Allure Day 10

ALLURE DAY 10 - THIRD PLACE IF ALL HOLDS

Its 3PM PDT and it looks like we'll finish 7:30 PM HST for you here, and 10:30 PM mainland time. The wind is constant 22 to 25, with 10 to 12 foot seas, the normal trade conditions. Molokai channel will be heavier conditions, and we go through at dusk. Molokai channel is a little bit of Transpac lore in itself.

The channel is between the east side of the island of Molokai and the southwest side of Oahu, where our Diamond Head finish is. The wind and waves get funneled through these islands making for exciting wild ride conditions. We are on 3 hour watches, no more 6 hour day watches, and all hands will be on deck by this evening through to the end.

Third place is a big achievement for us in this very competitive fleet and we are very happy if and, that's a big if, it all ends that way. We are less than one hour behind 2nd place Deception on corrected time. This is after more than 10 days of hard sailing, them going north and us going south and it comes down to minutes between us. ANYTHING can happen over the next few hours so we are going all out to the very finish. Actually we are about 2 hours ahead of them so we will beat them boat for boat, but our handicap rating make us give them more than 3 hours over the course. Boats are handicapped according to complicated formula, and all the boats in our class are similar but not exactly the same so they all have a different handicap over the course.

Good friends made stronger on this trip. This is not to be taken for granted as some crews can't stand each other after so much close quarters and so different personalities. Tom Jorgensen my friend from childhood, sailing together in junior programs at LAYC and staying close for 50 years. This is Tom: I called him up and said could you do me a favor and his response was "Anything, you name it" Bill Megowan a friend from USC on his first Transpac with us and let him tell the stories of "an experience of a lifetime". This is a tough trip and it's impossible to anticipate what it will be like. Al Garnier, a well-known personality in sailing circles and a friend for 20 + years Al worked literally day and night getting us on the best route to Honolulu. We all contribute, but Al had more to do with correctly analyzing our strategic options than anyone else and it worked! Jim Morgan I've known for a few years now, but never actually sailed with him. A good seaman, level headed at all times, plus full of raunchy sailor stories. Eric Caras, our calm, confident foredeck man, the hardest worker in difficult circumstances you can imagine. Going up the bow with waves crashing over and efficiently getting the job done…a job I myself would be a little more than afraid to do. And finally Steve Calhoun. Another USC friend, I've sailed 3 Transpacs and countless other ocean races with Steve; probably more than 8,000 miles altogether.

Looking forward hugging and kissing Andrea, a few cocktails and some sleep uninterrupted for at least 2 hours at a time!

JB

From Navigator Al

I hope you all have enjoyed our 10 day tale of Transpac 2011. It has been the most unusual weather I have seen. Never would I have imagined you could rhumbline the last 300 miles on port pole without a gibe. Yet here we are looking at a direct mid channel approach and starboard pole finish. We may add an epilog to this blog, but will not commit. All the comments have been forwarded to us and were great reading. Thank you all!

Time for family, friends and mai tais! Aloha from the crew of Allure

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