Good Morning everyone,

I have just heard from the beach and Tommy got off to another great start this morning.  There apparently was a deep hole right off the beach but Dan knew about it and after his initial push, hung on to the boat, crossed the hole, and just kept right on pushing. 

The damage to the hull last night turned out to be superficial; just a deep scratch in the gelcoat. Dan, John, and Dr.Tim, hauled the generator down to the beach and repaired the damage and and completely checked over the boat so that everything was ready to go this morning for the start of this twelfth leg.

More later

.........Mr.Ernie

.....11:06 PM

Team Tommy Bahama just finished this wind/no wind 12th leg in a disappointing Eleventh position but still holds on to third place overall by about 30 minutes.

More Later

.........Mr.Ernie

On another note, the sailors all awoke to a delightful story in the local newspaper, the Wilmington Morning Star. It was a very well written article but it had one major flaw. Concerning any award for the winner of the Worrell 1000, the reporter wrote, "Not much more than a hearty handshake, maybe a cold beer, and the satisfaction of enduring..."

Somehow no one told him of the Carlton Tucker Memorial Trophy that sits proudly in its case at the Ft. Walton Beach Yacht Club. Carlton was a great friend to so many and was without doubt one of the greatest sailors that ever got onto a catamaran (or any other sailboat, for that matter), and was also a Worrell 1000 sailor. 

On his untimely passing during the Worrell 1000 Race, a memorial service was held at Myrtle Beach in his honor. It was at that time that Catamaran Sailor Magazine had built and dedicated a very beautiful trophy in his honor and annually award it to the winning team of the Worrell 1000. Also, all the winners since the beginning of this race were also retroactively placed on the trophy.

Nothing but a handshake and a beer? Hardly! To have your name and your team's name posted on a trophy dedicated to such a great sailor and such a great person, to be listed alongside of some of the greatest sailors in the history of multihull racing, to be one among the elite in catamarans, that would be a dream come true for most of us.
 
 

With the kind permission of Rick and Mary, who have been doing a terrific job of up to the minute reporting of this race, I am reprinting this article from Catsailor.com.