News
July 20, 2019, 1430
A key part of life onboard Merlin is routine, however as the race progresses some routines have strengthened and some have fallen by the wayside. There are no more complaints about cold weather it is now complaints about the lack of fans down below. Various project completed during the week have strengthen bonds and broaden skill sets. A repaired A2 spinnaker took many watches and hours of labor from the crew to fix after it blew out.
Only 24 hours out from Hawaii, it will be an intense time overnight as we push hard to gain precious miles on handicap before we say Aloha.
July 19, 2019, 1400
Hats off and a big shout out to all the women sailing in the 2019 50th anniversary Transpac. Cheers to Merlin’s women crew onboard Kat Robinson and Adrienne Cahalan. Whether it is your first Transpac or fifteenth, we hope all you girls are all having fun out here!
July 18, 2019, 1200
Day 5 turned into an intense night after a few spinnakers went up and down and dodging little black clouds and intermittent showers. Today Day 6 the sun is out, nice trade winds are blowing, the crew is in good spirits and moments of offshore humor are more frequent. Last night we were treated to a special phenomena- when under the full moon a moonbow appeared which is a white halo like ring similar to a rainbow but without the colors.
July 17, 2019
HALF WAY DAY
On half way day we are just starting to see some of the masts from boats in the prior starting divisions as we catch up. It’s times like this we are very grateful for the unsung contributors to the boat and crew especially Romeo from Villareal who prepared our savory cuisine. Luckily for us there is no freeze dried food before Day 9! Our thoughts and discussion among the crew were about Jimmy Slaughter last night but for his injury he would be with us right now and experiencing the fruits of his labor and attention to detail which is paying off. Cheers to Jimmy.
July 16, 2019
Day 4 of the race and it’s been busy. Running under spinnaker now for several days means that in addition to sailing hard we have to continuously check the gear and fix any wear and tear. Amongst all the excitement we lost track of what time and day it was so yesterday evening at sunset when we all got on deck to celebrate Mackenzie Cook’s birthday unfortunately Mackenzie informed us that his birthday was the day before. Beautiful clear sky sailing yesterday and more overcast today. We were relieved to hear that the OEX and Pyewacket crew had reached port safely.
July 15, 2019
Day 3 of the Transpac finds Merlin in better breeze experiencing the conditions that this race is famous for. The crew has maintained a solid watch schedule and been pushing the boat hard, having a lot of fun doing it. We are expecting some spinnaker action soon and some more waves over the deck to keep us all cool in the blue skies and sunshine. Our thoughts are with the crew of OEX and Pyewacket.
July 14 2019
Day 2 After a fairly atypical first night for a Transpac Race we are still playing the very low velocity winds and attempting to go fast forward on our competition. We are still in visual range of a number of our closest competitors which keeps us motivated and working hard. Chip is enjoying his time and relearning to relish a cup of tea courtesy of our Australian navigator Adrienne Cahalan.
