After working for about 32 months on Bandana's refit, we decided she was ready enough to do the 160 mile race to Key West. Skip and I, Bonnie, Dan, Frank, Mike, Tony and Norm gathered up our stuff and provisioned the boat and headed to the start line.

In NE winds of 18kts, we tried hoisting the #2 thinking since it was off the wind that we could carry it but no such luck. It ripped before we could even trim it properly, so there we were, before the start and doing a sail change! Got the #3 up and filled and had a great start on the line on time and fast and powering past other boats pretty easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With 2 watch teams of 3 crew, Frank navigating and Skip as a floater, we did 3 hour shifts. The quartering seas made for pretty tough driving so the helm shifts were trimmed to 1 hour each. The chilly temps during the day were deceptive, as I thought we were going to have a very cold night but it actually got warmer after the sun went down...go figure!

We had fun passing boats and saw some double digits on occasion on the 'fun meter' and as we turned the corner at the KW sea buoy to head up the ship channel to the finish, we popped the kite. We saw 11.6kts on a wave and to surf a 33,000 pound boat on a wave is always a fun surprise!

 

 

All in all, it was one of the easier Fort Lauderdale to Key West races for me, as there were no crazy sail changes in the night and no screams for 'all hands on deck' either and though we had a few waves crashing over the bow, we also had the dodger up and so were relatively dry. We saw the people on some of the other boats looking very wet and not so 'comfy'!! I talked to my friends on DragonFly Plus, the new Swan 53, and they said it was the wettest boat they'd ever sailed on! I was happy to be on Bandana!!!

   

And of course, the really cool part...the race results!! Skip had raced to Key West many times over the years, and often finished 2nd or 3rd but never won his class....until NOW!! We crossed the line at 07:51:03am for an elapsed time of 18:36:03 hours and a corrected time of 14:44:03hours which gave us not only a First in class, but a Third in Fleet, as well as a trophy for being the best finish for a GSC boat (although there were only 2 of us).

 

 

 

There are of course, the usual happenings in Key West...You just can't go down there without a trip to watch Will on the high wire at Sunset.....
 

   

   

 

And of course...a few of the quirky things you see.....
   

and some of the happy faces.....

   

But for the Bandana crew...This moment tells it all.....

 

 

Skip (current owner), accepting the trophy from Buck (prior owner).