Iron men plastic boats …. Sounds good doesn’t it. Good race marketing or fact? As with most things the only way to dispel the myth and cut through the doggy doo is to get out there, get wet and see for your-self. For many years Catamaran sailors have challenged themselves by racing up the east coast of the USA on small catamarans. In previous years the event was called the Worrel 1000. This year is it was called the ATLANTIC 1000.

The ATLANTIC 1000 is a 1000 mile race which runs from Islamorada, an island in the Florida Keys, to Kill Devil Hills Beach in North Carolina. The event is divided into two 500 mile races with a rest day in between. The first half is called the Tybee Island 500 and the second half is called the Outerbanks 500. The event is open to production sport catamarans with a maximum length of 20 feet and is billed as one of the toughest around.

It is has always been a race that I have wanted to do and my sailing partner Roberto Pandiani - with whom I crossed to Antarctica on a beach catamaran in 2003 – shared that desire too. The race requires intensive logistics as it moves northwards and is therefore an expensive operation. A good partner was needed and we were appreciative of the continued support of SEMP TOSHIBA - a company that manufactures audio visual goods in Brazil.

The final month was frenetic with activity as we pulled together a shore team, bought a boat and prepared it for what lay ahead. Our team comprised of Fernando Bocciarelli – technical support/pusher, Thomas Scheidt – photographer and brother of Robert (6 times world champ in lasers) and Patricia Kirschner – shore manager, press liaison and logistics. We chose to sail an Inter 20 manufactured by Performance Catamarans in the USA. This was the choice of most of the top teams so we figured there was no point in doing anything different. The Inter 20 is a boat that has its weak points and so our boat preparation was focused on avoiding breakages. The race is judged on cumulative time over each leg.

Tybee 500
The start is on Islamorada which lies about 75 miles south of Miami in the Florida Keys. Our rental car resembles that of an African bus - bar the chickens and goats – but we are brimming with people, gear and spares nonetheless. Our arrival in the boat park shows that we are poorly equipped compared to our competitors who in true American fashion have big mobile homes, massive walk in box trailers and sizable shore teams complete with babes in bikinis. We spend 2 days gleaning as much as we can from the boats around us and even get to go for a practice sail the day before the start.

As Islamorada does not have a beach we are given our only ‘on the water’ start of the 1000 miles. Tactically the first leg is not very taxing – sheet in, get out on the wire and 6 hours later – get of trapeze when you hit the beach in Hollywood! Sounds simple until you try it – My logbook entry on Day 1 sums it up.

‘No body was designed to hang in a harness for hours on end pulling on sheets until they had holes in their fingers. Equally it was not designed to do stomach crunches for 6 hours a day while a salt water fire hose blasts into your face. Yes any romantic notions you may have about this race turf them to one side – is about pain and endurance ‘

It was a shock to the system to say the least – 90 miles on a close reach - we were exhausted – frankly we wondered what the hell we had let ourselves in for - another 900 miles of this was difficult to imagine.

As always we had lots to learn and some glaring issues needed to be resolved – our harnesses were completely inappropriate – fine for round the bouy racing – but this was long distance racing at another level. Another was our eyewear – wrap around sunglasses just weren’t good enough and lastly our mast set up needed some attention. Some directed questions and a snoop around the boat park revealed our errors.

Le Mans starts off the beach provide a great spectacle and are fun for the sailors. Each team is allowed one ‘Pusher’ that is permitted to push you though the surf until the last line of breaking waves – a good pusher is worth his weight in gold and Fernando, who was close to 2m tall and fit as a fiddle soon became the envy of the other teams, as we consistently got away to excellent starts. Our glory however was generally short lived as the more practiced teams would inevitably grind us down. It was a little frustrating to be honest – and the solutions to the problem were not immediately obvious.

After some adjustments to the rig and our gear, our general speed, comfort and control of the boat improved but time on the boat was the essential ingredient to improving our teamwork. It was hard work for everyone. The ground crews were tireless. Check in, check out, load, unload, fetch and carry - drive. Boat work was another monster that would raise its head inconveniently at the end of long and tiring days.

At the skippers briefing of leg 4 we are informed about the “no sail’’ zone around Cape Canaveral. “It’s a national asset and we will protect it as such”, I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and look at the Major in his camouflage uniform. “Don’t think that last year’s gun shot was a welcoming signal – be warned!” We nervously lead the fleet for the first 15 miles around the Cape – expecting a projectile to come whizzing through the main at any moment – we escape unscathed - our victory for the day.

Going into leg 6 (the final leg of the Tybee 500) we are 5 seconds off “Team Oz” in 3rd position - hard to believe after 400 miles of racing ! We have been making steady progress each day and so far have scored a 6th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd ,3rd. Team Tybee Island and Team Castrol are locked into a battle for first and are well ahead. Our challenge for the day is to make the podium for the first half.

Now in the state of Georgia we are faced with sandbanks, mangroves and shrimp fishing boats as obstacles – quite different from the endless beaches and high rise buildings of Florida. So far we have had good steady breeze at 15 knots from the east. Today is hot and humid and the breeze is light and fluky. We enter into a massive battle with “Team Oz” as we sail upwind in the fickle conditions. The lead changes several times as a large thunderstorm slowly approaches. My logbook entry captures the excitement of the finish as it was still written with adrenalin in my veins….

Team Oz leads the pack, us in second – Howard’s Pub in third. Team Tybee and Castrol are a way back. Eventually the wind gets to us. The breeze goes from 10 knots to 25 knot in a few minutes. The sea is still flat and we take off on a huge double trapeze reach – probably the fastest I have ever been on a small catamaran. Roberto and I are both on trapeze and the boat is just flying. We start to drive in underneath Team Oz. I am nervous as there are shallows closer to the coast. I shudder to think what would happen to us (and the boat) if we were to hit a sand bank at 25 knots. The first few miles are adrenalin pumped – after that – all we want to do is finish. My hands are killing me. Sometimes the waves wash my feet off the boat and I am upside down with my head dragging in the water. We are on the absolute limit – it’s all or nothing. Any mistake and we would be upside down and the race would be over for us. Drama behind us as team Howard’s Pub capsizes in a big gust!

As we approach Tybee Island it’s difficult to see where the finish is. We are committed to a lower course than the others and heading up would just loose us ground. Ahead of us lie shallows and breaking waves. We decide to just go for it – we need those five seconds. We dodge the beakers weaving our way between them – one nearly capsizes us. I see the finish just after the breakwater. Team Oz gybes down to us – we cross just in front of him. We gybe and surf in on a wave fully pumped and cross the line ahead of Team Oz to register our first win of the event. I whoop with delight. Team Oz finishes 3 seconds behind us – a nail biting finish. The beach is crowded and everyone is cheering. Man it feels good.

It was and incredible duel between us and Team Oz – after 90 miles of racing we finish 2 seconds apart! - Not enough to secure the third position but great to win a leg ahead of the 2 top teams. Team Castrol arrives 4rth in that leg and pull off a spectacular capsize coming down off a wave into the sand. Their ground crew drags the boat across the line on its side. The thrills and spills of long distance racing – it’s awesome.

Team Castrol wins the Tybee 500, followed by Team Tybee, Team Oz and us Team Semp Toshiba in 4th.

Outer Banks 500
After a relaxing day in the old city of Savannah we are back on the starting grid – we get pole position as we won the last leg of the Tybee – that is to say we are the northernmost boat in the line up. We wait poised - the last minute seems to last forever – we are sweating the sun cream off our faces – dressed to kill in the sweltering heat – the breeze is barely 4 knots.

We start on port for the first time – which quickly tells you its 80 mile upwind leg! Later up the track the breeze fills in from the sea at 15 knots and we set off on a tough reach in choppy conditions. I am barely managing to stay on the boat – doing somersaults on a regular basis. We are 25 miles from the finish when a load crack sees our leeward rudder shear off. Thank goodness we have two. We limp into Isle of Palms dejected and disappointed.

Leg 8 to Surfside Beach - starts with another frantic paddle through the surf. Our first headland 3 miles away takes 3 hours to reach. At least we are not in the trapeze – it’s a lot less painful! No rest for the wicked however and when the breeze backs we are double trapping on a close reach with the spinnaker up. 18 Miles to Cape Romain – how I wish I had a cleat somewhere. We dodge the sand banks and breakers and set up for another 18 miles still on the same tack. Now I really need a cleat! The next waypoint is a submerged jetty which we clear by blind faith in the GPS. We crack off and single trap the last 25 miles to finish 2nd behind Team Tybee, redeeming ourselves somewhat after yesterdays breakages.

Leg 9 to Wrightsville Beach – where the Wright brothers made their first historic flight starts badly with the spinnaker halyard pulley jammed on the wrong side of the mast. We are unable to free it and our spinnaker sets poorly – it remains unresolved for the first 20 miles. We drop back to solid 4th and are not having a good day. We play follow my leader through the shoals off Cape FEAR and work hard to catch the 3rd boat. We get ahead by taking the shore as an option. 300 metres from the finish however we capsize in the last gybe of the day. Fatigue is setting in and motivation is taking a beating. This race is far from over!

Leg 10 to Atlantic Beach – is a 60 mile run, straight line. We hug the coast initially and then later when the breeze establishes we make the 50 mile dash across the gently sweeping bay. Team Tybee have replaced their skipper due to an injury. Brain Lambert winner of the last Worrel 1000 is at the helm and we are happy to hang with Tybee and pull away from the fleet. We finish 7 minutes behind them and are slightly disadvantaged by the dying breeze at the end of the day.

Atlantic Beach marks the start of the OUTER BANKS the string of thin barrier islands that give the second half of the race its name. The barrier islands are in places only metres wide and enclose a large mass of water known as Pamlico Sound.

Leg 11 to Ocracoke Island – launches us towards Cape Lookout 15 miles away. It’s a tight double trapeze spinnaker reach and we take an early lead. Roberto at over 2m and 89 kilos is worth every ounce on the wire. As we approach the Cape, Team Tybee capsizes in an effort to lay the point. We round the Cape in lead. Tybee however are quickly back in the hunt and around the corner we have great sailing in flat water as we hug the beach.

Dramas for some of the other teams as Team Chesapeake break their pole while dropping their spinnaker. Later Team Accelerated Chaos (I love that name) capsizes and one of their crew gets separated from the boat. Team Chesapeake goes back to fetch him and returns him to the boat. Great seamanship and they get a time correction.

We maintain our lead and when the wind dies we go offshore and pull away from Tybee - who gets left in a hole. Spirits are high when they disappear from sight and we still have breeze. Soon it is time to gybe back towards the coast and finish. As we converge we see Tybee starting to appear and to much swearing they cross in front. We finish 2 minutes adrift from them in our closest finish ever.

Ocracoke Island is a quaint place which during hurricane season often gets cut off from civilization because of damage to the bridge that connects it to the mainland to the north – access from the south is only by ferry. It was here in a secluded bay that the British apprehended and killed the infamous Captain Blackbeard. Our guesthouse the oldest on the island was aptly named Blackbeard’s Lodge and came complete with a full sized sculpture of the captain in the reception hall.

Leg 12 to Kill Devil Hills – the final leg. The shoals off Cape Hatteras are one of the most dangerous navigational hazards on the eastern seaboard of the United States and extend up to 7 miles offshore. Here the warm Gulf Stream from the south meets the cold Labrador Current from the north. Over 2300 ships have been sunk here. Passing the Cape is always an unknown, as it is never the same. Sandbanks move with very storm and sloughs or passages are a function of the tide. It was with measured enthusiasm that we set off towards the Cape.

The breeze was steady at 15 knots from the south west and a perfect single trapeze spinnaker run to the Cape, saw us sail away from Tybee and take the lead. The Cape approached and its massive black and white lighthouse loomed over the sandy spit. Breakers and sandbanks extended offshore as far as the eye could see. Local knowledge says that there is normally a passage close to the beach. Contrary to every instinct we head for the shore. As we approach I see a seagull perched on a sandbank directly ahead of us. There is no avoiding it, as we are committed to our line – so we dive to pull up the daggerboards and go just for it - bag up and all! For a moment I think we not going to make it as the boat starts to slow down and load up – but then we are released! Whew! - that was close – we gybe just metres before the beach and take a rollercoaster ride through the haystacks of jacking waves - dodging fishing lines from the hoards of fisherman that line shore as we go.

We hold our lead over Tybee until Oregon inlet about 15 miles from the finish. A massive thunderstorm has been brewing over the land and as it approaches the wind dies. A 180 degree winshift sees our lead disappear in a puff and we are unable to recover as the wind fills in from the sea. We are not happy as we were hoping to repeat our last leg win of the Tybee 500. We finish 15 minutes behind Tybee in the dying breeze. It felt like the longest 15 miles of the entire race.

We secure second in the Outerbanks 500 and Overall - second in the Atlantic 1000. Our total accumulated time for the 1000 miles was just over 71 hours.

Believe it or 2 days later Roberto and I hoisted the sails again and completed the last 300 miles to arrive in New York. This being part of another project to link Antarctica to Greenland by beach catamaran – but no space for that story here.

For more information – you may visit www.edge-ventures.com and www.betopandiani.com.br