Tybee Island, GA
5/14/2000, Isle of Palms, SC, 12:45 AM
By Zack Leonard
The shore crews made it to the finish just in time to greet the boats this evening as the fleet
smashed the course record for leg 6. A 15 to 18 knot South/Southeasterly breeze clocked steadily
to the Southwest propelling Randy Smyth and Matt Struble of Team Blockade Runner to a huge Victory.
Team Blockade Runner completed the 80.3 mile course in just 4 hours and 28 minutes. Smyth was fully
adrenalized at the finish, "the GPS said 20-21 miles per hour the whole way. We were just eating up
the beach, we could have gone all the way to Virginia Beach tonight!" The victory built a large
cushion for Smyth. Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse of Team Rudee's flipped over early in the leg,
then broke their centerboard righting the boat. The Aussies finished the leg 5th, slipping 32 minutes
behind Smyth and Struble. The English team of William Sunnucks and Mark Self finished second, followed
by Brian Lambert and Jamie Livingston of Alexander's on the Bay and Team Tybee, sailed by Steve Lohmayer
and Kenny Pierce. The Dutch team of Gerard Loos and Mischa Heemskerk had a rough leg, dropping out as
the leader of the pack to 5th overall, nearly an hour and a half off the pace.
The night leg shook up the standings and proved once again that the latter legs of this race provide
huge opportunities for gains and losses. Smyth sailed a long starboard tack off shore and was steadily
lifted until he jibed and laid the finish. He guessed that he may have been 10 miles off at one point.
Loos and Heemskerk worked the shore and paid dearly. They sailed dead down wind in less breeze, while
the boats outside reached and worked the persistent wind shift.
The moon this evening was 2/3 full, but the night was not overly bright. Large shrimp boats buzzed
around the sailors forcing several teams to take serious evasive actions. The jellyfish were a major
problem for all the racers. At this time of year the waters off Tybee are full of large round jellyfish.
The gelatinous creatures hover about two feet below the water's surface. The jellyfish are just heavy
enough to cause the rudder to kick up every time you hit one. The result was a rash of capsizes
that shook up the first part of the leg. Brian Lambert described the action, "the rudder would
pop up and we would carve into a jibe, Jamie would have to swing in immediately and we would do
an out-of-control crash jibe, then we'd get the rudder down and continue on." Some of the racers
lashed the rudders down with line, others simply popped the rudders back down each time.
In some areas the jellyfish were so dense that the sailors would hear a constant thumping sound
every 2 or 3 seconds as the jellyfish glanced off the centerboards and rudders.
Team Bay Wind followed the inner course and ran aground on a sand bar just outside the Charleston
harbor breakwater. But Paul van Dyke and Brad Cavanaugh were not so lucky. They found themselves
stuck between the rock jetties of the harbor mouth and then capsized. Their boat was blown up
against the leeward wall of the breakwater and was pummeled by wind and waves until they were able
to pull all the sails down and paddle off the obstruction. Their hulls had numerous holes along
the sides and the starboard rudder was ripped off the stern. They surfed across the line flying
1/2 mainsail and jib.
Team outer-banks approached the beach with a full head of steam and dug their bow into the sand,
causing a spectacular capsize that threw both sailors off the boat. Peanut Johnson went headfirst
into the bow pole, bending it like a pretzel, while John McGlaughlin was thrown out the back into
1 foot of water. Neither was hurt badly, but both suffered bruises. Davis Murray was sent through
the mainsail in a capsize, but the play of the day went to the team that ran down beach master Lee
Queensberry, causing him to lose his glasses.
The fleet has made record time to this stage in the race. The racers have been blessed with steady
wind in the upper moderate range all the way from Ft. Lauderdale to Isle of Palms. Blockade Runner
and Rudee's are pulling away from the pack in the overall standings. It comes as no surprise that
Smyth, Waterhouse and Dryland have sailed 24 Worrell 1000s between them. The experience seems to
be paying off. Look for a damage report tomorrow.
