Saturday, May 22, 1999
By Thatcher Drew
Chick’s Beach Wins - Virginia Beach
The wind held today and so did Randy Smyth and Keith Notary. After 90+ hours of sailing, Chick’s Beach held off Rudee’s Rest. by only 23 minutes.
Randy limped off the beach with his wife and baby. The farther he got from the strand, the more he let it show. The Smyths cut short the interviews and missed the champagne in favor of a visit to the emergency room to tend to a badly infected knee. We now know that the doctor in Kill Devil Hills told Randy not to sail. The knee, which received a nasty rope burn in Ft. Lauderdale, had become worse over the course of the race until it ballooned out with infection on Thursday night.
Randy held out. For many others in this race, holding out was enough. The honor was in finishing. Entegra, Michigan, Taipan, Extreme, and Turtle did not make it this far. They wish they had.
But holding out was not enough for Randy Smyth or for Brett Dryland, who came in second in Rudee’s Restaurant. They were racing each other all the way and both wanted to win it all.
There was not much celebrating at Brett Dryland’s boat. He and Rod Waterhouse had a bottle of champagne and a couple of cans of Fosters passing around (they clearly preferred the Fosters). However, there was no joy. Finally Brett gave it a name. "It’s the one that got away, isn’t it?"
Smyth and Dryland sailed a very long match race. They got to know each other better than any competitor should, watching one another for a thousand miles, neither letting the other get too far out front, neither letting the other find the good air. When one tacked the other did too – except sometimes they didn’t and that’s when it got interesting, trying to guess what was in the other’s mind, deciding whether to cover or let them go. Most often they covered because that was the name of the game.
Later, in an elevator lobby Brett identified the moment it "got away". "It was at Hatteras Inlet. We were right behind Randy. We were purposely staying with him so he wouldn’t get away from us. The wind was light and he just sailed off." Did he get a puff? Was Brett left in a hole? "No, we were right behind him. I still don’t know what he did. I suppose some day we’ll talk it over."
Randy told a different story. Both boats were in danger of being sucked in towards the inlet by the tide. Randy says he got a tiny little puff and was able to sail out of the flow.
It was a game of inches but it gained Randy tk minutes, enough to win him the race.
Pomodoro, Tybee Island and Worrell Bros. wanted to win too, but, they could honorably bow to superior force. Their race was for third, fourth, and fifth places. Hans and Brian of Pomodoro were clearly delighted to have finished. Hans finally got past Hatteras. Of next year he says, "No, never again."
Steve Lohmeyer and Keith Pierce were beaming. "We’ll be back next year." So will Chuck Bargeron and the Tybee team. We have even heard talk of two Tybee boats next year. Lions International and Big Bros./Big Sisters both had to overcome exhaustion and adversity just to get here.
They all held out, but maybe they did something more as well. They are, as Michael Worrell says, a different class of sailor athlete. On their big wings, they fly up the coast demonstrating strength, wisdom, determination, and seamanship. There is no cash prize. These sailors take their reward in finding the edge of what’s possible, and for that they deserve to be honored.
