Update
arrived in good shape ahead of Argo and the pasta pirates. Race on. Well, kinda boring actually as we continued upwind! We
survived the first night without a parking lot and in the morning had Argo to leeward and back a click or two and Maserati out behind by 5-6 miles. Then the radio cackled to life with Argo informing us they had engine issues (water in the oil) and were dropping out. A real shame as we had had some super close racing with Argo on two coastal races this year. And a day race in SF Bay with Snowflake too (we won that one!). Day 2 to the finish we go west close to the rhumbline. We
continually stretched on Maseratias new breeze was always ahead. Once we got out of the classic June gloom high overcast skies we were ripping off the miles. Morning of Day 3 Justin pops up and reports a quiet 624nm day’s
run… plus Argo had dropped off Jason, sorted the issues and was back on the course unofficially. Argostill passed all the monos before the finish. Transpac legend and veteran Bill Lee always tells you fast is fun. Working my memory bank. My first Transpac was in 1985 and
it was a slow 12-day affair on the new sled Prima with a great crew. Yet the breeze did not show and my faith in my laidback SoCal mates promoting sleigh rides to Hawaii was blemished a bit; yet that did not keep me away from a handful more on other fast ULDB sleds. The last Transpac I had done and a special one for sure was 1997
on Explorerwith Bruno Peyron, Florence Arthaud, Skip Novak included, and it was the first Transpac when multihulls were recognised. Seven days plus change was our time and again not a windy one yet it established multihulls as a class in the race. What was special this year was winning with Justin Shaffer (incred-
ible man) and our core team of Hogan, Matt, Paul and Morgan – kinda like taking your sisters to your prom. Or something like that! We all shared the Alohaspirit and due to mathematical calculations
being Mai Thai-fuzzy probably only have 37 Transpacs between us. So we know how to get to Diamond Head, we know our MOD 70 very well and we put in the time and miles this season together to grease all the wheels as a team. Gotta be proud of being part of the dream, the passion and the accomplishments all of us brought together to just plain old go out and have some fun, barely get wet, eat freeze-dried food and fend off flying squid. MODs are beyond comparison for the ideal perfect day race and
offshore multihull racing. For Transpac we were in super light mode. All original foils and
gear but new main, Solent J1 and gennaker were key to speed. Breakdowns did not cost us much, just the strop on the gennaker halyard lock broke yet we had it back up and flying super quick and we’re fortunate for that. We escaped any damage from flotsam – plenty of close calls with
a soup of myriad wood and plastics with quite a few bangs into garbage. Scary at night, almost manageable in daylight. But how many barrels and buckets did we miss??? The 500nm-out final layline call is always fun but arrival at crack
of dark 03.00 still brought out a few fans and the obligatory officials. Special thanks to Joey and Yana Cabell, Leslie and Fuzz Foster and all the volunteers and yacht clubs who make this such a Fantastic Race and provide absolutely the best Aloha Hospitality to everyone. We had a blast in Waikiki and I had more fun than most because I had my kite kit and got one special hour of ultra-light flying through circular rainbows early one morning out on the west end. We need more work to get more recognition in this and all the
great ocean races for multihulls. The early European explorers were enlightened by the multihulls they encountered in the Pacific (then they spread STDs and lead poisoning and just about wiped out all humans in the Polynesians). Yet the Hawaiians, especially the Rudy Choys, Joey Cabell and
others, welcomed the French multihull pioneers 40-50 years ago. They came, saw, looked, sailed the big cats in Hawaii and returned to France to create what became the MODs, Ormas, Ultimes and so many more post-Hobie generation cool racing and cruising boats of today. Aloha and Maholo – Kokua!
q 20 SEAHORSE SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l 19… man-overboards l 4… yachts capsized and three dismastings l 2… heli-evacs l Around… 20 people in hospital l UK… Round the Island Race – fun for most of the family! l Honestly… this year’s lap was a cracker (ed) l Props… to Capt Yann Le Vaillant, of the ferry Mont St Michel l He who… threaded through the huge, tight-packed IRC fleet that
started the Morgan Cup but was becalmed across the east Solent l He hit none… tooted none (OK, one or two) l When… written to by a competitor, the (clearly) good captain
wrote a graceful reply summed up as… l Thank you… for your letter, it did get quite tense on the bridge l Props too… to Henry – son of Tony ‘Two-Tack’ Wetherell l Winner… of a super-competitive 2023 OK Worlds l Some…150 OKs rocked up this year… l As… the OK benefits from the Finn leaving the Olympics l As well as… a lot of dinghy champs from different classes now
deciding they’ve had enough of having a wet bottom… l Which means… their Laser fun days are over l A second wind… for the OK is entirely deserved with a technical
challenge not dissimilar to the Finn… l But lighter… up the slipway… l Did we mention… pumping off the boom is banned in the OKs? l Through... the floor block please… l So no… old gits struggling with the 1-to-1 pumpathon l Now… we’ve got the editor’s ear… l Having… conceded defeat with his light-alloy Finn trolley l Oh, yes… Two-Tack? l Well… Wetherell’s dad Tony was a monster 470 talent in his day l But… not a man you would find in the middle of the beat l Bad times… the iconic Farr-designed America’s Cup skiff NZL-20 from the 1992 Cup in San Diego was badly damaged when
it broke its mooring and was washed ashore in Kiwiland… l Considering… how radical it was, twin-keel and all that… l And how close… it came to being the Cup Challenger… l Rather like Farr’s… ‘veni, vidi, vici’ Vendée Globe winner
Foncia, there was no follow-up development? l Though… designer, political activist, author, poet Warwick
Collins might have had something to say about it… l He who… created the first modern twin-keel 35+ years ago… l Sadly… young Warwick is no longer with us l Also in Kiwiland… ‘allegedly’ current Cup-holder the Royal
NZ Yacht Squadron has issues with money… l Or rather… lack of it, to the tune of a recent annual loss of… l NZL$2million… says the sharp end of the Auckland press l No worries… just host a big, fat, profitable international regatta… l Lots of… superyachts and superyacht owners splashing it about l That’ll… sort it out, fellas… l Oh… wait a minute l Nice start… manufacturers of the new, affordable junior offshore
one-design Sun Fast 30 have 43 deposit-paid orders on the books l While out of… South Africa… l Orders for… the spraylicious Cape 31 continue to pour in… l 62 launched… and counting l Seven races straight… in the hands of young Ian Southworth
the Jacques Fauroux-designed Protis took another Quarter Ton Cup l 40+ years ago… Protis won the Cup in the hands of Bruno Troublé l Sails… by Louis Vuitton back then, Bruno? l Never mind… AI… l The routeing software… on Transpac line-honours cat Orion
predicted a race time of 4d 17h 39m 54s l Actual time… 4d 17h 48m 01s l Poor thing… the Imoca Guyot had a tough Ocean Race… l Hull damage… dismasting and lots else… l And later… hit with a penalty for carrying too many sails! l There’s a picture building up… isn’t there? l Again again…
RaceBoatsonly.com and
EurosailNews.com l By the way… thank you for supporting our humble publication
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