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Singlehanded Sailing Society |
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Singlehanded Sailing Society |
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This is Tony's second try at the race. In 1994 he bought the Hobie, which had been totalled out by an insurance company in a New Orleans. He towed it to the bay area from New Orleans in an equally totalled out van and tacked together a mast which had been broken into three separate pieces to create FrankenSpar. After two years of putting the boat into acceptable sailing condition he did two qualifying cruises, during which the mast was dimpled again and the rudder shaft bent, both events occurring just two weeks before the start of the race.
Instead of doing the race in 1996 he travelled around the world (by aeroplane), sold the boat and became a yoga teacher.
Five years later, the guy he sold the boat to sold it back to him and now he's trying it again with much better equipment and without the frankenstein mast. Never say die!
The plan is sleeping during the morning and sailing all night with naps interspersed here and there. The Hobie is a boat that loves to surf, and he plans to have fun on the rolling Pacific swells. This is a budget operation so he's going with 3 spinnakers, a 125 jibtop called "The Big Ugly" as it's big and ugly, a kevlar blade, the old main and a crunchy drifter.
Navigation: 3 GPSs, one fixed and two handheld.
Steering: Monitor windvane, ST4000, ST2000 and a navico tillerpilot
Food: Those boilbags from Trader Joes (Indian food), some spinach as long as it lasts a big bottle of Kimchee and Top Ramen.
Special thanks to: Bill and Melinda Erkelens, my cousin Alex, and to Bob for selling the boat back.
A veteran of the 1996 SSS TransPac, Mark is setting out again in a new boat, a recently constructed J120 named 'Alchera'. "I formed a lot of strong opinions about what is important to long distance singlehanding during the 96 race and in the many years as a member racing with the SSS. The J120 came the closest to meeting most of my requirements, and the factory was very cooperative in making several additional changes I insisted on".
For example, there is an additional watertight compartment in the bow section to protect against collisions. During the '96 race Mark struck a whale broadside. "Fortunately, there was no damage, but it was a scary experience I hope I don't have to repeat." Another interesting touch is a radar and instrument repeater screen mounted in the quarterberth, which can be viewed without having to get up. An additional set of winches in the cockpit allows Alchera to be singlehanded from either behind the wheel or in front. Of course, all control lines are led back to the cockpit as well.
"My objective for the first race was just for the sense of personal accomplishment. This time I hope to be a bit more competitive. But I'm especially looking forward to experiencing again that spiritual feeling of closeness with the ocean, wind, and stars that comes from such a voyage, and the bond of sharing that with others like myself. If it wasn't for that, I don't think I would be doing this again." The name of the boat, 'Alchera', reflects this purpose - loosely translated, it means the Beginning of Life.
After the race Mark plans to spend some time in Hawaii and will then singlehand Alchera back to San Francisco, where it will be prepared for cruising the South Pacific the following year.
Navigation: Raytheon GPS/Chartplotter and radar, B&G instruments.
Steering: B&G hydraulic autopilot with Monitor windvane backup and MRUD emergency rudder.
Food: "Lots of really bad stuff out of cans, mostly. Just like what I eat at home."
Special thanks to: Carla (my significant), the great folks in the SSS, and the Alchera 'team' - Bill, Bruce, Art, Peter, Panda, and Eric.
Lou has done 2 previous TransPacs from Los Angeles, The last, in 1991, was on his prior boat,
CYGNET, a Swan 391. That boat was noted by Latitude 38 to "have a crew heavy on doctors from Fresno",
but did finish 3rd in IMS Class B.
Why do a singlehanded TransPac you ask? The crew has gotten older and taken up golf. SEABIRD and the owner are also older and heavier. However, on this pre-retirement trip there will be no "crew issues" except getting his wife aboard for the return. This is also a pre-Baja Ha Ha shakedown cruise!
Body and boat preparations have included weekly beatings by a trainer, weight loss on a low carb diet, a third reef and small jibs. Sleep deprivation training has been ongoing since medical school. He has installed a CARD (collision avoidance radar detector) with an external alarm that has a range greater than most VHF radios.
20 minute night-naps will be supplemented by a few longer day sleeps when everyone's visibility is better.
Lou will sail with belts and suspenders including full tanks, tools, spare parts and manuals. What's a little more weight when you start at 40,000 lbs ? Luxuries include a PUR 160 water maker, a 6 HP Kubota diesel mated to a 70 amp (24v) alternator and a freezer (for ice cubes and beef). A happy crew is a fast crew!
Navigation: Garmin 225 GPS wired to a Mac laptop and a handheld backup; upgraded B&G 190 system; the final backup is a submersible VHF and strobe in his pocket at all times.
Steering: Aries vane and Cetrek autopilot wired to the old Neco drive.
Food: Low carb, high protein (and fat) plus Starbucks.
Special thanks to: Coach and son Chris (CMA 1992) with more offshore experience than Dad; son Drew for all his help with the boats; daughters Allison and Beth for their tolerance; partners at Anesthesia Consultants of Fresno for the prolonged vacation time and coverage; staff at Fresno Surgery Center for all their patience and encouragement and wife Marge for smiling through the last 24 boat-years.
John is a veteran of the 1998 SSS TransPac race and is returning this year in the same boat
- his beautiful wooden Endangered Species.
If the name rings a bell, it's probably because of the famous book he authored 30-odd years ago, Trekka Round the World,
which tells of his then-remarkable four year circumnavigation (1955-'59) aboard the 21-ft, fin keeled yawl which he built himself to a Laurent Giles design. Those who've
read it will recall the grittiest part, when he temporarily laid up Trekikia in New Zealand and
joined Miles and Beryl Smeeton aboard Tzu Hang for a Cape Horn rounding. They got caught in a
monstrous storm, pitchpoled and were dismasted in the Southern Ocean, finally arriving in
Chile after 87 days at sea.
Trekka's lightweight wooden design was contrary to the heavy displacement cruising boats of its day, and you might say Guzzwell has taken a 'contrarian' outlook on boatbuilding ever since. His latest creation is Endangered Species, whose 30-ft laminated wood hull most closely resembles a scaled down open 60 class hull. She employes water ballast and carries her ample beam all the way to her transom. Her hull is constructed from four layers of 1/8" spruce, stapled and laid up in alternating diagonals and an outer layer of teak run fore and aft. The resulting structure is so strong that no ribs are needed. She's counterbalance by a simple, foil-shaped keel, has beautiful teak decks and carries a laminated spruce mast, stiffened by four 1/2" x 1/8" carbon fibre splines.
Before emigrating to Canada as a young man, John's childhood in England included a voyage to South Afridca on the family's 52 ft ketch. We're told his father taught him the principles of celestial navigation and woodworking while the family was held in a German prison camp during WW II.
During his long career as a professional boatbuilder, he has built a variety of sailing craft, including the 133 ft Zeus, the 65 ft Farr-designed Lively, the 158 ft topsail schooner Tole Mour and his own 46 ft pilothouse cutter Treaasure, also built to a Giles design. He and his family cruised the Pacific several times on this boat and in 1994 he entered her in the Pan Pcific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Osaka, Japan, then returned via the Aleutians and mainland Alaska.
Jim singlehanded from his home near Vancouver B.C. to Hawaii and back with his previous boat in 1999.
A fun time was had by all; particularly considering that he won every argument and was the hero of
every story; life doesn't get any better than that. For this crossing he has a new boat, purchased a
little over a year ago, which was promptly hauled out for an 8-month stem-to-stern, top-to-bottom re-fit.
For the race Jim has outfitted Haulback with a new full batten main, roller furling headsail, asymetrical
kites and twin headsails for heavy air downwind.
He and Haulback are sponsored for the race by the management and employees of Washington Marine Group . They couldn't spare a towboat for the event so they're sending Jim instead!
For more on Haulback, check out the rebuild at the Spencer Yacht's site.
Navigation: Follow the guy ahead of me. Failing that, will have no choice but to resort to a fixed Garmin GPS unit with a handheld back-up. Will take along his sextant as well, for entertainment purposes at least.
Steering: Hopefully in the right direction using a Fleming Global Major windvane and a ST4000+ autopilot (with a spare).
Food: maple syrup and pemmican, this is a Canadian entry, eh!... actually canned stuff, pasta, lots of juices and simple foods.
Special thanks to: Washington Marine Group; Kyle, Lyle, the whole of the Log Barge Division, the Towboaters and other employees who were all so generous in their support. Thanks to my crew for trading weeks with me so I can have enough time off for the race.
Barry, for his ideas and encouragement; Dave Miller at North Sails; Gary at DBC Marine Safety Systems; and everyone else who gave freely of their advice, even when they were wrong.
Last but not least, my family, for living with an obsessed boat-nut for the last year or so.
Erik's sleep training regime began on March 3rd, 2002 with the birth of
his first child Ellen. He's looking forward to the race to finally get
some rest, Raytheon radar with alarms will help too.
While Erik has owned Rusalka for three years he's only been racing her singlehanded for about a year and a half now. Things started off well winning his division in Spinnaker Cup (overnight to Monterey) then the campaign had a big setback last June when the mast broke during the SSS In the Bay race. "It turned out ok, it allowed me to update everything from the deck up". Rusalka now has a new Ballenger rig and new standing and running rigging.
For sails Erik is bringing along half a dozen kites (of various ages and
weights) and a set of new Pineapple 120% twins to run with twin poles.
The 120's will allow him to gybe aggressively in the squalls, the
forepeak full of kites will help keep the average speed up during the
day.
Navigation: Garmin GPS (one fixed, another handheld), sextant backup.
Steering: Raytheon ST4000GP (with spare drive unit), Self, AH2000+ as backup.
Food: Dried fruit, canned stuff (chili, stew, baked beans, pasta), instant mashed potatoes, peanut butter and lots of tea.
Special thanks to: My wife Katy for putting up with me and these damn fool ideas, my daughter Ellen for the sleep deprivation training, Kame at Pineapple sails, Buzz at Ballenger Spars, Craig at SF Boatworks, South Beach Riggers, Bruce Schwab, Greg Nelsen and lots of other SSS'ers, the folks on the SA forum and SFsailing yahoo club, Jerry and David
This will be Jim's second sail to Hawaii, having previously sailed on the Andrews 50 Outta Bounds in the 1989 TransPac. Jim's singlehanded experience prior to this winter consisted of grabbing Long Beach State's Shield for an afternoon escape from classes, or the occasional weekend jaunt to Catalina Island aboard his Laser (25 years ago). His most recent sailing has focused on one design racing in J24s, the last 12 years with the "Old America" crew aboard Tundra Rose (Average age 49)
Taking the time to compete in the singlehanded transpac is in keeping with Jim's long established practice of sampling retirement before actually reaching retirement age. Thanks to a generous severance package from Intel, Jim sailed Zapped to Southern California this winter to prepare for the race away from the snow and rain of Seattle. With the help of the PSSA and a bunch of old sailing friends, the boat is prepped and qualified for this summer's adventure. Time will tell if Jim is ready.
Navigation: Garmin GPSmap 182, and handheld 48XL
Steering: Raymarine ST4000+, with ST2000+ as backup
Food: Anything from Poptarts and M&Ms to Crab and Mushroom Risotto with a nice Chianti.
Special thanks to: Fisheries Supply for outfitting the boat; William Stange and Alan Andrews for the wealth of information they shared with me; The Rosettes (in particular Fado Rose and White Tape Thornton) for all they've taught me about race and boat prep; Kathy St. Amant, Mike and Robin McWilliams for their invaluable help as chauffeurs, photographer, maildrop, ISP and friends here in So Cal; Vagabond Chronicle readers for all their support this winter; and last and most important, my partner/sweetie Sharon who gave me more reasons to take the time to do the race than I could refute.
A part time dentist living in Pt. Reyes Station, Steve sails Westerly, a Westsail 39 out of Alameda, CA. Although he has been boating all his life, this will be his longest voyage. After a post race family vacation in Hawaii, he intends to return by way of the Pacific Northwest.
Ten years of "improvements" will require the bottom paint/waterline to be raised for the third time on the pre-race haulout. Westerly is solidly in the displacement class and the rumb line is Plan A for the race.
After lumbering around the SSS courses for the last few years in the non-spinnaker division, he has finally acquired a spinnaker. "I just could not risk getting caught out there in light winds with my 120 and no one to blame except myself." When not dealing with spinnaker snafus he plans to spend his time birdwatching, reading, and taking 15 minute naps.
Navigation: 3 GPS's (Garmin 48,162 and an OEM engine), Celestial ("It tickles me how well it works")
Steering:
Primary: WH autopilot, Monitor windvane
Secondary: Autohelm 3000
Deep Reserve: "Me"
Food: Normal vegetarian fair with a few Dinty Moore treats for special occasions. "May have to try this Pop Tart tradition"
Special thanks to: Family and work mates who said "yes". Local experts and vendors who have been so helpful with the above mentioned waterline project