Someone’s tugging on my foot. What the %^&*? It’s my crew mate, Brad Wheeler, and I hear a muffled “You can sleep when you’re dead, Chris, you’re going to want to see this, get up.” I am hearing him through the foam ear plugs I am wearing to muffle the sound of the primary winch that’s 12” over my head, not exactly sure I’m hearing him right. Nevertheless, I slither backwards out of the quarter berth I’m in. It’s hot and sticky down below and I’m shirtless and shoeless, I can smell myself. It’s not good. I poke my head out of the hatch. It’s just barely getting light. Brad’s close by and I give him a nod. I keep my head low to not block the instruments, so the helmsman can see their red glow in the darkness. Astern, to the east, the edges of towering tropical clouds are just becoming visible. Ahead it looks black, scary black. Squall cloud black and that’s not what you want to be sailing toward in this part of the Pacific. I’d only been asleep for a couple hours.

I pop back down below and get my gear on. I grab my deck shoes, hat, glasses, safety harness with tether and gloves from near my bunk and put them on.   Back on deck, I take a spot in the cockpit out of the way and let my eyes adjust to the darkness.  It’s blowing 22 knots and we’re going 14,15,16 straight into the darkness, I can make out the white spray of the bow wave as we surf over wave after wave. We are on port jibe and have our A 2.5 spinnaker and spinnaker staysail up. Justin’s driving, Nick’s on the grinding pedestal and Zack on the spinnaker sheet. We’ve been at this now for nine days racing our way 2225 miles across the Pacific from LA to Honolulu in the 2021 Transpac Race. 

Ahead, every ten seconds, the sweep of Kalaupapa Light on the north shore of Molokai is visible. It’s pretty close now, two hours ago when I went off watch it was just a faint blip on the horizon. We’re getting close now and will be finishing this morning sometime. The veterans on the boat are excited because finishing during the day means there likely will be a helicopter to photograph our crossing the line at Diamond Head, and more folks at our arrival party. The Molokai Channel awaits. 

The light is coming on more now and I see the wisdom to Brad’s getting me up. The black ahead is not a squall at all, but the sheer cliffs of the Northside of Molokai. As the lighting gets a little better the black turns to grey and pink with swaths of tropical green. The cliffs are massive, towering 3500 feet above the ocean at points. Waves breaking at the foot. It looks a lot like the opening scenes of “Jurassic Park”. The coastline is deserted. 

Our plan is to sail straight ahead and get as close are we dare to the Molokai coast before jibing onto starboard.  Close to the coast and the cliffs the wind will be the strongest and the wind angle the best for getting away from the west end of the island. We’ll also be set up on a good angle to launch across the Molokai channel to the finish off Diamond Head on Oahu. We are bow to bow on AIS with “Horizon” a Santa Cruz 50 we have been match racing across the Pacific for the last eight days. While we have conceded that we can’t beat them on corrected time (we owe them two hours). There is a chance we can beat them boat for boat.  

The wind increases as we get closer to Molokai. Now consistently over 20 knots, the talk turns to jibing. Everyone gets a little lump in their throats. We haven’t wiped out yet but if we were going to it would be in these conditions. We’re sailing a Santa Cruz 52. Over twenty years old, “Triumph” was built as a racer/cruiser by Santa Cruz Yachts in, you guessed it, Santa Cruz, CA. Owner/ Skipper Steve Sellinger bought the boat 6 years ago. This is his 3rd Transpac with “Triumph” and each trip he has made incremental improvements to the boat. She bears no resemblance to how she looked when she rolled out of the factory 20 years ago. New rudder, new penalty spinnaker pole, interior stripped of as many creature comforts as can be unbolted, a full top of the line B+G instrument system, full suite of top of the line Quantum sails, this is Steve’s third Transpac and the boat is dialed in. 

Jeff Thorpe, our tactician, consults with Brad, the spot is right to get a good angle along the front of Molokai and get launched across the Channel to Diamond Head. I’ve known Jeff for thirty years, he’s a veteran of 13 races to Hawaii, he used to sail J/24’s with me doing cockpit. He’s the one who got me onboard “Triumph”.  Jeff calls for the gybe. We all assume our positions for the maneuver. Everyone to their place. Jeff on the wheel, Steve on mainsheet, Nick on the grinder, Zack and David on the bow, Justin on the new sheet, Brad in pit, I’m on the old sheet and the guy and easing the tack line when Brad switches to grind the guy back. 1,2,3 going down the face of a wave to reduce apparent wind speed we gybe. The boom comes over, guy and pole come back and we’re off on starboard gybe, easy, peasey. 

Quickly, we realize we went too far for comfort on port and now we’re just laying the West end of Molokai. Waves are erupting on the cliffs and outcroppings to leeward. The coast is getting closer. Break something now and there won’t be much time to get ourselves out of here. The scenery is spectacular, the lush green of mountains pouring down into lower volcanic brown and black plains as we slide to the west . We still have our full size A 2.5 up and on the edge of wiping out. Up in the lulls and down in the puffs as we try to gain weather gauge away from the island. Finally, the wind lifts us slightly and we all breathe a little sigh of relief. 

About thirty miles remain to the finish. All that stands between us and Diamond Head is the Molokai Channel. Justin is steering now and we start bombing across the channel. 15, 16, 18 knots on the boatspeed with a few touches over 20 down the faces of waves. We’re all insanely egging on the wind to increase now. 22 knots used to seem windy five days ago. Now we’re all hoping for 25 or more to get this beast of a boat planing towards the barn. Koko Head, the volcanic crater before Diamond Head comes visible on the starboard bow with the Ko’olau range that forms the backbone of Oahu beyond it. 

We can now see “Horizon” off the starboard bow. They are coming in from the West along the windward side of Oahu. They are spec and it’s clear that they are ahead. The Santa Cruz 50 is considerably lighter than us and surfs longer and earlier when the wind really get up there as it is now. Kudos to them, it’s been a great battle for over 2200 miles.  They will win our class and we will come second, well ahead of the rest in our group. The close race had us pushing each other the whole way which makes it very fun. 

Steve takes the wheel for the final push.  Cell service comes back after eight plus days. Justin starts doing Facetime live with a whopping three viewers. We all think it is hilarious. Koko Head is clear now and we can see the iconic shape of Diamond Head beyond. That outcropping is literally a symbol of Hawaii. Even if you have never been there in person everyone can recognize it from tourism ads. It’s full daylight now, about nine in the morning. The clouds are all puffy, warm and inviting. We start to get a bead on the finish line is ahead. It’s a line extended from the Diamond Head lighthouse to the red bell buoy marking the end of reef off the light. The sailing instructions say you need to finish within 100 yards of the buoy. That has us concerned now because we have been headed and the wind has picked up in the Channel. We’re pointing about a mile below the buoy. Talk turns to possibly changing down to the smaller A3 spinnaker. Steve does his best to sail as tight an angle as he can without rounding up. Brad chimes in and predicts that we should get lifted as we get closer to the Southeast corner of Oahu and the venturi  between Oahu and Molokai wraps around the coast. He’s right and as Diamond Head gets closer we end up grinding the pole back and squaring up a bit. 

The finish is close now and civilization comes back into view. Cars are seen running back and forth on the coast highway, houses carpet the sides of the hills down to the water. We all start to realize this will soon be over. We can now see the lighthouse and the red bell buoy close by. Some small boats are hovering in the area. The high rises of Waikiki emerge from around the left side of Diamond Head. The photo boat comes close and starts snapping away. We all try and look serious. Steve takes us across the line and we all cheer and give high fives all around. This will be the best Transpac finish for “Triumph” ever in all three tries. The race committee comes on the radio and gives us our official finish time and provides instructions to follow one of the small escort boats nearby into Ala Wai harbor. At 8 days 23 hours and change this will be the fastest Transpac ever for an SC52.

The kite is still up and the photo boat is right next to us. David shimmies out to the end of the pole and spikes away the kite, showboating a little for the camera. The guy who willingly went to the top of the mast on a pitch black nights early in the race to swap out the halyards can showboat all he wants in my book.

Postscript:

Of the world’s major ocean races, the Transpac, at 2225 miles it is by far the longest. The fact that the course from Los Angeles to Hawaii overlays the easterly trade winds for at least half that distance makes it doable for a wide range of boats. Crews must be able to be totally self-sufficient for their time at sea including being able to deal with any type of medical emergency onboard. At least 30% of the crew must have completed safety at sea training. 

On “Triumph” we sailed with 8 crew. That seemed about right. More would have been a bit crowded and fewer would make most maneuvers difficult. When we changed sails or did a maneuver everyone was on deck and there were no idle hands. 

I felt like we were lucky on “Triumph” that we had 8 very competent helmspeople. Especially at night, when you are steering mainly by instruments, rotating the helm every 15 or 20 minutes is smart and the boat is driven harder. With only 4 people on deck you really need everyone to be able to steer. 

As noted earlier, the 2021 Transpac was the third for the boat and owner Steve Sellinger. One thing that impressed me about Steve was that he had made incremental improvements to the boat and his crew each time. The boat was extremely well prepared. Some people don’t seem to learn from their mistakes but Steve sure did. 

Another thing I learned from Steve is that being the owner and the person in charge on a race of this magnitude can be very stressful if you do not completely trust your team. This is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Everyone is different but Steve increased his fun factor by organizing his crew around a group of friends and loyal crew members and then supplementing with a few compatible professionals he could count on. The cost to pay 2-3 pros is a rounding error in the overall budget if you are prepping the boat well. Steve told me he slept better and had more fun on this race than either of his two previous races. 

Packing personal gear for a trip like this a challenge. The weather conditions vary dramatically from very cold and wet in the beginning to steamy hot at the end. Like on most boats we were all given a small duffel bag to put our personal gear (excluding foul weather gear and safety harness). Below is my list which I developed from a variety of sources including the Quantum Sails website (Will Paxton), friends who had done the race before and our own crew. 

Below is what I packed for the race this year. I used everything except the midlayer fleece. 

2021 Transpac Packing List 

·      Regular glasses (2x in case)

·      Sunglasses (2x in case)

·      Recharge kit for PFD 

·      Headlamp

·      Deck shoes

·      Warm beanie

·      Atlas gloves- 2 pair

·      Warm gloves

·      Waterproof socks-1 pair

·      Regular wicking socks-2 pair

·      Wide brimmed sailing hat 

·      Neck Buff

·      2x dry shirt—Long sleeve

·      2x synthetic wicking underwear

·      Regular Long John bottoms

·      Regular Long John top

·      Light Long John bottoms

·      Light Long John top

·      Mid weight fleece

·      Sailing shorts-Padded

·      Belt

·      Leatherman

·      Chapstick(s)

·      Phone in Ziploc bag

  Ear buds

·      Watch

·      Vaccine Card

·      Go Pro

·      Ear Plugs

·      Toiletries in Ziploc

o   Razor

o   Toothbrush

o   Small Toothpaste

o   Dental floss 

o   Small deodorant

o   Sea sick pills

o   Fiber pills

Not in duffel:

·      PFD/Safety Harness w/Lanyard 

·      Foul WG bottom 

·      Foul WG top

The Transpac is both a fantastic race and an adventure. It’s a personal journey for everyone involved. You go through a wide range of emotions on a race like this from true misery to not wanting it to end. Being able to disconnect from the world for days at a time is a true luxury in our always connected world. I’ll be back and I thank Steve and the whole “Triumph” team for the opportunity.