Trans Pac 2021 "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly"

 

By the time you are reading this, I will be aboard the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon approaching Catalina Islands west end, next stop Honolulu, Hawaii. The Race is called Trans Pac which dates back to 1906 the history book is full of information with the last updated version being completed in 1981. I am thinking I should join a Trans Pac history committee to update the history book when I retire from offshore sailing. The next questions are when does one retire and what keeps us coming back?

Years ago a revered navigator Tom Leweck, the Curmudgeon, wrote a story in an electronic sailing newsletter named Scuttlebutt called Trans Pac Anonymous (TPA) a non-profit organization designed to protect yachtsman from unscrupulous boat owners who make promises of champagne sailing voyages to Hawaii on the sparkly blue water of the Pacific Ocean. It’s been years since I have read the story with the bottom line being deferred to what my father always told me “You don’t get something for nothing”. 

From my perspective, I could be wrong about this, the curmudgeon had reached a point in his life where he still wanted to compete yet the pounding of the first two or four days of the race, pending on what size boat you are on, is absolutely miserable. This is the point I feel the curmudgeon was disclosing to the crew of the competing boats. Let me set the scene for you: The start of the race is normally under the light breeze from the Catalina eddy. Once the boats are about forty miles off the coast of California they enter the offshore breeze which can easily be in the 30-knot range. This is quite often when the carnage takes place with several boats breaking down and return to port with their tail between their legs. This happened to me in 2003, and normally starts at about three in the morning your first night out. The crew struggles with the reduction of sail area with all hands on deck. With this task completed the off watch heads back down below wet and cold trying to get some sleep within the hour and a half before their watch starts. At this point picture yourself a little seasick living inside a drum on the drumline at the halftime show of a football game.

This goes on for four days with your body locking down asking you why do you do this to yourself? The crew has to learn quickly how to adapt, which includes going to the head while on a twenty-degree angle, taking on and off our foul weather gear, learning how to make coffee with one hand for the boat. Can you picture me now after struggling to stay upright after pretending to get some sleep, putting on my gear now trying to remember how to balance my coffee mug as I pour warm water into it? I learned years ago that boiling water is very hot and your first drink of coffee is a type of tsunami effect out of your canteen into your wide-open mouth. Still on a 20-degree angle mountain climbing expedition, one looks for the easiest route up the companionway ladder onto the weather rail. Just then you get hit in the face by a large cold wave with the water dripping down your slightly exposed jacket. One quickly begins the count down to one’s off watch. Just at about this time, I start getting upset because I have to get back up and start figuring out how to make the boat sail faster by trimming the sails. Which is the start of another climbing expedition traveling down to the leeward side and back up again. I’m not going to lie, I do a lot of finger pointing while asking the younger crew members to complete the trimming while I never have gone to the bow of the boat since the turn of the century. 

Day two and three are the same balancing act, one has to see me trying to take the casserole out of the oven placing it on the stovetop peeling back the aluminum foil, and sticking my finger in the middle of it to see if the casserole is ready for dinner. If it is not ready, the juggling act starts over. The first few days go by with most of the crew laughing at how the old guy tries to stay on his two feet dancing around the galley while cursing at himself.

As we go into day four this is when one receives the pleasure of living through four days of hell. The angle of the boat is less than five degrees, the crew has set one of the reaching spinnakers while the miles are clicking away towards the cold Mai Tai’s, yes I talking in the first person plural form. Morale on the boat can be severely damaged should the wrong route be taken in the early part of the race, there a no passing lanes after day five. Now, if you are one of the fortunate ones whose team has made the correct choices then you are in the race of your lifetime.

I would think more than half of my readers remember the original Batman TV series? The first show would show you how Batman and Robbin got into trouble with the second episode showing how they got out of trouble. For the rest of the story remember “Same Bat-time same Bat-channel”. While I recall why I do this to myself, you can follow us at https://yb.tl/transpac2021 wish us luck!

Sea Ya

On the Harbor: Catching up with sailor Tom Corkett aka TC Written 6/18

Tom Corkett with his trophy – War Canoe – for winning the Transpac overall in 1963

By LEN BOSE

The year was 1988, and I had just started my career in yacht sales. One day while gazing out the window, a large off-green BMW pulled up in front of the office with the initials TC on the license plate. My broker noticed where I was looking and said with an envious tone in his voice “That’s Tom Corkett.” Ever since that time, I thought that’s the person I want to emulate.

Tom Corkett – T.C. – hope you don’t mind, but I am going to use his initials because that’s how I have always greeted him from the time we used to work together at Ardell Yachts in the ‘90s until the present day as we cross tacks in the Harbor 20 fleet.

TC was born in Pasadena. His family purchased a home on the harbor in 1947, and then they made it their full-time residence in 1954. At that time, the active racing fleet in the harbor were the 11-foot Snowbirds. TC crewed for his sister, Nancy, in Snowbirds, until he wanted his own boat. He recalled the 1954 “Flight of the Snowbirds,” where 200 boats would show up at the starting line. He finished mid-fleet, yet went on to describe how Nancy won the pin end of the starting line with Tom O’Keefe, and the two of them punched out in front of the fleet. Nancy finished a close second to O’Keefe. TC also recalled that they would close down the harbor for the Flight, and other boaters would line up around the outside of the race course to spectate, as well as watch the powerboat races down the Lido Channel: those were the two big events of the summer. “We used to have power boats going 50 mph down the harbor. It was great,” TC recalled.

At the age of 21, TC started the sailing club at Ardell Yachts, where he would give sailing lessons on new fiberglass sailboats, and then after the lessons, sell students those boats. Cal, Pearson and Hinckley sailboats were the product lines that Ardell Yachts represented in the early ‘60s. During the ‘70s, interest rates jumped up and Ardell Yachts turned to brokerage boats. By the time TC was 32, he had hooked into a deal, representing both buyer and seller of a 180-foot steel motor yacht, “Pegasus II.” “That really got me going...that was the start of it all,” TC said. He described the interior with ornate furniture and chandeliers – more like a hillside mansion on the water. The vessel had 16 crew members.” TC said.

For as long as I have known TC, he is not one to tell you about his recent deals. I was always left in awe of the amount of traffic in and out of his office. From the Ardell copy room, I would constantly hear: “Hi Tom, I need another boat.” One time, I noticed a very well-known movie studio CEO come into the office unannounced, and after about 30 minutes, TC was headed out to show an 80-foot Alloy sailboat via executive jet to some far-off land. I remember him walking past the copy room and noticing me, then coming back and telling me he was not going to make twilights that night, and it was okay if I wanted to take the boat out.

TC has spent his time at sea. At the age of 21, he put a crew together for the 1963 Transpac aboard the family boat “Islander.” This boat was designed by Kirk Uhlman, and built-in 1958 by Joh de Good & Sohn in Germany. “The boat did not sail to weather very well, but it could sail to its rating downwind,” TC said. TC knew how to put together a winning team with Dr. Jack Paschall as navigator, Gary L. Myers, William Cook, a rigor from Lido Shipyard by the name of Mark Von Mills and Burke Mooney. The crew was very young, and TC was the youngest skipper to enter and win a Transpac. He had a young crew. Three were in their 20s and two in their early 40s. What they lacked in age, they made up with experience. Four of the six of them had sailed in Transpacs before, and all had done plenty of offshore sailing.

They only had one serious problem during the 14-day run. On the fourth day, their steering unit began to cause trouble. “Islander’s” wheel, mounted on a pedestal in the cockpit, was connected to the rudder mechanism by a bicycle chain working the sprockets. When two of the sprockets popped the chain, it developed so much slack, that there was far too much play in the wheel to steer efficiently. After seven hours of handiwork, the crew completed a gadget called an Idler consisting of a metal wheel at the end of a plywood handle which could be wedged from the chain to keep it taut, which held up for the remainder of the race. “We sailed rhumb line and the great circle; we sailed the shortest course and ended up winning the race,” TC said. He went on to describe that they had blown out all their spinnakers and finished the race with wung out jibe. “We should have had new sails. We purchased used sails before the race and they were tired before they even got on the boat. I found out really quickly, you cannot sail that race with used sails,” TC said.

Another offshore event that TC participated in was the 1992 Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Kaneohe. He and his longtime friend Scott Abrams double-handed the 68-foot Nelson Marek “Peregrine.” In that race, they faced the hottest navigator of our time, Stan Honey, aboard a Santa Cruz 70 named “Mongoose.” He was also sailing double-handed with the owner. TC and Abrams won on corrected time.

Over the years, TC has taken home some of the most prestigious awards that can be given out on our harbor by winning the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Burgee of Merit and Don Vaughn Memorial Trophy, but my favorite and maybe even TC’s is the War Canoe he won for winning the Transpac overall in 1963.

Today, you can find TC at the start of this year’s Pacific Cup aboard “Runaway” or racing a Harbor 20 with one of his 10 grandchildren.

When I ended my interview, I thanked TC and he said: I’ll sea ya on the water. 

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for StuNewsNewport.

On the Harbor: Catching up with new Harbormaster Paul Blank

Harbormaster Paul Blank aboard his prized Brian Thomson wooden sabot  Joysailing photo

By LEN BOSE

I met Harbormaster Paul Blank years ago at an intercollegiate sailing regatta where he was sailing for the University of Los Angeles. Blank was recognized as a worthy opponent that we must contend with if we wanted to move on to the Pacific Coast Championships. Later, we teamed up and sailed on an active one-design keelboat class for a couple of years. Time continued where Blank served on the City of Newport Harbor Commission for eight years. Because of our history, Blank has always been easy to approach as we both have a strong passion for our harbor.

Blank grew up in Costa Mesa, was introduced to the harbor by a friend, and joined the City of Newport Beach sailing classes offered at the OCC sailing base in the summer of 1975, at the age of 10.

“I enjoyed the water and the independence sailing offered, it just really stuck. My parents then purchased a beater sabot, and dragged me down to the 19th Street beach every weekend, then deciding it would be best to store the boat at a yacht club,” he said.

Blank first joined and sailed out of South Shore Yacht Club. His first coach was Mark Gaudio. “Mark really honed the skill of how to sail efficiently while introducing me to racing,” he recalled. Blank then explained how he became our Harbormaster. “Someone within the city came to me informing me that the job would become available soon, and thought that I would be a good fit for the job. My first thought was that’s crazy, why would you ever say that. I was advised to read the job description and then think about it. Which I did overnight, returning that person’s call the next day while thinking…wow, this is a pretty good fit. There are certain aspects of this job that very few people know about more than I do. Yes, I will have a learning curve on the other aspects, but overall it’s a pretty good mix. Ok, I will apply, what the heck. I completed the application, and from the several dozen applicants, I made it into the final six. My knowledge and passion for the harbor shined through, so the selection committee felt that they would give me a try,” Blank said.

Harbormaster Blank aboard "Nate"

What will Blank focus on during his first 100 days at the job? He replied with a light laugh, “To put it accurately, I am a little unfocused. My list grows from moment to moment based on several hundred items received and considered. All comments or recommendations are considered. Our current focus is on bridge jumping. On June 5th we started citing and fining people jumping off our bridges into the harbor. We are deterring jumpers by our presence along with code informant officers who might be observing jumpers from a beach cruiser bicycle, wearing short pants, a T-shirt, and sandals. Then ticketing the jumpers on their way out of the water,” Blank said. “I am sure many of you remember the person jumping off the Lido Bridge into a Duffy a couple of years ago seriously injuring themselves and the people in the boat. In the first part of June, there were 11 citations written; the first fine is $100, the second, is $200; and the third is $500. So far, there have been no second citations given to the same person.”

His team is also concentrating on water safety. “Members of my department participated with the Costa Mesa Fire Department on water safety. The CMFD has a month-long water safety program and asked for support from my team. We then sent down two crew members on a patrol boat to review our harbor safety requirements. At this time, we are also supporting the harbor dredging. There is nothing more important to the health of our harbor than keeping it at the designed depth. We have been moving moorings and taking dignitaries out to observe the dredging,” Blank said. 

How will serve as a harbor commissioner help Blank as harbormaster? “I have a good understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. I believe there was no better education in preparation for this job than sitting on a city commission. I’m very appreciative of how to get things done, as a harbor commissioner and now as harbormaster. I can be more effective in educating the commissioners and the public on how things work. I am also at liberty to get some things done because there is a fund or budget. For example, as a commissioner, there was an idea for some signs on the Lido Isle bridge directing paddleboarders to use the channels on the shallow side allowing for more room down the middle of the channel for powerboats. This idea never got done and now as a harbormaster, I was able to implement this idea,” Blank shared.

And his harbor mentors? “Doug West first comes to mind. He has become very significant. Even though he now lives on the East Coast, I talk to him regularly. He still has a strong interest in our harbor. Nancy Gardner has always been encouraging while giving me a firm hand with my exuberance along with guidance to complete projects subtly and consistently. I follow the mantra ‘that it is amazing what you can get accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit,’” Blank said.

For my last question, I asked Blank to describe his perfect day on the water. He responded with a great deal of laughter. “Len, I love this question – thank you. Here is my perfect day on the water, while I never have achieved it, I am pretty darn close. I would go paddleboarding on the harbor in the morning. I would go racing in the afternoon on a keelboat or small boat, then wind down the day with a really nice dinner aboard Promotion, my powerboat anchored somewhere in the harbor.”

Blank has been a good friend for many years, and I find it difficult to explain just how fortunate we are to have him as harbormaster at this time. The three main things I took away from this interview, and that I plan on keeping are: 1. We both learned how to sail off the 19th Street beach at the same time. 2. The mantra quoted from Harry Truman that “it is amazing what you can get accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit.” 3. When Blank said, “My mission here is to make Newport Harbor the cleanest, safest and the most well-enjoyed harbor on the planet.” To that, I say Amen, brother!

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.

Balboa Yacht Club Vice Commodore Paul Blank aboard his Herreshoff 12.5 "NATE"
Note the BYC colors in the spinnaker 
"Well Done Paul!"