Sagamore first to finish in Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race

JIM DOLAN'S SAGAMORE IS FIRST TO FINISH IN BIENNIAL PINEAPPLE CUP - MONTEGO BAY RACE

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.

More Information:

• www.montegobayrace.com