Update from Gary Jobson - aboard Kodiak II

Report #6 Stats Under Sail

2006 Newport-Bermuda Race
June 19, 2006, 0800

Wind! The fleet is on the move again. Bermuda, here we come. In less than 24 hours the first of the fleet will arrive in Bermuda in one of the lightest air races in the 100 year history of this classic ocean race. I can hear the steel drums from here, 140 miles out.

Aboard Kodiak II we have tabulated some statistics. We have 21 crew onboard. Collectively, this crew has sailed in 170 Newport - Bermuda Races. Six of the crew are members of the CCA. The CCA members on this boat live behind the traveler. The average age of the afterguard is 63. In front of the traveler our crew averages 40 years old. The younger group was in charge of T shirts and had the words “The Dark Side” printed on the sleeve. The afterguard has deck chairs printed on their sleeves. So far this race has been a cruise with warm weather, little rain and light to moderate winds. Could it be so easy?

During the calm we took a survey of the most unique names of boats in the fleet. We used a democratic process to make the selection. Here is our top 10 boat names: Nasty Medicine, Zippity Doo Dah, Goombay Smash, Upgrade (hey do we get air miles for this race?) Moneypenny, Regatta, The Cone of Silence, Fat City Too, Better Than...., and our favorite, Euro Trash Girl. Whatever happend to bold, patriotic names like: Vim, Valiant, Intrepid, Courageous, Freedom, Liberty or Stars & Stripes? Now we have Euro Trash Girl. Before you know it people will be sailing to Bermuda without sextants, or even paper charts. What next?

The entire fleet is starting to funnel on to the original layline. Everyone is looking forward to arriving, but the final results are still up for grabs. Lets hope the wind holds.

Gary Jobson
Kodiak II