Quick recap
DeLong Shadow was in the lead or very close to it on Sunday when our brand new carbon fiber main sail parted from its head board and came crashing down. We had to raise an storm try sail which we sailed for over 200 miles and 36 hours but as it is for emergencies and not for racing we fell far behind. We did fabricate a new head board using a galley cutting board, bolts from the outboard motor bracket and from the toe rail and a meter of spectra which lasted the last 150 miles. We ended up 76th out of 112 boats. First Bermuda race as navigator and watch captain. Learned alot, had a blast with a great bunch of sailors and drank lots of Dark 'n Stormies in Hamilton. Great parties too!
Photos
getting ready to hoist the storm sail (white with orange, the carbon main is lashed to the boom)
driving in the Gulf Stream
the replacement head board Jerry made (he also went up mast in the the stream to retrieve halyard)
drying out boat and our gear in Bermuda
YouTube
Steve on the port watch had a disposable digital video camera and posted a bunch of little videos on youtube. I like this one best. Other can be seen by searching on "DeLong Shadow:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iTtXvTNeUwQ
Good List of Weather Resources I monitored before the race
NOAA analysis , NOAA 24hr, 48hr, 96 hr
NOAA Northwest Atlantic WX briefing package
Globalstar Optimum Availability Tool
low bandwidth position reports
www.grib.us - awesome grib file viewer