With about 750 miles to go, Hamachi is in the running (actually leading) the race for overall ORR honors in the 2019 Transpac. PNW racing fans will want to be checking the tracker often for the remainder of the race.
I won’t be surprised if Jason Andrews and the gang are going to be too busy to send out updates. They’re well aware of their position and what’s at stake. But here’s their latest report. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a strong PNW finish!
Latest (last?) post:
Transpac is a race within a race within a race. There are four J/125s, an above average collection, who are competing with each other to be the fastest J/125 on the west coast. Each boat has donated to a prize for the first across the line. This was our main focus going into Transpac, as it’s been a friendly rivalry and a great chance to meet other J/125 owners. All four J/125’s are racing within Division 3, which is highly competitive and comprised of 13 boats. It’s a great honor to win your class at Transpac, especially in a class this competitive. Finally, there is an overall winner based on corrected time for all 92 boats.
For Team Hamachi, we have been tracking the other J/125’s from the start. After day 2 we started tracking other boats in our Division and were both surprised and excited to see Hamachi climb our Division ladder. Then on Tuesday Hamachi started trending towards the top of the overall standings and now we’ve held the #1 in ORR (fastest boat overall) title for 24 hours. The crew is ecstatic but a little uneasy.We like being a pursuit boat, quietly seeking to pass the leader. We are not used to being the boat everyone is watching and trying to take down.
So needless to say the dance parties have stopped, along with the drone flying. We spend every moment pushing the boat to go as fast as possible. Living below is like driving your VW camper van down a black diamond mogul run. We constantly pull weather and position reports, we are gybing to find the best wind and wind angles. We are 920 miles from the finish and SENDING IT. Our current 24 hours record is 336nm. Top boat speed is 21.8kts (David Rogers).
Summary: This may be the last at sea update as time is now very short:
eat, sleep, sail fast, repeat…
If you haven’t done so already, follow us on the tracker. Also, there is usually a Transpac Race Summary on YouTube by Seahorse Magazine – Google or look on the Transpac website. Thank you for your thoughts and encouragement!
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.