What started as a bar bet, the premier ocean cat sailing event returns on Monday morning. It started on Hobie 16's and non-stop. Then a few years of run what ya brung boats and checkpoints. Now its F18's.

Back in the day, the "press" was Rick White and Mary Wells following the race and writing the story for Multihulls Magazine. It was bi-monthly so it was history when we got the story.

https://worrell1000race.com/

https://www.thebeachcats.…ictures?g2_itemId=138072



Edited by jack108136 on May 09, 2024 - 09:10 AM.

Thanks Jack, I'll be following! The equipment has changed a lot but the adventure is real.

--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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I got to sail along side Aussies sailing Hobie 16's off Englewood Beach, FL during the Hogsbreath 500. 1986?

2nd Place today, Randy Smyth.
He'll be 70 in July
He's got at least 15,000 miles in the Worrell

For Immediate Release:
The Worrell 1000 Race 2024 Has begun!

The 23rd running of the world-famous Worrell 1000 extreme, distance catamaran race got underway Sunday, May 12th in Hollywood Beach Florida. Twelve teams representing the US, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Australia launched from the beach at 10am, officially beginning the race’s 50th Anniversary event. With the first two legs completed, and the 3rd underway as of the writing of this article, the Worrell has seen phenomenal racing conditions, one of the fastest legs ever in the recorded history of the event, and yes - even a few injuries.

Leg 1, Hollywood to Jensen Beach Florida had the racers facing 10-15 knot winds from the N/NE that would slowly clock south throughout the day, giving the racers a mix of tight, jib-reach points of sail to spinnaker runs the last 1/3 of the course. Wind speeds held steady all day, under gorgeous, sunny skies and the first to arrive, Team Australia 1, came in to cheering crowds in 6 hours, 22 minutes and 47 seconds. Team Australia 2 would come in less than 2 minutes later and the majority of the fleet would follow suit; some finishing seconds apart. Team Cirrus/MM Sailing, who started the day in the 11th position on the beach, fought their way through the pack to end the day in 3rd while the newest teams to the event, A Gentleman’s Agreement (Ian Ray and Sam Carter) & Meerkat (Mark Modderman & Mike Siau) had respectable 5th & 9th place showings.

Leg 2, Jensen to Cocoa Beach would prove to be the polar opposite off the 2022 race - Winds from the most favorable direction (SE) and 12-15 knots that increased over 20 with higher gusts gave the racers the sleigh-ride-kite-fest these f18 sailors love. With some drama at the start, team MLP would brake their starboard rudder arm in the surf, forcing them to make a quick return to the beach for a replacement. 20 minutes later, their ground crew along with volunteers from other teams, had them back on their way. Team Australia 2 would suffer a loss of one their ground crew for the rest of the event, as pusher Chuck Thole brought his right foot down hard on the trailing edge of the starboard rudder, causing a nasty gash that would require surgery and 22 stitches. By the end of the day, Rod Waterhouse, Team Manager for team Aussie 1 would report he was patched up, in good spirits and willing to come along for the entire event. About halfway through the 90 mile leg, the gusty winds would cause at least four competitors to flip, causing a major shift in the placements for the leg. The big mover and shaker in the group? Team Meerkat, who was in a comfortable 4th place at the time of the flip, 10th once they got going again, and would dog-fight their way back up to finish 6th for the day - moving them up two places to 7th in the overall standings. But the most exciting story of the day was the leg’s elapsed times: Aussie 1 would hit the beach in just 4 hours, 13 minutes and 59 seconds - the fastest time for a leg in the event’s recorded history!

Leg 3, which started this morning at 10 from Cocoa to Daytona Beach under moderate winds and moderate sea-state, also had its share of drama yet again. Team Meerkat would immediately return to the beach to repair a spinnaker cleat on the mast that was ripped out while attempting the first kite launch. Their expansive and very experienced ground crew had new holes drilled, augmented, with a new cleat riveted into place in 18 minutes and they were back on their way. Team A Gentleman’s Agreement had a hard time navigating the surf, almost flipping just 50 yards off the beach, but got it under control - only to pitch-pole shortly after getting off the sandbars and launching the spin. They did manage to right the boat quickly, relaunch the spin and take off to chase the rest of the fleet.

The race committee, volunteers and crews arrived at Daytona about 12:30pm to strong thunderstorms and driving rain - a system moving dangerously close to the approaching fleet. With the live tracking available on the event’s website (worrell1000race.com), the PRO & RC are able to keep an “eye” on the teams, and guesstimate fairly well when the first boats will arrive. At 1:34 ET, team manager for Babysitting Robots called the PRO to state his team had dismasted approximately 30 miles from the finish. The Coast Guard was on station quickly and both sailors are safe with their ground crew on the way to retrieve them. Stay tuned folks……the finish at Daytona is gonna be a dosed….
For more information regarding the race, please visit our official website at:

https://worrell1000race.com/

And be sure to like & follow the Worrell on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Worrell1000
Twitter: @Worrell1000
Insta: @w1krr
TouTube: @Worrell1000

--

Beverley J Simmons
Worrell 1000 Race
Communications Director
https://worrell1000race.com/
678-646-9244 cell
angles.sailingpodcast@gmail.com

It's gonna be a long day going from Jacksonville to Tybee, 125 miles. Right now they are cruising along at 4 knots.

We stayed overnight in Daytona and saw them all come in....and watched them leave the next morning...It's just an awesome experience!! Not sure why I keep having to re-login but I do...sorry for posting under "GUEST"

--
Pete
2001 NACRA 450 SOLD
2000 NACRA 500 TOTAL LOSS
2004 NACRA INTER 20 SOLD
2016 NACRA 500 Sport
DeLand, FL
--

For Immediate Release:
The Ocean is a Sleeping Giant… Worrell 1000 Leg 3 & 4

For those who are familiar with the history of the Worrell 1000, they know this race has claimed many boats, bones and pride. The quote “The ocean is a sleeping giant…” started a post-race story by Bud Zimmerman in 1976, the Race Coordinator of that time. And although the 3rd leg of the Worrell 2024 from Cocoa Beach to Daytona started off innocently enough, by the end, the sleeping giant and mother nature would see 2 boats battered, and have one retire from the event all together.

Skies were sunny and partly cloudy, with SE winds at about 12-15 knots with surf 2-5 feet. Manageable enough for most, team A Gentleman’s Agreement pitch-poled shortly after launching their kite, but were able to right the boat quickly and be on their way. Team Meerkat came back to shore to repair a mast cleat and 18 minutes later, were able to restart. With the fleet heading north all under spinnaker, the Race Committee and team ground crews packed up and headed north as well - all fully aware of the line of thunderstorms closing in from behind.

By noon, the fleet were bombarded by severe thunderstorm number one; Sailors reported later being rocked violently by 40+ knot winds, blinding rain and vicious sea swell. At least half the fleet opted to “park” - point straight into the wind, hang on and wait it out. Team Germany (Stefan Rumpf & Christian Schultz) flipped and righted, only to find Team Babysitting Robots (Trey Sunderland and Liam Walz) flipped and turtled not far away. They sailed to them, made sure both skipper and crew were ok, and continued to sail to shore to wait out this storm, and set off again. Trey and Liam were rescued by the private vessel, the “Paddy Ann” and the skipper delivered them safely to a Coast Guard vessel for transport back to Cape Canaveral. Not only did Trey and his crew have to retire from the race entirely, but it’s likely they have lost their boat as well - as of the writing of this article, their boat is still adrift at sea.

Just 30 miles from the finish, after braving it again through thunderstorm number two, team Meerkat would have a shackle pin back out of the tang at the bottom of one of their shrouds and dismasted, resulting in a substantial tear in their mainsail. They were able to sail under a rigged-up jib to the forestay and make it to shore, where their ground crew waited. Sail tape and lots of helping hands had them repaired well enough to sail to the finish. A good thing, as the penalty for non-completion of a leg is hefty - Total elapsed time of the last boat to finish plus SIX hours. Now while some may see this as severe, prior to the current race administration, Worrell race teams who did not finish a leg were automatically disqualified. With the idea that teams should be given every opportunity to finish, the rule has been changed to incur the penalty, while still being fair to those who finish every leg of the event.

At the end of the day, 11 of the original 12 boat fleet would make it to Daytona - Ironically, under warm sunny skies and lovely, 15 Knott breezes. The top three to finish would do so within 7 minutes of each other; the next five, within 20 with the 9th and 10th place finishers just 20 minutes after that. And in typical, Worrell dramatic fashion - Team A Gentleman’s Agreement would flip in the surf just 30 feet from the finish, and drag themselves sideways across the line for the finish. As for Meerkat? They made it in before the sun fell and logged in a leg of just a little over 9 hours.

For the leg from Daytona to Jacksonville Beach, the last stop for the Worrell in Florida, teams lined up under stormy skies, knowing that more severe weather was on the way. But the teams (and RC) knew they would likely sail North faster than the storms heading for Daytona, forecast to move out to sea and turn right - but not fast enough to reach the fleet. With mild-to-moderate surf, all but one team were able to navigate the start, keeping the Daytona Pier out of range. Team TCDYC (Chris Green & Jean Bolougne) unfortunately got sideways to a few rollers and almost rolled over themselves. After several, tense minutes with the skipper off the boat, they drifted back to shore, made a few minor adjustments and were able to launch back out, getting it together before the pier came in to play, and headed offshore looking for better breeze.

The fleet split dramatically in 3rds about halfway through the leg to JAX Beach. The leaders, Aussie 1 & 2, Cirrus/MM Sailing and Rudee’s took flyers well offshore, while some bet on the rhumb line, and a few more would hug the shore. By the end of the leg, those who took flyers and came in about 30 miles from the finish would be victorious, leaving Randy Smyth and Dalton Tebow of Team Rudy’s, who elected to sail further out and stay out longer, to pay the price - they would come in 2nd to last for the leg, as A Gentleman’s Agreement would dismast and have to be trailered to Daytona, taking a costly DNF. A shame considering that the 10 teams to make the finish by sea, all did so under sunny skies and gentle but sailable breezes.

The 5th leg - Jacksonville Beach to Tybee, will be the longest leg of the event at 120 miles. The forecast is for light to moderate winds swirling and clocking from multiple directions along the route. Although no storms are on the radar, the brutal sun will make the long, light-air slog to Tybee Island an uncomfortable one. The teams will need to pull out their best strategies and make minimal mistakes - the overall standings are tight - one misstep could mean falling several places, leaving fewer and fewer legs in which to make up the time, so make sure you watch the live feeds of the starts and finishes daily, and track the racers in real time at https://worrell1000race.com/race-tracking/

For more information regarding the race, please visit our official website at:

https://worrell1000race.com/

And be sure to like & follow the Worrell on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Worrell1000
Twitter: @Worrell1000
Insta: @w1krr
TouTube: @Worrell1000

--
Beverley J Simmons
Worrell 1000 Race
Communications Director
https://worrell1000race.com/
678-646-9244 cell
angles.sailingpodcast@gmail.com

Damon this write up is spot on...it's like you were here too...

--
Pete
2001 NACRA 450 SOLD
2000 NACRA 500 TOTAL LOSS
2004 NACRA INTER 20 SOLD
2016 NACRA 500 Sport
DeLand, FL
--

Quote

Damon this write up is spot on...it's like you were here too...

Pete, just to be clear. These are the official press releases, sent out by Beverly J. Simmons, Worrell 1000 Race Communications Director.

--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Quote

Pete, just to be clear. These are the official press releases, sent out by Beverly J. Simmons, Worrell 1000 Race Communications Director.

I Gotcha...makes sense now LOL!

--
Pete
2001 NACRA 450 SOLD
2000 NACRA 500 TOTAL LOSS
2004 NACRA INTER 20 SOLD
2016 NACRA 500 Sport
DeLand, FL
--

Another long, slow day with the breeze on the nose.

https://scontent-mia3-1.x…FubtC8h1-ocg&oe=665139DD

For Immediate Release:
Worrell Legs 5 & 6

On Thursday morning, May 16th - Teams lined up on the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, ready to set sail on the longest leg of the event: JAX Beach to Tybee Island, GA - 120 miles. The forecast looked grim; Light, southerly breezes under bright, relentless, full sun ALL DAY. This leg would prove to be not only a physical & strategical challenge, but one of mental endurance as well.

Winds for the day were forecast to be light; 5-10 knots, with little chance of building. The wind direction would prove to be of a particular challenge: Throughout the entire leg, there was a mix of BOTH on and off shore breezes that seemed to be converging into a “tunnel” along the rhumb line, and as the day progressed, the tracker showed teams taking a multitude of strategies; some took huge flyers, going far offshore while others played the rhumb line - with the remaining teams hugging the shore the entire leg. At the end of the day, those who played very close to the rhumb made out the best; but in the end, all would try to converge west of that line with the exception of Rudy’s (Randy Smyth and Dalton Tebow) who would finish 6th after taking the longest flyer far east of it and gybing to the finish (well after dark) in a sharp east/southeast point of sail. No one would finish in daylight - The first place finisher, Team Australia 1 (Brett Burville & Max Putman) would glide to the finish at 10:40pm - The last? Team Meerkat at 1:44am.

As the lay-day for the event changed to Folly Beach this year, all teams needed to be on the line and ready to go at 10am for the 6th leg to Folly. Tired and restless, teams faced a mercifully shorter leg; just 65-ish miles under full overcast skies. The wind? 8-10 knots from the southeast - PERFECT conditions for a spin reach that saw all teams sail straight up the shore with little gybing to speak off. The Race Committee fully expected another late finish - at least 6-7pm for the 1st boat to arrive - But the regatta-wind-Gods were kind…..

30 miles into the leg the wind dialed up to an amazing 15-20 knots with gusts to 25. The slow spin reach turned into a glorious sleigh ride with flat waters and gorgeous breeze. The Race Committee made it to the beach just an hour before the first boat and all would arrive in a big pack - Just 1 hour and 11 minutes separated the 1st from the 10th; many finishing within seconds of each other with some of the most spectacular action so far.

Team Australia 1 and Cirrus/MM Sailing were neck-and-neck, just 1.5 miles offshore when the beach crowd gave a collective “WHOA!” As they watched Cirrus/MM Sailing cartwheel and go over, leaving Aussie 1 to come in 1st. Manu Bolougne and Mathieu Marfaing of Cirrus/MM Sailing would right the boat quickly and finish 2nd - a good thing as Team Australia 2 were right on their tail, finishing just 4 minutes behind them. Team Meerkat (Mark Modderman and Mike Siau) would come back strong from their last place, early morning finish the leg before, coming in 4th, less than 4 minutes behind Team Australia 2. Teams A Gentleman’s Agreement (Sam Carter & Ian Ray), OBX (Hardy Peters & James Eaton), TCDYC (Chris Green & Jean Bolougne), MLP (Gerard Loos & Andre Hauschke) & Germany (Stephan Rumpf & Christian Schultz) would all arrive within a short and exciting 7-minute timeframe, each team struggling to out of the finish line before the next would arrive. Team Rudee’s (Randy Smyth and Dalton Tebo) would come in 10th, reporting rudder issues that they planned to sort out during the lay-day.

Rounding out the finishes, about 1 hour after the rest of the fleet was Roo in the Hat (Brett White & Larry Ferber) whose tack line for the spinnaker broke early on in the race and were robbed of the lovely spin-reach sailing the rest of the teams had enjoyed. Even so, both were laid-back and positive - for the cameras, at least. Because after all, they all could enjoy a late night of socializing and sleeping in on Saturday, with most reporting little to light boat repairs needed. But rest assured - all are fully aware that the race is not a foregone conclusion - Overall standings are as tight as can be and it would take just one mistake to put a team back hours with no real guarantee they won’t fall a place or more in the standings. Keep watch as we resume racing Sunday, May 19th - 10am sharp for the leg from Folly beach to Surfside SC.

For more information regarding the race, please visit our official website at:
https://worrell1000race.com/

And be sure to like & follow the Worrell on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Worrell1000

Twitter: @Worrell1000
Insta: @w1krr
TouTube: @Worrell1000
--

Beverley J Simmons
Worrell 1000 Race
Communications Director
https://worrell1000race.com/
678-646-9244 cell
angles.sailingpodcast@gmail.com

Worrell 1000 2024 - Lay Day and Leg 7

Folly Beach, SC is the new “lay-day” checkpoint for the race this year. Traditionally done at Tybee Island, GA, the local tourism & development council as well as City Officials for Folly had worked closely with Race Organizers over the last year to really make this new resting spot a pleasant one for all. The brand new beach, fresh from a huge re-nourishment project, was expansive and beautiful. The teams enjoyed a wide swath of super soft sand to land, rest and do boat work on Saturday, and were treated to a fantastic, low-Country Boil - Paid for entirely by the fine folks at Visit Folly that evening at the Folly Beach Park Dunes Pavilion. Teams that were initially wary of not having the lay day directly following the longest leg of the event (Jacksonville Beach FL - Tybee Island GA; 120 miles), were quick to praise the event’s organizers for the move.

Sunday morning, May 19th would bring everyone back to a hard reality as the 7th leg to Surfside Beach, SC was forecast to have painfully light winds from the North with scattered thunderstorms along the route. To sail this leg of 85 miles under just main and jib - the teams braced for another likely, unintended night leg. The fleet of 11 cast off the beach, all under spinnaker to try and make the most of the dismal 5-knot winds while moving slowly out to a rhumb line heading north. The spins would have to be brought down for the tack northward into what would turn out to be, dying breaths of wind. The scattered thunderstorms predicted did reach some of the teams, while others were spared. Swirling, converging and indecisive wind patterns plagued the fleet the entire day. By 11:15pm the first boat would arrive - team Australia 1 (Brett Burville & Max Putman) - a dismal 13 hour slog.

The two teams that made out well in terms of event performance and standings for a leg were Team Rudee’s (Randy Smyth & Dalton Tebo) coming in 2nd - their best finish thus far while Team Meerkat (Mark Modderman & Mike Siau) sailed in for a respectful 6th - a finish that would move them up to 8th place (from 10th) overall.The final team to hit the beach at 2:29am Monday morning would be TCDYC - Chris Green and Jean Bolougne. But we were still missing one…..

Team Roo in the Hat, Brett White of Australia & Larry Ferber of the US would suffer a starboard hull that was completely filled with water, forcing them to come ashore in a very remote area over 20 miles from the finish. Their team manager and ground crew Chris Lim reported to the Race Committee around 3am that the team opted to stay ashore and get some sleep before trying to push back out in the morning to meet Chris at a suitable beach they could land on.

In a post this morning on Team Roo in the Hat’s Facebook page, the team reported that a meeting spot had been chosen and the team was attempting to sail to it, while Zack Panetti (previous crew on Team Cat in the Hat with Larry Ferber in 2019 & 2022) was flying in to render additional assistance to the team for the remainder of the event. Team manager Chris Lim stated; “The timing of extra hands today couldn’t be more perfect. Once our sailors meet with ground crew, we will assess the damage to determine our next steps for the race. In the meantime, a big Thank You to everyone for your help and positive thoughts last night including our fellow Worrell Teams.”

As of the writing of this article (2:30pm May 20th), the team had been retrieved and were on route to Wrightsville beach - they are hoping to be on the line for the leg from Wrightsville to Atlantic Beach on Tuesday, May 21st. Unfortunately, they will be scored a “DNS” for leg 8 - Surfside to Wrightsville - but we are ALL thankful to have them safe and willing to continue on this crazy journey called the Worrell 1000. Stay tuned for more reporting on legs 8 through the grand finish in VA Beach on May 24th.

For more information regarding the race, please visit our official website at:
https://worrell1000race.com/

And be sure to like & follow the Worrell on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Worrell1000


Twitter: @Worrell1000
Insta: @w1krr
TouTube: @Worrell1000
--

Beverley J Simmons
Worrell 1000 Race
Communications Director
https://worrell1000race.com/
678-646-9244 cell
angles.sailingpodcast@gmail.com