HAMPTON YACHT CLUB FEBRUARY 2020 4707 VICTORIA BLVD.•HAMPTON, VA 23669•TEL: (757) 722-0711•FAX: (757) 722-4700•WEBSITE: WWW.HAMPTONYC.COM• EMAIL:
[email protected] Meridian XI finishes 2nd in Class and 3rd Overall in 2020 Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race Submitted by Mark Wheeler Sledd Shelhorse’s new Carkeek 40 went south to compete in this year’s Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race, which took place on January 23rd. The race runs south past Miami and slowly bends towards the west along the Keys for 160 NMs. This year Meridian XI started in an easterly wind with all the boats jib reaching. Within a few miles boats started setting their reaching spinnakers. For Meridian that meant a FR0 (fractional zero). A similar boat to Meridian XI, the Dunning 42 Baby B., was the competition for Meridian for the complete race. Unfortunately, there was never a chance to compare speeds in the reaching spinnaker configuration because a squall hit soon after setting the sails. The squall took out the FR0, and when the FRO blew up the single fractional halyard also broke. Without that halyard we were not able to set the other reaching spinnaker, the A5. We watched the Dunning sail away from us with their zero set while we jib reached behind them. It seemed to take forever for the course to bend around far enough to set the masthead A 1.5 spinnaker and begin to make ground on Baby B. The Gulf Stream flows hard to the north just a short distance out from the reef.