It’s No Surprise This Boat Will Race to Hawaii
It’s no surprise that Bob Hinden has again entered Surprise in the Pacific Cup. “I will be navigator, and it will be my sixth Hawaii race,” says Bob’s daughter, Rebecca.
Rebecca’s first sailboat race ever was a Pacific Cup, 11 years ago. “My dad’s previous boat was Acacia, a Valiant 42 — definitely a cruising boat. He did two Pac Cups on her. I joined for the second one in 2008, which was a fantastic experience. We enjoyed great food, fishing, lots of time with the kite up, and beautiful trade winds all the way to the island. That trip totally hooked me on bluewater sailing. We came in last in our division, but I still rank it as one of the most fun passages I’ve ever made.”
Two years later, Rebecca met Kame Richards and started racing on his Express 37 Golden Moon. “I found out what sailboat racing really looked like and loved it. I started sailing as much as possible — both around the buoys and out the Gate.” Rebecca, 36, is a professional photographer and has done some video and photography work for Kame’s company, Pineapple Sails. She also does sailboat rigging.
Bob Hinden had seen Surprise, a custom Schumacher 46, at Pacific Cup seminars and loved the boat. “She’s a pretty special yacht,” said Rebecca, “built in New Zealand in 1998, with a carbon fractional rig and masthead symmetrical kites, a spare but beautiful cruising interior, and just a dream to sail. Many of your readers will probably know her from the years she spent at her dock just across the water from the Richmond Yacht Club.
“It was Father’s Day in 2013 when we found out she might be available for sale and went to have a look. Needless to say the whole family was in love. My parents bought Surprise pretty soon after. We did Pac Cup in 2014 with a great crew, but it was a bit of a shakedown race for us. We found a couple issues with the boat that ultimately prevented us from getting the most out of her.”
Since 2014 Rebecca has done three more Hawaii races plus a ton of other sailing. “Surprise (and my dad) did Pac Cup in 2016, but I wasn’t aboard. I was on Elan, an Express 37.” She sailed her red Express 27 Bombora triplehanded in the 2018 Pac Cup. Bombora was the only small ULDB in a division of big displacement boats, and she finished second in division.
“I am really excited to bring what I’ve learned back to the family program and see what we can do with Surprise. We’re working with Greg Stewart to optimize performance to our rating, which mostly means getting the wrenches out and taking a lot of things off the boat. She’s already sitting a lot higher in the water. I can’t wait to see how she feels with the kite up! The boat is currently at KKMI for a bottom job, while Pacific Rigging does a full standing rigging and rudder inspection. All that plus a new sail or two from Pineapple — pretty standard stuff for an ocean race.”
“I really look forward to crossing an ocean again with my dad. We are putting together a solid crew and it’s a great boat. I can’t wait to see what we can do.” The Pacific Cup will start the week of June 29 and sail from San Francisco to Kaneohe Bay on Oahu. See https://pacificcup.org.