Atlantic Cup: Upwind slog to the finish

(May 13, 2014) – The three lead boats in the Atlantic Cup remain close as they hug the New Jersey shoreline, with 60 miles remaining in the 685-mile doublehanded leg from Charleston, SC to New York City.

Joe Harris on Gryphon Solo II reported the morning began with light winds, just off the entrance to Delaware Bay. “With these fluky conditions, anything could happen. This is beginning to feel like more of a marathon than a sprint.”

However, Dragon Ocean Racing’s Michael Hennessy reported much stronger in the afternoon. “By 2:30 in the afternoon, we were slogging our way uphill. We had a system roll through in mid morning, and we went from no wind to lots of wind. Now we have 20+ knots of wind, a pretty rough sea state, and we are close hauled.”
It’s going to be a very chilly night with air temps and water temps both in the low 50s. Currently there is a backdoor cold front that has been pushing southwest from a position north of Cape Cod last night all the way to southern New Jersey at the time of this update.

Ed Cesare and Chad Corning on Pleiad Racing held a narrow lead as of 16:35 EDT, but a clocking wind has seen Gryphon Solo II hug the shore and gain a 2.8nm advantage as of 1900 EDT. Arrival time to the finish is sometime early Wednesday.

Tracking and Race website: http://www.atlanticcup.org

Background: The Atlantic Cup starts in Charleston, SC on May 10 for the 685-mile doublehanded leg to New York City. Following a brief stop-over in New York City, doublehanded teams race a 240-mile leg to Newport, RI. The third and final leg consists of two days (May 24-25) of inshore racing in Newport with a crew of six. The team with the combined highest score from the three legs will be the Atlantic Cup Champion. The prize purse for the Atlantic Cup is $15,000.

Competing in Leg 1
#39 Pleiad Racing-USA
Ed Cesare (Norwalk, CT) and Chad Corning (Larchmont, NY)

#54 Dragon-USA
Michael Hennessy (Mystic, CT) and Rob Windsor (Centerport, NY)

#106 Gryphon Solo II -USA
Joe Harris (South Hamilton, MA) and Patrick O’Connor (Buffalo, NY)

#116 jeffreymacfarlane.com-USA
Jeffrey Macfarlane (Franklin Lakes, NJ) and Jake Arcand (Honolulu, HI)

Not competing in Leg 1
#25 Flatline-USA
Kyle Hubley (Canada) and Frederick De Mesel (Belgium)