Results:

Worrell Cup (First Back to beach)
1st Bliss/Wood (N6.0 NE) time 3:15:42
2nd Titcomb/Titcomb (NI20) time 3:19:8
3rd Zenke/Schlossberg (NI20) time 3:19:40

The Hobie Cup (corrected time)
1st Bliss/Wood (N6.0 NE)
2nd McVeigh/Phan (H16)
3rd Titcomb/Titcomb (NI20)

See official Results: www.fleet250.org

See more photos: click here

The Star-Ledger
Speedy catamarans get the blood racing
Thursday, July 08, 2004
BY CHARLES ZUSMAN

Star-Ledger Staff
Catamaran racing, that fast-paced, get-wet style of sailboat competition, is concentrated excitement for sure. But for the top competitors, it's also hard work, requiring mental and physical agility and endurance.

"It takes total concentration to keep your speed up," said Rick Bliss of Mansfield, Mass., who for the second year in a row crossed the finish line first in the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club's annual Statue of Liberty Race on July 4. He sailed with Brandy Wood of Newport, R.I.

The pair, veteran catamaran long-distance racers, covered the 35-mile course in 3 hours, 15 minutes. Fifty-three boats started and 46 finished. The boats are Spartan, consisting of the twin hulls -- connected by a trampoline -- that skim across the water.

Tides are a big factor in the New York Harbor area, and the winning team did its homework, coming prepared with detailed information on the tidal currents. That, coupled with good tactical decisions -- they favored the Brooklyn side of the course on the return leg and picked up favorable wind -- gave them the winning edge.

At times, they were both out on the trapeze, standing on edge on the windward hull, supported by a wire from the top of the mast to their chest harnesses, using their weight to keep the boat upright. Do that for a while and your muscles groan.

Wood said she worked out two hours a day for months before the race, jogging and weight lifting. She also stressed the need for mental preparation and teamwork.

"When things get ugly, you have to be able to think," she said. "It's taken a lot of practice to get in sync with each other."

Bliss, who along with Wood recently completed a 500-mile race from the Florida Keys to Tybee Island, Ga., said a relatively short event such as the Statue race leaves little room for error, and he recited his trilogy of factors for success: "Physical preparation, mental preparation and boat preparation."