(Blue Hill, ME)- Scott Miller of Blue Hill, Maine
just finished the Bermuda One-Two in grand style - namely first in
Class 1 single handed to Bermuda, first in Class 1 on the double handed
return to Newport with his Rockport, Maine crew, George Haselton, (a
veteran J/24 and J/35 sailor). As many now know, Scott was first overall
in fleet for the best combined corrected time for both legs.Scott said that the single handed leg down started in decent breeze with very large long period waves left over from Tropical Storm Andrea. The leg was also unusual in that the level of attrition was quite high with 7 of 23 starters having to turn back. Scott was fortunate that he had almost no gear failures for the entire race. The key to his performance in this leg was following a veteran 1-2 racer's simple advice, "Try to spend more time going 8 knots rather than 7 knots".
For the return leg, extremely light conditions were the rule after the start and George and Scott worked hard using the spinnaker as often as possible allowing them to leg out in really flat conditions while most of the fleet parked up. Scott credits his new Karver spinnaker furler with allowing them to be much more aggressive with the kite deploying and furling more often and faster than his competition.
And then there is the big question: the Bermuda One-Two is one enormous challenge, physically, mentally and emotionally - will he do it again? The answer: Yes, absolutely!
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