Transpac 2013: B’Quest crew wants to clear the record

When the first of three staggered starts for the 2225nm Transpac Race got underway on Monday (July 8), the news was not all aloha for the organizers.

Among the entries scheduled to start was the Tripp 40 B’Quest, a doublehanded entry sailed by disabled veterans David Hopkins and Urban Miyares. Hopkins, who is hearing impaired, and Miyares, who is blind, were representing Challenged America, a non-profit program in San Diego which uses sailing as a therapeutic activity for individuals with disabilities.

However, race organizers denied the team’s entry on Sunday, July 7 for non-compliance of entry requirements for the race (click here for the  reasons).

Stated in the Notice of Race, the race was governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) 2009-2012 including US SAILING prescriptions and the 2012-2013 ISAF Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) for Category 1 including US SAILING prescriptions (except as any of these are changed by the Notice of Race or the Sailing Instructions.) Click here for an index of the race documents.

Despite their entry being revoked, the B’Quest team started the race on Monday, with the intent to file protest upon their finish. However, that plan changed on Tuesday (July 9). After sailing for roughly 16 hours and reflecting on their status, Miyares and Hopkins decided to turn away from the race route and return to their home port of San Diego.

Since their arrival in San Diego on July 10,  the B’Quest crew distributed to Scuttlebutt on July 15 (19:05 PTD) a statement providing their accounting of the facts. Click here for the statement.

Here is the statement from the B’Quest team issued July 8.

Race website: http://www.transpacyc.com