Solo Tahiti 2013?

[koh samia]

I just wanted to point out that having a SHTP every other year is very very attractive to an outsider (not too far away and not too short so we can make it happen).

And we all know what happens when a couple of skippers 'just sail down there'... that could be lots of fun! ;-)

[Barky]

I also sent an email, but wanted to express my interest in doing a Tahiti race.
Timing it to coincide with a puddle jump or other scheduled Tahiti events would be a big plus...

[Velocious]

I have been looking for a NEXT big thing. The problem is it sounds like you guys are excluding my boat with the minimum req's. If you would allow a SC27 to play, I could get really excited about this!

[BobJ]

SC27 rates 141? That's 27 hours longer than a 114-rater over 3,650 nm - not bad. Nine Moore seconds and they're in too . . . 150 has to be the limit though.

Are you serious George?

Find a boat yet Alan?

[cafemontaigne]

I'm very interested, although 2013 is kind of a long way off to guarantee I'd be able to make it.

If it were 2012 I'd say count me in, but I guess I'll just have to go to Kauai instead...

Adrian
Idefix

[Velocious]

Yeah, I really think that is a possibility. Sometimes you just have to say What the F**K and go for it. If it comes to pass I will do my damnedest to get there. G

[BobJ]

At some point that's what we all did with the SHTP, right?

I sailed yesterday with a friend who's been down there. He's going to get out his log and see what notes he has about the place. I should also get with Banjo Andy (Lat 38), who I'm sure is a wealth of info.

IN THE MEANTIME we need to focus on SHTP 2012. We need a Race Committee chair (or co-Chairs). It needs to be someone (IMO) who's done the race at least once.

As I said at the meeting in October, it is a very rewarding job and you will have as much help as you need. Also, much of the groundwork is already in place. As an inducement of sorts, if we can have a SHTP Race Chair (or co-Chairs) in place by the awards meeting for the Corinthian race, I'll take the seminar part off your hands (if you want me to). That's a big chunk of it.

PM or email me or Max if you want more information or are willing to throw your hat in the ring.

Please step up if you can - that's how stuff gets done around here.

[Samuel Burns]

How about a Hawaii to Tahiti race starting from Kaneohe a week after 2012 Pacific Cup? That would pull in SHTP and Pac Cup entries. Check out this race course blog: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/seaman...gh-trades.html

[cafemontaigne]

I really like your idea, Sam. If I do the next SHTP I'm going to sail on to Tahiti, race or not. Getting the boat to the start line two consecutive years in a row is a lot of work, and from HI you're halfway there already.

Reaching isn't my boat's cup of tea, but it's probably a lot more pleasant than sailing home, watching the thermometer drop every day...

[BobJ]

What do you see as a timeline if you made both voyages in one year? Are you planning to quit your jobs? (A serious question that maybe you can't answer here.)

Looking at weekend currents for the Gate, it appears the next SHTP will start on 6/30/2012. (Pacific Cup starts two weeks after that.) This makes a post-SHTP or post-PacCup return trip from French Polynesia too late to be certain of avoiding the start of the South Pacific storm season.

Another consideration is the Easterly wind direction. Leaving from Hawaii makes it more of a close reach than a broad reach. I believe Haulback concluded he could not sail comfortably to French Polynesia from Hawaii, and had to sail farther SW when he continued on from Hawaii in 2004.

Tahiti itself is not currently developed for smaller boats. The LA-Tahiti Race boats are large, spendy and thus invited to tie up stern-to along the quay adjacent to downtown Papeete. Smaller boats (most of the Pacific Puddle Jump fleet, for example) sail into the Marquesas group approx. 700 miles NE of Tahiti, with Nuku Hiva, Fatu Hiva and Hiva Oa being by far the most popular landfalls. These boats depart from the West Coast, usually Mexico and Central America, so the Marquesas are reached first.

We may want to finish a Solo Tahiti Race at a small boat-friendly destination in the Marquesas group, but the Marquesas are farther East so a voyage from Hawaii would be even more difficult (an even tighter reach, especially near the end of the passage). After the race, some boats may choose to continue their trip by sailing downwind to the Society Islands including Tahiti (perhaps to ship home from Papeete), or to visit picturesque Moorea and Bora Bora, of which you see photos in the travel brochures.

Edited to add: After more time online and looking at charts, another good option would be Uturoa on Raiatea, which is the second largest population center in French Polynesia. It has more small boat facilities (the Moorings charter base is there for example), a boat yard and three small boat marinas. Raiatea is between Tahiti/Moorea and Bora Bora, and much closer to the main port of Papeete than the Marquesas, for those planning to ship boats home.

I believe a STR would need to start in the beginning of June, from the West Coast. Comments?