30th Anniversary Fort Lauderdale To Key West Race - Monohull And Multihull Records Smashed

KEY WEST, FLA. (January 16, 2004) – The racing records for both monohull and multihull classes in the Storm Trysail and Lauderdale Yacht Clubs' Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race were obliterated on January 13 when Carrera, the Reichel/Pugh 81 owned by Joe Dockery (Stamford, Conn.), and Zephyr, the Antrim 40 multihull owned by Duane Zelinsky (Ontario, Canada), completed the 160 nautical mile race in less that 11 hours. In fact, with favorable north/northeast wind and regular 25- to 30-knot gusts, the majority of competitors finished faster than the old records, which were 13 hours, 14 minutes, 21 seconds set in 1995 for monohulls and 13 hours, 10 minutes, 14 seconds set in 2003 for multihulls. The new elapsed time records set by Carerra and Zephyr are, respectively, 10 hours, 24 seconds, 2 minutes and 10 hours, 11 minutes, 35 seconds. Overall winner on corrected time was Sjambok, the TP52 owned by Michael Brennan (Annapolis, Md.), which also claimed first in class and broke the race record. A 43-boat fleet departed Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on January 12 for the 30th annual sprint south to Key West, Fla.

"We’ve finished second for the past four years," said Brennan from the dock in Key West. "And I’m pleased to finally get a chance to kiss the groom. It was a phenomenal night; the boat was just screaming, averaging in the mid-20s speed-wise. These boats are a handful and it’s hard work, but we have a great crew. The boys worked hard from the minute we left to the second we finished." BMW Oracle Racing helmsman Gavin Brady was one of Sjambok’s 14-member crew.

Carrera almost didn’t finish the race. "We were one mile from the turning mark that begins the four-mile run to the finish when we heard a bang and thought we had hit something," said Dockery. "We realized that we had broken the rudder, so we put a double reef in the main and continued to the finish. We didn’t realize we were in the lead; we thought a multihull would beat us." What Dockery and his veteran crew also did not know was that Patriot, the 76-foot multihull owned by Michael Rush, had dropped out, leaving the race – and the record – up for grabs. "I have what you might call a ‘perma-grin,’" said Dockery, "and (crewmember) Ken Read said it was the race of his life."

Zephyr led the fleet for the first half of the race, but as Zelinsky described it, the conditions were starting to take a toll on the entire fleet. "It was fairly windy, starting with 20 knots and building. The solid gusts of 30 knots caused a few boats to drop out, including Patriot, which was our biggest competition," he said. "At about 9pm, Carrera passed us. We had held our screacher too long before we popped the spinnaker, being in the complacent safety mode that we were, but then when we saw Carerra we really got going. We were going for first over the line, but we didn't do that. Instead we got best in elapsed time for multihulls and beat the multihull record. The record is the best!"

The Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race awards party was held Friday, January 14 in Key West. The race is a collaboration between the Storm Trysail and Lauderdale Yacht Clubs.

For race results and more information, go to http://www.keywestrace.org/ or contact Race Chairman Joel Bowie, Chair@keywestrace.org, 954-525-6022.