Press Release

INTERNATIONAL SAILORS ADOPT THE WORRELL 1000

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. April 23, 2001 -In an era of "reality" television and extreme sports one of America's wildest but least recognized races is finally getting noticed in all the right places. The Worrell 1000 started as a bar room bet -- Hobie Cats racing up the beach for 1000 miles from Florida to Virginia. For twenty years it has been the amateur catamaran sailor's dream, a race so tough you have to convince Mike Worrell to let you in -- a race so demanding that only half the competitors finish. Imagine averaging 20 knots over a 1000-mile open-ocean course in a 20-foot plastic boat.

Last year two round-the-world racers, Rick Deppe and Tom Weaver, entered the Worrell 1000 and reported it for Quokka.com, a leading sports Internet site. They thought it was a lark. They finished last, exhausted, amazed, embarrassed, and determined to do better. They are back. They brought their friends. The field has almost doubled. And what has been a little regional race for catamaran aficionados is going to hit the international sailing charts for the first time.

Now that perennial race winner Randy Smyth has dropped out (family obligations) the field is wide open for the newcomers. Nigel Pitt, racing with Alex Shafer, is the current Inter 20 North American titleholder. He has been North American champion in the Hobie 18, Hobie 20 Nacra 6.0 and Nacra 18². Pitt has a theory. "I wouldn't attempt this race and skipper the whole thing. I've found a person I like and respect enough to sail with for a thousand miles." Alex Shafer and Nigel Pitt traded the helm in the Inter 20 nationals and won. They'll try it again in this race.

There are some other big-time newcomers. Katie Pettibone, of Port Huron, MI and Lisa Charles McDonald of the UK make up the first all-female team. They are formidable competitors, having competed in two America's Cup races, Sydney Hobart races, and the Whitbread Around the World Race.

Anthony Priest is a professional sailor, captain of a 133-ft sloop out of Ft. Lauderdale. He won the Maxi-Worlds in an 80-ft. monohull, competed in the Sydney to Hobart race seven times, and was helmsman for the winning Tour de France sailboat in 2000. He bought a Hobie 18 and has been practicing for the race off Ft. Lauderdale. His crew is Tony Minebaugh a professional sailor and racer from South Africa.

Reigh North and Scott MacDonald will be competing for the first time. North has logged over 20,000 offshore miles and was Hobie 18 North American Continental champion. He is a perennial contender for top honors.

There's never been a stronger group of first-time sailors. But newcomers have a tough time with this race. There is no protection from the elements on these boats. There is no cabin or "below" to seek refuge. Storms, raging surf, crews lost at sea, whales, freighters, Coast Guard rescues and lightning strikes are all part of the game as racers drop out or are forced out by the vagaries of the sea. Wives and friends line the shore each evening waiting for their crews to return from the sea and tell their stories.

Half the field won't make it. Captain and crew will fight. Their boats will break - along with their spirit. Their wives or husbands or mothers will be frozen with fear and undermine performance. Along the sunny Atlantic beaches, in front of pleasant resort hotels, even before reach the Graveyard of the Atlantic, along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, they will drop out, one by one. For most the honor will be simply in finishing the ordeal.

Sound like "Survivor?" Well it is, but it's happening not on some remote island, but right here on the Atlantic beaches of the USA for two weeks in May. Maybe next year Mike Worrell will offer prize money. Then everyone will be able to explain why on earth they do this horrible, magnificent race.

Mike Worrell
P.O. Box 446
Virginia Beach, VA 23458-0446
Phone: 757-422-1000
Fax: 757-422-1099
Email: MWorrell@worrell1000.com
Web Site: http://www.worrell1000.com

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