Michael Andrews supervises the ‘autopilot’ on the Wyliecat 30 Nancy. Owner Pat Broderick described it as “our poor man’s auto helm set-up - when it worked. We conserved energy by not using the real Autohelm, since making amps meant getting out the portable generator and hooking it up. We didn’t have to do that on this race. You can also see our ‘navigation system’ leaning against the winch - an $85 Garmin ETrex that worked better than our newer, more expensive mapping GPS units.” Photo Courtesy Nancy
LongPac Wrapup
It may be a race to nowhere, but it has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it has ended. The odd-year, odd race called the Great Pacific Longitude Race (LongPac for short) has come and gone without major incident. A few boats dropped out, the earliest of which did so for reasons of seasickness. Second Verse, a Cascade 36, returned on Thursday when singlehander AJ Goldman found water coming in through the rudder post. For many, the race was slow, particularly toward the end.
Nine doublehanded boats and 17 singlehanded boats entered this year. Organized by the Singlehanded Sailing Society, the race is a qualifier for singlehanded sailors and their boats planning to enter the Singlehanded Transpac (held in even years), and is a counter in the SSS season for doublehanded and singlehanded divisions.
Two GPS units on Nancy indicate that the Wyliecat has reached the turning ‘mark’. Photo Courtesy Nancy
The race started at Golden Gate YC on Wednesday morning, went ‘nowhere’ (actually to an imaginary line on the globe: 126º 40’ W), and returned to GGYC. By now, Tuesday evening, everyone is back when whether they made it to far enough west or not. New this year were the transponders, carried by every boat. Those of us left behind had great fun checking up on our favorites at any hour of the night or day. “It was nice to have the trackers,” said Pat Broderick, “because my wife followed our progress even while on vacation in Montana.”
Pat Broderick at 126º 40’, looking happy to be able to turn around. Photo Courtesy Nancy
We reported over the weekend that Hecla, Jeff Lebesch’s big tri, had finished first, on Friday night. Saturday was a big day for finishers; Rob McFarlane’s Tiger Beetle was the first monohull to finish. Race committee volunteer Julie Lucchesi picks up the story of the busy weekend: “After Tiger Beetle came Alchera at 14:52:55, followed by Ohana at 15:34:27. Trunk Monkey, a Farr 30, came in almost four hours later at 19:39:55, followed by a trio comprised of Coyote (Beneteau First 42), Outsider (Azzura 310), and Green Buffalo (Cal 40), at 20:09:41, 20:24:30 and 20:44:27 respectively.
“Poco Loco, a Mini Transat Zero, declared a DNF after finishing at 03:06:17 on August 2,” said Julie. Poco Loco’s skipper, Taylor Cuevas, explained, “I got anxious and frustrated at the lack of wind just 20 miles from our turning point. I’m glad we pulled the plug though, otherwise we might still be out there!”
Nancy came in at 03:21:47. Pat commented, “We finished early in the morning, made it to the dock in Sausalito, and went right to sleep. When we got up about four hours later, we still had to clean up and put away the boat. We were exhausted. Although it was foggy most of the race, we did see some sun for a few hours as we got closer to the Gate. I actually got sunburned because I forgot to reapply sunscreen.”
“Red Sky (Olson 34) came in at 04:19:38,” said Julie. “Red Sky’s jib was stuck in its track. Skipper Brian Boschma pulled into GGYC to fix it and sleep before heading home. At 06:49:30 came the Wylie 39 Gavilan, followed by Rachel Fogel on Great White, an Express 27, at 07:12:14.
“SSS Commodore Bill Merrick on Ergo unfortunately declared a DNF after he slipped under the bridge at 07:45. Culebra also declared a DNF, as well as Max Crittenden on the Martin 32 Solar Wind. Max drifted at the Farallon Islands from 0600 to 1100 on Sunday before breeze filled in and he could put his kite up. Concerns over his electronics failing compelled him to turn his engine on to hasten his pace home.”
Max wrote in with this clarification: “Actually I never started motoring - just ran the engine often to charge the house battery. I turned back ~9 miles short of 126-40 because I was concerned about running short of diesel, or making a mistake and draining both batteries. But I'm pretty sure I covered >400 miles, so the qualifier is done!”
As of Monday night, continued Julie, “The doublehanded Express 27 Elise was outside the bridge at 23:20:12 with singlehanded sistership Taz!! on her transom. Galaxsea and Rainbow went far north. The 2100 positions placed them parallel to Pt. Reyes and Bodega Bay respectively.” Rainbow and Galaxsea both made it in this morning.
Results are not posted yet, but when they are, you’ll be able to find them at http://sfbaysss.org/Longpac_2009.html. Be sure to also check out the forum.
August 4, 2009