Of this year's 16 competitors two are women, including my friend and sailing pal Synthia Petroka.
The ages range from 39 (I think) up to 77 and the boats range in size from 23' - 60'.
The oldest gentleman,
The General, is sailing his 9th Singlehanded Transpac aboard his Finn Flyer 31, Harrier.
The youngest (I think) is Christian Humann aboard his Dana 24, the second smallest boat in the fleet. Nice job trimming all those sails Chris!!
The largest boat is Dogbark, an Open 60, and the smallest is Hesperus, a Kirby 23:
Dude, are you crazy? That's a small boat!!
Synthia is sailing in Eyrie, a 28' Wylie Hawkfarm, the third smallest in the fleet.
I went to the docks early that morning with the last of Synthia's provisions, the perishables. The plan was to put away these last few items, maybe grab some breakfast, and I hoped to tour a few of the boats that I hadn't yet seen. But when I arrived the crowd was already at a nervous pitch with friends, loved ones, kids, parents and dogs running around, jumping on and off the boats saying their last damp-eyed goodbyes.
The sailors all seemed in good spirits but honestly, they must have been nervous wrecks.
Synthia's dog Girlfriend hates to be on the boat, but that morning, sensing her best buddy was about to leave, Girlfriend kept jumping aboard and trying to hide down below. Nice try Girlfriend!
The Corinthian YC tenders towed the boats out to the starting line one by one. Since Synthia and I had not yet had a chance to go over some last details I jumped aboard Eyrie for the tow-out so we could have some moments away from the crowd to decompress. Tom joined us as he wanted to check a few last-minute technical details.
Two years ago Synthia and I competed in the Pacific Cup race from SF to Oahu in the Doublehanded Division. We had worked hard for nearly a year to get ready for this race so I knew all too well how she was feeling now. It felt odd to finally have to jump off Eyrie to board Twist, the beautiful J/120 that was to be our ride as we escorted these racers out the gate.
Twist was a perfect photo boat.
The starting line was just off the race deck of the beautiful Corinthian Yacht Club and all boats started well even though the wind was light, 0-5 knots.
As soon as they were able to make their way into the central bay the winds picked up to the mid-20's, a challenging transition for the singlehanders, but most of them adjusted their sail configurations accordingly and left the gate without incident.
Sail A Vie out the gate!
Well...mostly without incident, Seabird had jib trouble and turned on his engine to avoid hitting the rocks. Thankfully it was early enough in the race that he was allowed to go back and restart.Aboard Twist, we were able to watch the antics while making sure to stay out of the way of the racers.
Dad, Tom and Timo in charge of driving and trimming...
Hilari, Dawn and I enjoyed being rail meat, and we didn't even have to hike out. What a change from the usual racing and being trashed and splashed on the foredeck!
Erik helped Sonja keep a lookout for our favorite competitors.
We followed Synthia out the gate and about a mile beyond Point Bonita. We were far enough behind her that she didn't notice us for a while, but we finally caught up to her and when she tacked over and realized it was us behind her she let out a whoop and a wave.
Our final farewell to Synthia and a perfectly trimmed Eyrie:
Way to go girlfriend!!
Of the nearly 300 billion people who live in the US (plus England, Canada, Australia, and all of the other countries from where some Transpac competitors have hailed) only a handful, approximately 200, have participated in this event in its 28-year (14 race) history. An exclusive group to be sure!
singlehanded transpac, sailboat racing
