Photo's courtesy of Bill Hooper
Report from Bill Hooper.
Well, we did the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Offshore race and got 2nd in class and 2nd over all. Key West Race Week wasn’t as successful. Something like a 6th.
It started for me in Savannah, GA during the first week of January with the delivery of the boat to Ft. Lauderdale. On board were me (Bill Hooper, Hudson WI of Hooper’s Yachts), the owner (Denny Manrique, Mtka), Mike Maloney (of Shorewood Yacht Club) and Jeff Henry (Stillwater, MN).
The boat is a Wauquiez Centurian 40 owned by Denny and Tonja Manrique.
Winds and waves were intense out of Savannah. Jeff Henry said it was akin to being on a mechanical bull. Temps were 22 F and winds in excess of 30 mph. Very, very cold and uncomfortable. We did about 250+ miles per run offshore stopping now and then to warm up and get a shower and a meal.
Even in Ft. Lauderdale it was cold when we pulled into the Bahia Mar Marina just north of Port Everglades.
At that point more crew arrived, the cruise/delivery stuff went off the boat and the racing gear went on and we headed out for Key West via the offshore race on the 13th of January. Once in Key West, we kept the boat at the Bight Marina and Race Week started on the 18th and went through the 22nd.
Last year I was apart of the delivery of this same boat from Annapolis Md to Charleston, so I have sailed this particular boat from Annapolis to Key West now.
Photo's Courtesy of Bill Hooper