Skyweb Express Wins 2008 West Coast Mini Race

"Skyweb Express" (USA 655) crossed the finish line in front of the Golden Gate Yacht Club at approximately 1915 PST, where Craig and Tom were greeted by the enthusiastic shouts of the West Coast Race ground crew. They were under main alone due to an "incident" an hour before while under autopilot giving an update via cell phone. It sounds as though the autopilot decided not to cooperate at which point the boat wiped out and some "gill netting" took place with the spinnaker. They got the mess straightened out but have decided to take it easy and cruise in to the finish line. Rounding the breakwater, the team brought the boat alongside the guest dock at the St. Francis Yacht Club. The crew looked terrific but were eager to get a shower and a hot meal, and so were whisked inside the St. Francis by the shore team after putting the boat to bed for the night.

July 14 Report from Skyweb Express

Craig Horsfield and Tom Alexander, on 'Skyweb Express', phoned in at 0830 PST with their daily report. Sailing was terrific overnight, with sustained speeds of 10-16 knots for several hours. However, cloud cover gradually came in rendering visibility 'pitch black' and after a near collision with a pod of whales, necessitating drastic avoidance maneuvers, the boys decided to throttle back to white sail reaching for the remainder of the night. Craig also shed light on the issue with the spinnaker halyard reported a couple days ago. Craig had to go up the rig to mount an external block to re-feed the repaired halyard after the feeder line was lost through the mast. He indicated that having his weight aloft was not fast. 'Skyweb Express' reported her position as 40.42.15N / 126.46.6W off Cape Mendocino, steering course 130 (M) on port gybe in 15 knots of breeze from the north. Craig believes they can hold this line all the way to the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

July 12th Update

During this morning's Sat Phone check Guy received the following update from Craig and Tom aboard "Skyweb Express" (Zero USA 655):

"As of 08:50 PST this morning "Skyweb Express" is at 46.14.97N / 126.25.55W, sailing in approximately 20 knots of breeze with boat speed ranging from 8 to 14 knots. They have one reef in the main and are flying their reaching kite. Conditions are excellent as they travel south, about 20 miles or so outside the rhumbline course to San Francisco. They report minor wear-and-tear but nothing of concern and no problems overnight.

They send their regards to their friends and supporters at Skyweb Express."

2008 West Coast Mini Race Starts July 9th

Being an offshore sailor means spending a lot of time sitting on the shore, studying the GRIBS. On Friday July 4th, the day before the official start of the 2008 West Coast Mini race the GRIBs looked bad, predicting 40 knots winds - gusting to 50 knots -along the Oregon & California Coast.

Prudently, the race organizers postponed the race. A few days later, when conditions had not improved, the race was changed to a 250 mile course, double-handed, from Victoria, around the La Perouse weather buoy and back to Victoria.

Tom Alexander would sail with Craig on Skyweb Express and Andy Abel flew in from Florida to sail with Adrian Blunt on Antidote. But by Wednesday July 9th, the day before new start date, the GRIBs were showing calmer weather along the West Coast and plans were once again changed - the 2008 West Coast Mini Race would be a double-handed race from Victoria to San Francisco.

Skyweb Express spent the first day pounding up the Straits of Juan de Fuca in 30 knots of wind. By Friday morning, the conditions had lightened and they slowly passed Clallam Bay to the entrance of the Straits. Under full main and gennaker, they headed southwest to get a few more miles offshore, where conditions are expected to be perfect - 10 to 20 knots from the northwest, 1-3 foot seas. You can track Skyweb Express progress on iboattrack.com

Rapid has been renamed Skyweb Express : Read Press Release