(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).
Frank
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!'
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.
HOT
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.
