They’re Off

By Mary Swift-Swan

West Marine Pacific Cup is the fun 2,070 nautical-mile sailboat race to Hawaii. The 13th biannual regatta began June 28, at 11:45 a.m., in a staggered start series with the last flight taking off July 2 at 3:45 p.m. At press time, of over 60 entrants who paid entry fees, only 54 were able to get their crew and vessels ready and able to pass the careful inspection criteria for safety afloat for the demanding voyage. It takes a week to see who actually makes it across the start line. Boats are varied in type and speed from slow cruisers with an allowance of 8/19:36:00, that is 8 days, 19 hours and 36 minutes from the fastest boat, the beautiful custom mega yacht of 140’, Mari Cha IV, that is expected to smash all previous records in making the crossing.

Through the first half of July, over the duration of the race, those interested in the progress and fate of these brave sailors can log on to their web site at www.pacificcup.org to see the charted progress of each ocean-going yacht and read daily reports collected by and posted from the communications boat run by the Sea Scouts, Steeves. The Steeves went out the Gate following class B on June 28th, sailing the course of the race to Hawaii.

West Marine Pacific Cup has the best safety record of all the truly challenging ocean races. The race management has multiple vessel inspection check points and assigns boat nannies to guide each vessel’s preparation. This system was developed by past participants to help new and returning participants registered in the race to ensure arrival on the other side and back home with vessel and crew having a grand adventure. Skippers, and key members of each crew, also must attend a six-month series of seminars on many topics of safety, including medical emergencies far from any medical help; rigging failures; and how to keep a vessel afloat and under way to make land fall; the U.S. Coast Guard demonstrates open water rescues when an incident happens near a coast; and liferaft companies show how to inflate and board in an emergency. The many subjects of the seminars also include key factors in interpreting wind and recognizing dangers, like hurricanes, from weather fax information taken from satellite downloads plus what has worked and best guesses for the upcoming race navigation strategies. The seminars are run by sailing and subject experts from around the country, plus shared experiences from past participants. Attending the monthly meetings also allows participants to meet each other before the week of arrival parties, two thirds of the way across the big pond.

The race to Hawaii takes between 8-16 days, depending on the different boat designs. Mari Cha IV is out to beat Roy Disney’s record of 6 days, 14 hours and 23 minutes. They can maintain speeds of 30 knots and have the ability to attain 40 knots. The 140’ long, 33’-wide vessel built for speed hopes to smash all previous records by making the crossing in 5 days. What about getting home? For those who do not ship home their vessels, a cruiser heading home can take up to 20 days, where a race-type vessel can make it back between 15-17 days. They usually sail toward Seattle then work over the top of the Pacific High, finally head home to avoid being becalmed in the middle for days.

There is earnest effort, and for most boats, great expense to prepare for the longest open water race, without anywhere to stop, on the planet. If a boat is not already set up for such a voyage, the required safety gear and vessel/crew outfitting easily runs between $30,000 and $40,000, and can be more. Once set up, however, means that repeating the race two years later only costs $5,000 to $10,000 for provisioning (food, water, and fuel there and back or cost of shipping the boat back), plus traditional vacation costs for one to two weeks spent in Hawaii, as long as nothing major breaks.

Why not just fly over? For some, the money is well spent because it is the start of a long-held dream of experiencing the voyage to where all the drinks have umbrellas. From Hawaii, they continue across the Equator to French Phoenicia or New Zealand. For most, it is not getting to a place so much as the voyage. It is the dream of crossing an ocean in a small boat under command of a tight group of people who sail 24 hours a day in shifts till they make land fall. Visions of dolphins jumping off the bow just won’t leave them. After such a race, memories of flying fish jumping across the deck at sunrise, the excitement of catching a fish at sea, and the “Oh, my God” of where to put it that follows a breakfast of sushi and sashimi. There is something special for some when the sun rises and sets without land in sight. Most never forget having to brace knees to keep them from giving way when working on deck in a howling squall at 4 a.m. or driving while plummeting down a mountain of water in the pitch black of night through driving rain only to come out the other side of the squall to see the gain those frightening moments gave. It can strain or solidify relationships. More than one couple has ended their relationship on arrival. A few races ago during a well-attended chat time, following the daily radio check-in with the Communication boat, one man asked his sweetheart who was sailing on a different boat to marry him. Every racer held their breath till she said in choked response through joyful tears, “Yes, yes I will.” Recognizing that life is now, each and every minute of every day, and that they all count, can be a life-changing experience.

Bay Crossings wishes each and every racing and delivery sailor and the intrepid Sea Scouts watching over them all the best of voyages all the way around. Readers who wish to help the Sea Scouts raise the $3,000 needed to get home from this grand adventure, can contact Ann McDougall at Ann McDougall Communications, 408-499-5328, or ann@michannpartners.com.