DELRAY DRAG RACE
RESULTS:
20 ft. class
1st place: Bauman/ Herendeen I-20
2nd place: Collard/
Watt N-6.0
19 ft . class
1st place: Parent / Kennedy N-5.8
17 ft. class
1st place:
Weaver I-17
16 ft. .class
1st place: Danny/Stephanie (Fleet 44)
H 16
THE ST0RY
OHHHH......THE CARNAGE!
The forecast wasn't good but the
wind was up and we thought it would clock around from the west and knock down
the high seas during the race. Wrong... it kept coming harder from the South in
bands of rain with gusts of 30+ mph. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that
the winds clocked out of the west.
The ride down wind was a riot out in the Gulf Stream but once the mark
was rounded the 20 mile beat upwind, 10 miles for the 16s, was brutal.
Twenty-four boats started; only five finished, one the next day.
Victor and crew flipped their 20
foot custom made cat 1 1/2 mile offshore from Lake Worth Pier. When his crew
stepped on the hull he put a big hole in it causing it to sink. They decided to
swim in and were picked up by a fisherman. Two days later his boat mysteriously
resurfaced off Pompano, and is now on Ft. Lauderdale beach.
Mark Levine’s I-20 spinnaker shreaded during a capsize so they returned to the start line soon
after the start.
Bob and Cristy Grubb
started a half hour late on their new Nacra 5.2 but had problems into the Gulf
Stream and wisely beached it on Boynton beach where the transom ripped out in
the surf.
Matt's Hobie 17 flipped after
rounding the northern mark at the Breaker's Resort then flipped near shore. He
was blown 3 miles north until the Coast Guard threw him a line and pulled him
upright. He sailed onto a millionaire chef's beach where he dined on a hot meal
and took a tour of the mansion. Sunday he trailered his back to Delray.
Mike
Coffman and crew safely beached during a 30+mph squall line after rounding the
mark. They attempted to launch back in an hour later but his crew's leg was
injured in the process. Bob and Bruce sailed his boat back Monday.
Most of the Hobie 16 fleet beached after the first 10 mile leg. Iron man
Danny and daughter Stephanie braved their way through the pounding waves and
bands of rain to earn first place and the respect of many. Others in the 16 ft
fleet didn’t fare so well. Jay and Pat buried the hulls, flipped and
flew. Sean flipped, turtled, drifted for hours and finally was towed into
Boynton Beach by Sea Tow. Robert and his crew landed even
further north after missing the mark.
Less
Bauman and Mark Herendeen flipped the black and white I-20 six times, including
once at the start. They described one capsize as flying over a wave then the
wind caught the tramp lifting them up further and then over backwards. They
cracked the front crossbeam but still earned line honors.
Chip
and Denny were first to the mark on the Nacra 6.0, but while beating upwind in
huge waves Denny went in the water twice due to wire problems. They beached
south of the Breakers where their jib zipper broke. They then drove up and down
the 20 mile course with Bill and Mary Joe accounting for all the other sailors.
The next day they punched through the 6 foot surf and finished the race.
Special thanks to Yvonne @ First Union, Sean, Chris, Jim, Chuck & Julie Lawson @ Delray Beach Water Sports, Dave, Bill & Mary Joe Clark, Pete, Jesse, Hank @ Nautical Ventures, Ellen Alexander, Bob Grubb,and Rick.
