Race Progress

[jfoster]

Bandicoot seems to be going well at this point. If Al stays along the rhumbline it looks like he could catch up some more. Should he stay the course or head a little south in about a day or so? Does he need a reach like an assy boat?

The beauty of an unstayed mast is that the wishbone can be let out as far as needed to keep flow across the sail. The WylieCat Bandicoot ihas spinnakers. So who knows?

John
Blueberry Nonsuch 22 sail #48

[Travieso]

Seems at this point the General is winning his bet. Idefix seems well positioned in the N-S middle of the fleet. If Hecla can turn on the boosters she might start climbing up the corrected standings ladder again.

24hr Corrected T(sec)
Idefix 1012680
Harrier 1068481.791
Warriors Wish 1097968.421
Saraband 1104874.098
Hecla 1116360
Dream Chaser 1153476.62
Pakele 1239366.387
Blue Moon 1267468.673
Bandicoot 1306375.065
Taz!! 1332352.258
Solar Wind 1360149.091
Culebra 1462260.917
Second Verse 1821098.182
Southernaire 1822401.379

Avg Corrected T(sec)
Idefix 1136498.593
Saraband 1141406.536
Warriors Wish 1152289.575
Harrier 1200924.211
Hecla 1210930.323
Pakele 1282901.779
Solar Wind 1378005.287
Dream Chaser 1386954.005
Culebra 1556695.484
Taz!! 1574813.878
Blue Moon 1699162.623
Second Verse 2007483.098
Southernaire 2161932.881
Bandicoot 2747520

[Travieso]

The tri put a 100+ mile 12 hr run yesterday and crossed the midway point. Good going Jeff! Can he make a 250 mile 24hr run??

[Dazzler]

Now, the real question re. Bandicoot. Was he forced to come back under threat from the CG to launch a SAR because he lost his SSB and sat phone due to water on the first couple of days and couldn't check in?

To address your question... Al was not "under [direct] threat from the CG," but he was feeling pressure that the consequences of not being able to check in (a CG SAR) could "spoil everyones party."

On June 22 Al wrote: "I turned back when I could not communicate with any of the other boats. The Coast Guard has imposed a protocol that requires the race committee to report any boat that misses a check-in, and has stated that they will initiate a search after two failures to report. I don't know that the Coast Guard would follow through, but under these rules I did not want to be the one that spoiled everyones party."

Bandicoot is equipped with at least two spinnakers for DDW running.

Go Bandicoot Go!

Tom
Dazzler (Wyliecat 30)

[BobJ]

Thanks Tom. Al did the right thing, as hard as I'm sure it was. As long as we're calling it a SSS race, the days are over of racing out the Gate and waiting to see who shows up in Hanalei.

6/27 morning report and Dan's analysis should be up shortly. What the heck are these guys doing? It's like the High is the Bug Light!

[Travieso]

Idefix still holding the lead, but Hecla pouncing back. Bandicoot continues to post high averages.


24hr Corrected T(sec)
Idefix 1017280.976
Hecla 1110579.13
Saraband 1122520
Harrier 1152958.033
Dream Chaser 1177775.252
Warriors Wish 1217539.535
Culebra 1239028.613
Blue Moon 1260372.632
Taz!! 1264203.582
Pakele 1267813.793
Bandicoot 1276640
Solar Wind 1300644.138
Southernaire 1344028.293
Second Verse 1516177.297

[Travieso]

Also looks like Solar, Culebra and Taz seem to finally found some wind based on their reported speeds. Will be interesting to see what that results on in the next 12 hrs... Can they make up what they lost to the northern boats in the last few days??? Come on Max!!

[Travieso]

WW and Idefix both crossed the midway point overnight. Congratulations. That makes three boats halfway to Kauai.

[Travieso]

Thanks Tom. Al did the right thing, as hard as I'm sure it was. As long as we're calling it a SSS race, the days are over of racing out the Gate and waiting to see who shows up in Hanalei.

Huh? What if the failure in the communication systems happened two days later? seven days later? As much as you prepare there is NO guarantee that you will have electrons all the way to Hawaii...

Was there a protocol that any competitor that lost communication had to turn back?

As you can see, I enjoy the position reports as much as anyone else. As a hopeful return racer for this race, I don't want to be under pressure of a CG SAR, not unnecessarily worry my family if I'm unable to report on SSB or Satphone half way to HI. That is why I carry an EPIRB (and likely a PLB). If those go off, send everything!

[BobJ]

Was there a protocol that any competitor that lost communication had to turn back?

No such protocol. Al could have kept going but chose to come back and get his equipment working again. You'll have to ask him at what point he would have just kept going.

After we all get back let's have a beer and talk about future SHTP's.