Aloha / Kyle Vanderspek
1982 Hobie 33
Owned since spring 2017.
It was/is a lift keel version.
Aloha has been to Hawaii in the 18 Pac Cup fully crewed as well as started the 2019 Transpac.
Shipping home.
Green Buffalo / Jim Quanci
1967 Cal 40
Owned for 17 years.
Favorite features-Drives like its on rails… with just one hand no matter how much wind and point of sail.
Special preparations for the race.-New pelagic autopilot (thanks Brian)! 
Hula / Bill Stange
1975 Westsail 32
Special preparations for the race; Added a longer tiller to increase leverage and ease fatigue, also bolted a Lewmar 55 right in front of the companionway. Tiller in one hand, winch handle in the other…after all, if I’m going to keep Green Buffalo in my dirt for 2200 miles, I’ll have to pay pretty close attention!
Mountain / Reed Bernhard
2003 J/109
Boat prep or modifications: emergency rudder, solar panel.
Self-steering: electric belowdeck autopilot
Sail inventory: main with 2 reefs, #3 jib, #1 genoa, storm jib, spin stays’l, butterfly (“tradewind”) sail, jib top, 2 spinnakers, 1 code zero.
Communications: vhf, satphone
Why this boat?: it’s the only one I have!
Northern Star / James Wylly
2003 Sabre 426
Boat prep or modifications: I did several things with the boat for the race, including replacing the headstay, furler, and halyards, adding a life raft, replacing the lifelines with non-vinyl-coated stainless wire, and replacing the four house batteries. One of my favorite upgrades is a new asymmetric spinnaker that will be my primary downwind headsail for the race. I have five sails in my race inventory and am looking forward to using the A2 the most.
Why this boat?: I’ve owned this boat for three years and have enjoyed sailing and improving it, and she deserves a race like the SHTP to sail the way she wants to. The boat is very comfortable and sails well in light and strong winds. The fin keel and spade rudder glide her nicely through the water.
Nozomi / Robb Walker
1970 Cal 40, #164
Owned since 2007
Special preparations for the race; Extensive refit 2019-2021, no special mods for the race.
Strategy for the race: Enjoyable trip, no drama.
Provisioning plan: Prepared meals, frozen, warmed in oven (1 hot meal per day). Otherwise cold yogurt, salad, snacks, etc.
Plan for after the race? (delivering/shipping the boat, selling it, continuing on, etc.) Sailing home with Rowena to San Diego (our previous home), then a leisurely cruise up the CA coast back to SF in the fall. No schedule.
Perplexity / John Wilkerson
1986 Express 37
How long you have had it; almost 4 years.
Favorite features; fingertip steering, wide decks.
Shipping or sailing home; sailing home.
Rainbow / Cliff Shaw
1884 Crowther 10m
Owned for 23 years
Favorite features; Level sailing, good speed, lots of room for taking out friends daysailing in Hawaii.
Special preparations for the race; She’s pretty well optimized, so no new tricks or gadgets for the race, but spending extra time now overhauling and maintaining systems.
Sea Wisdom / Will Lee
1987 Hinckley Sou’Wester 42 Competition Sloop
Owned for 6 years
Favorite features; Kind motion to weather, modern fin keel with spade rudder, powerful rig.
Warm traditional interior.
Special preparations for the race; Setting up for singlehanding, building redundancy on everything and bring a spare part for each significant component. except and engine.
Staying fit and healthy.
Shark on Bluegrass / Falk Meissner
1984 Olson 25
Owned for 15 years.
Have been prepping ever since.
Siren / Brendan Huffman
1977 Santa Cruz 33
Owned since January 2019
Favorite features are standing headroom, cockpit combings, actual toilet.
Nice boat to steer.
Special preparations for the race; hundreds of hours of boat prep and solo practices.
My dad and other retired riggers from L.A. area have been very helpful updating systems for this race. And UK Sailmakers design team have offered a lot of useful input on sail ideas for my boat and this race specifically.
Shipping home.
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