Monhegan Race Updates
Updated 2200 Saturday This blog is where you can see any race information that the RC posts about the race during the event.
1530 Saturday - The TCF for Monhegan Race is 600.
2200 Saturday -
Preliminary results are posted for the Monhegan Fleet. Waterwitch is still on the course with 14 miles to go, should be in after midnight. So far the boats who have finished say it was a tough, challenging, fun race. Lots of places to make decisions. Crews are talking through situations over beer and pizza at PYC.
2115 Saturday - Most of the fleet has finished, Delja & Abu are on the final leg, Water Witch is passing Seguin. The breeze is still up offshore, 12 knots off from Cape Elizabeth. Pizza is served, beer is cold, stories are being told.
1700 Saturday -
Waterwitch rounded Monhegan buoy , all of Monhegan fleet is heading home. Heat Wave is at 1EC (East Cod Ledge) the last mark before the finish, about 6 miles to go.
Photos from Ann Blanchard of the Monhegan start are posted!
1500 Saturday -
Most boats are on their way home. Heat Wave rounded Monhegan around 1200 and was followed soon after by Orange Whip (-4 miles) and Temptress (-7.5 miles). Veladare is leading Gremlin by 2 miles and they are ahead of Chicama by about the same. First finishers are expected by dinner time!
1200 Saturday - Heat Wave has rounded Monhegan.
1000 Saturday -
Heat Wave is just a few miles from Monhegan with about 5 knots from the north. Orange Whip (-5 miles) and Temptress (-8 miles), they are catching up. The wind is stronger closer to Portland. Meanwhile Veladare has pulled ahead of Gremlin & Chicama but they are all within a mile or two of each other. The competition is close on the Monhegan race course!
0630 Saturday -
The leaders are 60 miles from the finish, moving along a 5-6 knots. Out at Monhegan winds are 7-8 knots NNE while off from Cape Elizabeth they are 12 knots from the north. Heat Wave leads the fleet with Orange Whip (+/- 7 miles) and Temptress .(+/- 12 miles) in Class A. Over in Class B it is neck and neck as Veladare and Gremlin (71 miles to finish) are side by side with Chicama a mile behind. The rest of the fleet seems to be moving well and some of the boats towards that back have made gains. That might suggest the the front of the fleet is finding less wind as they head along the course. We could see some compression in the fleet as they get to Monhegan.
0330 Saturday - All the boats have rounded Boon Island and are now heading towards Monhegan. Winds are NNW around 8 knots at Boon and off from Cape Elizabeth, WNW down at Monhegan. The next expected wind shift will be later today going from the north to the south. What that transition looks like and where the boats are on the course will probably determine the outcome of the race. Heat Wave has taken over the lead of Class A with Orange Whip and Temptress chasing after them. Veladare is leading Class B with Gremlin and Chicama right near by.
2350 Friday - Orange Whip is first around Boon Island. Followed by Temptress and Heat Wave.
2100 Friday -
The boats are about halfway down the first leg to Boon Island working in a WSW breeze (7-8 knots +/-). Over the next 12 hours we expect to see the wind work around to a more northerly direction. Right now it looks lighter ahead as the boats get closer to Boon and shifting west. The strength may be better offshore, we shall see what paths the boats will take after rounding Boon.
1800 Friday -
11 boats started Monhegan this afternoon. Class B started at 1505 and Class A started at 1512. We had white caps on the way out to the start with a nice fresh SE breeze, and then we anchored in the Hussey and it slowly shifted to the South and eased. The boats started with 5 knots of breeze and an incoming current which made for a bit of a challenge. All the boats got moving and headed off to Boon Island. As of 1800 the leaders were clearing Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. Orange Whip and Gremlin were leading their respective classes.
0500 Friday -
After a great party last night we are taking one more look at the weather forecast. It looks like things are starting out light this afternoon but filling in overnight. The window for our generic J-111 is still anytime between noon and midnight. The models still disagree on specifics of when things are changing direction and how strong the wind will be, so it will be interesting to see what happens out on the race course. The slower boats are looking at a window of evening to midnight, with an outlier of early Sunday morning. This year could really prove challenging for the navigators in the fleet.
