Staniel Cay regatta.

[44'cruisingcat]

Received an email regarding the Staniel Cay New Year's regatta. From the owners of "Out Of The Bag" an Oram 44C.



" Sorry it is a bit belated, but Happy New Year to you and family.
> >
> > We are in the Bahamas after having cruised up to Maine. Lots warmer here!
> > Unfortunately laid up in hospital again but prognosis good.
> >
> > Thought we would let you know that Out of the Bag won one of the major
> > regattas held here in the Bahamas. On New Years Day, the 39th Staniel Cay
> > New Years Day Regatta took place with 20 entries including 3 multihulls
> > (OOTB, a lightweight 50ft Schonning and a 48ft Leopard). It was conducted
> > over a 12 mile course (2 x triangles) comprising 4 windward beats and 2
> > dead proud runs with wind blowing 18-20 knots. It was definitely a mono
> > course - only monos have previously won the regatta. The rules state the
> > winner is the first boat across the finish line.
> >
> > With two reefs in the main and a no 3 jib (up to one reef & no 3 jib after
> > the first triangle) OOTB annihilated all the opposition even lapping two
> > monohulls. With the apparent wind speed registering up to 28 knots we
> > blitzed the local favorite 55 ft racing mono as we constantly sat on 11-12
> > knots to windward, outpointing all others whilst sailing comfortably and
> > not overstressing OOTB. The next boat to finish was the Schonning, some 3
> > miles astern, just in front of the big mono (the Leopard finished
> > mid-fleet). Were the monos whinging!
> >
> > OOTB continues to amaze me, being quick, yet still stable and safe with
> > two reefs and a small jib. She amazed every other boat in the regatta with
> > everyone commenting on how easily we won the event. I know there were a
> > few owners searching the net for Bob Oram designs for quite a few days later.
> >
> > It surprises me the number of people who comment on the one daggerboard
> > asking, "don't you sail round in circles?"
> >
> > There are some photos on the Staniel Cay Yacht Club's web site but they
> > refer to us as Out of the Box. Oh well. You'll see just what a small
> > manageable rig we had."

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9209755&type=1

[colemj]

Nice. But he is wrong that they are the first multi to win. When we were there 4 years ago, an Ocean Cat 48 (mini keel LeRouge design very similar to the Freydis) annihilated all others. They lapped all but one boat (a mono who apparently always wins). While not lapped, that boat still lost by over half the course. The Ocean Cat was sailed by an older couple and contained everything they owned on board, as it was their home and a full-time cruiser. The mono was sailed by a temporary crew brought in for the race and they had emptied the boat, including a lot of its furnishings, on shore before the race. Really - they posted guards around their big pile of stuff to keep it from going missing!

Mark

[Factor]

But cats can't point . I suspect OOTB has all of its world on board as well. First - Second Multihull to win, doesn't matter, they did well, congratulations

[FSMike]

I don't know who was the first multihull to win, but the 1999 Staniel Cay New Years Day Regatta was won by FreeStyle, a 45' Chris White Designs Voyager 45 Catamaran. FreeStyle took on and beat all comers, including Lady Muriel, an A class Bahamian racing sloop. We had our picture in the Nassau paper and so forth. Not bad for a full time liveaboard crewed by one woman, one man, and one standard poodle.
Unfortunately, the delightful folks at Staniel Cay made an error, and another boats name was put on the trophy and the t-shirts.
We stopped by there a few years later and ran into one of the regatta officials. This happened at Happy People Marina, and he had the regatta records with him. He looked up the race, and agreed that FreeStyle had indeed won the 1999 regatta.
Of course it's the Bahamas, so neither the trophy or the t-shirts were corrected (that I know of).
I still love Staniel Cay and its inhabitants, but I'm boycotting t-shirt sales until this is fixed.

[Sid at SailAway]

We were there too. Man, that was a fun race and yeah, OOTB whooped us all. That was one fast cat. We were onboard the Fountaine Pajot 46 ( not a Leopard 46) and finished sixth. The awards dinner was awesome and of course the food was delicious. Thanks to everyone who participated and made that a great day! And thank you Staniel Cay!

Sid