Atlantic Cup - Fleet sets sail on 648 nautical mile first leg

by Julianna Barbieri on 11 May 2014 Four teams from the United States set sail in the 2014 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing at 12:05 ET today in a southwest 20-25 knot breeze. All teams had double-reefed mainsails at the upwind start that saw number 54-Dragon cross the line first. However, number 116-JeffreyMacFarlane.com launched to the front of the fleet and led the first and only mark rounding. After the mark rounding the course became a reach to Fort Sumter and a fetch out of the jetties, which saw multiple lead changes. Number106 Gryphon Solo 2 was the first team to hoist their spinnaker and enter the ocean. The fleet is still tightly packed as they head west for the Gulf Stream.

Number 25 - Flatline skippered by Kyle Hubley and Frederic de Mesel, were unable to make the start in Charleston, SC, but will join the fleet in New York City. Flatline will be scored as DNS (did not start) and be given zero points for the first leg. The first leg represents one third of the scoring for the overall Atlantic Cup, so Flatline is still in contention once they join the fleet.

The four teams will continue en route to New York Harbor. Models are showing an exceptionally fast, downwind race with an estimated arrival time of sometime Tuesday afternoon, May 13. The second leg of the competition departs on May 17 at 2 p.m. The annual event culminates in Newport, R.I. with two days of Inshore racing (May 24-25).

Racing tracking will update every five minutes and can be found at: Atlantic Cup