Kip Stone update

America Open 50 sailor reports on his entering the Bermuda 1-2

Spring has taken its time to arrive this year in New England, but that hasn't slowed our work on the boat!

The 2005 Bermuda 1-2 Race is just around the corner with competitors racing the 635 nautical mile outbound leg solo from Newport to Bermuda then returning June 16 double-handed. I'm pleased to announce that Merf Owen, my mentor and the lead designer of the boat, will be joining me for the race back to Newport. The last time Merf and I sailed together was a few days before the start of the 2004 Transat, and the expertise I gleaned from his few hours on board made a real difference in my ability to make the boat go fast. Given how much I still have to learn, I look at Merf being on board for the return leg to Newport as the Master Class I probably should have taken some time ago!

But for right now, it's all about preparing Artforms and myself for the June 3 start. I consider myself both lucky and proud to have New Zealand's Tim Sadler back as the boat's shore-side manager, or "'preparateur' as he loves to be called. During the design and construction phase of the boat in 2002- 2003, Tim was the naval architect responsible for all the interior drawings as well as most of the appendages (rudders, daggerboards, bowsprit). So, from an engineering perspective, he understands the boat from the inside out. But he's also not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty and, before the long delivery from New Zealand to the UK last spring, Tim was instrumental in helping Alan Nebauer and me get off the dock in ship-shape fashion.

When I finally arrived in Plymouth, Tim was there to catch the lines and to tackle the work list I'd generated by sailing halfway around the world and by clawing my way up the learning curve. The highest praise for any race preparateur is always reserved for when the boat crosses the finish line and when I arrived in Boston last June, the boat looked brand new and ready to start the next race. Very high praise, indeed!

Tim and I are pleased to be joined this spring by Ryan Finn, an up-and-coming solo sailor from New Orleans who already has a solo TransPac under his belt and who brings years of sailmaking and racing experience to the program. One of my great pleasures is showing people what the Open Class designed boats are all about, and when Ryan took the tiller last week and suddenly found himself skipping along at 16-17 knots, it was quite clear by the look on his face that he "Got it!" and that the previous two and a half weeks of tedious hard work he put into the boat were well on the way to being forgotten. It's guys like Ryan who are going to be pushing me around (or off!) the racecourse before too long and it's been great to have him around.

As for myself, I'm balancing my time between work at the office and work on the boat and doing my best to cover the two jobs at once. For the most part, my work on the boat is split between my long-term need to secure the financial support required to remain competitive at this level of racing and my immediate need to prepare for the next race and to tackle the navigational complexities I'm sure to be facing June 3. After a 2,900 nautical mile race like the Transat, you might be lured into thinking the relatively short hop from Newport to Bermuda might be easy - however, you'd be very wrong!

For one thing, in a race that only lasts a few days there's very little chance to recover from any error. And, snaking its way between Newport and Bermuda, the serpentine Gulf Stream lies in wait, a river of warm water ready to sap the boat-speed of any navigator lured to the wrong side of a meandering eddy. Even just breaking free of the coast to get to the Gulf Stream this time of year can be a challenge, as the coastal waters are still quite cold and the sun is now high in the sky. That combination tends to set up strong sea breezes during the day that, in turn, create windless parking lots offshore the following night - a maddening experience.

Then, once you've managed to solve the first two problems, you're still faced with the fact that Bermuda tends to be blessed with high-pressure (read windless!) weather systems making it a Mecca for tourists but confounding sailors with light and variable breezes. Add it all up, and you'll understand why navigators on Bermuda races usually don't get much sleep and why they tend to end up with either all the credit or all the blame - no shades of gray on this race course.

So, I have my hands full once again and feel more than challenged by the race that lies ahead. I've sailed to Bermuda many times over the years on deliveries back and forth between New England and the Caribbean. But this is the first time I've ever had a chance to race, so if anyone reading this update has any knowledge or wisdom they'd care to impart, please let me know as soon as possible - I can use all the help I can get!