2010 Race Commentary

0930, Monday. Aloooha! What a beautiful morning to arrive in Bermuda. A mourning dove followed us just before the finish and hitched a ride on the lifeline, making a wonderful sight at the end of this race. 


A mourning Dove catches a ride on Titan XV

That’s not the only wildlife we’ve seen. In addition to the marine animal we hit on the first afternoon, we saw tons of flying fish (one landed on the boat), a whale breeching, a manta ray (about 10 feet tip to tip), men-o-war, pods of porpoises, and another bird that was flushed through the jib-main slot last night and stayed to collect its thoughts. What entertainment!

The final night’s perfectly flat water and clear skies were carbon copies of the previous two. We had about two hours of upwind work as we watched Il Mostro, Genuine Risk, and the bigger ones in our fleet, Rambler and Beau Geste. It was a bit somber watching the wind go left, allowing the British team in Rán to finally secure their lead over us. Good on them. This turned out to be a very tactical, even surgical race, and our tactician, Peter Isler, noted several eddies well south of the stream.

We’ve just heard that Bella Mente has finished. That would put us only minutes apart, but we don’t know who’s on top.  The important thing is that our finish order hasn’t affected the crew’s morale at all. As soon as we crossed the line, we went right to work packing up the racing sails and lines for the delivery.  There’s been plenty of laughter about the race’s funny moments, visuals of which might be like outtakes from “Smokey and the Bandit” or another silly movie.

While it’s fun to reflect that the race is a big inside joke for the 20 veterans of Titan XV – a nice bonding experience with new friends – I’m sure that the entire fleet is in on the same joke. Better yet, the same secret, because we have all shared a truly great time.

As I write, I know this wonderful experience is not over because we have a two-hour motor to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. We're in Bermuda and I can’t wait to see the other competitors as they arrive, particularly the small boats that will arrive towards the end of the week because we’ve had so many different experiences.  Ours include Titan XV’s owner, Tom Hill, who has served as a great inspirer.


Tom Hill, owner of Titan XV

In his 70s, Tom laughs with the crew and steers the boat faster than the polars and always has a positive comment. And Peter Heck, our chef, trimmer, and driver, kept us in amazing food: hot corned beef sandwiches, hot dogs, and spaghetti and meat sauce with an amazing Asian salad. C’est Bon, Peter!