Mike Phillips teamed up with also Miami Yacht Club's - No excuses Team sailor Kenny Pierce and sailed their all-carbon fiber Marstrom 20 almost flawlessly to again capture the 110-mile trek around the Upper Keys.
Also MYC members and No Excuses sailors Leandro Spina and Jamie Livingston paired up on a Tornado and took second spot, with Eric and Bill Roberts on an ARC22 landing in 3rd place, just ahead of Steve Lohmayer and Jay Sonnenklar on a Nacra20.
This was the 24th Annual Key Largo Steeplechase Race that runs from the mouth of Jewfish Creek in Barnes Sound northerly to Angelfish Creek, where the fleet sails out to the ocean side of the islands. The first day is more or less a drag race to Anne’s Beach, 60 miles after the start.

The race got its name from the second day of the race. The sailors continue down the ocean side, then sail beneath the Channel Five Bridge where they team up with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and head northerly to the finish just south of Jewfish Creek. However, if you follow the Waterway, you will be way behind the fleet. Most just bash across the shallow sand/mud banks, saving tons of time.

From the days in Merry Olde England, the horses would race from one spot to a distant church steeple, with no course. The best and quickest way might be a direct course, no matter what stood in the way – creeks, fences, or whatever.  So too is the second day of the Key Largo Steeplechase – blast over flats and small mangrove shoots, paddle through mangrove creeks, or whatever it takes.