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The Big Cat Misses the Big Record By Paul van Dyke Paul is a Big Cheese at Halsey Lidgard out of Mystic, Connecticut, and he gave us this report on the PlayStation 24 hour record attempt. Steve Fossett’s 125- foot cat had a go at the 24-hour distance record, and I was fortunate enough to be part of the team. We left the dock at Bay Point Marina in Norfolk at 7:30 last Friday evening. From there we had a starting point 250 miles East on the Southeast wall of the Gulf Stream. It was a very pleasant sail to the starting point, with flat seas and light winds. We arrived mid morning on Saturday.
The forecast had been holding up quite well for the start but then it shifted slightly. Although the wind speed was good, the direction was about 10 degrees further ahead than what we wanted. The start time was delayed a couple of hours as we waited for the pressure to build. Once there, the breeze was over 20 knots for an hour and so we set off. One reef in the main and the solent jib. Wind angle 100 true, wind speed 23 knots, boat speed 28 knots. The breeze filled in quickly and the boat was soon making 30 to 34 knots of boat speed. With the help of the Stream the sog was exceeding 38 knots. Well on record pace. We needed to average 29 knots to break the 700-mile barrier. After three hours our speed average was 30 but the breeze would not cooperate. The wind shifted forward. This made the true wind angle just a bit to tight and the boat speed was not able to hit high thirties anymore. Also we could not maintain our optimum course anymore and dropped out of the North side of the stream.
We carried on for six hours but could only manage a 26-knot average. This was due to wind speed dropping down to the low twenties and shifting forward 15 degrees. Steve wisely called it off after eight hours and we turned and headed straight back into the storm that was chasing us. There we found what we knew was waiting for us: 50 knots of wind right on the nose, lots of rain and big waves. But after filling the leeward cockpit with a couple of big breakers, we parted company with the low-pressure system and had a nice close reach back to Norfolk. This record will take near perfect conditions and we hope they will arrive during the month of June. For sure you’ll read about it here. 06/04/2003 |
