By LEN BOSE
I am getting a feeling similar to what a professional football player might feel after their retirement when going into Super Bowl week. Recalling Michael Strahan’s statement, “I miss the excitement and camaraderie of the game and my teammates. I don’t miss the effort or the pain.” Just one look at me and I have never appeared to resemble a professional football player or athlete. Although as we get closer to the starting gun for the 2023 Transpac sailboat race to Hawaii, I am missing the excitement and camaraderie of an 18-month commitment to this race. I know better than to come out of retirement, as I am not missing the effort or upcoming pain.
Let’s pretend I have made it to the pre-game show sitting in the color commentary chair…and we’ll go over the players. Let’s start with Division 7 sponsored by the Boatswains Locker division, which is your true Corinthian class. Most of these boats are production boats, with the owners and crews going for the challenge of sailing across the Pacific and checking off the box on their bucket list.
There are a couple of boats that jump out at me that might just turn out on the podium. Ed Sanford’s J -111 Creative is one of two entries in this division that can get on a plane. I know nothing about this team, but I just like the boat. Charles Devanneaux is the Beneteau dealer in Marina Del Rey, so this is not his first rodeo. I would be surprised if his team makes any basic mistakes, although naming your boat Lenny kind of rubs me. One thing is for sure, they will have the best wine selection on the course. The real sleeper in this division is Ian Edwards’ Dehler 46 Wings. This boat and team have traveled from Australia to be in this race. This is a very seasoned team with more than four years together participating in Australia’s most competitive offshore races. If it’s a windy race, this will be the team to beat.
Division 8 is sponsored by the smithREgroup. This is a larger boat – Corinthian class. What I am referring to as Corinthian, is these teams have not hired the world’s sailing pros, and have somewhat of a smaller sail inventory than the full-out race boats. The crew is not eating freeze-dried food, and they’re not limited to two T-shirts and a pair of shorts in their sea bags. More importantly, they have a real head aboard, not just a bucket. In this division, a couple of boats are commanding to my attention. If the race has a consistent 15-knot breeze, we could see the Hylas 63 Malilia owned by Nick Green just lean over on her side and waterline the rest of the division to Hawaii. Next, I have to take notice of Green’s Express 37 Juno. This is a proven team with a couple of names on the crew list. In this division, it’s very easy to pick the winner and that’s Sweet Okole, as this team is proven, and with Cliff Stag aboard, there is no way this boat’s crew will not step onto the top of the podium. If the weather pattern works out in favor of the first starters, this boat can easily win the race overall.
Division 4 is sponsored by the Ocean Navigator. Now we are moving from Corinthian-style racing to the people that will do anything for the pickle dish. This division has four J-125s, a Rogers 46, and a KER 46. These are all types of proven planning offshore flat-out racing boats. I’ve raced against the KER 46 Denali3 owned by Bill McKinley before, and this team appears to be the favorite in my opinion, followed by the J-125 Arsenal from the Bay Area. This will be an interesting division to watch.
Division 5 is sponsored by the Cabrillo Boat Shop. This division is the closest to my heart because of the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon I raced on in the last four Transpacs. This division has been reshaped because three of the owners have refitted their boats and have turboed them out. The top three boats will be Steve Sellinger’s Santa Cruz 52 Triumph from the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Chris Messano’s/Bill Durant’s Santa Cruz 50 Deception, and Dave Moore’s Santa Cruz 52 Westerly. I am hoping that Sellinger’s Triumph is triumphant; his team is strong and experienced.
The problem is Messano’s/Durant’s Santa Cruz 50 Deception, which has gone through a major refit. It has a very strong crew, along with the best navigator on the course in Jeff “Elvis” Thrope. If that was not a large enough competitor to overcome there is Westerly the Santa Cruz 52 owned by Moore, again with a very strong crew and an outstanding navigator in Chris Busch. This boat has also gone through a major refit and has lined up against Triumph early this season, and showed superior boat speed. Looking over the crew list’s nine people – all have sailed on Horizon over the last nine years, so I have good friends on all three boats. By the seat of my pants and I truly hope I am wrong, it’s going to come down between Deception and Westerly with Westerly taking the checked flag while correcting out for the division win.
Division 6 is sponsored by Pasha. I found it fortunate this class was formed because these boats would not have been able to compete in any other division. I am hoping that Steve Ernest’s boat Aimant de Mille does well. Although it will not be easy for his team Ho’okolohe sailed by Cecil Rossi, who will not make any mistakes and is well prepared. The division favorite is Spin Doctor owned by Paul Farrell.
Division 1 is sponsored by Cal Maritime. With seven boats in this division, six boats are all stacked with the world’s best professional sailors. In this division, I would like to see Doug Baker’s boat Peligroso win the class. The heavy favorite to win this division and overall is Michael Firmin’s boat, Zeus. This boat’s salary cap would rival the Dallas Cowboys. It will be interesting to see if any of these boats can beat RIO100 for the first to finish.
Division 2 is sponsored by SD Boatworks. Four boats are in this division. I am going to be pulling for Balboa Yacht Club’s entry Fast Exit II, owned by John Raymount with Brad Wheeler as navigator. Wheeler is a good friend, so I would really like to see him do well.
Division 3 is sponsored by Whittier Trust. Ten boats are in this division with Roy Disney’s Pyewacket…yes, the magical cat with ears is the hands-down favorite in this division, of what we used to call 70 raters. I will be pulling for two of our hometown participants with Craig Reynold’s Bolt or David Clark’s Grand Illusion, both trying to make the magical cat with ears spit up a hairball.
The racing starts with Divisions 7 and 8 on June 27; Divisions 4, 5, and 6 on June 29, and Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 9 on July 1.
Follow the racing at https://yb.tl/transpac2019#. If I have guessed right, I will be sure to remind you.
Sea ya.
~~~~~~~~
Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.
No comments:
Post a Comment