2003 RACE RESULTS

Round The Island - MUG Race - Miami-Key Largo Race

2003 Round The Island

The 23rd edition of the Round the Island Race started promptly at 7a.m.on Saturday Sept 27th with one start for the 46 teams entered. The fleet headed due east with a nice double trap northeasterly that carried them to the first turning mark leading to the Destin channel. The outgoing tide was a blessing as the fleet skirted Crab Island and headed under the Destin bridge for the open Gulf of Mexico. First at this point was Eric Roberts on the RC-30  followed closely by Brian Lambert on a ARC-22. The great breeze allowed the fleet to get out the Destin Pass and into the Gulf in a very short time. Chutes, hooters and screachers were the order of the day as the fleet entered the Gulf of Mexico and turned west for the 50 mile run to Pensacola. The weather pattern held out for the typical September conditions as the wind followed the sun throughout the morning. The first veer was to the east followed by a slight change to the southeast. The great part was that the velocity never died as the wind shifted. The Gulf had nice 2 foot rollers moving to the west so the downwind run was a great time to practice up on your surfing skills. The fleet was on course to set records as there was very little change in the wind strength throughout the morning. The RC-30  and the ARC-22  were first and second entering the Pensacola Pass around 12 noon with the RC-27  and another ARC-22  arriving around 1:00PM. The rest of the fleet stretched out for a fairly long line but all boats were accounted for by mid-afternoon inside the Pensacola Pass. This was a remarkable achievement for all that entered and enjoyed the favorable conditions. As the fleet rounded inside Pensacola Pass the wind also started its shift to the south-southwest as the sun moved across the horizon. This turned the great ride back to Fort Walton Beach into a double trapped tight reach which eventually ended up being a broad reach with all chutes flying !  As the sun started getting lower so did the wind and it backed more to the west so it then became a port tack run all the way home. Brian Lambert and Larry Franzen on a ARC-22  were first to finish at 4:40 PM, Not too bad for a 100+ mile race! 
Race Recap Included Comments by ARC-22 Owner Mike Kelly

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2003 MUG Race

The MUG is a 38 mile distance race from Palatka to Jacksonville Florida on the St. John's River hosted by the Rudder Club of Jacksonville. The 2003 MUG Race was held on Saturday May 3rd. with a fleet of over 55 multihulls.  For the 4th year in a row the MUG Race utilized a reverse handicap start and awarded the coveted MUG Cup to the first boat to cross the finish line.  Along with setting the lowest elapsed time during the 2003 MUG race on their RC-30  Bill Roberts and his son Eric were the first boat across the finish line and recaptured the coveted MUG Cup for the 15th time. Following close behind was Robert Lyman on his RC -27  and Michael Tierney on his RC-27.

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2003 Miami-Key Largo Race

The Miami-Key Largo is a 42 Mile distance race hosted annually by the Miami Yacht Club. The 2003 race was host to over 50 beach cats. This years race brought poor wind conditions that were unsuitable for challenging the 14 year old record of 1 hour 45 minutes set by Bill Roberts on his RC-27 in 1989.

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