"Iron Men, Plastic Boats" is the motto of the Worrell 1000 catamaran race up the East Coast every May. Even though Inter 20's have replaced the original Hobie 16s, at least for now, the motto has never been more true than in the 2001 event.
This year's edition took a race that was extreme before the word was to new extremes. Florida, which is "supposed" to be mild, was the site the greatest carnage the Worrell has ever seen, as two sailors broke their legs, seven masts were broken, and two teams pulled out of the race, one due to a sailor's cracked ribs and the other because of simple defeat: the money was gone. The Jensen Beach start saw 20 boats attempt the surf, and fifteen repelled and sent to the trailers in defeat. It will long be argued whether the start should ever have gone off. Only two days later, the longest leg, a 121-mile jaunt from Jacksonville Beach to Tybee Island, had teams sailing along the beach, and others 40 miles offshore. The final legs around Capes Fear, Lookout, and Hatteras, which are usually sailed in lots of wind, were "drifters" this year; Wrightsville to Atlantic Beach took 16 hours for the winning boat, and the last boat in arrived just six hours before the next morning's start. The second-last leg featured two teams dropping out with undamaged boats out of exhaustion; Key Sailing's Kirk Newkirk could not face the prospect of what GPS was predicting to be a 24-hour day on the boat, and Redhook turned back from a place an hour and a half behind the pack before rounding Hatteras.
The emotional roller coaster peaked for the fifteen teams that hung tough and finished when they crossed the line at Virginia Beach between 5 and 7:30 pm on Saturday.
As a pusher and chief assistant handyman with Team Spitfire (Jamie Gaines - Baytown and John Tomko - San Antonio; 10th overall), I got to experience the shore side of the race first hand. The early legs, worrying about the boat when we were wondering why our guys weren't among the leaders, gave way to the middle ones, where we had confidence that the boat was probably ok. "They went outside again" was a discouraging refrain when they were off the pace. In the end, they were staying inside, even when it meant throwing 100, 200, even 300 or more tacks in a leg, and clawed back up three places in the standings to take home a top-10 finish on their first attempt at the toughest cat race in the world.
The Worrell is the pinnacle of beach cat distance racing. Based on my experience, I'd have to recommend that every beach cat sailor try to do it at least once. I plan to be back - as shore crew in the near future, and hopefully as a sailor not too many years down the road.
Worell 1000 wrap
Thanks to everybody that supported us, both by sponsoring us and by watching, waiting, and praying at home. This would not have happened without all of you.
We learned:
1. Stay inshore. If it means jib reaching instead of flying the chute, stay in. If it means throwing 120 or 150 tacks in a leg, stay in. And if it looks really good offshore, stay in.
2. Get two complete sets of graphics for the sail. If you lose a main, the sponsors will be much happier if their names show up on the new one.
3. Take two vehicles. We had a 1981 Chevrolet 21' rv; it was adequate, but not that nimble. We had to unhook the spare boat every night to run errands or just to park at the hotels.
4. Never tank, no matter how far back you feel. Three days from the finish, we were 12th, but less than 15 minutes separated us from the next two boats. One of them broke a rudder casting at Hatteras and carried it the rest of the way to Kill Devil Hills, giving up just over an hour, and while the other stayed ahead, Kirk Newkirk of Key Sailing withdrew from a top-10 place in the race because he was unwilling to face the prospect of another 16-18 hour light wind leg. The rest of the fleet held positions, and we had our top-10 finish.
5. If something feels wrong to the sailors, it probably is.On measurement back in Houston, it was found that the bows were 4" closer together than the sterns. This damage to the main beam from Jensen explained the rudder toe problems.
5. Raise more money.
Right the first time: The boat was great until the rig was pulverized and the entire steering system was swept away at Jensen on the third day. We re-rigged with the other boat's mast and rudders, but it was never the same again. The gudgeons are set differently between the two boats, or maybe one boat is wider than the other. Anyway, it took three days to get the steering system working right.
The team seemed to work really well. We had a few scratchy moments, but by and large, we got along great. I heard of feuds within at least two other teams towards the middle of the second week.
It's over! Spitfire took 10th place in the 19th sailing of the Worrell 1000. Full details are available at Catsailor.com and Worell1000.com. I'll post team info as it develops, and a bunch of pictures as soon as I get them.
One leg to go!
1:30 am, 5-18
Team Spitfire sailed into Kill Devil Hills NC around 10:50 pm, barely 12 minutes off Guidant's blistering pace and only 2 1/2 minutes behind fellow Texas team PiSailing's 12 hr, 48 minute effort. Spitfire took a solid lock on a top-10 overall finish. While it's not in the bag until the boat's on the beach, just finishing is a true accomplishment for any team on its first effort. We are deeply grateful to all of our sponsors for the opportunity to do this race, and hope all of you will help us do it again in the future.
7:00 pm
5-18
We got in at 2 am this morning from Atlantic Beach to Cape Hatteras Village after sailing for more than 16 hours on the water. Today is looking like another long one. It's 7:30 and the boats are 25 miles out with no wind. They were not moving with any speed. I'll post more when I learn more.
6:45 am
All stirring in the Spitfire shore crew camp. The goal is to be at the boat by about 7 every morning, so I'm off to breakfast. Look for a word about the start, then more this evening.
Wrightsville Beach
7 pm local
Spitfire had a tough leg from Myrtle Beach to Wrightsville Beach, just not as tough as a couple of boats ahead. We dropped a place to 12th, but the gap to 10th has narrowed from nearly an hour to less than 20 minutes. One team ripped a rudder gudgeon out of the hull, and used a screw from one of the footstraps to hold the rudder in place until they got here. I'll put up more after the dinner being sponsored by the Blockade Runner in a few minutes.
Blockade Runner Beach Resort
Wrightsville Beach, NC
Tuesday, 4 pm
Spitfire took a good finish yesterday in the second night leg (7th of 18 boats) and used it to get a spot on the front line at the start this morning. It was another spinnaker start, downwind in the lee of the row of hotels dominating the shoreline at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It seems that many teams noticed Jamie's trick of setting the chute at the one-minute mark and sheeting in just as the horn goes off. We were the only ones to do this at Tybee Island several days ago, but today, virtually every team did it. As a result, everyone other than the first and second place boats from the previous leg (and 10 and 11, because of the double start line) had to jibe right on the beach, inside daggerboard range, or stay on starboard out 1/4 to 1/2 mile to get clean air and some separation from the pack. Spitfire tried the early jibe, but the wind was swirling around the hotels, and it was no use. So they went on out beyond the pack before jibing back onto port for the run to Cape Fear. The wind has shifted now so that it is a close jib reach in 8-10 knots of wind from Cape Fear to Wrightsville Beach, just southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina. I'll post more when the boats get here; they are expected around 5-5:30 pm local time.
Leg 8
Monday, 11 am
Team Spitfire arrived at Myrtle Beach early this morning. They were a strong seventh, and moved up from 13th to 11th overall. They have reeled in the tenth and eleventh place boats (Castrol and Fully Involved) to within an hour. I got less than two hours of sleep last night, watching and waiting on the beach, so I am going to take a nap now
Tybee Island
Monday, 5 am
It's a waiting game for the shore crews now. Im sitting in my hotel room with one eye on the Weather Channel and the other on the beach six floors below. We had a good start at the right or leeward side of the the tight double line. The start was pushed back from the original 6 pm to 6:19 so it could be broadcast live on the local news.
The guys were mentioned on Worrel1000.com for showing up on the beach in "Jackass" t-shirts today - commentary on the gambling and going offshore the last two legs. Naturally, tonight looks like it would have paid to go out! Team Guidant called in five minutes ago and gave 6 am as their likely arrival time. Wind conditions here are northeasterly at 6 knots.
Isle of Palms, SC
Sunday, 2:00 pm
Spitfire made a strong showing last night in vicious conditions. It looked like a drag race at the beginning - almost dead downwind. However, about 25 miles out from the finish, the wind shifted and the course became a reach. They said they were really concerned about lightning and the difficulty (reading puffs etc) of steering in the dark. The start was great - it was the first spinnaker start of the race. Half of the teams started with the kites already set; I had only pulled the boat three good steps into the water when Jamie sheeted the chute in and the wind jerked the boat out of my hands. We started 16th, thus at the right (upwind) side of the line, and rolled three or four boats right away.
The guys were complaining when they came in that the new rudder we had installed was making a LOT of noise - so much that their heads were ringing and they had had to yell at each to hear one another talk. We will fair it down a bit this afternoon. We came in 8th last night, not quite 40 minutes off Team Alexander's blistering pace.
Not really sure where the speed came from, but we did a few things different. We changed out the steering system, now running one black and one white blade. The guys from PISailing were warning us about karmic balance between the mismatched blades; they said it would either fix all our problems or kill us. The other difference is that we closed the bar at the hotel the night before. Since the boys had been 11 miles below the rhumbline, John, the head boat mechanic, attempted to follow their example and sailed a deep course into the Finlandia vodka. He was in bad shape for a good day. We thought he was really sick, but apparently he does his best work this way. He swears he won't drink again, probably for years, unless he can get everyone's wives to dance with him again! Guess he owes Sheryl a night of dancing now... Me? I'll feed him vodka every night if it keeps making us this fast!
When right was wrong...
Tybee Island, GA, 10:45 pm, May 11
The boys pulled in tonight at about 9:15. It felt really late, but was actually less than two hours off the leaders' pace for the 120-mile leg. We dropped a couple of places in the overall standings, but the guys are really motivated to continue and finish this race as well as possible.
Apparently, the main problem was that we went outside; Jamie said they were as wide as 6 miles outside the rhumb line. They got to reach a bit coming back in, but it was no use. The boats that stayed in got the shore breeze first and with flatter water. The big right shift was a factor too - it left us jibing downwind for boatspeed while the inshore boats broadreached on starboard most of the day..
Jacksonville, 11:30 am
Team Spitfire successfully negotiated the 5-6 foot surf at Jax Beach this morning in NO wind (sea breeze, 4-5 knts). John Tomko drives the boat in the surf every morning now, and is a real artist at squaring up with the waves, then falling off the tops just enough to surf the backside and build speed for the next wave.
John Oliveira said that since he got a good night's sleep last night, we will have a good leg.. To me, it looked like he had just passed out on top of his bed fully dressed WELL before midnight. I kicked him out around 6:30 this morning, and he's been chugging coffee (he calls it jack instead of joe) and smoking like a train ever since. We also welcomed Capt. T, John's dad, to the shore crew. He flew into Jacksonville yesterday.
The guys headed out near close-hauled in the sea breeze for 15-20 minutes after the twice-delayed start (10:45 or so), then fell off and popped the spinnaker, hopefully to fly it all the way to Tybee Island, 121 miles up the coast. They are expected in roughly around 11-midnight tonight; tomorrow's leg starts at 6 pm and runs till 2 or 3 am, and the next day is a night leg as well. Jamie spent his young days blasting around Corpus Christi Bay on a Prindle 16 in the middle of the night, so he feels really good about the night legs. Tiffany has checked us out of the hotel already, so I have to pack up the computer and haul to Tybee Is. GA, just east of Savannah. Look for an update tonight before the boats get in, and thanks for following us!
Jacksonville Beach, 8:40 pm
The guys made it in safely at Jacksonville Beach about 7:10 pm local time, only 26 minutes behind leg winner and race leader Alexander's. Guidant and Tommy Bahama were second and third. Although we were close timewise, 26 minutes was enough for 9 boats to finish before us. We are now in tenth overall, 5 hours 28 minutes off the lead.
Our luck was much better than Steve Piche's PISailing effort, which broke five rudder castings and two blades today. Word is that there are ten (priceless) castings at the airport in Jacksonville now.
Our new mainsail came in today; also some graphics and steering system parts. We have plenty of rudder blades (I think everyone does) but needed the fragile casting that holds the rudder to the gudgeons on the transom. So we got a pair of those and a tiller crossbar. Many thanks to Wayne at the Houston Sailboat Center, who pulled the main off a brandnew boat sitting on his showroom floor, and to Christi at SignQuick, who got us new graphics.
I have to go tune on the boat now and try to get it ready for tomorrow's grueling 120-mile leg to Tybee Island, GA; I'll post more later.
Daytona, 11 am
All the boats made it off the beach safely. Castrol came back but made it out safely about 8 minutes late, and PiSailing made about three tries, breaking a rudder casting before finally succeeding in sailing out about 30 minutes late. Bay Wind is out; I think that they ran out of masts and money.
We powered up the rig because the forecast is for about 8-10 knots of wind. Hope it works, and see y'all in Jacksonville!
Daytona, 6:15 am
It's a beautiful partly cloudy morning at Daytona Beach. There's no wind to speak of, but the surf continues to pound. We are under a heavy surf advisory, and there is a dangerous rip current as well. Forecast is for winds approaching 15 knts from ENE shifting to E. It's about 65 degrees now, with an expected high around 85. The guys expect to fly the all-white spinnaker today.
We are off to the beach in a few minutes. We acquired a red "dot" for the sail yesterday, which is oval and and has the guys' names in it. It's one panel above the numbers on the sail, and is about 3 ft. x 2 ft.
Daytona, 6:15 pm
The guys got into Daytona around 4:50, ninth boat in. Alexander's and Sail For Sight were virtually a photo finish for first.
We suffered no major damage - just a ding in the starboard daggerboard after Tomko lost to a turtle that fought back.
Jamie asked for some rig tuning overnight, due to the fact that the winds have lightened significantly and the shore break is still quite heavy. Should be light and choppy tomorrow.
We picked up one boat on our start position this morning, and hopefully some time on the boats ahead. We were about 20 minutes back today.
Out Safe! 10:30 am
Jamie and John made it safely through 6-8 foot surf at Cocoa Beach and are now close-reaching towards Cape Canaveral and Daytona Beach. We're going to get ahead of them and wait till they pass, then go on to Daytona. More tonight!
Cocoa Beach, 7:00 am
May 9, 2001
Spitfire is sitting in 9th place following yesterday's trailering penalty (taken by 15 teams) which was two hours added to the time of the last boat to complete the sail from Jensen. We are using our second rig, and should not give up any speed to anyone. We are in good shape, although we certainly didn't expect to be using our spare mast by the third full day.
The boat is looking good; it's black on white now instead of all white as before. We are fixing a ding from the wreck yesterday in the surf, and going over everything with fine-toothed comb.
I'm off to the beach to tune on the boat; more later
Day 3, 8:00 pm
Jamie's boat wasn't as bad as we feared. We put Tomko's rig on top of it and it looks like it's ready to go. Word is that all 15 boats that did not sail will be assigned the time that the last boat to complete today took, plus two hours. We are really excited to be continuing; 4 of the 5 boats that sailed today were previously behind us. We feel really good about our chances, and will give it our best shot.
Today's damage list is extensive, but no one was hurt seriously. Four or five masts, numerous rudders, several trampolines, and lots of smaller parts were demolished.
We're off to dinner and bed now; more tomorrow or later tonight.
Day 3, 1:15 pm
"This is the worst ever."
No single start in Worrell history has been the site of so much damage. We just thought yesterday was bad. Altho there were no injuries today, 15 of the 20 boats still in did not make it out thru the surf at Jensen Beach. Spitfire was looking good, and got out to the third break before meeting a 12-ft breaker head-on. John Tomko described it as "spreader-high". The mast snapped before it hit the water, and the carcass of the boat floated in. The main is in at least three pieces and the complete rudder assembly was swept away. Otherwise, however, the parts are mostly intact and appear undamaged. The five boats that made it out should be at Cocoa Beach already; we are about to take off too. We have a boat to build tonight, out of the spare boat plus the good parts from Jamie's. We will be assessed a penalty for trailering, but after the 15 boats overturned in the surf, Mike Worrell declared that no more boats were to start. Most of the boats ahead of us also failed to negotiate the surf.
Day 3, 6:30 a.m.
Up at the crack of dawn to put the trapezes back on the boat. No word from Australia - ostensibly they are out? Weather today: Heavy surf advisory, winds NE at 15-20, dying 5-10 tonight, and shifting 10-15 east tomorrow. Off to the boat; more later!
Day 3, 2:00 a.m.
Jensen Beach, FL
(May 8, 2001).
We are sitting in the hotel room now; John Oliveira is making trapeze handles for the guys. We are down to the seventh or eighth pot of coffee, and we are watching "Animal House" on tv. Race Committee is sitting up too, waiting for Team Australia, who have broken (at least) four daggerboards and two rudders since midafternoon.
We are really excited about today's results; we are less than 30 minutes off Team Alexander's pace, and there are less than 15 minutes from 2nd to our 6th place overall.
The rudders are almost done; they will have to be reinstalled, and the new jibsheet run, before the race, and the new traps will have to be installed.
Weather calls for 15-20 mph winds tomorrow, directly onshore. Most likely, the teams will start on port, tack once, and close-reach to the finish. It's pretty unlikely we'll see any chutes tomorrow, but Wednesday should bring a hatch of spinnakers.
I'm off to bed; I'll be useless for pushing if I don't get some rest. See y'all next update
Day 2 Wrap-up: Carnage!
Jensen Beach, FL
(May 7, 2001)
It's 9 pm local time; all 21 boats started this morning, but Team Dallas is out; Australia is at least 2-3 hours out, and the whereabouts of the Pyacht women remains unknown. The leaders, Team Alexander's, arrived around 5. Spitfire was barely 20 minutes back after today's grueling 7-hour, 80-mile upwind slog through 8-foot waves and winds between 15 and 20 knots. The stragglers faced rising storm cells, but our team was safe on the beach.
Yesterday's finish saw a broken leg (Sandra Tartagliano; best wishesfor a speedy recovery) and a crushed foot (Tom Weaver watched the start from crutches). At the start this morning, in 22 knot winds, Spitfire took advantage of a strong push to get a top-3 start. All the boats starting in places 15 and beyond capsized at least once. Three were delayed on the beach, or came back for repairs. Today there was a set of broken ribs and a split lip that will require stitches; the former in a violent capsize and the latter in a spectacular finish-line wreck.
PYacht Women just arrived at 9:45 pm local time, after spending more than 11 hours on the water. Since they are less than 8 hours behind the lead boat, they get to save the one exemption to the "8 late, you're out" rule. Australia is still out.
Jamie and John are already passed out in bed; Tiffany got them fed and relaxed after their tough day. We are in the process of making minor repairs to the boat; we installed new lock-down springs on the port rudder, ran the trampoline back into its tracks, and are fairing some dings in the rudders. This morning we redid all the traps after a trapeze failure cost our boat a couple of minutes. Jamie went for a short swim, but hung on, and didn't drop any places.
More tomorrow, or when it happens! Thanks for watching.
An archive of old articles
The Race
The Boat
The Sailors
So you want to sponsor a racing team?
Webmaster
What are the sailors doing now?
- Jamie: Performance Nationals
- John: Team San Antonio
Spitfire Racing is a supporter of the Ragnot (kid's learn-to-sail) program at Houston Yacht Club, so all donations are tax-deductible. Cash donations made to R.A.S.A at the Houston Yacht Club should have "Worrell 1000" in the memo line on the check and may be mailed to the Yacht Club or to James Gaines, 7934 Stillwater, Baytown, TX, 77521.You can email Jamie for info about direct donations and spnonsorships, or call him at 281-421-7245. All donors will be recognized on this website, and larger sponsors will have their names and/or logos on the sails, shore crew vehicles, team shirts, and basically anywhere you tell us you want your sticker!
Thomas Sheffield, Attorney
Bob and Janice McNair
Tom and Peg Caskey
Chuck and Valerie Buckner
Ron Wreyford
Houston Sailboat Center
Murray's
Houston Yacht Club
West Marine
DeLorme
StreetAtlas with Earthlink
Loadmaster Trailers is furnishing a new Sailtransit aluminum catamaran trailer
John Kolius - Kolius Sailing School is furnishing gear, apparel
Magic Marine sold us discounted drysuits, booties, gloves, and harnesses. Thanks!
Sign Quick did the signage on the the boat and sails
Windsurfing Sports
Discounted footstraps
Dr Michelle Lamb
Optometrist-cash
Doug Flowers
Cash - Thanks!
Robert Cummings
Cummings Marine, Dallas
Karen and Norris Palmer
Teresa Hull
Mike and Stephanie Virag
WalMart discounted the TV for the raffle, from the store in New Braunfels.
Sailswap donated cash
Lake Canyon Yacht Club donated cash
Cadillac Bar and Restaurant hosted the team party Easter weekend. Thanks!
Standard Horizons discounted VHF radios.
The Sailboat House is loaning a TackTick Racemaster digital compass. UPDATE: it's been replaced under warrantee..Thanks again!
Blackburn Marine