J/125 Brokerage Special- HOT BOAT!

J/Net Brokerage Specials! Check out our exciting new site for lovingly-owned J/Boats from around the world.

1999 J/125 "Can't Touch This" is one of the best equipped J/125's in the world and has been continually upgraded. Her last two owners have maintained her in impeccable condition. This boat has won every major offshore event on the west coast, including the Rolex Big Boat Series three-times and the Transpac Race.

She has a brand new carbon rudder, new carbon sails, and updated Awlgrip silver-metallic paint job on the topsides. She has both a buoy-race inventory and an offshore inventory. The boat has gone thru a long list of upgrades as well as a serious "carbon diet". Carbon hand rails, carbon hatch boards, carbon steps, carbon padeyes with Spectra loops, a custom carbon step for offshore driving and Equiplight titanium shackles throughout. The boat has the new rudder design by Alan Johnstone along with all offshore safety gear. The boat is ready to go offshore today.

Hull & deck was built with TPI's patented SCRIMP vacuum resin infusion molding process. Hull has carbon fiber biaxial - unidirectional inner skin, biaxial Kevlar - E-glass hybrid outer skin and thermo-formed CoreCell linear structural foam core drilled for West System epoxy resin.

Deck has carbon - E glass - CoreCell - vinylester laminate with gelcoat finish. Hull & deck laminates meet ABS offshore yacht standards and is also CE Mark Certified for Europe. Truly an amazing offshore racing yacht for the most discerning performance sailor. These J/125s rarely come on to the brokerage market and this particular boat is in pristine "as new" condition.  Learn more about this fabulous J/125 here.

Going beyond the weather app- Go to Weather University!

Chris Bedford is one of the most respected meteorologists in the sport of sailing. Through his company Sailwx.com he has worked in literally every grand prix sailing event – from the America’s Cup to the Olympics.

This year he has teamed up with 2x America’s Cup winning navigator, Peter Isler to create “Marine Weather University” – an online school designed to help sailors raise their weather IQ. Chris has designed a unique curriculum that helps sailors learn how to go beyond their weather app.

Scuttlebutt readers can get 10% off any MWU class or course with the coupon code SBUTTFAM at www.marineweatheru.com. The next MWU lecture (LOCAL & REGIONAL WINDS) will be presented as a live webinar on Tuesday, August 11 @ 8PM EDT before being posted online with all of MWU class.

Why go to school when Bob Dylan says, “You don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows“? Chris explains…

The flood of always changing data, observations, models, and circumstances make the task of weather prediction extraordinarily challenging. Personally, I feel that every forecast I make is obsolete the instant I send it out as there is always new information coming that will alter the forecast.

Every meteorologist has developed their own approach and process to making a forecast. But there are common aspects that every trained forecaster follows before they apply their own spin on the problem. The common process is scientifically based. The individualized portion is the “art” of weather prediction, and that is unique to a particular forecaster.

Meteorology is an established science. Conceptualized as a fluid, the atmosphere follows the laws of physics and chemistry. Chuck Doswell, a renowned severe weather meteorologist, refers to a good forecaster as one that can balance the “triad of components of a healthy science: 1) Theory, 2) Observation, and 3) Modeling.”

If your forecast process is comprised primarily of looking at a bunch of models (aka “what’s your favorite weather app?) and deciding which to believe, then you are a) not forecasting, and b) wasting your time.

Of the myriad of models available (and there are literally over a hundred you could look at to make a single forecast), how do you know which is the “correct” one or, as some people refer to it, “the model of the day.” The goal is to ADD VALUE over the model, and that can only be accomplished by analyzing data (observations and weather charts) and applying your understanding of meteorological theory. Models are a GUIDE in that process (In fact, meteorologists refer to models as “Guidance”).

Weather forecasting is not black and white. Adding value to a weather forecast doesn’t necessarily mean getting the lowest error score. You can have the lowest error score but make one wrong forecast at the wrong time and the impact on the user could be huge. For example, you could predict the maximum racing wind speed and be correct 9 out of 10 times (90%). But the only day you will care about is the one when you were wrong and, as a result, failed to include a race winning sail in your inventory.

The real emphasis is on providing actionable information for a user. Let me explain by example. Let us say the race committee has an established race wind speed limit of 25 knots, above which racing is canned. Predicting whether the wind will exceed 25 knots is key and quite frankly an easier “GO/NO GO” forecast than predicting the maximum wind speed for the day.

But for this particular case, you add value by identifying WHEN during the day that limit will be exceeded AND communicating it effectively. Will it be over 25 knots all day or can some of the day be salvaged for racing? If so, when will that be so that mark-set boats and race crews are not sitting on the water all day waiting or not going out at all only to see a perfectly race-able period missed?

So, as you are sitting down to review the weather before a race, think about your process. Have you reviewed the observations and analyzed the existing state of the atmosphere? Can you identify the processes at play (without models!) and understand their causes and potential outcomes based on meteorological theory?

What is/are the forecast problem(s) for the day? Do the models adequately and consistently reflect the initial state of the atmosphere? Am I respecting and adequately reflecting uncertainty in my forecast and adding value over, say, a model consensus forecast?   Learn more about Peter Isler and Chris Bedford's Marine Weather University here 

Transpac Weather Guru- Stan Honey- tactics & strategy

Transpac Race: Tactics and Strategy as described by multiple Transpac Race winning navigator- Stan Honey.  

Stan was the Maxi 100 footer COMANCHE navigator in this year’s edition of the race. Before the race started, Stan offered tips to help the record 100-boat fleet in the 50th edition. Bookmark these links in your “pre-race strategy” briefings for future Transpac’s! Incredibly helpful and informative for any offshore racing.

• https://youtu.be/Ai1rDP97GD8
• https://youtu.be/XfZY2aCKctA
• https://youtu.be/TSYWatzdNJA
• https://youtu.be/anSuEgui3cw

50th Transpac Race Preview

(Los Angeles, CA)- Mere mention of the beautiful island chain of Hawaii amongst serious offshore sailors immediately sparks conversation of the world-famous Transpacific Race, which starts on the waters off of Los Angeles and finishes off of Honolulu’s Diamond Head formation, yielding a racetrack of some 2,225 nautical miles. Transpac, as the race is affectionately known, is organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club and now raced biennially (odd-numbered years) and has a proud and rich history hailing back to 1906.

More importantly, for anyone who loves sailing fast under spinnaker, Transpac also has a long track record of serving-up fantastic conditions, once teams crack off their sheets and aim their bows for what can only be described as one of the planet’s prettiest destinations.

Not surprisingly, the race has long attracted some of the world’s fastest boats. To help give some perspective on how much the race (and sailing) have evolved since Transpac’s inaugural event, skipper H.H. Sinclair won the 1906 Transpac with a time of 12+ days. Flash-forward 99 years and VPLP-designed 100 foot super maxi COMANCHE flew across the same course in just 5+ days.

What’s the best-case and worst-case scenarios for this year’s race in terms of weather?

According to Dobbs Davis, “for Transpac 50 we should be close to being “normal”.  In other words, the East Pacific sea surface temperatures are not high. So, with no obvious strong El Nino pattern in place this year the North Pacific High looks fairly stable and able to deliver the usual pressure in the usual directions.”

The thirteen-boat Division 3, one of the largest and certainly most competitive in the event, has a quartet of J/125s participating. Those teams include Zach Anderson & Chris Kramer’s VELVET HAMMER from San Francisco, CA; Mark Surber’s SNOOPY from Coronado YC in San Diego, CA; Tom Garnier’s REINRAG 2 from Los Angeles YC; and Shawn Dougherty & Jason Andrews’ HAMACHI from Corinthian YC Seattle in Seattle, WA.  Taking them all on will be Roger Gatewood’s world-traveling J/145 KATARA from Davis Island YC in St Petersburg, FL (she was last seen racing in the Caribbean this past winter).

The eleven-boat Division 6 has an eclectic mix of boats. In the mix is Scott Grealish’s new J/121 BLUE FLASH from Willamette Sailing Club in Portland, Oregon. To date, BLUE FLASH successfully sailed the Cabo San Lucas Race and the Ensenada Race as their “training missions” to work through sail combinations and speed techniques offshore.

The seven-boat Division 7 has Paul Stemler’s classic J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC in Newport Beach, CA.  Then, in Division 8, David Gorney’s J/105 NO COMPROMISE from Anacapa YC is up against a trio of Hobie 33s and a “modded” Farr 36.

Track the J/Teams and cheer them on as they spend from 8 to 10 days sending it across the Pacific Ocean in warm, windy trade winds!  For more Transpac 50th sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Sanford Comments on Transpac J/105 Experience

(Honolulu, Hawaii)- Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE sailed this year’s Transpac Race- 2,225nm of full-on downwind racing for most of the time.

Ed & Team Creative have sailed over 10,000 miles offshore, and we believe are the first J/105 to reach the Transpac podium and the first to do three Transpac races in a J/105.  Bravo!

Here is what Ed had to say about their experience:

“I have had a interesting progression in life!

In 2013, my wife’s response regarding Transpac was, “I vote no.”

In 2015, my wife’s response this time was, “so, when are you going?”

Then, in 2017, my wife said, “I suppose Andrew is going, too?”  Andrew is my son.

I think what I’m trying to say is I think I got a little better bit better each time and she knew I was happier for it.

This year’s race was a priceless journey and one we will remember when I’m two feet from the grave!

My son and I did every off-watch schedule together for the 12 days 19 hours! And, now he is off to college in 2 weeks. He was driving the boat in 20-plus kts with the 110 square meter kite up!

4 hours on 4 hours off during the day, and 3 hours on and 3 hours off at night. I was particularly impressed on him getting out of his bunk with 15 min to go every time to get ready to go on deck!!  Amazing, not bad for a teenager!” Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Fast, Record-setting Transpac

J/125's and J/105 Sail Fast to Silver!
(Los Angeles, CA)- The 49th edition of the 2017 biennial offshore classic, the Transpac Race that started on July 3rd, 5th, and 6th from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2,225nm away has finally come to a conclusion. Among the fifty-five teams, the J/crews fought hard the entire way and had their moments of stark terror interspersed with their days and days of sheer joy surfing the giant Pacific swells to Honolulu’s Diamond Head.

No question, the welcoming committee is one of the highlights of the race for the three J/crews entered in the race. After crossing the finish line, all boats are escorted to the narrow (sometimes treacherous) entrance to the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor, a safe haven from the Pacific swells. Donned in their flowered shirts, the crews stand on deck to be greeted like conquering heroes by the amplified sounds of native drums, slack key guitar music and a loud and resounding “Aaaahhh- looohhh – haaaaah” given by staff commodore Howie Mednick from the second deck of the Hawaii YC.

“We welcome you to Hawaii, and ask only that you do Drink well, Sing well, Eat well, Sleep well… and Drink well some more!”

Boats then proceed to their assigned slips, get boarded and inspected for rules compliance, and then are released to the awaiting leis and hugs of family, friends and well-wishers. Regardless of the time of day or night, every crew is given an Aloha Party of food and drink, some more traditionally Hawaiian than others, with the unshaven and weary crews growing their smiles with each re-told story and re-acquaintance with terra firma.

This is a unique feature of Transpac among the world’s ocean races: nowhere else will you find this intimate and embracing level of hospitality and respect. Finishers of the Volvo Ocean Race and Vendee Globe will experience their re-entry into life ashore under the glare of TV lights, crowds and microphones, whereas at Transpac it will be under the flickering flames of a tiki torch and the inner glow from a Mai Tai.

The lore of this hospitality reaches far and wide, as evidenced by not only entries who come every two years from around the Pacific Basin, but also those who come from the other side of the world. This year two entries from Europe were here to have the Aloha experience.

In the end, Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE team from San Diego YC sailed in 2nd place for most of the race in Class 6 and that is exactly where they finished; just four hours corrected time behind a surfing machine known as a turbo’d Hobie 33!  Not bad for a 24 year old family day sailor! Congrats to Ed and his crew for a job well done!

Then, in Class 3 were the two notoriously fast J/125s- RAISIN’ CANE and RESOLUTE.  Both teams had been blogging via Inmarsat satellite service almost every day.  The “Golden Feather Scribe Award” for the race must go to the crew on RESOLUTE- with just about all crew members offering their personal perspectives and updates on the race!  Kudos to Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE for keeping us abreast of the experience!  They nearly won the race, both in class and overall, having been in that position for days going into the last 48 hours!  However, being just a step behind the bigger boats hurt their chances for the ultimate outcome, with much, much lighter winds hitting them just before the finish.  Even then, Fuller’s RESOLUTE took 2nd in class and 4th overall!  Congratulations to Tim and his intrepid crew that included long-time J/sailor Trevor Baylis!

In the early stages of the race, Frank Atkinson’s RAISIN’ CANE from Palm Beach, FL was amongst the race leaders, both in class and overall along with their stablemate RESOLUTE.  However, going a bit too far south slowed them down and hurt their chances for a possible 1-2 for the J/125s!  Nevertheless, it was a great performance and their 5th in class and 17th overall in a fleet of 55 boats is something to be proud of for a bunch of Floridians playing the West Coast offshore game!

To catch you up on the blogs, here were the final installments from the crew on RESOLUTE:

July 11, 2017, 1100- Tuesday
Around 11:30 this morning, it seemed like it was time to gybe (turn) and head toward Honolulu with a wind shift we'd gotten. And then, we got another one and gybed back. My right arm has been getting a workout for the past six days trimming, so I WAS happy to get a little left arm work in. Alas, it was not meant to be. I'll just have to keep having right-handed arm wrestling contests.

For anyone who has not been reading the Facebook page, you probably haven't heard about the savage flying fish attack last night. Matt got hit right in the face. The flying fish have been trying to get us for days, but have been missing (although there have been a couple of close calls). We've found a bunch on the deck and thought we had the upper hand, but I guess they're sending in their best pilots now. We'll see what happens throughout the rest of the race.

Good news: Just as I came down here to write this, the distance to our waypoint (the finish) ticked to under 700 miles! That's a real morale booster -- although things get a little trickier from here on out. Brian says we're doing well, so every decision is an important one and every knot of boatspeed counts.

We're romping happily along out here. But, the boat dreams have started to become really weird (maybe Jimmy Buffett should have written a song about boat dreams instead of boat drinks). I'm going to have to sell my car because of my dream that there was a rattlesnake inside that WOULD not leave (mom and dad, if you could handle that before I get home, that would be great) and Tim had a dream that we were waiting for an uber to finish the race. I checked my app and we're a bit out of the service area here.

I'd like to report that everything is still smelling sweetly, but it's not. It's pretty gamey down below on the boat. Almost like there are five guys living in a confined, closed in space in the tropics. But, it's only four guys... and me... and let me tell you, I'm definitely part of the problem.

Congrats to the boys on Mighty Merloe. Artie, I guess this means you're up 2 to 1 now.  -Alli

July 11, 2017, 1600- Tuesday- Resolute Turns Left... Finally
Well this morning was a great change of pace for all of us. After 5 days and 10 hours on Starboard and slowly turning right I figured Hawaii was somewhere to the left of us. That being said we made the call to gybe in hopes of finding the island. If it looks like we are going the wrong way on the tracker, please let us know. (-;

Daily standings also came out and we moved up to 2nd overall! Unfortunately, the breeze has died slightly which gives a significant advantage to the bigger boats. Needless to say, we are all giving maximum effort and doing what we can to sail as fast as possible. That includes continuing to stack our pipe berths on top of each other to the windward side. If you haven't seen the pipe berth setup on Resolute imagine a coffin 6' long, 4' high, and 2' wide. Very claustrophobic and a total bitch to get in and out of. To make things worse, A) we haven't showered in 6 days and smell fantastic B) we move the leeward pipe berth into the same coffin... Yes, we are literally sleeping on top of each other give or take 6".

Currently we are 742.1 miles to the finish. Averaging 12kn and 9.5 vmg over the last hour. Wind speed is 13-16. Waves are 4-6'.  Until next time, Brian

July 12, 2300- Wednesday- Night Sky/Day Sky
Did you guys know that if the moon is still up and bright around dawn, there is a clear demarcation between what is night sky and what is day sky? I didn't, until last night/this morning. Trevor and I were on watch and the moon was super bright. I looked behind us and dawn was just starting to break and there was a CLEAR line between what sky was still the night and what was the day. It was pretty cool.

Speaking of night, for the first time we really saw some stars last night. And, the day star came out today for the first time since the start. Before night fell yesterday, I was just making the comment that we'd seen a total of about six stars including the sun our whole trip. I wouldn't say we had a LOT of stars last night, but it at least quadrupled our count. The sun has been out most of the day today, so I'm hoping that we'll see the Southern Cross (Traci, counting on you to back me up here) tonight or tomorrow because...

...we're in the final countdown! Right now, we're thinking we probably finish Friday afternoon-ish -- which is SO soon! And that's probably a good thing because things are getting a little loony out here. Or maybe more appropriate to say "terny". This morning after Tim and Matt came up on watch, we heard a loud squawking sound. Turns out, it was Tim shouting at (to?) the terns circling overhead. The bird whisperer.

It's getting hot and stinky down below, but today has been shower day for at least some of us (so far: me and Brian), so that's always a relief. For those of you wondering, showering consists of throwing a bucket with a string overboard off the back of the boat (we're going kinda fast through the water), filling it, dumping it over your head, shampooing and soaping, and doing the bucket thing again to rinse. This far south, the water is warm and it's really a pleasant experience. To the disappointment of all on board, I'm sure, my shower was in a bathing suit rather than my birthday suit.

Everything is going well aboard Resolute, although we could use some more breeze down this final stretch! BTW, I know Brian said we turned left, but... we turned back  -Alli

July 13, 2017, 1100- Thursday
Good evening Resolute fans. Well things are changing out here, and I wish I could report for the better. The weather forecast is calling for decreasing winds tonight and tomorrow. Unfortunately, that makes it more difficult to hang in there with the bigger/faster boats in front of us. Today's position report of 1st in class and 2nd overall is clearly in doubt tomorrow if things don't improve. Tomorrow too will be a scorcher in the heat made 100 times worse if there is no breeze. I've seen this movie before and didn't like it in 2013, but all we can do is push on to the finish and play the cards we are handed. On another note, today was the second time Matt has been punished by a flying fish. The first to the face and the last to the chest. The guy cannot get a break. Anyway more to follow, and thanks for hanging in there with us.  Tim Fuller - Skipper.  Sailing photo credits- Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing.   Watch the Transpac sailing highlights Youtube video here    For more Transpac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Transpac Race Update

J/Crews on J/125 and J/105 Leading Classes
(Los Angeles, CA)- The 49th edition of the 2017 biennial offshore classic, the Transpac Race, started on July 3rd, 5th, and 6th from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2,225nm away. Among the fifty-five teams, there will be no shortage of anxiety playing the big Pacific High as it wobbles around, avoiding the notorious U.F.O’s (underwater floating objects), and breathless anticipation as Diamond Head looms over the horizon knowing that you have less than 10 miles to go to the finish line!

As of Wednesday, in Class 5 we find Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC currently 2nd in class on 6th day of racing.

Then, in Class 3 are the two notoriously fast J/125s- RAISIN’ CANE and RESOLUTE.  Each team has been blogging via Inmarsat satellite service almost every day.  Here are interesting perspectives on their progress below from each team.

Tim Fuller’s J/125 RESOLUTE from San Diego YC
Day 1- July 5, 2017
All is well onboard Resolute. No major issues so far. A few leaks here and there and our gyro-heading sensor has decided to quit on us so we are down to a backup. We currently have 18 kts of wind and are doing 11.5 avg w/ the Jib Top, genoa staysail and reefed main. We are looking forward to get a more favorable wind direction tonight so we can put up the code zero and send it.

It's been a bumpy and wet last 24 hours w/ 4-5' swells w/ 1-2' wind chop on top of it. Making good progress already logging 252 miles and 2007 to go.  Brian

Day 2- July 6, 2017
Greeting Resolute fans! After a pretty fair start and first (24) hours of sailing thing are settling down. The wind Gods have been friendly so far, but its been a wet ride. Our top speed has been just under 20 knots with a reefed main, Code 0 and a genoa staysail flying. A couple of annoying leaks have cropped up, but we have McGyvered solutions. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have brought along new foul weather pants. I can honestly say I have the wettest butt on the planet right now, and so looking forward to when it sailing in shorts time ahead. The guys and Alli are all doing great. I feel very fortunate to be out here with such a fantastic and fun group of people. As I type, we have 1,968 miles to go. That is a long way on a 41' sailboat, but before you know it, we'll hear the HYC greeting "Aloha Resolute." Thanks for following along.  Tim Fuller - Skipper

Day 3- July 7, 2017, 1400
Hello Resolute fans. We are just cruising along today. Since about 6:00 last night we have a double head rig working with a C0, GS and now a full main. For all you non-sailors that's as many sails as we can fly at this wind angle without tipping over!

Our top speed so far is 22 knots. Interesting sight today as Comanche (100 foot and largest boat in the fleet) passed right next to us about noontime. AIS showed them ripping along at 24 knots in about 14 knots of wind! Yes, that is REALLY fast. They went from the horizon behind to the horizon ahead in about an hour. Famed navigator Stan Honey is aboard so we felt good about our position knowing we were sharing the same water at least for a while.

Our routing and weather predict a spinnaker up for us later tonight, and that's when we turn on the jets. Things should flatten out and dry out at least then too. I do have dry shorts on now in case anyone out there was wondering. We still have 1,773 miles to go out here in the blue pacific, so stay tuned.  Tim Fuller - Skipper

Day 4- July 8, 1500- RESOLUTE winning class!
Good morning Resolute Fans!  We're somewhere in the middle of our third day out here and things are feeling fine. I know you've likely seen the sailing updates from Brian, so I'm here to give you a little glimpse into life on board.

Let's start at the very beginning -- the dock. Somehow, media got word that the youngest member of the fleet was aboard Resolute: Allison Bell, the 12 year-old. I appreciate the 25 years back! After an interview and some video footage (maybe keep your eye on the Transpac Facebook page and other sites), we satisfied the paparazzi, finished up final prep and headed to the start line. It was pretty neat to see Westward out there, at least for me, and nice to have all the support from loved ones.

We started, headed to Catalina and beyond. We settled nicely into our watch system and are doing 4 hours on during the day, 3 hours on at night. Everyone seems to be happy and healthy. The food is pretty good and so far, it doesn't smell too badly down below. The only complaint is that I apparently snore, which I have yet to believe because I haven't heard it!

The men on board have likely been keeping things cleaner than usual, is my suspicion, but they'll soon forget to mind their manners.  Time to go-- today is one of my favorite days-- underwear change day! All is well aboard Resolute!  - Alli Bell

Day 5- July 9th
Well, we are just having a heck of a time out here. The great sailing conditions are offsetting the lack of sleep, odor in the boat, and overall hygiene.

Just received the latest position report and we continue to climb up the leader board. We now stand first in class and 6th overall after a 300-mile day and 281 of that DMG. The new Pac 52 boats are going to be tough to beat but we are doing our best to keep up the pace.

After the latest weather download we expect the winds to continue to be 14-18 knots with a gradual lift trending as we sail around an isobar. There is a high pressure moving down with really light winds so we will be monitoring that closely. There is still a long way to go but at this point in time we will continue on starboard for another 600 miles and then gybe close to our layline to finish. We are all looking forward to some time on port tack so our bodies can straighten out and we can do some grinding with our left arms.  Stay tuned for more updates.  - Brian

Day 6- July 10, 2017, 1300
Hi you’all. There is so much that I forgot to tell you in my last post and that has happened in the last day.

First, sailing at night is usually pretty cool, but the last few nights have been WAY cool! It has been so bright outside that we have been able to call puffs (incoming wind) at two in the morning. Usually, it's too dark to do that. The moon is full and behind a thin layer of clouds, so we've been able to see the horizon better than usual, which makes sailing at night easier.

Second, the most awesome thing happened on Friday afternoon. Trevor, Brian and I are on deck when we see a sail in the distance. We'd been sailing for almost 48 hours at that point; so seeing another boat is definitely a topic of conversation. After some speculation, Brian went to check the AIS and saw that it was 100-footer COMANCHE. Within the hour, they'd passed us within a mile and disappeared in the horizon in front of us. That was less than 24 hours after their start. They'd already sailed just about 500 miles. As I write this, they're just about to Hawaii- maybe within a day.

Third, and this I think is probably the most important, we are halfway there- both in terms of distance sailed and geographically. To celebrate, Brian made us Pad Thai. It was delicious. If any of the Tiger Pants crew are reading this - mine are about to go on in celebration of this accomplishment- I'm sure there will be photos.

Today was also exciting because we got passed closely by Chim Chim just after we repaired a sail (Trick, if you're reading this, you definitely owe Brian and Matt a beer for their excellent mid-ocean TOP batten pocket repair) and backed down to get something off our keel. We've spent most of the day, though, sailing fast and having fun.

We've not seen a lot of trash or sea life, so far. A few flying fish and we smelled a whale the other night. Today, we saw an albatross. Those are cool creatures- and they good luck!

All is well out here on Resolute. The boys are still behaving, mostly. Oh, and if you were wondering, underwear change day exceeded expectations!! - Alli Bell

Day 7- July 11, 2017, 0100
Greetings Resolute fans. It's Monday and we are 1st in class and 4th overall as of this morning’s position report. The two big boats in our class are tough and it looks like the approach to the finish off Diamond Head will be a tricky one weather wise.

We are trending toward the north side of the course for now, but looking to make a left turn south with a favorable shift in the wind. Here we go again on the fine sailing ship Resolute as we find ourselves in the giant killer mode.

For now we are pushing as hard as we can. Alli, too, has moved into the crew boss role as her competitive nature is taking over more each day! We love our Alli Bell. A couple more shout outs... Matt Smith the freeze-dried food is awesome. Second, to my buddy Erik Shampain who could not make the race this time. It's just not the same in the middle of the ocean without you. Thanks for following along. More to come over the next few days. - Tim Fuller- Skipper.   Follow RESOLUTE’s Facebook page here  Follow RESOLUTE’s Transpac blog here

Frank Atkinson’s J/125 RAISIN’ CANE from West Palm Beach, FL
Raisin' Cane's Race Day 2- July 7, 2017, 1900
Raisin' Cane had an issue yesterday that affected their speed for a while. Issue appears to be resolved and they have been steadily gaining speed through out today and are doing their best to catch up. Let’s all send them pleasant thoughts for good wind and increased speed. Not sure how close they were or if Raisin' Cane saw them but Comanche, a 100ft competitor, passed by them earlier today.

Raisin' Cane is now 41 hours into the Transpac and doing OK. Typical early passage bugs and deficiencies are being overcome and conditions aboard are improving as we settle in, shake down, and sort out. It also helps that the wind is drawing aft.

We set our first kite 30 minutes ago and, if your typist's (Joe) collected weather forecast data can be relied upon, we expect to be under spinnakers for the foreseeable future. The deck guys are busy flaking and stowing jibs so I can get away with being brief with this message by passing none of their remarks along. This is good because it is "peppy" at the nav station as it is everywhere on board."

Raisin' Cane's Day 4- July 9, 2017
Raisin Cane is charging downwind in a deep, cobalt blue. ocean, her A2 running spinnaker, straining at her sheets, skipping from wave to wave in a sailor’s dance till she reaches the sun baked white beaches of Hawaii. Cane’s crew has settled into their hourly watches and daily routines, focusing all their efforts to race across the Pacific. Sailing has been steady with good winds. The fleet is now in the trade winds for the most part, sailing westerly to the Islands with the winds at their back with a little over 1200 miles to go.  Follow Raisin’ Cane here on the Transpac Race boat blogs.

Follow these teams each day and give them your support- Yellow Brick’s YBTracking is providing the hourly updates.  For more Transpac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Transpac Race Update

(Los Angeles, CA)- 49th edition of the 2017 biennial Transpac Race has starts on July 3rd, 5th, and 6th for the course from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2225 miles away. Among the 55 entrants, there will be extra anticipation for the one of the boats to start on that final day, as Paul Allen reports for Adventure Sports Journal.

The cold 57-degree water sprays over the bow as the crew stacks heavy sails on one side for stability. Not long after the stack of sails is secured, it’s time to change sails. All hands are required to raise the new sail and pull the old sail down as the boat leaps over the waves. A crew member on the leeward side vomits over the side and quickly returns to his task, for there is no time for seasickness.

The boat continues to pound and smash through waves into the night. The next day comes and another sail change is needed. This time it’s a sail change to accommodate downwind sailing. The boat begins to surf down the large following swell instead of smashing into it. This is typical of the first 24 hours of the 2,225- mile race from Los Angeles to Honolulu known as the Transpac.

For the next several days of downwind sailing the air and wind will get warmer as the boat enters the tropical tradewinds. Evening squalls must be handled with caution and efficiency to gain the most from their high winds. The finish line off the Diamond Head lighthouse is among the best in yacht racing and is often the warmest and windiest part of the entire course.

Monday start
Seventeen yachts, including Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC, set off on Monday, July 3rd in the first wave of three starts to the 49th edition of the 2017 biennial Transpac Race. Under sunny skies and light winds, the fleet left the start area promptly at the start signal of 1:00 PM local time to head west towards the finish at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2,225nm away.

This was both an end and a beginning for these teams: an end of months and even years of preparation and planning, and likely a welcome relief after this arduous task, especially those doing the race for the first time. Finally setting out to sea will be a break from all the endless checklists that go along with planning a race of this length and endurance.

And of course, the race is also the beginning of an adventure of many days and even weeks of sailing ahead, where crew camaraderie, seamanship, navigation and strategy and other skills will be tested. The best in each division will be rewarded with trophies and prizes at the end of the race, but even those who do not fare well will be rewarded with the satisfaction of having completed one of the world’s oldest and greatest ocean races.

The morning started with a parade of boats out of Rainbow Harbor en route to the start, with friends, family and well-wishers lining the shore to wish the fleet a fast and safe passage to Hawaii.

The weather at the start featured a pleasant westerly sea breeze and enough sun to reduce the chill of the coastal water, which for the teams will get colder as they head west into the first few nights of the race.

The long-term forecast for this fleet is for the typical northwest coastal winds to start out to be moderate in strength, and as the fleet moves south and west it will bend more towards the northeast and become the famous downwind slide to Hawaii.

While the wind speeds in the current forecast do not show to be very strong, the pattern does look more typical and normal to this time of year than that experienced in the unusual El Nino conditions experienced in the last race in 2015.

Wednesday start
On Wednesday, July 5th, the second wave of three divisions started and left Pt Fermin in a pleasant 8-10 knot Southern California seabreeze, en route to a finish line awaiting them 2225 miles away at Diamond Head in Honolulu.  The group of 16 boats in Divisions 3 and 4 were today faster and livelier than the cruiser/racers crossing the line on the first start (July 3), with plenty of action and even one boat over the start line at the gun.  Starting in that fleet were two notoriously fast J/125s- Frank Atkinson’s RAISIN’ CANE from West Palm Beach, FL and Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE from San Diego YC.

Follow these teams each day and give them your support- Yellow Brick’s YBTracking is providing the hourly updates.  For more Transpac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Transpac Race Update- Tuesday, July 21st

(Los Angeles, CA)- The Transpac YC’s 2,225nm Transpac Race has been underway since July 13th when the first of the three starts took place.  First off to Honolulu was Division 7 with four J teams sailing- Yasuhide Kobayashi’s J/120 JULIAN from Zushi Marina YC in Japan; Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC; the Jorgensen Brothers’ J/133 PICANTE from Los Angeles YC and Paul Stemier’s J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC.  On the same start in Division 8 was Robert Pace’s J/46 ANDIAMO from Coronado Racing Association.

Three days later, Division 4 took off on July 16th with three J/125s vying for offshore bragging rights.  The trio includes Greg Slyngstad’s HAMACHI, Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE and Viggo Torbenson’s TIMESHAVER.

Tuesday update- 7/20
In the morning reports, boats in the lead group reported Northeast winds 15-20 knots, with higher gusts in squalls, and good progress being made to Hawaii, even if they are looking for some sun. Paul Stemler’s J/44 PATRIOT continues to lead Division 7 and is first in ORR Fleet overall with 700nm to go!  Greg Slyngstad’s J/125 Hamachi is leading Division 4.  Here are recent reports from J/Teams on the race track.

J/105 CREATIVE:
“We noticed there wasn’t much tension on the backstay, and after some investigation discovered that the forestay had detached from the mast. It was being held up by the halyard only (jib was furled). After a few hours of bravery and ingenuity, we dropped the forestay and jib onto the deck, rigged up a temporary forestay, and are continuing on our way to Hawaii, although at a more cautious pace. Everyone is bummed, but we are all safe and still able to sail the boat, so onward we go!”

J/125 RESOLUTE:
“We tried to readjust our bobstay in the very front of the boat. It’s a high strength line that connects to the outboard end of our sprit pole through a hole in the bow at the water line. Well it appears we broke the caulking seal around the line that goes through the bow, and as a result we are taking on a fair amount of water. We slipped a tennis ball we had on board (on the anchor ends) over that line and pushed it against the hull to act as a damn. We then layered 5200 caulk over the secure end of that line inside the boat. That has minimized things for now but we’ll have to keep applying that over time and hope it dries wet as 3M advertises.”  Thanks for these two “untold stories” from Scuttlebutt- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/07/20/transpac-race-the-untold-stories/

J/125 TIMESHAVER:
“So we decided to abort the Cabo Race record attempt (since that seems to be popular these days) in order to join this race that was going on north of us. Everyone was talking about bad weather… well, we were burning up hot and I took a look around and realized this was not Transpac! We found a place to gybe, the wind finally cooperated, and we ripped along all afternoon doing 10+ and into the night we saw 20kts of wind with speeds of 15! Clouds and pitch-black skies meant we entered the race course. We are still behind by a fair amount but now we are in line with the weather and progressing up the rankings. On YellowBrick at 10:30pm last night we were going 2 kts faster than our entire fleet. Finally. We managed to make up some distance and pass some 50s and other randoms so we are a little more excited.” Read more of Keith Magnussen’s report here on Sailing Anarchy- http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/07/19/dont-be-a-stranger/

While the warm tradewinds are still a rumor, the field is enjoying offwind angles as they aim toward the Mai Tai mainland. Looking forward, there are some potholes ahead that the northern route will help to avoid, though the wind has been clocking, enticing some of the northern teams to bite on the shift and gybe. Time will tell whether the consolidation bites back.

All boats have GPS trackers provided by Yellowbrick, where the boat’s position, speed and heading will be continuously reported on the Yellowbrick website (with a 6 hour delay). Sailing photo credits- Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing.  See Yellow Brick tracker to follow the fleet!   For more Transpac Race sailing information

Transpac Race Update

(Los Angeles, CA)- On Saturday, July 11th, the Transpacific Yacht Club hosted the “Aloha Send-Off Party” in the band shell next to Gladstone’s Restaurant. Then, on July 13th the first of the three starts takes place.  First off to Honolulu on the classic 2,225nm race will be Division 7 with four J teams sailing- Yasuhide Kobayashi’s J/120 JULIAN from Zushi Marina YC in Japan; Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC; the Jorgensen Brothers’ J/133 PICANTE from Los Angeles YC and Paul Stemier’s J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC.  On the same start in Division 8 will Robert Pace’s J/46 ANDIAMO from Coronado Racing Association.

Three days later, Division 4 takes off on July 16th with three J/125s vying for offshore bragging rights with these rocketships.  The trio includes Greg Slyngstad’s HAMACHI, Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE and Viggo Torbenson’s TIMESHAVER.

Thursday update:  The Horses are on the Track! Under clear skies and in a light westerly breeze that is promising to build through the evening, the first 22 entries in Divisions 7 and 8 have started their 2225-mile race today in the 48th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpac. The Transpacific YC organizes this biennial ocean-racing classic.

The fleet starting today was a broad mix of designs; from the 1907 sail-training schooner, Martha sailed by a crew of 11 to the modern J designs like the J/sprit boats (J/105, J/120 & J/133). All must clear the West End of Catalina Island before heading over the horizon en route to a finish line at Diamond Head on the island of Oahu.

The weather forecast looks favorable for this fleet to get out off the coast: for tonight through Wednesday the northwest wind is forecast to be 10-20 knots with 4-8-foot seas from 60 to 150 miles off the Southern California coast. The headings the crews take will then depend on their overall strategy: stay close to the rhumb line to minimize distance, or stray south, typically to get to more breeze.

But, the navigational challenge is complicated.  With the El Nino upon us this year, the patterns are not typical for the northern Pacific: warm surface waters on the coast have created many anomalies in the weather patterns, including the drought conditions experienced in California over the past year and more, and even the cold winters in the East.

Another effect of the warm water is to allow tropical cyclones to drift further north than usual, and some may affect those in the southerly routes of the Transpac course, explained forecaster Joe Sienkiewicz, Acting Director of the NOAA/NWS Ocean Prediction Center, in his weather briefing on Saturday.

While this sounds ominous, it may also be a blessing: the combination of the Lows to the south combined with a strong High to the north can compress the gradient into creating favorable conditions for fast rides to Hawaii. After all, Transpac records were broken in other El Nino years too: Merlin’s record set in 1977 and Alfa Romeo’s existing record set in the last El Nino in 2005.

All boats have GPS trackers provided by Yellowbrick, where the boat’s position, speed and heading will be continuously reported on the Yellowbrick website (with a 6 hour delay). The first official 0600 PDT position reports will need to be reported by 0700 PDT tomorrow, and about an hour later will be collated and ready for posting.

Starting July 14 there will also be the first of a daily race analysis video made by Seahorse Magazine USA editor Dobbs Davis, with the link viewable on the race website.

There will also be blogs sent from the boats posted on the race website with photos and stories available on the Transpac Facebook page. Photos from the starts, finishes and other official events from Sharon Green and her team at Ultimate Sailing will become available soon.  For more Transpac Race sailing information

Transpac Race Preview

(Los Angeles, CA)- On Saturday, July 11th, the Transpacific Yacht Club will host the Aloha Send-Off Party in the band shell next to Gladstone’s Restaurant, located at 330 South Pine Avenue in Long Beach. The party, which is presented by Gladstone’s Restaurant, one of Transacts major sponsors, looks out onto Rainbow Harbor which will see many of the competitors docked in prior to their start.

Then, on July 13th the first of the three starts takes place.  First off to Honolulu on the classic 2,225nm race will be Division 7 with four J teams sailing- Yasuhide Kobayashi’s J/120 JULIAN from Zushi Marina YC in Japan; Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC; the Jorgensen Brothers’ J/133 PICANTE from Los Angeles YC and Paul Stemier’s J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC.  On the same start in Division 8 will Robert Pace’s J/46 ANDIAMO Coronado Racing Association.

Three days later, Division 4 takes off on July 16th with three J/125s vying for offshore bragging rights with these rocketships.  The trio includes Greg Slyngstad’s HAMACHI, Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE and Viggo Torbenson’s TIMESHAVER.  Sailing photo credit- Sharon Green/ UltimateSailing.com.  For more Transpac Race sailing information