Sagamore wins, Pyewacket withdraws from Florida to Jamaica race

by Keith Taylor on 8 Feb 2001 Jim Dolan's 76-foot maxiboat
Sagamore was first to finish in the Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race today
when Roy Disney's 75-foot sled Pyewacket withdrew from competition in the
home stretch after leading all the way from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Sagamore, a 76-footer designed by Bill Langan crossed the finish line off
the Montego Bay Yacht Club at 6:05 PM local time, this evening after staying
in contact with Pyewacket right up until the time she retired.

Robert O'Neill's 75-foot Reichel/Pugh sled Zephryus IV, a companion
Reichel/Pugh design to Pyewacket, was the second boat to finish, 51 minutes
after Sagamore.
Disney, who was shooting to break the 29-year-old race record of 3 days, 3
hour, 40 minutes and 7 seconds, pulled into Ocho Rios, Jamaica this morning
after the fleet was becalmed overnight in the Windward Passage. He phoned
the Montego Bay Yacht Club to announce his retirement.

Disney said he had run out of time, and a prior business engagement dictated
his return to the United States. Two years ago, his Reichel/Pugh-designed
sled finished in dying tradewinds, just two hours and three minutes short of
the mark, after maintaining a record-breaking pace for the first two-thirds
of the race. Today he promised to return for another attempt at the record
in two years time.

Although boats were expected to complete the 811-mile course on Monday
night, none had crossed the finish line in Montego Bay at noon today. At the
compulsory midday fleet roll call, Sagamore was the lead boat, some 60 miles
from the finish. She was followed about ten miles astern by Zephryus IV. The
third boat was Doug Baker's 75-foot Andrews sled Magnitude.

At the fleet roll call on Monday, ten boats had entered the Windward Passage
at the Eastern tip of Cuba and were on the home run to Montego Bay. At that
time Pyewacket was just ahead of Sagamore and the two boats had about 160
miles to sail to the finish. As the breeze faded into a dead calm overnight,
the lead boats only managed to cover 100 miles in the next 24 hours.

Eight boats had finished the race by 10:00 PM local time tonight while two
more boats, Donnybrook and Rima, were within five miles of the finish line.

Finish times were:

Sagamore 1805 39
Zephryus IV 1856 17
Magnitude 1918 38
Grins 2049 17
Blue Yankee 2058 00
Trader 2059 59
Carrera 2131 19
Zaraffa 2155 16

Seventeen boats in two classes, including 12 maxi-boats, started the race to
Jamaica from Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades last Friday afternoon. One
boat, Marty Fisher's 48-foot J/145 Strabo from te Rhode River Boat Club in
Chesapeake Bay, withdrew on Saturday and docked in Nasau, Bahamas, after
hitting a reef.

Sailed every two years to Montego Bay, Jamaica, the event is recognized as
one of the world's classic ocean races. The Pineapple Cup is awarded for the
best overall performance by a monohull, but the big boats are also chasing
an ocean racing record that has endured for 29 years. The record was set by
the Alan Gurney-designed 70-foot Windward Passage in 1971. .

Fondly referred to as the 'Mobay', the Pineapple Cup race is run biennially
under the management of a joint race committee of the Storm Trysail Club,
the Montego Bay Yacht Club and the Jamaica Yachting Association.

Monohull boats in IMS and PHRF divisions are competing for the Pineapple
Cup, awarded for best overall performance, the IMS Seahorse Trophy, and the
PHRF Arawack trophy.

Daily position information, scratch sheets and other background for the 2001
Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race is available on the race web site:
www.montegobayrace.com.

For additional information contact Race Coordinator Felix Hunter, Montego
Bay Yacht Club, Tel: 876-979-8038, E-mail: mbyc@cwjamaica.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Keith Taylor
Taylor Associates
Tel: +1 (781) 837-8833
ktolyc@compuserve.com