Baltimore In Port Race

It was another solid performance by the Pirates of the Caribbean today with a third place in the Baltimore import race. The result also moved the Pirates up to third place overall moving past ABN Amro Two.

The breeze was 9 knots at the start and dropped to 6 knots on the third downwind leg where the race was shortened as the prospects for making the final lap did not look good.

Pirates had a great start and the two boats who had bad starts, Movistar and Ericsson, were forced to tack right away and go right. This turned out to be a blessing for them as they were first and second to the first mark.

For the Pirates, a primary winch failure on the first tack of the race made things interesting as we had to sail the rest of the race with the mainsheet run off a pit winch and both jib sheets and both gennakers sheets running off the single mainsheet winch. The crew did an excellent job of managing this situation for the whole race and we were fortunate that the wind never blew over 9 knots.

The Pirates stayed in third place pretty much the whole race while Ericsson fell from first to fourth and Movistar, catching a big shift at the end of the first downwind leg, went from second to first and never looked back.

Brasil1 made a nice move also at the end of the first run and went from 5th to second on the same shift that benefited Movistar. Coming down the final run, the Pirates were closing in on Brasil1 but it was a little too late as Brasil1 crossed in second.

Overall it was a good day for the Pirates and the many fans out on the Chesapeake Bay. It was also a good day for the Farr boats as they dominated the race taking the first four places. This is not the first time we have seen the ABN Amro boats struggle in light air. The first inport race in Spain had the same result.

We had two special guests today on the Black Pearl. First; Roy Disney, a great sailor and big fan of the Pirates. Roy sailed the boat a bit before the race and really enjoyed the very light and sensitive feel that these VOR 70’s have. We also had Tara Conner, the newly crowned Miss USA onboard the Black Pearl. It was Tara’s first sail ever and she could not have picked a better day. She also enjoyed being on the only US boat in the fleet.

We are taking Sunday off, then on Monday we are hosting Disney for a sail in the afternoon and Tuesday we will have our Pescanova Kids day with 1800 kids from the Baltimore area. These Pescanova kids’ days have become trademark events of the Pirates of the Caribbean and something we are all very proud of.

The next leg of the raced is Annapolis to New York City starting Sunday May 7th. This will be a very tough leg as it will be an intense 40 hour sprint that wont allow for much rest for any of the crews.

The Pirates are hosting a party tonight for all the teams. Chef Mark Rehana has prepared this grand evening so it should be something special.

Paul Cayard

Pirates of the Caribbean