Even before she was launched in Auckland, NZ, Speedboat was the source of much speculation.  Topping the list was that Mick Cookson may have built the fastest super-maxi yet.  Within days of mounting the 44.3-meter deck-stepped, five spreader cathedral in-line rig to the carbon fiber hull with its canting keel and daggerboards, Speedboat topped 22 knots.  The Bermuda Race hasn’t presented conditions to perform at her best, but it’s clear that the giant rig creates more than just a moderate amount of apparent wind and very little drag.  With winds approaching 8 knots from the SSE, Speedboat trotted along toward the SE at over 12 knots.  With Alex Jackson on the reins, Speedboat sprinted with the First to Finish in the Open Division prize, the Royal Mail Trophy, clinched like a bit between a thoroughbred’s gnashing teeth. 

The other recently christened stallion making its offshore debut in the Open Division, Il Monstro, Puma Ocean Racing Team’s Volvo Open 70, trotted along in its own lane to the west of Speedboat.  For skipper, Ken Read; navigator, Andrew Cape and the crew including: Michael Muller, Casey Smith, Jerry Kirby, Jonathan McKee, Justin Ferris, Chris Nicholson and Rick Deppe, the 635-mile dash to Bermuda, hopefully, in less than two days, is a training exercise for the 37,000-mile circumnavigation that they will start in October when they leave Alicante, Spain in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. 

Read and company’s training boat for the past year, George David’s Rambler, carried the torch for the the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division, which includes fixed keel boats with professional crews.  Midway through the day on Saturday other Gibbs Hill Division leaders such as Moneypenny, Bellamente, Numbers and Blue Yankee were within 360 miles of the finish at St. David’s Light.

Another big boat with blazing speed during the first half of the race is Michael Reardon’s Reichel Pugh 80, Shockwave 5, formerly known as Bon Bon.  It is the scratch boat in the St. David’s Lighthouse Division comprised of boats with amateur crews and fixed keels.  

Many of the navigators have been eyeing a big high pressure system between them and Bermuda and are expecting the pace will slow.  Conditions could suddenly become much more favorable for Rambler and Shockwave 5, which may be more nimble in light air conditions.  Rambler and Shockwave 5 are also vying to have their name be the first to be engraved at the base of the North Rock Trophy.  Royal Bermuda Yacht Club has donated a gorgeous silver lattice towered replica of the old beacon that stood on North Rock. It is a keeper trophy recognizing the overall winner of the 116 IRC boats in the Gibbs Hill and St. David’s Lighthouse Divisions.