Miami Vice Report                   on the 2004 Etchells Mid-Winters Jaguar Series                                             by Bob Bruno Etchells are outstanding boats for one design racing with a huge following, worldwide and four days of racing in Florida is a great way to refuel in the dead of winter. Each day, the boats left the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club between 8:30-9:30 and tacked out of the narrow channel, bearing away to the starting area in time for the first gun at 10:55. Two races per day kept everyone busy until returning around 4:30-5:00 in time for drinks and post-race commiserations at the club. Temperatures ranged between 80-85 degrees for the entire week under sunny skies with good winds over Biscayne Bay. Racing was hosted by BBYC who did an excellent job of race management. With roughly 60 boats on the line, there was a lot of close-quarter sailing and clear lanes were hard to find. Competition included some world class talent, including Ken Read who finished a close 2nd to Jud Smith. Four boats from Fleet 24 (DIYC) competed. Congratulations to Chuck Poindexter and crew , Toby Doyle and Dave Dyson who placed 17th overall on Hoochie Koochie with two top 10 finishes. Tim Keyworth and crew at 21st overall really got their boat going in the final races with three top 10 finishes. Robert Allardice and crew finished solidly in the middle of the fleet in 29th. Mark McCarthy and I crewed for Dennis Carriere whose rig suffered major problems just 3 days before the series began when the mast broke at the vang attachment point. Rigging Systems in Miami was incredibly helpful in supplying parts for sleeving and welding the mast in time for racing. Unfortunately, speed and pointing is critically dependant on tweaking the mast bend side-to-side and fore-and-aft to match conditions and the repair stiffened the entire bottom half of the mast, so none of our optimized settings worked. We just felt sloowwww.  Then, adding insult to injury, during the 2nd race of day three, we lost our spinnaker halyard at the top mark. This is, by the way, an excellent technique for working your way to the back of the fleet. Still, we eeked out several good races and finished in 44th place. A new mast is on the way. If you like one design racing, you might consider the Etchells Mid-Winter Jaguar Series in Miami as a way to spend a week in February. I left Miami after four days of racing with sore arms, rope burns, blisters, cuts, sun burn, and bruised ego, ready to race again next year.