Phaedo3’s Race to a Race

Ever since her first race, the February 2015 Caribbean 600, with new owner Lloyd Thornburg and new skipper Brian Thompson, the MOD70 trimaran Phaedo3 has been kicking ass. Like a bull in a china shop, she’s smashed one course record after another, in the Caribbean, back and forth across the Atlantic, in England, and in Europe.

If any boat/owner/skipper has set more significant course and race records in such a short time, or even in a career, we have no idea who that would be. While it’s true Phaedo3 often didn’t have significant competition, sometimes she did and she still did well. For example, she led start to finish to take a close victory in last year’s Caribbean 600 against a sistership. And in last year’s Transatlantic Race, she bested sailing legend Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati, a sistership with foils.

Given Thornburg’s passion for setting records, one of Phaedo3’s biggest challenges this spring will be just getting to the multihull start of the Newport to Cabo Race on March 12. The deal is that the Caribbean 600 doesn’t start until February 20. After way more than 600 hard-ass tradewind racing miles, Phaedo3 will have to be rushed 1,200 miles down to the Panama Canal, through the Canal, and about 2,600 miles north — including a Baja Bash — to Newport. She’s surely going to have to cover more than 4,000 miles in something like 17 days to get to the starting line.

After the Cabo race, Thornburg and Thompson will be doing the Transpac and going after the course record. In that event she’ll have to beat Soldini and his MOD70 with foils. It’s going to be great racing.

Naturally Thornburg, who has a villa in St. Barth, won’t be missing Les Voiles de St. Barth in April. He’s entered a Carkeek 40.

We’ve known Thornburg, who is still in his 30s, since before he got serious about racing. We’re pleased to note that he’s still the same friendly, unpretentious guy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s paired with Brian Thompson, one of the nicest and most relaxed racers we’ve ever met. Paul Allen of Santa Cruz is a regular crewmember.

Even if Phaedo3 doesn’t make it to the starting line, the Newport Harbor YC’s 800-mile race is shaping up as an excellent one. This year monohulls will start on March 10 and 11, while the multihulls will start on March 12.

Of the 22 boats entered, seven are 70-ft sleds designed by either Bill Lee or Alan Andrews. But the first monohull to finish will almost certainly be Manouch Moshayedi’s Bakewell-White Rio100. She had the fastest time in the last Cabo race, crossing the finish after 2 days, 14 hours, an average of 12.9 knots. Both the monohull and multihull records are in jeopardy this year.