Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Miami-Nassau Cup Sailing Update- J/120 CARINTHIA

J/120 sailing Miami Nassau Cup Race- sailing past Nassau Light (Nassau, Bahamas)- Oh boy, you think the sailing is good to Nassau?  How about the fishing on the delivery back for mahi-mahi/ dolphin (see below)!?  Extraordinary!  And, in between is a lot of fun and entertainment both on the sailing side getting there from Miami to Nassau, but also the shoreside festivities on Paradise Island (a.k.a. the home of the "New Atlantis"-- basically a monster casino and water park on spectacular beaches).

Miami Nassau Cup  race courseFrank Kern sailed his J/120 CARINTHIA on this famous race.  Here's some excerpts from their blog.  According to Frank, "This was was a 'Swiss Cheese Sail'.  'Easy peazee, lemon squeezeee!'  J/Fish- monster dolphin/ mahi-mahi caught off the stern!This race was across the Florida Straits from Miami around Great Isaac and Stirrup Reef and down to Nassau. This year our Bayview Yacht Club dock neighbor and fierce competitor, the J/120 HOT TICKET sailed by Bob Kirkman elected to do the race with us. The wind was out of the northeast at 12 knots but it soon proved that a code 0 was in order.  When we rounded Great Isaac we turned about 20 degrees to the right and went to a 3/4 spinnaker.

J/120 Hot Ticket sailing into Nassau Harbor, Nassau, BahamasHOT TICKET (seen at right) then put up their .6 oz and at that point we caught up and rolled her. But as long distance races go it was not over as the wind clocked some more. After dark we could see Ticket catching up and we went to our .6 runner but it was not enough. She rolled us and continue to pace away from us. It turns out that this 4 year old spinnaker was just too porous and we just could not get enough juice to keep up. For us this was a two boat race and this is one we wanted to beat her. In all Ticket finished 8 minutes ahead of us. But at least the conditions were great...full moon, steady breeze, and temperatures in the 70s."   Read on and see more photos on CARINTHIA's sailing blog.