Steeplechase Mast Break

Is this the same boat that harpooned a guy on day 1?

I don't know anything about racing, but why would yo set a course for a sailboat race that required you to go under a bridge that some boats may not be able to pass?

That bridge has lots of taller sections to go under, but they were trying to cut down on distance sailed by passing under a section closer to land.

Ouch.

I love the commentator at the end of the video..

"See, I told you that might happen!"

Should have told the skipper. 👿

Rider_55 wrote: Is this the same boat that harpooned a guy on day 1?

Never mind. Sail # 2224 harpooned the guy at the start and sail # 2230 snapped his mast. Expensive day to be on an ARC 22.

38.6' mast
38.2 span

2 guys on the wire when they go under... none when they come out

ouch, that hurt.
😳 😳

what little commentary that is on this clip is poetry...

I don't know anything about racing, but why would yo set a course for a sailboat race that required you to go under a bridge that some boats may not be able to pass

I don't know much about races besided the ones i have seen here in my neck of the woods, so I asked if this "obstacle" was hit in the past and how would a new racer (or old) know the span height or what span was safe. they lam-basted me for that "rookie question" but it in fact has been hit in the past.

As Damon said, these guys new this bridge, had sailed (and won) previous years i hear as well.

Kind of like putt putt, you have to know how to play the clown's mouth. The stakes are high.

tuff day at the office...

Edited by coastrat on Dec 15, 2011 - 08:22 PM.

Quarath wrote: I don't know anything about racing, but why would yo set a course for a sailboat race that required you to go under a bridge that some boats may not be able to pass?

There is a section of the bridge that is more than tall enough about 6 spans to right on video.. The were trying to make up time and take the shorter course , guess it didn't pay off .. As far as obstacles etc , its a distance race hence the name Steeplechase lol

Edited by George1067 on Dec 16, 2011 - 05:30 AM.

MN3 wrote: 38.6' mast
38.2 span

2 guys on the wire when they go under... none when they come out

How much can the spans very due to conditions, time of day, season, ect...?

That is a sickening sound!
And going from an adrenaline rush on trapeze to Oh Sh*t in the cold water is no picnic either.
Hard day at the ranch.

How much can the spans very due to conditions, time of day, season, ect...?

Well, tidal flux varies alot from location to location and of course that won't happen at the same time every day...The main thing here is that the height of any bridge shown on a chart is the highest point at high tide....not any of the other bridge spans. In Flordia and probably any where else, a guage will show the hight at the center...but not elsewhere. These guys were clearly eyeballin it and were just a smidge off....

As a kid we used to flip our boat on it's side and swam it through (not the center span) to get it under our local bridge....but even that has issues as a tall mast (I suppose) might not fit horizontally either. Also with the rudder(s) out of the water, it was never good to have a power boat push up a wake while we were under the bridge and near the pilings...

klozhald wrote: cold water is no picnic either.

in key largo? nooo way.

matt922 wrote: [quote=klozhald] cold water

nooo way.

WAY!
At last years Tradewinds it was 34 degrees crossing Alligator Alley and very cold on Thursday in the keys. I still had ice on my boat (from the ice storm) as far south as Orlando.

mummp wrote:
At last years Tradewinds it was 34 degrees crossing Alligator Alley and very cold on Thursday in the keys. I still had ice on my boat (from the ice storm) as far south as Orlando.

Tradewinds appears to be in the middle of January too. (could be wrong on that, not too much info on the net about the more popular cat races 😛 )

34* is just a littttle on the crazy side. 😕

January 13-15. The calender here usually has the regatta's scheduled.
http://www.catsailor.com/Tradewinds.html