Tybee 500 News
May 3 & 4, 2003—Dan Berger, the self-proclaimed Sanford and Son of catamarans in Virginia Beach, and I sailed on one of W.F. Oliver's F18HT Javelin 2 charter boats in Dewey Beach for the annual Delaware State Hobie Cat Championship. It was my first time at the helm of a beach cat and Dan's first time flying a spinnaker.
On Saturday morning, we pushed the catamaran down to the beach and were about ready to go out when I noticed we were missing our dagger boards. Dan ran up to W.F.'s trailer and got the boards. As we were sailing out to the course, I was looking up at the top of the mainsail and the top batten was missing. I said, "Hey, Dan, we're missing the top batten." "Oh yeah, I forgot to put it in." We had to tack into the wind to get back to the beach to put the top batten in the mainsail. By the time we got it together, the first race was underway. The wind was blowing about 12-15 knots so we decided to practice a spinnaker set, gybe and take-down. I over-corrected when steering down in a puff and did an accidental gybe with Dan out on the wire. He went in the water and was dragging by his trapezee wire. The leeward hull lifted up and I held on waiting for the boat to tip over but after being suspended for a few seconds the hull went back down and Dan came flying back into the boat. Wow! That was a close one. In the second race we made it about half way around the course and decided to drop out after capsizing a couple of times and getting lapped by the front runners. In the third race we were going to finish but the race committee stopped us so we wouldn't hold up the next start. In the fourth race we made it all the way around the course. On the downwind leg, I was hiked out with the tiller in my hand and Dan was doing a superb job of trimming the spinnaker and we we getting ready to fly by one of our competitors when a puff of wind hit us and instantly the bows dove and Dan and I went flying as the Jav 2 capsized. We righted the boat and finished the race. On Day 2 of racing, I was feeling pain in muscles I didn't even know I had and I was so stiff I could hardly move. But we managed to get around the course and complete three races and I learned a few more tricks on how to keep the boat upright and going fast. All in all, I had too much fun! |
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For information about the Tybee 500, go to www.Tybee500.com |
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Gale
and Carl Roberts Finish
News from the Shore Crew
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March
29—Upon the recent news from Mike Worrell
regarding the cancellation of the 2003 Worrell 1000,
our team quickly shifted to a new challenge, the
Tybee 500. This is the inaugural year for this race,
organized by the Tybee Island Sailing Association,
Inc., and directed by Chuck Bargeron. The race starts
on May 12 in Islamorada, Florida, and finishes on
May 17 in Tybee Island, Georgia. "A long way
to go, a short time to get there..." Gale
Browning Ocean Racing LLC
PO Box 4061
Annapolis, MD 21403