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SSSForumAdmin
01-23-2009, 08:32 AM
The SSS board is working on organizing for the 2009 LongPac.

If you are interested in helping, please contact one of us.

solosailor
01-23-2009, 10:36 AM
This race is a prerequisite for the 2010 TransPac race.The LongPac meets the requirement but is NOT the only way you can qualify for the Singlehanded Transpac. Many have done the qualifier seperate of the LongPac, which is allowed.

SSSForumAdmin
01-23-2009, 10:52 AM
Thanks for the correction.

Velocious
01-23-2009, 04:21 PM
Hello all,
I am getting Velocious tuned up for a run at SHTP 2010, and as such will be doing solo Farrallones, and Longpac among others. It will be fun to get Velocious (a 2000 SHTP Vet under GW Grigg) and myself (a 2004 Vet riding Cookie Jar) together to make a run at the SC27 SHTP record. Damn I hope that these next two years will provide wind for these distance races. Cheers, George

Ergo
01-25-2009, 10:04 AM
This thread is about the 2009 LongPac but the reason I wanted to get it up as soon as possible has more to do with the 2010 TransPac. Having raced in two and inspected boats for one SHTP, it's my opinion that the boats that do the best and the skippers that have the most fun are the boats and skippers that did the best preparation and really knew their boats and equipment.

The 2009 LongPac is a very reasonable deadline to have a boat ready for the 2010 SHTP and the year between the LongPac and the SHTP is a reasonable amount of time for a skipper to practice and learn how to use/test/fix new systems and equipment.

For most of us boat prep for the SHTP becomes an all consuming process and many SHTP racers do very little sailing in the year before the race. Some skippers do very little preparation, take their boats to a boat yard right before the race and race with equipment they've never used. Neither is a good plan.

My advice; get the boat ready this year and sail the stuffing out of it next. Go for long sails, maybe with some crew, and use the systems in the real world. Read the post that Polar Bear has on the 2008 "what worked" thread to get an idea of the attention to detail that is needed to have a great experience. Talk to race vets who have similar boats and take their advice. If one of them tells you something probably won't work, it probably won't work. Read the logs from past races and see what broke. It's a good bet that something is going to break on every boat. After the '04 race my wife told me to cancel my subscription to Sail and get one for Popular Mechanics. It was good advice.

Best of luck to the racers. I'm doing the LongPac this year - DOUBLEHANDED.

Bill Merrick

Thom
02-12-2009, 09:56 AM
Furthest offshore I've been is Farralones. I want to get boat ready for Longpac. When will the first "seminar" be?

I guess the first question, though, is what offshore requirements have been-have not been hammered down.

My boat (trimaran) pretty well meets the requirements for Cat 2 multihulls offshore. Some minor things will need waivers (for example, lifelines extend along the outside hulls but do not attach at the pulpit/cockpit-if I extend them I won't use wire, but kevlar). Some of the SSS requirements may also need waivers (for example, my boat is CE Marked and is unsinkable so no liferaft should be needed--that's why there are two different Cat 2 multihull requirements lists-one for unsinkable boats, one for those that have to carry liferafts). Who do I talk to to ensure the multihull offshore requirements are reasonable for multihulls?

tiger beetle
02-16-2009, 01:23 PM
I want to get boat ready for Longpac. When will the first "seminar" be?


Hi Thom -

some years there has been a LongPac seminar, sometimes there hasn't. Kind of depends upon whom is running the race and how organized everything is. But I would not delay your boat preparations while waiting for a seminar.



I guess the first question, though, is what offshore requirements have been-have not been hammered down.


There's a meeting this coming week to discuss the SSS Standing Sailing Instruction minimum equipment requirements; these are not directly tied to the LongPac/TransPac equipment requirements. My suggestion is you look at the 2007 LongPac Rules and Conditions to know what was required for the previous race. I do not see these posted at the moment, so I've forwarded a copy I have to you via email. In simplest terms, the LongPac requirements have mirrored the TransPac requirements (which are posted on the SSS site).

ISAF Cat 2 requirements have never been a part of the LongPac race.

Also, my recommendation is that you plan on carrying a life raft regardless of whether or not you believe the boat is unsinkable.



Who do I talk to to ensure the multihull offshore requirements are reasonable for multihulls?


I would recommend checking in with Peter Hogg - he has an enormous wealth of offshore singlehanded multihull experience and may be able to provide useful advice as regards setting up for LongPac and Hawaii.

- rob/beetle