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Brandy's Log

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Brandy Wood's Sailing Log - 2004

Brandy Wood

Pre-race preparation May 8-9th:
Getting the boat ready and putting the logos on the sails. Good wind out there just waiting for us! 15-20 ESE

Day 1, May 10th: (Leg distance 85.9 miles Islamorada, FL to Hollywood, FL)
We left Islamorada with a water start. And off we go with fair winds of 10-18 ESE. Close reaching we were doing well in 3rd place. We hit Miami and the waves got bigger. The waves didn't know what way they wanted to go. It was hard at first to stay trapped getting knocked around everywhere. At one point I was looking up at my feet wondering why my feet were not on the boat. It happened so fast. Was great!!!! Rick just said that is going to leave a mark. Rick and I were getting back into the swing of things after being off the boat for a few months.

We had the finish line in our sites (Hollywood). We got confused a little for there were yellow buoys just in front of the finish bobbing there. We were not sure if we had to go though them or not. We discussed a little and all of a sudden Rick was hit by a wave and surfing off the back of the boat. I was for sure we were going to flip but Rick reminded me to stir the boat and do not worry about him. He magically got back on the boat and we hit the beach still in 3rd place. Was a great day Fast! 5 hours of a close-hauled and very close reaching! No spin work all day.

Day 2, May 11th: (Leg distance 89.8 miles Hollywood, FL to Jenson Beach, FL)
Start was at 10am. Wind out of the east we were hoping it would clock to the South East 10-15mph. I was a little tired and sore. But ready for another day. This was an exciting day for my parents and Grandmother were going to be at the finish in Jenson Beach.

We were reaching again today for about 3/4th of the way then the wind shifted around to to the SE. We quickly started to get the chute up. But it was all tied wrong. Oops! I quickly retie the lines and we were off loosing only about 5 minutes. But Semp had gone by and Morada was now bigger on the horizon and closing. We were set and getting into the groove when Rick quietly says to me. "We are going to loose our traveler soon." O no! Soon after that snap the main goes flying. We did not want to loose any time so I questioned Rick about taking the chute down. We had to take it down. I took over the helm while Rick fixed this one. 5 minutes later we were off again. I had quietly watch Morada go by while Rick was fixing the traveler. Quickly the spinnaker goes up and we get back into the groove! Great stuff!! :) So we were now in 5th place.

Awhile later we saw the finish line in sight. Team Morada and Semp were not to far in front of us. We were jibing just behind the 2 teams to get a good line to the finish. Then what I like to call the Rick Bliss move where he out smarted the other 2 boats which took us from 5th to 3rd in 2 minutes of the finish. We hit the beach on a reach with the spinnaker up and Rick trapping. It was just great!!! I would tell you what he did but I will wait for the video to come out. :)

Was a great day! My family got to see a great finish and us grinning ear to ear. Thanks mom, dad and grandmom for being there and supporting us!

Day 3, May 12th: (Leg distance 77.8 miles Jenson Beach, FL to Cocoa Beach, FL)
Had breakfast with the family and off to work on the boat. I was a little more tired today and hurt a little more. But I was ready to hop onto the boat for another great day. Rick was energetic and ready to go. Another great start with push from Matt Judge. We got hit today from Semp going off the line but both boats were still floating and all was ok. Bigger surf today! I was loving it! Wave just smashing over us. We went right into another reach with the winds of 12-18 ESE. The wind clocked more to the south around noon and we popped the chute. Still lots of waves.

We were jibing with Howards Pub most of the day. We would gain a little and loose a little. Was great fun! We decided at one point to go into shore a little closer. That was not such a great idea. We had to drop the chute and reach back up and the surf was big and hitting us from the side. We got out of it and sailed on without a problem. We lost a little with Howards on that one.

The wind lightened about 11 miles from the check point. We had to change gears really quickly from quick hook into the chicken line to just sitting on the hulls. There were 3 boats include ourselves all close together. Rick and I sailed right into a hole and lost our 3rd position and dropped to 5th.

The finish was slow for the winds had dropped to about 5mph and we placed 5th. Still a great day jibing with Howards Pub. And getting lots of good spin work in. :) HOT TUB!!

Day 4, May 13th: (Leg distance 75.7 miles Cocoa Beach to Ormond Beach, FL)
Feeling good this morning! Rested and not so sore! Another great day of sailing ahead of us. We have to go around Cape Canaveral today. We have to stay at least 1 mile off the shore with waypoints to help us along the way. Brevard Challenge asked the night before if they could put a camera on the boat. We said sure! Why not! It was only for the first hour of sailing.

So off we go. Another great preparation from Andrea, Frank and Matt making sure we have everything. Well we started a little sloppy this morning. We were following all over the boat and tea bagging. We were right with the lead boats and still hanging in there. Then about half way around Canaveral the spinnaker starts coming out of it's bag. So I hop down to stuff it back in. We are screaming along now. Getting the sloppiness out of our systems and splash we are in the water and capsized. We do not panic and got the boat upright and kind of laugh and say to each other. It's the camera! Thank goodness the hour of filming was up!

We lost a few boat on that one. So we are in 6th place now. We just say lets try and get them. Was a great sail, I was trapped out with the spin sheet and just concentrating on trimming. And Rick just driving. We are real quite on the boat just listening to the water and wind. We see a few sea turtles and have to avoid them.

I am hanging out on the trap and the flying fish start to jump out of the water with us for quite a bit. We must of been with a school of them. One fly's up and sings by Rick' head. He could have had fresh sushi if he had his mouth open.

We fished today in 4th place making up a few boats. :)

Day 5, May 14th: (Leg distance 96.2 miles Ormond Beach, FL to Fernandia Beach, FL)
Feeling really good this morning! Ready for another day. Had a great dinner last night with Team OBX. Great Team and rival!

Another 10am start and off we go. We had the spinnaker up about 20 minutes into the race. Out on the trap and trimming the spin and Rick just driving smooth. Just great sailing today and I think we are starting to get the hang of these waves. Finished 4th today! :)

Day 6, May 15th: (Leg distance 100.7 miles Fernandia Beach, FL to Tybee Island, GA)
The last leg today :( Thought at this point we would have been wiped out but we were just getting stronger everyday. Well off we went. We had good wind and it lightened later around noon. We were battling it out all day with Semp. And I am going to let Rick tell you the rest of the story. :)

Rick Bliss:
The 100.7 mile Tybee leg started out a little windy and then dropped to single then no trapping. The wind increased slightly about 30 miles from the finish. We were leading Semp Toshiba by about 1/8th mile and Tybee and Howard's Pub by 1/2 mile or more. Brandy mentioned something about a big cloud. I grunted acknowledgement but didn't look. I will next time. The front caught me with my goggles down. We went from 11 kts to 20-25. We were trapped way back on the boat with Brandy hand holding the jib and traveler. I had the main way out as we were close reaching. No goggles made it tough to see most fo the time. The waves were starting to build quickly but we were only knocked off the traps a few times. The leeward bow would drive under menacingly in the puffs and Brandy would ease the jib and traveler and then pull them back in. She also managed to get the GPS out several times to give a bearing and our track. We were going as fast as a beach cat could be asked to go. Both of us said later we were expecting to pitchpole at some point. Just when you thought there was more wind then we could handle a stronger sustained puff would hit. Toshiba reeled us in initially but we pulled back away as they went deeper toward the rough inlet washing machine. They hit bottom a few times and almost flipped. Having had a bad experience crossing Hatteras inlet in the past I decided to go out around. When we drove deep a 1/2 mile from the finish they crossed 4-5 boats ahead. We jibed inside of them and both of us screamed past the end of the pier. They jibed and we again jibed inside. We had gained back some ground. We gave it everything we had and were closing fast when they blasted across the line 3 secs. ahead of us. There was a huge crowd waiting on the beach and I had a momentary feeling we were going to take some of them out but luckily the beach crews grabbed us and brought us to a screaching halt. Everyone was running over saying, "That was the most exciting finish I have ever seen". Toshiba won the battle but we won the war. We had left the beach that morning with a 5 second lead (I know we weren't racing in the same class but what the heck!!) We ended up 2 seconds ahead of them overall.