News
July 24, 2021
It has been a thrilling and exhausting 24 hours for Triumph and her crew, with 11 gybes and 4 sail changes. We are doing what we can to fend off the faster Horizon. We are taking advantage of the wind shifts and cloud formations for greater pressure. Win or lose, we left it all on the race course.
Last night had a close crossing - too close for me as I was on watch as Mr. Bill (newly named Rock & Roll) came towards us on Starboard. We were on Port. She had the right of way, although Col Regs applies at night and this means both vessels must avoid regardless. Maneuvering these beasts in the middle of the day is tough - night time with impaired visibility can be impossible. No way can we gybe within 2 miles to avoid. She was not receiving our hails on the VHF Channel 16 Emergency Channel (not sure why) as we saw their lights approach, she crossed roughly 20 boat lengths astern of us. Likely they may have not had someone below to make the call - we will find out when we talk on land.
Not much other news. The crew continues to perform at a high level.
We are starting to chuck food overboard and have mounted a head of cabbage on the companion way. I challenged The Snow Man to keep it there. He did well but eventually it rolled off. This is our mindset after being at sea for what seems like a very long time. Besides it getting really hot and our brains are getting cooked from the sun.
If all goes well we will hit the windward side of the Island of Molokai (Hey Lena - hope you and your family are doing well over there) tomorrow morning sometime between 11-12 am PST - we are maintaining our PST clocks to avoid confusion onboard.
From there we gybe for the red bell buoy off Daimond Head. Land, shade, Mai Tai's and friends and family await. Trust me, we are ready for all of that.
Aloooooohaaaaa!
July 23, 2021
Good Afternoon from Triumph. We are at N 25 degrees 03.617 minutes Latitude and W 149 degrees 39.965 minutes. It is sunny and hot. Wind is 18-22 knots. Swells are 3-6.
Last night was fun filled terror with a series of squalls. I have never liked squalls and after last night I hate them even more. We drove right in to the heart of the death star squall but came out the other end. Nick, Jeff, David (aka Spider Monkey) were on deck sailing in 22-25 knots of breeze, when about to be eaten David asks for relief and Jeff looks to me and says your up and I say NFW bud - that is above my pay grade. Jeff told The Spider Monkey to sit tight because we are not changing drivers during a squall. Moments later it was game on and we were swallowed hole and wind speeds quickly reached 30-33 knots with torrential rains. The rest of the crew was bunked below. Brad and Chris reported to be listening as Triumph hydroplaned and we yelled to each other about the rapidly changing conditions. Justin reportedly silently thanked David for his timing as Justin had just done a tiring 4 hour shift. Zack slept through the entire event. The Spider Monkey kicked the death star squalls ass! He is the boat MVP today. Only one day because we can't let this go to his head! BTW he continues to lead in the BMC.
We survived and are stronger for it. Today we I served up nachos with the left over Yucatan stew, jalepenos and piles of cheese.
We are all eager for dry land, a mai tai, shower and a bed that doesnt roll all night spitting you from side to side. We are eager to see our loved ones.
As you can see the race is close. We owe Horizon around 2 hours of time and as we approach we are constantly recalculating all the various possibilities. We need a header (wind to turn us to the right)and if we don't get that it may not work out. Pray for a header please. Or for a rogue fishing net to get wrapped around their keel temporarily!
Either way, this race may be won or lost by less than a Harbor 20 race in Newport Harbor. Alot less than the 25 minutes Thorpe needs to wake up before engaging.
On the safety topic for the day, this morning we found one of the crews PFD cylinders rolling around the cabin! That person will remain unnammed to avoid the wrath of a spouse. We got him squared away.
For those paying close attention to YB, you can see we are in a battle royale with the vessel Horizon. They seem to be reading our minds as we gybe on every wind shift, so do they. Did they smuggle a tracker onboard Triumph or are they just darn good sailors - probably the later. We are holding our own in a Santa Cruz 52 which is 5000 lbs heavier than the lighter Santa Cruz 50 which makes me proud of our boys.
Everyone is gelling. Our gybes are completed in 6 minutes from decision to turn through to execution. Quite an advancement primarily due to the coaching of Mr. Jeff Thorpe. He has high expectations and does not tolerate any non-sense in sailing execution. So we give him a wide berth and listen and learn. His knowledge of the wind, race course and weather is on another level.
Other miscellany:
That's all for now. Send prayers our way. We will sleep when we get to Hawaii!
July 22, 2021
Saw a fishing boat with 5 blinking buoys out this morning, about the same location identified yesterday by Rapid Transit. Spoke with captain - deep nets and no issue to us. One Cabo race to go (or 7.4 Ensenadas)!
July 19, 2021
Good morning Friends & Family of Triumph.
We have entered the "slot cars" section of the Transpac. We are riding the bottom edge of the weather pattern known as the Pacific High. For the most part, you will see all boats in their lane until the decision to gybe down to Hawaii. The good part is that the boat has flattened out and we can move about without holding on for dear life at 20% of heal - just imagine your house tilted up 20% in a light rain storm with the windows open.
David, Chris and I saw a whale jump 40-50 feet in the air, twice. We are glad it happened a second time as we were not sure it was real. Chris actually said it looked like something fell out of the sky.
Not much excitement other than a likely seal failure in the Backstay Ram - this is the device that increases or decreases tension on the backstay which in turn stiffens the forestay and the mast. This might sound trivial but it actually is a critical part and without it we are all but dunfir. This actually is a critical item when sailing upwind and reaching. The hydraulic repair was undertaken by the Navigator, who will remain nameless, for this report. My dad always said stick to what you know but when on board, everyone is an expert at many things 😊. The repair involved bleeding the oil under the backstay ram but rather than capture it, we drained it off the transom and we can't say where it went from there. We carry a quart of spare hydraulic but I was told we should always carry a barrel (i.e., 55 gallons) or fill one of the unused water tanks with it. We adapted and overcame - our on board Olympic hopeful and rigger extraordinnaire, David Leibenberg, worked his rope magic and so far she is holding. This kid is a bundle of energy.
Tonight we have the "Navigators Stew". Jeff (it is ok to use his name in this case). This meal is labeled "Hagis" on the boat menu as a place holder but this meal is reportedly a step above and would make the Scottish blush. The stew contains Pork Shoulder, poblano and jalapeno peppers, garlic with romano and parmesan cheese and beer. We are eager to report back on this delicacy.
A few brave soles are taking transom showers today. I am one of those. These sort of things should be mandatory but are not until day 5. The skipper will start adding labels in strategic spots on the boat to encourage this.
As the YB Tracker shows we are in a dual with Horizon. Nothing we haven't planned for. We have a secret weapon which we will share in the next communique. We also have the legendary Navigator, cook and hydraulic repair man onboard. We will previal!