There was no sleep for the weary last night. ‘Yellowshirt’ rally staff Jake Albano had only just arrived yesterday morning, having sailed down to Tortola with Miles & Anne Poor on the Tayana 55 ‘Karina’, and spent most of the night greeting boats in Nanny Cay. Eight boats crossed the finish line last night between 11pm and 7am this morning, only one of which anchored out. Lee Button and crew on the Valiant 42 ‘Valhalla’ snagged a mooring to wait for daylight, but Jake was busy with the rest of the finishers who elected to come into Nanny Cay.
The docks are getting full now as the main pack of the fleet arrives. To date 19 yachts have crossed the finish line and made their way to Nanny Cay Marina. Aside from some minor wear and tear, the fleet has fared very well so far.
“Other than all the little things that broke, we had a great trip!” said skipper Joe Reed of the Saga 48 ‘Altair.’ Joe and crew are annual entrants in the Caribbean 1500, so are used to the rigors of ocean sailing on this most challenging of passages. “We broke the traveler and one slide on the mainsail track,” explained Joe, proud of the jury rig they made on the mainsheet control lines. “And a few things here and there.”
‘Rebekah May,’ a Prout 38 and the smallest catamaran in the fleet, arrived overnight last night as well, sailing particularly fast for their boat. “I had a pro onboard!” joked skipper Charles. “And we just had great wind,” he added.
Dave Hornbach who crewed with ‘Rebekah May’ is an old-hand at the 1500, a perfect match for Charles, who first got a taste of ocean sailing with the ARC DelMarVa Rally this past summer.
“I’ve learned over the years in the 1500 to go east,” explained Dave, who just completed his 7th Caribbean 1500 as a crewmember. “We did really well.”
‘Rebekah May’ is a wonderful example of a yacht that has taken full advantage of the network of resources that World Cruising Club USA has pulled together over the past few years in order to complete a successful passage to the Caribbean. Early on, Charles joined the weekend Ocean Sailing Seminar series in Annapolis and proceeded to spend the summer with our Corporate Members MRP Refits and Port Annapolis Marina outfitting his boat for the rigors of ocean sailing. Mike Meer at Port A completely re-rigged the boat, and Miles Poor of MRP added and refined some of the systems, including the new roller-furling mainsail.
Newly refit, ‘Rebekah May’ participated in the ARC DelMarVa Rally in June for a proper shakedown cruise and a taste of nighttime and ocean sailing on the leg from Portsmouth to Cape May. Charles found Dave Hornbach, a vastly experienced crewmember, through Ocean Crew Link, and here he is, nine months later, enjoying Tortola after a successful – and importantly – uneventful passage, using the knowledge and experience he’s gained through all of our events and seminars.