bob Towse and the crew of Blue Yankee for
an exceptional performance and well-deserved victory.
© Steve Benjamin, Banks Sails 2000
Back to Reports
and results
|
|
|
|
