News
Transpac 2019 is in the books! The Flyingfiche II crossed the finish line just after 8 p.m. local time Sunday. We placed fourth of 11 in our very competitive division, and 12th of 84 finishers overall.
This is the second Transpac that we've completed on this boat, and everyone has been asking the obvious question: How did 2019 compare to 2017?
The conditions in 2017 were much milder, and from what I understand, this year's conditions were much more typical—more wind, bigger waves, tougher squalls. The shift in degree of conditions results in a change in the kind of sailing on these boats. When the wind and waves lined up—like when we were coming down Molokai Channel, especially—we weren't sailing in the way we do in the coastal waters of Southern California. It was a surfing session on a 50-foot board that has a spinnaker attached to help drop in. We were able to get into this mode much more often this year, and it enabled us to finish the race faster by an entire day. The difference in top speeds was huge—17.5 knots last time compared to 24.5 this year. The Santa Cruz 50 was designed for this race, and that was much more apparent to me this year.
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By sunset on Monday, only a handful of yachts were still at sea heading towards the finish in the 50th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race, organized by the Transpacific YC. This day was overcast and almost dreary compared to the bright tropical sunshine of all the other finish days, and with the final stretch after many days at sea many teams were more than ready to cross the finish at Diamond Head.
A source of fatigue and frustration for many was the unusual sea state produced by cross-swells, making the smaller and slower boats in particular difficult to sail efficiently. One team sent a message saying "On land, I will miss thrashing about the boat, getting vibrant bruises that connect to form geographic regions all over my body." Kidding aside, for some this was also the source of damage that had serious effects on their race.
Read moreFIRST TO FINISH: ARGO, MOD 70, Jason Caroll
BARN DOOR TROPHY (First monohull): COMANCHE, Verdier/VPLP 100, Jim Cooney & Samantha Grant
MERLIN TROPHY: RIO100, Bakewell/White 100, Manouch Moshayedi
STORM TRYSAIL TEAM TROPHY: TBD (Naughty Blue Tequila leader as of 7/22/19)
1st OVERALL ORR: HAMACHI, J/125, Shawn Doughery & Jason Andrews
1st DIV 0: ARGO, MOD70, Jason Caroll
1st DIV 0A: TBD
1st DIV 1: BADPAK, Pac52, Tom Holthus
1st DIV 2: TAXI DANCER, RP70, Yabsley / Compton
1st DIV 3: HAMACHI, J/125, Shawn Doughery & Jason Andrews
1st DIV 4: OAXACA, Santa Cruz 50, Michael Moradzadeh
1st DIV 5: GOOD CALL, Nautor's Swan 60, Tom Barker
1st DIv 6: BLUEFLASH, J/121, Scott Grealish
1st DIV 7: CHUBASCO, S&S Yawl, Akin / Baker / Carpenter / Durant
1st DIV 8: SWEET OKOLE, Farr 36, Dean Treadway
1st DIV 9: FREE, Swan 461, Christian Doegl
1st DIV 10: CALLISTO, Cal 40, Eddy Family
Mother nature put on quite a display over the past 24 hr. We finally saw an amazing sunset. The clouds glowed orange sorbet, soft pink and mauve.
I think this was her apology for the recurring cloud bursts over the course of the day. We would go from bone dry to soaked to the bone in 10 minutes. At least it was warm rain.
At one point, there was a rainbow that made a complete circle around the sun. So much amazing beauty out here. Overnight the Milky came out in all of her glory complete with shooting stars; several bright enough to have a tail. They would last for seconds before they burned out.
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Mostly favorable weather conditions for this race and the staggered start paradigm has created for the 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race what was intended: a flood of both fast and slow entries converging together on the finish in Hawaii. Some 70% of the 82 entries that will finish in this year's edition have or will have finished between Saturday Noon and Monday Noon, a remarkable high density flood of racers arriving happy, tired, thirsty and wholly satisfied with this year's race.
TPYC race officials say 75% of the entries in this year's anniversary edition are newcomers to the race, but there are a lot of familiar faces on the arrival docks and Aloha parties being held at Waikiki and Hawaii Yacht Clubs. All of them, even among the Division 1 and Division 2 teams deprived of course records and corrected time victories due to their first night of light air, have said this year's race for them was the best in memory.
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With roughly 100 NM to go, we have a nearly cloudless sky and 17-20 knot tradewinds sending us to the turn at Molokai, then the final stretch to the Diamond Head Buoy. The evening sky last night after sunset was resplendent in its Indigo accents punctuated by the Milky Way and so many stars with brilliant Mars and Venus showing. The energy on board is peaking as the fleet converges and gains are made in the last run to the finish! The 4-on / 4-off watch schedule was suspended this morning by the Skipper as we prepare for the approaching classic experience of storied winds and waves of the Molokai Channel. Families and friends can still watch the live Yellow Brick (200NMS version) presentation of this last leg while preparing the perfect Mai Tai and donning a fresh Island Lei.
The boat is remarkably clean, from the perspective of an offshore racer - family & friends should probably delay entry until the sailors do their thing; the food has been really good - only one freeze dried meal of Mac and Beans Chili with the prior night's Sabatinos sausage leftovers added for flavor. We have eaten all the water, carbs and proteins needed for this final 100 NM showdown. We have also caught up on sleep and we greatly anticipate these final 10 hours as the fleet sorts out who is where and execute the critical gybes required at the optimal moment off the wall at Molokai. Some will make it, some might not. The high winds and vertical short period high wave chop are so focused within the narrow passage between these Islands that anything can happen to affect the final outcome.
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To all who followed or were involved in Katara's journey across the Pacific,
We are official members of the double digits club! Just moments ago we cross the 100nm line from the Diamond Head light finish line. We are making excellent way at 12-14kts in a pleasant 18-20kts of breeze. We've got a heck of a ride ahead of us down the Molokai Channel and it should be all the more sporty for having to do it in the dark.
We are projecting a finish sometime near 0600 HST, or approximately 9.5 hours from now.
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With the conditions on the race course remaining perfect, the first of a large wave of finishers has started to cross the finish line at Diamond Head in the 50th edition of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race. Since Merlin Trophy-winner Rio100 finished last night, four more boats have finished: Phil Turner and Duncan Hines's R/P 66 Alive from Australia, Bob Pethwick's Rogers 46 Bretwalda 3, Daniel Gribble's Tripp 56 Brigadoon, and the local Hawaii-based team onCecil and Alyson Rossi's Farr 57 Ho'okolohe. Tom Holthus's Pac 52 BadPak is fast approaching to be next to finish at sunset.
The crowd at Waikiki YC was so full of friends and family to greet Ho'okolohe, the berthing dock threatened to collapse. Buoyed by their spectacular finish at Diamond Head and finishing in their own home waters, the crew described their trip in glowing terms like "champagne sailing", "best trip yet", and "this boat has never gone so fast."
Brigadoon beat Ho'okolohe to the finish line by an hour and 40 minutes, but trailed in corrected time scoring by about 14 minutes. However, currently Brigadoon is the sole finisher in the Corinthian division, where a trophy will be awarded to the team composed of all-amateur sailors who finishes with the best corrected time.
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