In contrast to the fading Key West Race Week, the ‘other’ Key West Race – SORC Sailing’s Lauderdale To Key West Race, a/k/a the “KW Feeder” – continues its healthy growth for something like the 7th straight year. The 160 NM course usually sees a mix of power-reaching and hard running conditions along the edge of the coral reefs that protect the Florida Keys. This year’s forecast is a hot one, with possible record-breaking conditions for Gavin Brady and Karl Kwok on the mini-Maxi Beau Geste as well as SA’er ‘Armchair’ on the SeaCart 30. We’ll have an exclusive report from the SA’er with one of the best login names ever and a long list of great regatta reports to his credit. Here’s a little teaser from a guy who calls himself ‘IshmaelHatesThatDamnWhale’:
I will be sailing on "Flight Simulator", a Corsair 28R from New York owned by Tom Reese. The rest of the crew will include navigator Richard Stephens and Gordon Stephens. In 2009, I got a spot on Richard’s Corsair 28CC "Trevelyan" for the Key West Race through the Sailing Anarchy forums. We went on to have an excellent race, with perfect multihull reaching conditions and corrected out to a first place finish in the Multihull B division and Overall for the Multihull Class. The next year I was invited to race on "Flight Simulator", which Richard would be navigating, and we had another epic race, clinching the Multihull A division and first overall for the Multihull class again. This year looks like an especially fun race, with more than knots forecasted from the north. Flat water and a reaching course will be way too much fun for the multihulls! We will be head to head with another 28R and get to see the speed potential of the Seacart 30 which rates -87! Another threat is CatNip, a 35 foot cruising cat rating 111 which could pull a "death from behind" with its long waterline. Regardless, with the multis starting last, it’s always fun to see how many monohulls we can pass before Key West…
Check the scratch sheet right here, track the race here, follow the on-water and on-land reports here (and there’s a contest for the best on-water posts), and follow the SA thread action here.
And for a little bonus action, check out maybe the best sailing-related mainstream radio interview in history, courtesy of Anarchist Chris Woolsey and the South Florida-based Paul and Young Ron Show (starts at around 02:40).
