Transpac Rescue and News From the High Seas

The 2023 Transpac race from Los Angeles to Hawaii got underway with the first classes starting on Tuesday, the second of the staggered starts leaving yesterday, and the final and fastest boats starting on Saturday. The staggered start is meant to allow slower boats to get off first, with the hope that most boats will arrive within a few days of one another so they can all connect for the finish party and awards. This means some fleets may start out in better winds than others. So far this year, it’s looking as if the Tuesday starters scored the more favorable conditions.

A couple of boats have had to return with damage, though the most significant event so far has been the USCG helicopter rescue of Jerome Sammarcelli from his doublehanded Carbon 32 Sam after he suffered a serious, but not life-threatening, finger laceration 150 miles off the coast. It’s reported he is safely in the hospital in San Diego awaiting surgery. The boat has turned around and is returning to Marina del Rey with co-skipper Ben Kaliwoda bringing her home.

Two other boats are also returning to port, with Nick Green’s Hylas 63 Malilia suffering a broken turnbuckle, and Michael Marion’s Dufour 50 Insoumise safely heading back to port with a broken rudder.

Coast Guard rescue of Jerome Sammarcelli

A Report From Favonius After 43 Hours of Racing

Tuesday starter Greg Dorn and crew aboard his Dufour 46 Favonius sent out a report after almost two days of racing. The start has not been all peaches and cream.

“In chilly air and under a thick blanket of low clouds, Favonius continues to reach for the Hawaiian Isles. After clearing the west end of Catalina and tacking back on to starboard, we sailed into the teeth of the northwesterly that had been blowing offshore for days. The conditions hit us hard with 25-kt winds and 3-meter seas. At dusk on the first night, we did a bearaway sail change to J4 and put a reef in the main, which took much longer than expected. The team did an incredible job up front on the pitching bow with seas washing across.

“Sailing across the swell made for a wet and bouncy ride, preventing the crew from either eating much or sleeping well as the crashing hull sounds made for constant worry of potential unexpected damage to the boat. As we drove on, Le Mal de Mer started stalking the crew taking one victim, the owner, away for 12 hours. Now fully recovered, we have not yet exorcised Le Mal de Mer from the boat, as it hunts another crew member.

“Since the difficult first 30 hours, we are currently sailing in manageable weather with winds of 15 kts and 1- to 2-meter seas. The current sail plan is a full main and J2 while we wait for the wind to veer to a true wind angle greater than 100 degrees, when we plan to hoist our largest jib (the jib topper). The current conditions allow everyone to settle into a regular rhythm of eating, drinking and sleeping.

“Reviewing our position, we are where we wanted to be at this stage. The Transpac race is not won in the first 500 to 600 miles, but it can certainly be lost. We are pleased to have not done the latter.

“Other goings-on about the boat include a complaint to management that crew on the high side of the starboard aft cabin are encroaching on their adjacent leeward teammates due to a sagging lee cloth.

“Advice was given.

“Everyone onboard is well.”

— Greg Dorn

Transpac Live Aboard the SC52 Westerly

Latitude 38 also did a first-time broadcast of Transpac Live with Andy Schwenk aboard Dave Moore’s Starlink-equipped Santa Cruz 52 Westerly, an hour after they started on Thursday. It’s a new-tech adventure allowing us to talk with Andy and the crew as they were tacking upwind to round the north end of Catalina island before cracking off a bit to start reaching and running to Hawaii.

Depending on all the sailing variables, they hope to make it to Hawaii in under nine days. We are planning at least three more broadcasts, which you can see scheduled here on our YouTube Channel. The plan is for four more live broadcasts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, 7/1, Monday, 7/3, Wednesday, 7/5 and Friday, 7/7.

You can replay our conversation with Andy Schwenk and the Westerly crew after they started the race yesterday. 

We’ll be following the fleets as they head across the Pacific, and are looking forward to talking with Andy and the Westerly crew tomorrow at 11 a.m. as they race to Hawaii.