True spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie

With 60 boats entered in the 2023 Transpac Race, the prospect for the 2225-mile journey westward across the Pacific from Los Angeles to Honolulu was looking bleak for the Cal Maritime’s Andrews 77 when on June 8, their support trailer was reported stolen to the Port of Los Angeles police.

In this trailer were the sails for the boat and other valuable equipment, and this theft immediately put the California maritime academy team of 13 cadets, alumni cadets, and coaches at jeopardy of not participating in the 52nd biennial edition.

The news spread quickly throughout the community of Transpac sailors and supporters. The message was not only to hunt down the perpetrators but also to find any suitable spare sails. At 77-feet, she is the second-longest monohull in this year’s fleet.

To illustrate the size of the sails, consider these dimensions: the hoist for the mainsail is 85.8 feet, the hoist to the masthead for the spinnakers is 93.8 feet, the foot of the mainsail is 30.6 feet, the foredeck from headstay to the mast is 29.9 feet, the end of the bowsprit 39.1 feet from the mast and the largest spinnaker is a whopping 4719 ft2.

With the team due to start the race on July 1, even if they had the funds to cover the massive cost needed to replace these with new sails, there was no way this could happen in such a short time frame.

Fortunately, spreading the word among the Transpac community bore fruit.

With help from Alan Andrews, the Reichel/Pugh office, and Doug McLean from George Hershman’s Reichel/Pugh 63 Good Energy, it was determined their rig dimensions were similar and there were sails in their spare inventory that could be a close enough fit. Program manager Jib Kelly then set to work arranging to get them hauled over to load on the boat.

“My part was pretty easy,” said Hershman. “Jib reached out and I said absolutely! Help them out, and we were excited that they will work. The sail plans are close in size.”

Fortunately, the mainsail was on the Andrews 77 and not the trailer, and only needs some help with battens. And the numerous headsails and spinnakers may need a few tweaks to fit better, but the team already has help offered from local sailmakers.

“This was a complete set of sails from 2018 and had been used on the boat when raced as LOKI, then as LUCKY in a campaign they pursued in Europe, we never used them,” he said. “We’re parked only a few slips away in Cabrillo Marina [in San Pedro], and will make our container available to them to help in any way we can.”

The Cal Maritime team will be back on track soon to complete their final preparations before the race.

“We are stunned our community came together and within 48 hours provided us with this donation of sails,” said the team’s Offshore Coach Kerry Deaver. “The turnout of support has been tremendous and will allow us to focus on all the other preparations we need to race to Hawaii.”

With three staggered start dates, both boats will compete in Division 1 and be among the final starters on July 1.

Event details – Entry list – Facebook

Staggered Starts
June 27 – Division 7, 8
June 29 – Division 4, 5, 6
July 1 – Division 1, 2, 3, 9

Source: Transpac