Recent Race News:

2010 Dates Announced Skipper's Meeting - March 30 Race Starts - March 31 Awards Ceremony - April 3

April 14, 2009.  1522 hrs.
Rosebud/Team DYT Sets New Record in 2009 Fort Lauderdale to Charleston Race; Teamwork takes IRC overall title; Jasmine wins PHRF 
Charleston, S.C. (April 13, 2009) In a fitting re-birth of the venerable Fort Lauderdale to Charleston Race, Roger Sturgeon's STP65 Rosebud/Team DYT (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) crossed the finish line just before 10 p.m. on April 10, to break the 35-year-old race record set in 1974 by Ralph Ryder's C&C 66 Phantom and set a new standard for the modern running of this event. Eleven boats started the 408-nautical mile offshore race at 2:00pm on April 8, just outside of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and finished outside of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Although Rosebud/Team DYT clocked in at 1 day:7 hours:52 minutes: 49 seconds, on corrected time under IRC rules it finished second overall by less than nine seconds to Teamwork, the J/122 owned by Robin Team (Lexington, N.C.). Full results are posted on the event website www.fortlauderdalecharlestonrace.org.

"We left a lot of room for other boats to break the (new) record," said Sturgeon of his boat's 90-minute improvement on the 1974 record. "This should be great encouragement for others to do this race and go for the record. The Gulf Stream is so important; when there was zero wind we were still going three knots with the current. Learning Gulf Stream tactics is ongoing, but it plays a huge role. For example, do you go into Charleston early? You do all your routing ahead of time, but you pick timing for wind changes and if early or late, then you need to make small adjustments."

Winner of the PHRF division title was John Evans' (Fort Lauderdale) Little Harbor 54 Jasmine, whose crew included navigator Chris Woolsey, son of Dr. Dean Woolsey, winner of the inaugural 1968 race on his Columbia 40 Circe. Jim Edwards (Satellite Beach, Fla.), who raced on the Beneteau First 40.7 Santarella in the PHRF fleet, also sailed with Dr. Woolsey in 1968.
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April 13, 2009.  1420 hrs.
Pre-Race, On-the-Water Videos Online
Check out this race report "For the Children" (scroll down when you get there) from Alan Block aboard Vanquish, and his  multitude of videos posted on Sailing Anarchy. The best press release in the world can't tell a story like this, and we look forward to the growth of this 21st century method of reporting and its role in helping grow future fleets. 

April 11, 2009.  0920 hrs.
Teamwork, Jasmine Clinch Wins

Robin Team's Teamwork (above left) clinched the IRC fleet victory in the re-inaugural Lauderdale to Charleston Race, while John Evans' Jasmine (above right) dominated PHRF.  Jasmine's crew included navigator Chris Woolsey, son of Dr. Dean Woolsey who won the inaugural 1968 race. Maybe they had a little help.  Awards will be handed tonight after a day-long wind-down for all.  Stay tuned for details and photos by the end of the day.

April 10, 2009.  1722 hrs.
Affinity for Speed, Teamwork May Pay Off
Jack Desmond and crew aboard the Swan 48 Affinity became the first PHRF boat to finish this afternoon at 1:30 p.m., but on corrected, sits in third at the time of this posting with John Evans' Jasmine atop the PHRF leader board.  Teamwork, with Robin Team and crew, holds first place in IRC for the moment with two of her competitors left to finish.  

At this posting, only three boats remained on the course after Chasing Rainbows withdrew to St. Augustine after sail damage (no injuries were reported).   The stragglers may have the last laugh, because race committee ashore reports 20 knot winds out of the southwest.  

Rumor has it that daytime finishes promise stellar attendance at tonight's regatta party, and for those that can do it two nights in a row, tomorrow's awards. 

April 10, 2009.  0720 hrs.
Record Broken in Re-Inaugural
In a fitting re-birth of this venerable race, Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud/Team DYT (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) crossed the finish line just before 10 p.m. last night, 90 minutes under the 1974 record set by Ralph Ryder's C&C 66 Phantom.  Followed closely by the Storm Trysail 65 Vanquish and her U.S. Merchant Marine Academy crew, Rosebud/Team DYT's record in relatively moderate sailing conditions now dangles in front of all modern-day offshore racers seeking to claim a new record in future years 

The battle for PHRF line-honors remains hot.  Steve Stollman's Primal Scream (Key Biscayne FL) and Jack Desmond's Affinity (Marion, MA) keep rubbing gunnels on the way north, separated by less than two miles, followed closely by John Evans and team Jasmine (Ft. Lauderdale, FL).  With 60 miles left in this 408 mile staring match, it's anyone's PHRF first-to-finish game as the sun comes up and the wind patterns change. 

April 9, 2009.  1701 hrs.
More Start Photos Up
Bill Spruance, regular photographer of SORC events, has posted his start photos online here.  He has a MUCH bigger camera than we do and some great shots

At this speed, Rosebud/Team DYT is 7 hours away from a midnight finish.  Of course, I'm just dividing -- they're running gribs and polars and probably have a bit better math involved.

April 9, 2009.  1455 hrs.
Halfway!
Half the fleet has passed the halfway point, with less than 200 miles to go.  The fleet leaders have averaged over 12 knots for the past two hours, and the 9 behind are still within 50 miles of each other, with Santarella, Affinity, and Primal Scream apparently within visual or radar contact with one another close behind Teamwork.

Of special note, Jim Edwards, sailing on Santarella, has been this way once before -- FORTY ONE YEARS AGO on the first inaugural race, sailing with Dr. Dean Woolsey in his Columbia 40 Circe in 1968.  Dean's son Chris is carrying the family tradition, navigating for John Evans' Jasmine, currently on the west edge of the pack closest to the rhumb line.

April 9, 2009.  0931 hrs.
Dark, Dark, Always in the Dark
We just informed the finish team that if Rosebud/Team DYT & Vanquish continue at their current 12 knots with about 175 miles to go, they'll likely finish very early in the morning before sunup.  We also made sure they knew the start on our end was a balmy 72 degrees in flat water at 2:00 pm.  Thanks guys!

April 9, 2009.  0859 hrs.
Start Video Snippets
The South Florida Sun Sentinel covered the start of the race and has edited and posted some vide on their Features site.  Click here for start shots and some race info.  Note -- we don't know how long it will be a "Feature" and it might require a search after a bit.  The title is "Race on the open seas."

It was a slow night for the racers heading up the coast.  After the first 100 miles, early morning position repots show the bulk of the fleet

April 9, 2009.  0621 hrs.
Current or Wind?
It was a slow night for the racers heading up the coast.  After the first 100 miles, early morning position repots show the bulk of the fleet grouped within 30 miles of each other off the coast of Melbourne, with Rosebud/Team DYT and Vanquish legging out a bit 50 miles ahead or so near Daytona.  At posting time, the two 65's were averaging around 12 knots over the ground, and the rest of the fleet about 9.5.  Nearby, on-shore winds were reading 2 to 6 knots out of the west, though offshore stations were reporting stronger flows.  With the boats only about 20 miles offshore and the speed differential between STP-65s and a CSY 44 ketch only about 3 knots, we're guessing the Gulf Stream's moving sidewalk is in full rip.  No reports from the fleet yet.  

April 8, 2009.  1601 hrs.
Off and Reaching
The fleet started on time, two clean starts, and marched off on a very close reach in 8-10 knots and relatively flat water.  The Gulf Stream was already pretty far west with the lumpy buffaloes running only a few miles offshore and the start line showing a few knots of north-running.  In the IRC start, Vanquish stayed clear and stared well down the line with speed and some of their own breeze to get an early jump.  Rosebud/Team DYT sliced through 40- and 50-footers lees after starting a few seconds late and blazing a trail a bit farther offshore.  In PHRF, conservative starts were the key, producing a pretty grouped parade that began to thin itself out within 10 or 15 minutes of the start.  Tracking is up and running, even showing air temperature, which could be amusing for folks home in their warm beds thinking of their buddies on the rail slogging through the Stream.  By the time the race committee boats got back to the dock, the wind had already clocked a bit left and built up to around 12-15.

April 8, 2009.  1133 hrs.
iPhone Users Get Spoiled
Got an iPhone?  Well, you have no excuse at all for getting any work done today.  We're reporting boat positions on an iPhone-friendly site here.

 

April 8, 2009.  1128 hrs.
Meeting Done, Tracking Active
Skippers and crews enjoyed their final dinner ashore for a few days, hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club last night after the Skippers Meeting, and washed down by free Mount Gay.  If the tracking devices had been active last night, rumor has it they would have told some stories about interesting crew locations.  The devices are now active and pinging happily every 15 minutes.  Check back throughout the race for updates using the "Tracking" link on the left.

 

April 7, 2009
One Day To Go!
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  - The big news of the day - WE HAVE TRACKING!  All competitors will be equipped with IonEarth GPS tracking and positions reported on the link on this site.  These trackers are still a bit frosty - the units just came in from tracking the Alaskan Iditarod race.

 

The fleet now stands steady at 11 boats.  While less that the original registered fleet it still represents a good showing for the first time this race has been run in 30 years.

 

An interesting weather pattern is evolving as a front passed over South Florida.  Current gribs shows light and fickle Northerlies for the first 18-24 hours that should split the fleet in a tacticians' battle to balance finding new breeze and staying in the Gulfstream.  As the fleet moves North into Thursday afternoon the breeze could fill in with pressure from the South or West giving the fleet reaching or downwind conditions.  Just like the forecast as of tonight - tomorrow brings a new forecast as the front passes.

March 8, 2009
Countdown to Start
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The SORC is please to announce 16 entries so far for the April 8th re-inaugural race to Charleston.  This year's race was scheduled to coordinate with Charleston Race week.  Competitors from the South planning on attending Race Week can enjoy healthy competition, and a fast ride, as part of the delivery plan.

Who will take the Line Honors?
Initial eyes go to the largest boat in the fleet, Fazisi, the 82' Maxi that competed with a Russian team in the 1990 Whitebread Round the World Race.  However, Rosebud/Team DYT is hot after taking Line Honors at SORC's other two '09 events - Pineapple Cup and Key West.  Vanquish (ex Moneypenny) is another STP 65 that could be in a position to take the prize.

Speaking of Parties...
The awards party for this year's race will coincide with Carolina Yacht Club's annual East Regatta for Scows.  The Saturday night event will take place with Southern hospitality at a private estate on Charleston's scenic High Battery.  Food, beverage and lots of tall tales are guaranteed.

Awards to be present include the Lord Proprietor's Trophy and Navigator Trophy.  Both of these trophies date back to the original race and winners from 1968.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the start.