Friday, May 21, 1999
By Thatcher Drew
From The Inside Looking Out / Life As Worrell 1000 Race Official
As a race official you get to see the Worrell 1000 from a completely different point of view…" From the inside looking out." For the racers, it is the different shoals, coastlines, and wind conditions. The spectators see the event from the outside, only scratching the surface of the Worrell 1000. I’m seeing the event from a point of view that is unattainable to the rest of the world. It is as if you where sitting in the middle of a large turntable, barely moving as the rest of the world spins around you at 33 1/3 rpm. This does not mean that the pace is slow…it is just the opposite!
It all started some 2 years ago as an exchange of e-mail, promotional correspondence and goodwill. I started receiving a regular flow of promo video and what not from A. Michael Worrell, addressed to my club the Indian River Catamaran Association (IRCA). In response, I sent a letter of thanks from the IRCA and an offer of assistance. In May 1999, an e-mail arrived asking if I knew of anyone who would like to serve as a Race Official. I volunteered my time as a representative of IRCA. An e-mail back said I was accepted!
A two-hour drive from my hometown of Vero Beach, FL, landed me in Ft. Lauderdale, the race’s starting point. Day one consisted of putting the sponsor decals on the hulls, a race official’s meeting, and then the all-important skipper’s meeting. Next morning would be the start of the Worrell 1000!
The day dawned bright and early with a fresh southeast breeze and calm seas. My job throughout the race would be to check, each morning, my share of the teams for the personnel safety gear, charts, compasses and other items that they are required to carry on the cats. After that is completed I make sure that none of the boats are over the starting line early. While I am doing this, the race spins around me. The teams preparing for the day’s sail. The spectators milling around gazing at the boats. Then there is the media, shooting video and stills and taking interviews from the teams. All the while I continue on with my responsibilities, hence the title of the story.
At the next checkpoint the officials set the finish line. Everyone has raced up the coast to get there before the catamarans (they can move pretty fast). Once again the crowd of spectators and media begins to arrive. It is like a grand parade. Rumors fly about the boat’s locations, possible problems out on the water, and the like. I set out the flags and finish gates with my fellow race officials, then begin the vigil, watching the horizon for the first set of sails. When the first group of boats are nearing the checkpoint we move the finish gates, two large orange flags, towards the water’s edge.
Few words can describe the rush of standing knee deep in the pounding surf with a 20’ catamaran powered up, sails set and spray flying coming at you on a near collision course. It is simply awesome !!!
In between the start and the finish exists life on the open road. As soon as the last boats are off the beach the race is packed up like a traveling circus. Flags are stored, poles put up and off we go. We drive down backcountry roads through small towns until we reach the next checkpoint. Then the game starts all over again. Days pass by without names. Only my watch reminds me of the day and the time. I know the town we left and the one that we’re going to and that’s as far as it goes.
One unique thing about being a race official for the Worrell 1000 is the interaction with the world that spins around you. At most regattas the race officials sit on a boat in the middle of the water and are sworn to silence. Only their signal flags speak for them. As a Worrell 1000 race official, there is a one on one relationship with the crowd and the teams around you. Many times I am the first one to greet the sailors at the checkpoint as they step off the boat. This would never happen anywhere else. There is the communication with the spectators and media… the questions and the interviews that fill their minds with the things that I have experienced.
Mike Worrell has made a tremendous effort at getting every possible type of media you can imagine to the beach. From the local hometown newspapers and television stations, to national affiliates that send the information and video nationwide. For an example, we were sitting at the Upper Deck Restaurant in Daytona after the day’s leg, when what should appear on The Weather Channel but the start from Cocoa Beach that morning! A huge roar of applause came up from the crowd along with a BIG smile on Mike Worrell’s face.
I am not going to try and relate all the checkpoints and stories that go with them. That could fill an entire web site…matter of fact it does. Let's just say that it has created memories, stories and epics that will stay in my mind forever.
The story would not be complete without mentioning two people... Lee Queensberry and Neil Wilson. These two guys have a dedication that is unmatched by few other people that I have seen anywhere. They are on the beach before anyone else and do not leave the beach until the last boat is in…and in one case during this race that was a 15 hour period of time in the freezing cold and rain.
I also have to say thank you to the rest of the Race Officials, five other men and women who share in the chore of running the Worrell 1000, and to Mike Worrell the races founder for inviting me to be a part of this year's epic.
All I can say in closing is that being a Race Official has changed the way that I see the race. When I read the rest of the stories that are contained within this site, I will only be able to see them as I remember them…from the inside looking out.
