First Singlehanded TransPac Seminar

We’re embarrassed at having forgotten to post a reminder in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic that the first seminar for the 2012 Singlehanded TransPac was held last night at Oakland YC. The discussion focused on a brief recap of the race rules, followed by five vets sharing their experiences sailing in the 2,120-mile race from San Francisco Bay to Hanalei Bay, Kauai. Ben Mewes, Bob Johnston, Paul Nielsen, Ruben Gabriel, and Race Chair Rob Tryon each spoke about their motivations in joining this "bug light for weirdos" race, what problems they experienced — from electrical failure to a dismasting — and, more importantly, how they overcame them. Eleven hopefuls stood up to announce their intention to enter the bienniel event, though we suspect many more weren’t able to make the meeting. In fact, Tryon believes that next year’s fleet will top 20 boats.

If you’d like to find out more about the race, check out last year’s website and the August ’10 issue of Latitude for our article on the event. Tryon says the ’12 site will be up shortly, but in the meantime, the RRCs, NOR and seminar schedule can be found at www.sfbaysss.org. The entry forms will be available early next week. Be sure to mark your calendar for the next seminar, Power Management and Generation, which will be held November 16 at Oakland YC (7 p.m.). All seminars on the schedule are free and open to the public.