[ricki]

Ok, I'll start. A bunch of us have been doing the actual races and pre-races as well. As a result we've done about 180 miles of these downwinders in the last month or so. As a rule, the winds and waves have been substantially stronger for the pre-race than the race. A good thing I think particularly for the 60 mile Jupiter to Ft. Lauderdale Run. The uncertainty of your first long distance race can be unnerving, will I have enough strength to go the distance, how should I pace myself, etc.. After some repetition, you start to have a better idea about these things also riding in the waves routinely helps a lot. I never had much intention to race but to do the distance in the cruising class.

During the pre-race I focused on trying to find smoother riding corridors and avoiding getting caught by breaking waves and succeeding part of the time. Waves were a BIG issue during the pre-run, as was the wind to a lesser degree. The wind reportedly gusted up to 35 kts. at points and was in the higher 20's for much of the time. Waves were commonly double head high and even triple head high at points. I found I spent a lot more energy going through the heavier, choppy seas than the odd, temporary stretch of smoother water. Not having purchased a reel leash, I think I lost my last one five years ago, I also spent some time on board recovery. I rigged some small pull ties as weak links at the leash connection point for the actual race. The pre-race was intense and pretty tiring. My goal was to just try to go the distance that time, nothing more.

Anyway, here comes the day of the race. I'm thinking well I could go with a 9 m or perhaps a 14 m bow. I have an 11 m that is ideal for those sort of winds but didn't have enough time on it yet for a distance session of this type. Lots of guys were on 12 m and even larger flat kites. Having done two of the last four races a bit overpowered I figured, nope, gonna do it with the 9 m. It worked out. The spectacle of all those kites up in the air was incredible in St. Pete and just as impressive in Jupiter. Fortunately, we have photos of both panoramas, good stuff.

Once I'm out, I notice the seas are a lot kinder than the last time. Instead of dodging barreling waves it was far less of an issue. You could pretty much pick a bearing and run on it without worrying much about getting bowled over by a big breaker. The further south you went the lower the seas were as a rule. They did flair up interestingly enough around Boynton Inlet and again in Pompano. Perhaps this had something to do with outgoing tidal current slamming into the NE'ly swells. Anyway, working to seaward to avoid piers and inlets was much easier than in the pre-race where it was a royal pain in the butt trying to cut through the big breaking stuff. The race was smoother and more fun just to ride on down the coast among the swells. I just received some images from Neil from the chopper, soon to go up by the way here. The waves look a lot larger in the photos at points, particularly north of Lake Worth Inlet than I recall. The helicopter images are incredible by the way, you folks have a special treat coming your way.

I had forgotten what it was like to have a helicopter stall your kite. I think I was just south of the Juno Pier when I was reminded. I shredding along, the chopper passed about 150 yds to windward. All of the sudden my kite drops straight downward like a lead balloon! Fortunately, it recovered and things went forward. It did put me on my guard for future close passes however.

During the pre-race, I ended up breaking for a 1/2 hr. at Delray to grab a power bar, to fill up the camel pak and rest in general. I stopped at Pompano for another 1/2 hr.. Things started to slow down approaching Ft. Lauderdale Beach, fatigue was setting in. Still, it wasn't that far to the finish, just a bit further! For the race, I was fortunate enough to have a choice about rest breaks and opted to avoid them. Stupidly, I did suck down 2 l from the camel pak way too fast. Will have to take it easier on the fluids next time.

It is interesting on how, behind the leaders anyway, a 1/2 mile separation and even more doesn't amount to all that much. I think at one point I feel a few miles behind but later regained the distance. Even the leaders noted that a 1/4 mile wasn't that significant. One wipeout and you could temporarily give up that much.

The wind was lighter particularly at points during the race. I was able to keep things moving by sining the kite at points but really wasn't that underpowered. The forecast held that winds would increase the further south we went which happened I think particularly south of Pompano.

I thought I would do ok on the time but within about 3 miles of the finish, my kite hit the water, damn! I think I must have a slow leading edge leak that I wasn't aware of. Anyway on trying to relaunch, what may have been a slightly soggy leading edge caused the kite to invert each time I tried to relaunch, three times! I'm thinking I going to blow at least 45 minutes going into shore, sorting out the lines and relaunching. Fortunately, the fourth time was the charm, the kite made it up despite a few line twists and was flyable. I ended up coming in near the back of the pack, no surprise there but fun all the same.

In short, the race was fun, memorable experience. For those that didn't make it all the way, shit happens and things should go better next time for your experience. Falling out of the Bimini Race last year for some dumb last minute choices, believe me I can relate!

Thanks to Neil, all the volunteers and sponsors for making this excellent event possible. Special thanks to all the riders who made this unique experience what is was, GREAT! Oh, I almost forgot, it is also a new World Record distance race, way to go!