Trophy Winners – 2011 Marion Bermuda Race

Visit the website for a complete list of trophy winners.

Lyra update, June 23 @ 1:30pm

 So, in the end the smarter decision for us was to switch on the motor and withdraw from the race. As of Wednesday afternoon, we were approximately 45 miles from the finish. By the middle of last night, we had only advanced 6 miles. In order for us to cross the line, we would have had to literally float in less than 3 knots of breeze probably for the next day or even more. With Gabe having to turn the boat around on Sunday to come back north, and the ridiculous lack of wind, we switched on the old iron maiden and are currently headed to Hamilton Harbor.

We enjoyed our race, we made it to Bermuda, we’re looking forward to the festivities on the island. There are plenty of pictures and video that I will post when I get back to Boston on Sunday!

Lyra update – June 22 @ 1:27pm

 We’re in our (what we hope to be) our final approach to Bermuda! We were again becalmed yesterday in a low pressure system that we tried to take as a sort of “short cut”. Unfortunately, it didn’t fare well. We didn’t move from about 9 AM until 3 PM when we finally caught a breath of a breeze and got Lyra through the low and out into the wind. Last night was rough, with some pretty big swells and a lighter-than-we’d-like breeze that kept the sails flapping and the boat rocking heavily side to side. So, for the night we decided instead of making a straight shot, we would tack back and forth every few hours, much like skiers will do going down a ski slope. It’s longer, but it made the ride a little more comfortable and in the end gets us to the same spot.

This morning the backing breeze continued (coming from the north), and instead of tacking we chose to point downwind and use the wing-on-wing sail configuration. This set-up has the wind coming directly behind the boat over the stern and up to the sails, but the main and the jib sit on opposite sides of the boat so that they each catch the breeze instead of blanketing each other. Imagine Lyra’s middle as the body of a bird and each sail as a wing, you’ll get the idea.

Anyway, this configuration has us moving the same speed as when we were tacking BUT we’re headed in a straight line so we will arrive sooner than if we tacked down. There is also a forecasted wind shift to the west, so eventually we will have to switch the jib over- but we will still be headed the right way!

We finally heard Bermuda radio over the VHF radio last night in the cockpit. We think we heard a class A boat with a name that starts with “O” finishing at around 12:30. The class A boats are the fastest in the race, so if we’re coming in 18 or 19 hours behind him, we could end up beating him with corrected time!

We’re keeping our ears to the radio and our eyes on the horizon…and one eye on that sneaky, shifty Bermuda wind!

Top 3 boats are all from Mattapoisett, MA

Must be something in the water of Mattapoisett, MA that makes these teams top competitors – - each of the top three boats in the Marion Bermuda Race hail from Mattapoisett.

Lilla – Briand 76                              Skipper:  Simon DiPietro     Elapsed Time:  68:58:45     Corrected Time:  71:48:26

Pescatore -  Hinckley SW 59      Skipper:  George Tougas      Elapsed Time:  86:50:57     Corrected Time:  78:20:17

Margalo – DP 48                              Skipper:  Chip Johns              Elapsed Time:  87:43:42     Corrected Time:  78:46:48

Lilla – We weren’t thinking about breaking any records

Lilla, 76 ft Briand from Mattapoisett, sets a Marion Bermuda Race course record (72 hours) - with elapsed time of 68:58:45 and corrected time of 71:48:26. 

Bermuda Sun article

Lilla Sets Record Time in Marion Bermuda Race!

http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=8&SubSectionID=203&ArticleID=52691

Lyra update – June 20th @ 9:35pm

Sun. Sun. Sun! We’re averaging about 7.5 knots with a favorable current and TONS of sun. We’ve been slathering on the
SPF 30 once an hour and some of us are still a little pink. We’re currently flying the normal sails (Jib, Main, Mizzen) but as the wind is predicted to lighten up this afternoon we’ll put up the reacher again. The sail was undamaged after the blown halyard yesterday, and fortunately we have a spare halyard to rig it on if we wish to put it up again!

We figure we’re about 300 miles from Bermuda, maybe a little less. If we can average 6 knots of boat speed we should arrive by wednesday evening! We also aren’t sure about the speed of the current since we don’t have the GPS to tell us our speed over ground, so we may be going faster!

The gulf stream is the most gorgeous blue we’ve ever seen- its deep, almost royal blue but when the sun hits it, the water looks aqua. Its amazing. We’re all enjoying the nice weather and calmer seas. We’ve seen a boat or two but only one seems to be headed in the same direction. It makes us wonder where we’re sitting within the fleet- first? last? maybe in the middle? but remember, please don’t email us to tell us!!! We don’t want to cheat!

Hotspur II update – June 20th @ 6:29pm

Here’s some more news for our rabid and expansive fan network!

HotspurII crossed the gulf stream today at 7 knots. We have been flying for the last 36 hours and are now passed the half way mark and close enough to the fleet to participate in (compliant of course) radio chatter. We have been eating well thanks to Ricks tireless efforts in the galley. We want him to write a cookbook for sailors. “Easy Sea Grub “,”Nautical Nosh” or ”He told me he spit in my sandwich” are some of the candidates for a title we got from the crew.

We saw spinner dolphins leaping 20′ in the air today performing amazing accrobatics.After yesterdays pilot whales it was more
affirmation of the wonderful sea life around us.

The all nite joke-a-thons continue although most of that material is un printable. ” What goes at sea stays at sea!”

Bob Raymond, Navigator, HotspurII

Lyra update – June 20th @ 12:08pm

What a change in the weather! Shortly after the last email, we were able to set our light air sails (the reacher and stays’l) and get out of that icky duldrums! Now, we’re steaming along at 8 knots and right on course for Bermuda.

We had some excitement today when the halyard to the reacher broke and the reacher came crashing down into the water!  Fortunately, the reacher was undamaged and Dave and I (Lisa) had quite the struggle to pull the sail out of the water since it was filling up and we were going about 7.5 knots when it blew- but no damage to the sail. We also have a spare halyard for it which is
great, we can rig that if need be.

Everyone is healthy and happy, we’re eating well and in good spirits. We thought we were in for a nasty storm this afternoon when a wall of black clouds loomed before us, but it broke up and all that happened was an increase in wind (yay!) and a little rain.

We should be hitting the northern boundary of the gulf stream in the next 8 hours (if the wind keeps up) and then, if all
goes according to plan, we can pick up the strongest part of the stream. The current can run up to 4 knots which will give us an awesome boost!

Thats all for now, off to bed for some of us and on to watch for the rest

Hotspur II race update – Retired but still cruising to Bermuda!

While Hotspur II (Class D, Columbia 50) has withdrawn from the race due to gear breakage, the crew and captain have all agreed to continue on to Bermuda for myriad reasons one of which was revealed today. We sailed into a hole and were becalmed for an hour of two when one by one curious Pilot whales began to investigate us.  We watched spellbound as the 10-20 foot whales , maybe 20 in total swam around the boat checking us out and blowing spray.They swam around and under the boat and  poked their big, round heads up for half an hour.   There were babies, big mothers and rambunctious teen agers.  We were totally charmed by their friendliness and curiosity. Ahh…the perks of ocean sailing!