2016 Single Handed TransPac

[Photoboy]

Reports July 4th continued...




From the Grand Salon of Giant Slayer

"Hey race fans, so i made it through the “just kill me now” phase of seasickness, and i can see, move around and type. first night was rough, a few jib changes, going forward, throwing up, then coming back, setting sheets, leads, drop jib, reconnect new jib, question life, wave goes over head, getting up new sail, back in cockpit, throwing up, basically repeat. it was windy, in 25’s, big big seas and some waves coming from somewhere else, the sea took my drivers back rest. now its july 4 sunny, windy, 17’s i would guess, wind instruments not working, but not sure i want to try that repair today. reaching at 90 degrees, with jib top and 1 reef, Battle Star auto broke off the tip, that was some fun getting the boat back, but hooked up Dave Autopilot, and back in control. On went Death Star, and DS has been driving for 2 days. Good to have Dave on board, I have a very expensive and complicated autopilot with 6 axes sensor, and lots of gain and damping control. looking like tomorrow, the monster code0 spinnaker will go up. last night i has to divert course a bit to keep the jib top up, and avoid a sail change and getting out of bed was able to eat 1/2 a meal, seems to be staying down. ok spirits are good, very rested. and about 5/10 with seasickness. boat is solid, leaky, and noisy. lots of waves coming over the boat. charging at 6 amps in haze and 8 amps in sun. batteries working great. I will attempt a GRIB file download, (dave can explain) and update my route. so far i have been running rum line, seems like the easy thing to do when you cant open your eyes and cause heaving. until next report. Dave. Editors note: Giant Slayer was also visited by USCG due to an apparent EPIRB signal emitted from the vessel. That has led to an interesting morning for Government and Race assets."

David Garman

SC 27, Giant Slayer


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I “met” Jeane Socrates (Nereida). At about 0200 today as our Bows crossed.
Lovely lady. Mal de mere improving and hoping to see some sunshine soon. I keep thinking the overcast is thinning. But probably my imagination. Starting to get into a rhythm with the boat. It’s become nicer sailing each day. Please correct any typos as the saltwater has given me even fatter fingers.

Chris Cartwright

J-88 Ventus

[Charlie Tuna]

They look to be in good wind now. Best stay north of rhum of Blas may create havoc?

[Photoboy]

2016 Bug Lighters Report: July 5



Current corrected leader position for July 5 2016 @ 09:00

Tracker





The lead boats are spreading out with more less direct rhumb line courses.

David Herrigel on the Wilderness 30' Domino is the furthest south and has 1,691 miles to go, speed 9.2 knots

Margie Woods on the Cataline 30' Huanani is the furthest north with 1.719 DTF and is clipping along at 6.5 knots

Robert McDonald on the Olson 29 Nina and Joe Barry on the Express 37' Pakala are neck and neck with 1.659 and 1,658 DTF respectively

The Westsails are led by the Tortuga, with Randy Leasure at the helm, 1,876 miles to Hanalei and pushing water out of the way at 6.5 knots!






Windyty.com chart provide an excellant perspective of conditions on the course currently

[Photoboy]

Boat Reports Continue....

Brett Suwyn
Caviler 39' Althea

Happy 4th of July everyone! Things are great aboard Althea. We’ve been enjoying a wicked beam reach for the past 18hours. Winds have ranged from 16-26kts, just now swinging past 0deg. Pressure at 1021.7. Amazing sailing. Unlike Saturday night, last night’s wind angle allowed me carrying full sails. I had two reefs in to keep tight on GC route on Saturday. A lot of bouncing around, I can only imagine being on a lighter sled. Mad respect. Conditions comfortable aboard. Amazing sunset under the North Pacific High last night even with Dolfin crossing my bow and photo bombing my view 🙂 A night sky full of stars brought in the holiday, I’ve never seen the Milky Way like that. Today has been partly cloudy bringing the first sun I’ve seen on the trip. Had some dolphins visit and play under the bow. Welcomed friends. Sleep has consisted of 30-60m naps when I’m tired, trying to adjust to sleeping during the day. Having a noodle bowl (with added chicken) for dinner tonight. The last two nights have been chilli out of a can, I’m over that. I’ve gotten into all my snacks. Lemon water keeping me refreshed. Entertained by staring at gribs and listening to podcasts. I’m also a world champion day dreamer and there is no better stage than the open ocean. If anyone has any questions, I can to answer them here. Email me them to me at *myboatname*@myiridium.net where *myboatname* is replaced with my boat’s name.

Cheers! .brett S/V Althea


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Yves Vergnolle
Mini Transat 6.50
Minibar

Position: 35:07, 128:35 Winds 18 to 25 Kite up for a good time today but autopilot can’t handle it so he is back to jib to take a break. 100% overcast and cold. Saw sun briefly today.


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Chris Cartwright
J-88
Ventus

July 4. No fireworks and able to eat my first freeze dried meal ….yay for the nutrition. Now that brain has some
Glucose trying to figure out plan for rest of race.Despite having a fast boat and lots of input from very very good racers my goal has always been a fun sail. I am juggling the usual rhumb lines vs what expedition (routing software) tells me. So far I have basically been sailing comfortable angles towards Hawaii. I have been below Polars in part because I have no crew and probably not sailing to max. I see a couple tropical storms in the future and have some concerns about them. It appears I should be able to get in ahead of them.


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Randy Leasure
Westsail 32
Tortuga

From Captleasure:


37.25.78N 124.1083W S6.2 C235 working jib, staysail and single reefed main. Ahoy! No wind is the story of the day. bobbed around waiting for the wind to fill in most of the day. the sails took a beating slatting back and forth but they help steady the boat and make a little progress. I feel bad for Dave & Gary since they both have new main sails getting abused. sounds like a lot of the lighter boats were able to make it out to where the wind is better and are making good progress. hoping the W32s can still make a good showing at the finish. The only good thing about it is that i was surrounded by 5 other boats all within sight all day so good chatting and joking with everyone on the radio. the wind finally filled in around 1900. Kept my drifter up too long last night getting greedy with my speed and it got torn up a bit. just as well since the winds are increasing more and it needed to come down anyway. (i should be able to repair it with some sail tape) been making good progress the last few hours getting more offshore to the better breeze. Ok, time for a cat nap. xo team tortuga


2nd comms:

Ahoy! Happy Birthday America! Been a windy ride out here on the briny deep. some pretty big swells too. I’ve got everything reefed down and just trying to make offshore miles and stick to the rhumb line. for a couple hours earlier there were some pretty large breaking swells that were pushing the stern down the waves so I cracked off the wind a bit to ease the ride and get some sleep. not seeing anyone else on AIS anymore. Not sure what that’s about. will ask if i show up during ssb check in. just took a cinnamon coffee cake out of the oven and added some of the peaches from Doug’s orchard. Cant wait till that cools off. baking really warms up the cabin nicely, its generally been cold but today the sun did finally come out late afternoon. with steady winds I should be able to get some quality naps in tonight. team tortuga

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George Lythcott
Express 27'
TAZ


George adopts “Third Time’s a Charm” Attitude ©Kristen S.

I am settling in. Its cold, very cold. It doesn’t help that I’m wet too. it’s a little warmer during the day. The seas are slate gray with a thick overcast sky. No birds or other wildlife. TAZ!! and I are just fine. Flew the #3 jib and my speed went up. I was surfing waves at 9 to 10 knots. it was fun. I slept last night only getting up a couple of times to adjust things. I’ve started eating…oatmeal, tuna fish and a freeze dried dinner. I started feeling seasick but after a few ginger snaps, that went away. I made a mistake today and hoisted the Twins (two jibs sewn together). The wind seemed like it was moving aft so i hoisted. The wind went forward again. The twins don’t work with the wind forward so i had to douse and hoist the #3 again. it took a lot of time and energy. next time I’ll be more patient. Happy 4th to all, Happy Birthday America. We have a great Country with some weird folks in it. Take Care, George



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Michael Jefferson
Garcia Passoa 47
Mouton Noir

Gribs LIE!!! we are supposed to be seeing beam winds of 17 to 20 knots. Most of us are 2 reefs and small jib or staysail and 30 knots or more. Pretty good swells and rough water. Be glad when this is behind us. I am doing better. 2 reefs and about 70% jib. Centerboard mostly up, daggerboard down about a foot. Boat handling ok. Ran the genset this morning. It did ok, but was hard to start. Probably found why- throttle was not open all the way. We will see tomorrow. Wind generator putting out lots of power. nice, since with the boat motion I do not want to run any engines. Still not eating or drinking much, but getting better. All the best, Michael


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Vance Sprock
Cal 40
Seazed Asset


It was a bad night full of mistakes. Chaffed a spinnaker sheet in half, lost a spinnaker halyard to the mast top, and broke the shift/throttle lever. I have a spare spinnaker sheet, and another spin halyard. Can get by without the gear/throttle lever for now. Need to be extra careful from now. I did see some great stars last night when the clouds moved away. Hope to see more soon. Looks like it will be an overcast day. I did have some sunshine yesterday. Vance Seazed Asset ————————————————- Do not push the “reply” button to respond to this message if that includes the text of this original message in your response. Messages are sent over a very low-speed radio link. The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message to: wdi6622@sailmail.com If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete the original message text and these instructions from your reply. Replies should not contain attachments and should be less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length. This email was delivered by an HF private coast station in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht owners. For more information on this service or on the SailMail Association, please see the web site at: www.sailmail.com

[Panama Red]

So far so good, keep the reports flowing!

[Buzz Light Beer]

Go the Nina!

[Photoboy]

"For me one of the hardest parts is managing other people’s expectations leading up to the trip or managing what I think they except.

I have always loved sailing the feel of the invisible force propelling a boat forward. I love a boat that balances out and feels good to drive. I ended up with a j/88 because I made the mistake of trying it and loved the feel and responsiveness. I didnt purchase the boat because I want to race or necessarily go fast There is always someone going much faster. One of my fond memories was sailing with a friend on sf bay going 4 knots in a j/24 and being passed by and AC boat going 40 (ish)

I know many people look at my boat and think fast and assume I am trying to race. I am not. I am trying to learn about myself and have this experience and it is the boat I have now. I am in the middle of my life (perhaps it is the classic midlife crisis) but I am trying to sort some things out.

I have been fortunate to have had contact with some excellent sailors who helped guide me through the myriad of decisions. Sails electronics n electrical systems and on and on. Because of their background most of the stuff and decision most things are go fast oriented.

So far the boat is performing beautiful. And I am managing. I have found I enjoy the open water but miss the company of other people both for problem solving and just companionship. It is probably a good thing for all of us to develop some comfort with being alone. And this is one of my challenges for this passage.

I saw the tropical storms predicted to cross our paths and thought hard about diverting to Santa Barbara."

Chris Cartwright
J-88 Ventus

[Photoboy]

WX for SHTP

WRI's forecast for SHTP

For more details Click HERE

[Photoboy]

National Huricane Center info on Hurricane Blas

BULLETIN
HURRICANE BLAS ADVISORY NUMBER 12
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP032016
200 PM PDT TUE JUL 05 2016

...BLAS BECOMES THE FIRST MAJOR HURRICANE OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC
SEASON...


SUMMARY OF 200 PM PDT...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...14.3N 120.9W
ABOUT 930 MI...1500 KM SW OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...125 MPH...205 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 275 DEGREES AT 16 MPH...26 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...954 MB...28.17 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.


DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
------------------------------
At 200 PM PDT (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Blas was located
near latitude 14.3 North, longitude 120.9 West. Blas is moving
toward the west near 16 mph (26 km/h) and this general motion is
expected to continue through tonight. A turn toward the
west-northwest with some decrease in forward speed is expected on
Wednesday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 125 mph (205 km/h)
with higher gusts. Blas is a category 3 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Additional strengthening is
possible tonight. After that, Blas is expected to weaken beginning
Wednesday night or Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150 miles
(240 km).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 954 mb (28.17 inches).

[Photoboy]

For those playing along with the tracking of boats and storms, here is a chart with lats and longs for reference...


http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/530.shtml

Online viewer at link above!

[Big Brass Balls]

Thanks, the race viewer lacks such basic info!

[Photoboy]

Eastern Pacific Projections



Wednesday morning fleet position approximation (in fuscia dots) and where Blas is projected to fizzle out to by Monday....




Fleet positions from Tracker




NCH tropical 2 day weather outlook


TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
500 AM PDT WED JUL 6 2016

For the eastern North Pacific...east of 140 degrees west longitude:

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Hurricane
Blas, located about 1000 miles west-southwest of the southern tip
of the Baja California peninsula.

1. Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low
pressure located about 525 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo,
Mexico, are showing some signs of organization. Continued
development of this system is expected, and a tropical depression
is likely to form within the next couple of days while it moves
westward at around 10 mph.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...90 percent

Forecaster Brown

Windyty.com models suggest the 3rd, yet unnamed storm of the season to mature into something a bit
more substantial, The top image is Monday the 11th at noon, the bottom frame is Sunday the 17th at noon....

[Prince of Whales]

THAT will either speed things up of mess things up!

[Photoboy]

The Leaderboards: July 6th



Because Pinnacle uses rather large crayons in its display lets see if this helps define
what boats are where in each division...











The "Corrected" positions for each division....






Real time position leaders, distance wise are:

Pakala, Joe Barry's Express 37 Leads Ku. 1,482 nm DTF doing 8.1 knots

Seazed Asset, Vance Sprock's Cal 40, leading Lono, currently 1,495nm DTF doing 5.9 knots

Saraband, David King's Westsail 32, in front of Kanaloa, currently 1,701nm DTF doing 4.9 knots

Kato, Jiri Senkyrik's Olson 30, leats Kane, currently 1,495nm DTF, doing 9.7 knots

[Photoboy]

Notes From The Boats

"I set my ‘shy kite’ at 11 AM after about 10 sweaty trips to the bow, and it is actually pretty managable up to low 20s kts. It also has reduced shoulders so should be less likely to wrap. I guess we will see how many hours per day I can keep it up. This is a very different experience from LongPac

Cushion working great, a real life saver, thank you again."

David Nabors
Olson 34' Temerity
****************************************


"Well enough day dreaming, it’s time for some sailing. Just set my A3 and as a result boat speed and nerves sky high. Wind speeds steady at 13-18kts, 020 degrees. Got a bunch of rest this morning after my first hoist attempt resulted in a very large sea anchor. Gotta remember to not get ahead of myself. Everything must be done one thoughtful step at a time. Steering is very stiff, i hope Im not dragging something. Will dip the go pro and take a look in a bit. In the meantime Im just hoping it sorts itself out. Time to do some trimming. Cheers,"


Brett Suwyn

Cavalier 39' Althea

****************************************


"Winds were light and massive wind shifts up to 40 degrees. The wrong way of course. Was up until 0200 trying to keep the boat going. Got up at 0500, not much sleep, nothing had changed, except it was very overcast and drizzly. Cleaned the dodger windows with the drizzle, nice. About 0600 I was about to get a RIB when a massive lift came my way. All of a sudden I am pointing at Hanley Bay! Running under a broad reach full Genoa and main making 7.5-8 knots, fantastic I thought. The it shifted a bit and went lighter. Ok, time for a spinnaker. Rigged the chute and went below for the radio check in. Came back on deck and noticed my spinnaker guy was now under the boat stuck on the rudder. Running new spinnaker sheets and even though I had two wraps on the winch, and in the self-tailing jaws, it snuck overboard. Tried pulling from one side then the other, no luck. Furled the Genoa and rounded up stopping the boat, still stuck, go over the side was one thought. Worked both of the lines to the cockpit, making sure I did not lose more over the side. Rounded up again, pulled, still nothing. The rounded up again, and gave about two fee of slack on the spinnaker end, was able to pull that up! Did it again same thing, so I let go of that side. Then pulled the guy back in the boat. I was lucky that I did not install any shackles. That only took an hour or so, such is a boat. Right now I have the chute up, and am pointing right at Hanley Bay, only 1500 km to go!"

Vance Sprock
Cal 40' Seazed Asset

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"my 1st light wind this morning. chilly and grey but beautiful. I need a shower badly but other than that am a happy camper in my routine onboard. we are well!
"

Margie Woods
Catalina 34' Haunani

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My view with coffee this morning!

Watt and Sea hydrogenerator hums along and keeps up with electrical demands even when going slow it’s an nice change from charging with engine.

I have settled into a routine. Basic plan is to not go further south in search of breeze. The tropical storm/hurricane has my attention. I am amazed by the southern ocean racers who actively seek out storms. I am going to take to slow route from here. It’s beautiful

Chris Cartwright
J-88' Ventus

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"Day 4 35.46 – 128.45 c235 s6.2 – Ahoy! everything is right onboard had good winds today but they teased lightening up and just as i would go to put up the bigger jib they’d pick back up again so have been with a reffed main and staysail and working job all day mostly in the 6’s. falling off a little because it looks like there are some lighter winds ahead and just don’t want to get caught in them. saw 6 different container ships today that passed close all headed to either Oakland or LongBeach. Spoke with the skippers (or who ever was on deck) and all were very nice. my AIS is not transmitting far, they all saw me but not until about 4 miles out, i was seeing them 40+ miles away. looks like the first squalls have started tonight. could use a good deck washing since everything is pretty salty/crusty. should be getting into the lighter winds now i’m further down the course. on the W32 fleet front, sounds like Saraband is up higher on the course and Elizabeth Ann is closer to me. Patience hasn’t been on the radio check ins so not sure of his progress. I was sailing next to Jaqueline for most of the day (he was within a few miles of me all day long) but now he is about 2 miles ahead of me. eating well and cooking some tasty meals along the way, had a great pizza tonight with fresh basil, olives and feta. cheers team tortuga!"


Randy Leasure
Westsail 32' Tortuga