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05/09/2001 - Leg 4: cat-alist.com following Team Dinghy Shop

Boat is Repaired: "We'll be on the boat this morning at 10am!" Listen to the weather (audio track).
Leg 4 (leg 3) - Cocoa Beach, FL to Daytona Beach, FL - 68.9 mi statute miles.

Leg 3 Results - shows results for the day and overall.

9 AM: There is surf, but not much wind, so it may not be enough wind to power through the surf. More news soon.

Listen to the weather - You need audio to hear the weather. Here is the translation as best as I could get it.
Extending out for 60 nautical miles, small craft advisory. Heavy surf advisory.
Today winds east to northeast 10 to 15 knots, wind wave 3 to 4 feet with an 8 to 9 foot northeast swell. in Gly Cocoa waters may be sharp in open areas.
Tonight winds east to northeast 10 knots. wind waves above 2 feet with a 7 to 8 foot northast swell. In Gly Cocoa waters smooth.
Thursday: winds east 10 knots. Wind waves 2 feet with 7 foot northeast swell. In Gly Cocoa waters a live chop.
Thursday night: winds southeast 5 to 10 knots. Wind waves less than 2 feet with a 5 to 6 foot northeast swell. In Gly Cocoa waters smooth.

"Alot of the teams have gone thru alot of money. Everybody is pretty much out of parts. Performance Catamarans made lots of bucks."

"The mast broke at the spreaders, in fact it broke before Reigh even hit the water. The sail is ripped at the luff. All of the battens broke in the roll, all at the luff, they punched through the batten caps."

"The carbon fibre masts - once they touch bottom they are toast. They cost approximately $5000. CAN/$3000. US for a new mast."

"The hulls have stood up well, we don't know of anyone who had hull damage thru all that abuse."

Chuck Bergeron, from Tybee Island at the Team Managers meeting:
"Mike why don't you stop racing buoy boats and come up with a Worrell boat".
(i.e. he wants a stronger boat).

"The jib will be dead by the end of the event. Spin is ok so far, it hasn't been used as yet and stayed in the bag. Blocks we are having problems with sand getting into everything. Once it gets moving it washes out, the trick is to get it moving first."

Other teams -
everyone is hard at work, you can see many cutting battens on the beach.

Quote from Kevin Tuulos- "having a beer after every launch is not a bad philosophy. I need to put something in my stomach. You can't worry about things, just keep on working, then relax when you can."

"A big problem is that it isn't easy to consume foods on the water. They have been taking power bars, but it is hard to manage them and they get salty fast and not edible. Today we are trying gel packs that runners use. I'm also going to pickup cans of meal suppliments today and try that."

"Tammy and I have been doing tag team, I look after food in the morning, helping them get their gear together, lathered up with sunscreen. When they come in after the racing, Tammy takes care of laundry, and keeping things organized, the system really works."

On their physical state: "They are achey, after yesterday, Scott has a bruised rib."

Reigh and Scott dumped 3 times on this leg. Most of the time, they could not double trapeze due to the very confused seas. They went through a rain squall that had winds over 40 knots in it, but the rain also helped to flatten the seas. They where travelling at sub-nuclear speeds, totally out of control at that time.

Reigh called on his cell phone to tell us that both VHF radios and the GPS's had quit. He couldn't see any other boats, and wasn't sure if he had passed the finish yet. Team Alexander had just finished, and I advised him on how to approach, based on their success. This turned out to be not the best move of the day, and Reigh and Scott where rolled by a monster wave that tossed the Intra 20 around like a cork in a bath tub. The mast broke immediately.

Once Reigh and Scott where on the beach, the shore team dragged the boat up and piled all the pieces on the hulls. The rules state that the boat has to be afloat at the finish, so Kevin Scott and Reigh (exhausted as they are), dragged the boat 300 Meters up the beach to the north in the surf.

Through the night Kevin and Vic worked to put the boat back together (it is amazing what money can do, and we can always use more). They are bruised and exhausted, but we'll be on the boat this morning at 10am!

It is only the end of day 3 with 10 more to go. Argh... :-)

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