Sailing, a great metaphor for life

American Hall of Famer Paul Cayard helped to train the Swan 65 Translated 9 entrant for the 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race, and now is onboard with a new crew for the 2024 Pacific Cup, leading the team on the biennial 2070 nm race from San Francisco, California to Kaneohe, Hawaii.

“Sailing to Hawaii is one of the most beautiful things in the sport of sailing,” said Cayard. “When you sail out under the Golden Gate Bridge leave the coast of California, it’s cold and windy. Each day, as you sail south and west, it gets a little warmer, and the wind goes from abeam to astern. Each day just gets better and better and you finish in Paradise. I’m really happy to share the experience with the Translated 9 team.”

Founded in 1980 and now in its 22nd edition, the Pacific Cup is one of the most renowned ocean races in the United States.

“What’s important about believing in humans is that in everyday life, and in sport, there are ups and downs. One of the most valuable skills that any person, especially young people, can learn early on is to deal with the ups and downs and the uncertainties of life. Sport, and specifically sailing in the ocean, is a great metaphor for this. The wind is constantly changing, so you have to be very resilient and adaptive to sail the boat well.

“Then, of course, you’re going to have challenges with the boat and competition, which require grit and determination just as in life. You’re going to win some races, you’re going to lose some races, you’re going to have difficult sail changes, you’re going to have beautiful sailing to Hawaii with the moonlit night, and you’re going to have stormy days that are freezing cold and miserable.

“All of it is life’s journey and you learn to knock off the peaks and fill the valleys of this journey. What shines through it all, is the human spirit … because the human spirit is what gets you through all the tough times so that you can celebrate the good times.”

Start date:
July 15: Doublehanded 1 & 2, and PHRF 1 & 2 divisions
July 17: Multihull boats, PHRF 3 and 4, and ORR 1
July 18: ORR 2

Event information – Scratch sheet – Facebook