Next installment.....sorry for the delay.

By now the boat was starting to come undone a bit. Remember this is a family cruiser, not a purpose built race boat. At the fuel stop, we carefully stowed the cabinet doors that had come flying off and repositioned the other items that had come loose. Before the rear seat was stowed again, the extra quarts of motor oil were put safely away for future use later in the race. This was also the official burial of the intercoms. This was a safety move, as on one wave off Montauk, we came down so hard the intercom unit on Joe’s belt flew off and came right in front of me. I grabbed it by the cord as it was headed over the side and managed to flip it forward so that Jon could catch it and shove it in a compartment near him….all this while holding on with one hand and trying not to throw up on my new Lifeline jacket. Great fun, better than golfing, for sure.

On the run toward Manhattan, we were amused by the two strings of white something or other that kept flapping over the deck of the boat. I guessed the Don Aronow race stickers had come to tatters, but we found out that the calking between the deck and the hull had loosened with each crash and was now flapping back at us like long tethers of a spider web. My hands were now starting to cramp up as the grab handle behind the bolster was fine for my left hand, but the thin grab rail on the right side of the boat was too small for that hand and I couldn’t get a good grip

Meanwhile up front, Joe had forgotten to put his gloves back on and was now driving and throttling with bare hands. I thought that somebody is going to have a big blister tonight. Jon was trying to adjust to the conditions as best he could, but he was still in the process of learning how to do a smooth reentry by using your legs for shock absorbers and every now and then I could hear a loud groan or sound over the engines, as he caught a bad landing again and again.

As I had plenty of free time I could let my mind wander to the great racers of the past who covers these same waters in their quest for glory. As good as the win was going to be, I trembled having to face Brownie who could now say, “Good show, but I won that race in a smaller boat (28 foot Donzi) and in less time (under 5 hours) over 40 years ago.”

I also remembered my phone call with Bobby Sacenti just before I got on the boat to go out to the start. He reminded me of the trick we used to pull on new drivers when they first showed up to race in Open class. They would be there with all new equipment and beaming from ear to ear with eager anticipation of joining this new fraternity. We would sidle up to them and say….”It is kind of secret with the Open class guys, but there is a $1,000 prize for the first guy who can get to the first checkpoint, just wanted you to be aware of it.” Our hope of course, was they would go all out and blow up before the real racing started. Bobby said to go and tell the two Outerlimits guys, it would make their day.

Back to the race….we are still heading west…damn that is one long beach. I have now started to visualize the towers of Manhattan on the horizon. I knew we still had miles to go but I could dream couldn’t I? I also kept looking back over my shoulder, just in case the repairs had been done to the Outerlimits boats. Joe was still pushing and the waves were still building and the little Sonic was still looking good. My new job was to take one of the water bottles that had now broken loose and was rolling around the floor and squeeze enough water out of it to clean Joe’s glasses, as they were coating over with salt with each major hit and spray blowback we were taking. I managed to do this by letting go and squirting while we were in mid air….then grabbing on for the landing and then wiping dry on the next launch.

As we closed toward New York City I could see that the power steering was running low on fluid and Joe was fighting to keep the boat straight on the landings. We would soon be stopping and topping off again, hopefully we could make it out of the ocean waters and into the harbor, where that kind of work would be much easier. As we passed Coney Island, we took one of the biggest landings of the trip and I could both hear and see Jon physically take it all the wrong way. Without the helmet, I’m sure he would have tears in his eyes on that one. But soon we were into calmer waters and things started to look up…..until we passed a ferry and heard a loud pop and the boat lurched to the port side.

We came off plane and checked under the hatch and found a missing belt on the power steering. We used this stop to fill up the power steering pump again and put on the new belt and of course hot wire the trim pump again to get that tab down so we could get on plane……pretty soon we could do this in the dark.


As we got moving again, I checked with Joe to remind him to not lose this race by doing anything stupid. slow down for every boat wake, be careful in the East River for refrigerators, dead horses or whatever else may be coming down. He said he was already thinking that way and we took off for the final leg. At this point I must confess, I became a bit weepy as we passed by the Statue of Liberty and I thought how blessed we were to be able to defend this cup from going over to Britain. How this is what America is all about, not having the best or even being the best, but never, ever giving up or losing the confidence in ourselves that this can be done and will be done.

The East River was deceptively calm for a while but then coming toward us, there was a big red fireboat from the NYFD, putting up a wake like we were back at Montauk again. Joe handled it very smoothly and we were then looking for the last few bridges to go under.

There was a bit of confusion in the many waterways of the river but thanks to Jon’s careful navigational preparation, he knew exactly where to go and where to stay away from. We were out from under the last bridge and heading toward the finish. We swept past the finish line and Joe threw the boat in a dramatic 180 degree turn. (Kind of like the NASCAR guys do after they win) We high fived each other and just let the victory sink in. David against Goliath. One for the little guys. If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it.

We headed back into the harbor and were met by the guy from Virginia in his Donzi that he fixed up enough to be out there to welcome us in and little Sam (Minihawk) in his little outboard. As we pulled up to the marina, we could see that not only were our own friends and family there, but the entire British crew had made their way back from the harbor where they left their boat, to be on hand to welcome us back in and congratulate us on the victory. Real show of class there for sure.

Here are some shots from the day.

Great story!

Congrats to Joe and crew, sounds like a day you'll never ever forget!!!

What an awesome story! Thanks for the great commentary!

I guess I should introduce myself, I’m the navigator from the now fabled Sonic 30’ owned by Joe Defusco. First and foremost I need to once again thank Joe for having the confidence to invite me as navigator. It was an honor to be a part of this race moreover to be a member of the winning team. I also need to thank Charlie for offering to come with us. Having an “old school” racer with us really added something and his feedback truly helped.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words and congratulations, I am still in shock. I would be lying if I said I fully understood what this race truly means to people but day after day I’m finally seeing the historic undertones. I should note that I was not a true go-fast racer and I’m no where near the caliber of Joe, Charlie or our competition. Before this race I was only an offshore sailor with limited 50mph+ experience. I’m now a member of something really amazing that I will never forget. This race was a real challenge from a navigation perspective and required a great deal of time and effort to do right. We were lucky in that we had already charted many locations for fuel and emergency stops, even having gone so far as to schedule the stops with the marinas. I know the area like the back of my hand and no wave is too big for me, I’m a sailor after all. I felt ready for this race but never expected it to unfold the way it did. More than once I questioned my sanity…and Joes. (Running with no power steering and a broken tab in the OCEAN, what is he CRAZY??) And as it turns out holding onto a GPS and radio and the boat all at the same time is a challenge…who would have thought? After experiencing a double bounce when I was not ready something in my back let go. I have no clue what it was but the pain was unbelievable. I shed a tear more than once as we came down from flying through the air but I never let myself loose it. Hell, if Charlie who is my fathers age and Joe who is doing 30 things at once can handle this so can I. I honestly think watching the two of them beam from ear to ear and knowing how much this meant to Joe helped me keep it together and keep the boat on track.

For those of you who supported the event, thank you. Though the turnout was “low” it was a hearty group of serious racers/supporters who were there with a distinct purpose. I honestly don’t understand why “go-fast” racers have a bad reputation with sailors. You are some of the nicest guys I have ever boated with and a lot less arrogant than most sailors. Thank you for the advice and encouragement, it was much appreciated. Congratulations to everyone who started the event or even attempted to do so. Not everything always works out the way you want it to but a real effort was made and that is something you should be proud of. I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank the British racing team. Through they experienced a catastrophic failure they were honorable enough to return to the marina and cheer us on. It truly made the win special to have them there on the dock for our return. They were gracious in the loss and heartfelt in their congratulations. I’m looking forward to racing against them again!

One last thing, I would like to echo the comments Charlie made about Joe and the Sonic. Joe worked for the last 2+ months getting the boat ready. I’m not talking fuel and oil but serious prep work down to checking stringers and adding redundant systems. He acted as driver, throttle man and engineer. He drove without power assist for more than 30 miles and without a working tab for 200 miles. He never got to sit down, relax or enjoy the lower west side of New York City. Joe is a different kind of driver and in my opinion deserved this win more than I can ever say. As for the Sonic; what a great boat. I’m an offshore sailor who knows boats through and through and I’m amazed. For this 30 footer to take the pounding it did and come out unscathed is remarkable. It is a tribute to over-engineering and over-building boats to last. It is also a tribute to proper maintenance and knowing limits. Great motors, fantastic hull and amazing crew.

So when is the next race?

Joe, Jon and Charlie!

Congrats! An awesome run! And best of all you did it in a period correct boat . . I can't imagine the crossing from Plum Gut to Montauk at any speed!

FWIW, three Donzi's, a 22 Classic, a Corsican and an 18 Classic made their way out to the Ruins in Gardeners Bay to watch, expecting the fast boats an hour or so after an anticipated 8AM start we were there early and waited till shortly before 11 . . by then we'd had enough rolling and bobbing in the waves and swells, that stretch had to be nasty!

Nothing Charlie wrote is an understatement! Good Run!

Congrats Joe, Jon and Charlie, quite the accomplishment.

Very hard to surpass as a great racing story.

Great Story. Congrats to all involved, what a triumph !!!!:party-smiley-020:

Compelling story, well told.

Congratulations, gentlemen.

Great Effort by Charlie and team to set the new V bottom record. As the current record holder at 3:06, and havign spent 3 years, untold thousands and a lot of blood, I tip my cap to their herculean effort