He has been racing his sailboat Hot Ticket at Key West this past week in the Acura Key West 2008.
The competition is the largest winter regatta in North America with 76 boats entered this year.
Hightower’s 37-foot Dicke-rson is pitted against nine other sailboats in Class 4C of the Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF).
While under sail en route to Key West on Jan. 4, Hightower and three friends encountered an unexpected mishap when Hot Ticket lost its rudder and rudder shaft in 10- to 12-foot seas about 130 miles off the Florida coast.
Hightower said he quickly completed damage control by wedging a towel into a 4-inch hole in the hull just beneath the stern. He screwed plywood over the towel and then turned to pumping 300 gallons of seawater from the bilge.
The Coast Guard Cutter Farralon towed boat and crew to Stock Island at Key West where Hot Ticket was pulled for repairs.
A firm in Ottawa machined a new shaft assembly, bearings and rudder and sent it by air to Houston. Hightower’s crew drove non-stop from Houston to Key West where rudder repair and fiberglass damage was corrected in time for a shakedown cruise Jan. 18 and races that began Jan 21.
Hightower said the repairs have worked well but the rudder is a little stiff because it is so new.
“It’s only been on the boat a few days now, but the control is very good,” he said.
The regatta chairman called off races Monday when a fierce northeaster blew in delivering winds ranging from 25-30 knots and seas running 6 to 8 feet. Hightower said the cancellation did not go in his favor.
“Hot Ticket does well in those winds,” he said.
He said the safety factor was important, however, since the committee boats (with judges aboard) were having trouble holding anchor in the blustery weather.
Tuesday proved better with moderate seas of 3 to 4 feet and winds at 22 knots. Temperature was a balmy 75 degrees - typical for Key West this time of year.
“Things went well Tuesday,” Hightower said. “We were in the middle of the pack with a finish in three races of fourth, sixth and sixth (out of 10). I was kinda glad to be there.”
He said a 20-knot wind is not the best sailing condition for his boat since it performs better in a hard blow.
Wednesday saw a complete turnaround, said Hightower. Competition was called off before boats could complete the first race because the wind died completely.
He said the race chairman is trying to assure them a minimum of 10 races for the week.
Hot Ticket is competing in a medium displacement class of 10 boats with a narrow 24 second per mile rating band.
That means that the boats - due to hull design and other factors - will complete a mile run somewhere within 24 seconds of one another.
Fleet rules give the slower boats a handicap of so many seconds.
Hightower said during Tuesday’s races the matches were very close regardless of handicaps with the whole pack rounding buoys in close unison and boats finishing the five-mile course within seconds of one another.
“They matched a good plan this year,” he said.
Hightower, who races with a crew of nine, has Jeff Kitterman from Kemah aboard crewing for him. Last year Hightower said he crewed aboard Kitterman’s sailboat – an SR-33 named As If. It was class champion in PHRF-Class 4 races at the Acura Key West 2007.
His total support crew both afloat and ashore is 22, he said.
Hightower said the regatta sponsors have put up a circus tent easily one square block in size.
Every night between 5 and 8 p.m. several hundred involved in the regatta gather for a social hour and viewing of videos taken that day.
“The video crews always pick the most spectacular visuals,” he said. “It’s not always shots the skipper is proud of,” he said, laughing.
There are no monetary prizes for class champions such as in horse racing, he said. But winners get a trophy.
“It’s a wonderful catalyst for fun and friendship,” Hightower said. “You get to see people you haven’t seen in a year at these events.”
Hightower said he has sailed in the Acura Key West races nine different times though not always on Hot Ticket.
