Transpac Race: Don’t Hide the Hot Sauce

The final miles of the 2225nm Transpac Race can get long, with Peter Shumar reporting from day nine on Bill Helvestine’s Santa Cruz 50 Deception.

If you’re watching the tracker, we’re a slow sperm wiggling it’s way to that wonderful tropical egg in the Pacific. Strong swimmer, not so sure. It looks like the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon is fighting hard to inseminate themselves into the Ala Wai and claim the prize. The rest of us are out here fighting a slow death not knowing the battle has already been won.

But the race isn’t over until we cross the finish line. Even if we have to do it upside down or swim the documentation number across the line of the Diamond Head buoy.

Don’t get me wrong; this is not even close to admitting defeat. We have the boat we really wanted to get and there are still 36 hours left in this race and the race is still tight. If we can make up a small handful of hours on our competitors we can still move up far into the standings. We haven’t given up one bit. We’re actively trimming and drivers swap out every half an hour to 45 minutes to keep focus in this lighter air and relentless sun.

However, Randall R is going to need some ice at the finish line. He had an accident with the tea kettle this morning and might appreciate a fresh cold pack.. something we can’t provide out here.

Food hoarding, boat speed, and Mai Tais are hot topics among the crew. Randal L was accused of stashing the Tapatio hot sauce this morning. That sh#t will be worth more than gold if we have to switch to freeze dried.

Oatmeal, Cholula, bread, chips, all forms of snacks and most tortilla’s are gone. Bill tried to foist very old fermented pineapple that he dredged out of the bottom of one of the coolers on us for dinner. Tasted like it had turned to rum.

Other than that, spinnakers up, spinnakers down. Squalls to the left of us, Squalls to the right, but we’re stuck in the middle with none.

Event details – Entry list – Tracker – July 14 position report – Finish order – Facebook

Background: First organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club in 1906, the Transpacific Yacht Race or Transpac is an offshore sailing race from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to Diamond Head, just east of Honolulu, a distance of 2225 miles. The 2017 edition attracted 55 entrants that will have staggered starts on July 3, 5, and 6.

Start Schedule
July 3 – Division 5, 6, and 7 (17 boats)
July 5 – Division 3 and 4 (16 boats)
July 6 – Division 0, 1, 2 (22 boats)

Source: Dobbs Davis