Torresen Sailing Site Report From Charleston SC for September 24th

Thursday afternoon roles on. Work on most of the boats continues. Hacksaws on some boats guys up the rig on others. The international media is here in good quanities. Still, after all of the preperation, what we are here for is a sailboat race.

And, it looks like the race will start in quiet weather, especially compared to what the fleet will face along the race course. First in the weather picture is that Hurrican George will not affect the race start. The hurrican has headed west away from the start. The wind likely will be from the north east in the 10 to 20 knot range. This should give the fleet a clean start. The start is scheduled for 1200 eastern on Saturday.

Note for those entered in the Around Alone Virtual Race. Leg 1 is a notoriously unpredictable leg. It's in many ways a race through the Doldrums. You must find a northerly breeze to get to the doldrums and then hope to pick a narrow area of the Doldrums to pass through. Often times finding this area will cause a boat to sail many extra miles. In my coversations with Around Alone sailors they conistently emphasised that Leg 1 can break your overall position. If you want to do well in the Virtual Race, make sure to find your way through the Doldrums.

A new feature of this Virtual Race is the ability to have signifigant input into boat design. In the competition class, you can choose the beam, draft and displacement. I went with a 17 foot beam, 14,000 pound displacement, and 14 foot draft. This is similar to many of the newer Open 50's in the race.

How much food your virtual boat eats is also something you can choose. In addition you can set how much virtual time is spent sleeping, performing maintainence tasks, in relaxation and how much time you spend sailing the boat.

Remember 40 days is a likely minimum for this leg, so pacing will be important. For those who will be in the Virtual race, my boat name is Explenture. Please remember if you have signed up for the Virtual Race let us know. Torresen Sailing Site's Around the World of Sailing will be having a contest with Around Alone related prizes. You can't win if you don't enter. Best of luck !