To track the race, click here:
Reports from racers will be here:
The program about the race and the racers
To learn more about Singlehanded Society
Dave loves singlehanded racing. Specifically, though, he loves this race to Hawaii because he loves the Pacific Ocean. Well, he may not love the first few days (seasick) but overall, he loves this race and his time with the sea. I believe this is his 7th time across the pacific to Hawaii - once singlehanded, several doublehanded races and then with crew. He's had his eyes on this race for quite some time. The last singlehanded race he did was back in 2016 with his boat Giant Slayer...and he happened to win that race! I completely forgot that detail (haha) and in Dave style, I don't think he even mentioned that he'd won. The trophies were all out at the Skippers meeting this past Saturday and I happened to see his name on the trophy (misspelled unfortunately) and was like, Dave! You have won this race - why are you going again?!! I guess he loves the ocean and competition.
Latitude 38 June 2023 has an article regarding all the singlehanded racers for SHTP this year - highlighting each sailor.
The youngest to compete this year is 39 and I would say the average age is late 50's.
Preparing for this race takes months upon months and sometimes a year or two. Often it's difficult to make it to the start line. The road certainly had it challenges this year and lots and lots of hard work.
David decided to drive Such Fast down early this year to Richmond Yacht Club in San Francisco Bay. Such Fast hit the road May 6th. A big shout out to Stan Perkins for working on getting the boat ready, driving down to SF with Dave and staying to work on putting the boat together. You were a huge help in getting Dave to the starting line!! Thank you.
Of course before Such Fast headed to SF, there were many projects to be completed prior to leaving. Lists upon lists. Upon lists. And lists all the way up to shoving off the dock for the start.
OF Course, you can see the Engineer dude right here...and yes, there is great satisfaction making a line through a task completed! He lives and dies by these lists for preparing for these races. My eyes start to gloss over and my head becomes spaghetti and overwhelmed but they work for Dave!
Dave and myself want to make a big SHOUTOUT to all the people that helped him get to the start line for SHTP.
Andrew H - navigation pre race
Stan Perkins - Driving boat down to SF, boatwork and more boatwork
Sue Hodges - Dave's other Mom who housed him, fed him amazing meals, let him use her car, ran errands for him, went out of her way for him, encouraged him and ALL THE COUNTLESS things she did for him. She was and is a backbone of support for the entire process...and is so brilliant and supportive!
Pat and Jerry Tostenson - Housing us early on and allowing us to crash your guest house and spread out! Thank you for your kindness and excitement in this whole process. Excited to have you as friends.
Cooper (Sue Hodges grandson) - stopping by after work and helping Dave with projects countless times. You're a cool guy Cooper.
David the Home Depot angel - for coming to the rescue and paying for a PVC pipe that was needed for the getto solar panel get up!
Richmond Yacht Club - for being SO accommodating! What a fantastic Yacht Club and community. If I lived in the bay area, I would belong to this club.
Howard and countless others I'm sorry I am not mentioning for items borrowed, errands run, safety protocols etc. Thank you. Thank you.
Santa Cruz Nationals (thrown in the middle of prep for SHTP)
So, of course with all the time that goes into preparing for SHTP, David decided to throw in Santa Cruz Nationals the end of May for fun (ha). Dave drove back from San Francisco, took a few days to get Giant Slayer (Santa Cruz 27) ready and we took off for Santa Cruz, CA to take part in Nationals the end of May. Four other crew members joined us for three days of racing in Monterey Bay.
Mount Shasta was in her glory on our way down to Santa Cruz!
Loved the crazy Dr Suess plants in Santa Cruz. The flora and fauna were beautiful!
We had a great weekend - fun crew. We didn't sail all that great but we had a good time in the bay! The first two days it was blowing but the third day we floated for two hours waiting for a race, but the committee called it off and we all threw up our spinnakers and raced to the marina!
Congratulations to the boat Hanalei - and Dave's buddy Ryan Schuyler, (owner/skipper) for winning Nationals. Hanalei was head and shoulders faster than the entire fleet and already won six straight races to earn regatta title by Saturday night. They kicked serious butt! Ryan is just the nicest guy you'll ever meet and obviously a great sailor...so it was fun to celebrate his win! His Dad, Rob, who died in 2019, was a seven-time SC27 champion as skipper of Hanalei from 1997-2010. So what a special regatta for Ryan! Last year Dave and Ryan double handed Three Bridge Fiasco in SF Bay.
Some seriously fun Spinnaker runs - other than the round up that kept us on our side for what felt like a minute. We all held on and righted the boat without destroying the kite.
Team shirts this year.
Such a fun crew!
Then of course, the after parties were fun! It's always such a fun time to see old friends from past races or friends who you've crewed with. Madusa's Ros and Nathan from the Bay area and Steph and John from Anacortes. Steph's boat Wild Rumpus came in 2nd! Wohoo.
BACK TO SHTP (Singlehanded Transpacific Race)
Dave hired Levi and flew him out from Hawaii to help him rig the boat for a week. What a great guy who did a tremendous job! Between Levi, Stan and Dave - they got the boat put back together.
Logistics and Planning
There is no way I am going to list ALL the things you need to consider before doing such a race but to give you some idea, I'm going to list a few things these singlehanded racers do in preparation....and this is a quick list of a few things!
Setting the boat up for singlehanded sailing
Rudder back-up
Lines
Sails
Batteries
Solar Power
Autopilots
Climbing the mast
Medicine
Navigation
Sleeping
GPS/Communication
Emotional Inertia
Provisioning; Food and Water
Reefing
Spinnaker socks and nets
Sail trim
Storm preparedness - storm jib system
Climbing the mast
Mindfulness
Falling overboard
Emergency protocal
Music (no repeats!)
Life raft/ditch bag
Clothing
It's hard for me to stop because the list TRULY goes on. I know for Dave, he really has touched most everything on his boat to make sure it is ocean ready. He has exhausted lists covering every aspect of singlehanded racing.
The main job I agreed to help Dave with was provisioning. It took me hours. Finding interesting foods, and foods where the calories counted for Dave specifically (higher protein foods) and counting daily calories. Providing interesting drinks and of course, plenty of his favorite treats (chocolate mostly). The Sailing Instructions require 30 days of food. The boat is a racer boat and ONLY has a gimble for a jetboil. No stove or oven. No nothing! Dinners mostly consist of REI camping meals where you add hot water.
Sample Day of food:
Coffee
1 c granola w apple chips, dried fruit/nuts plus small container of oatmilk
nuts
pringles
protein shake
mocha caffeine drink
dt coke
sardines
crackers
dried tangerines and mangos
trail mix
protein bar
Gu (energy gel)
REI freeze dried dinner like stroganoff
chocolate
Dave's TOP 5 foods all start with "C"
1. Coffee
2. Chocolate
3. Coke (Diet)
4. Cheetos
5. Cake
Somehow I worked 4/5 in...Cake will have to wait for Hawaii! Ha. I'll find him some yummy lemon or coconut cake somewhere in Hanalei!
Food prep
Packing the food on the boat
Prior to starting the race, all the racers are required to sail 400 miles offshore as a qualifier. This was a good shakedown for Such Fast and Dave. The electronics went out during that sail which gave him time to re-work the system. Dave saw several whale (he hates whales) while on the qualifier.
Dave decided to put soft hanks on the jibs. Easier for changing! Makes the drops nice - especially for one person.
Clothing prep, more lists, Richmond Yacht Club is where the boat has been and all the numerous tubs of projects for the boat!
Shout out to Jason for diving the boat and making it FAST.
Just inside the companionway of Such Fast
The send off crew! (Cooper not pictured!)
The start of the race
I was fortunate enough to be able to get on a boat to go watch these racers start this GREAT endeavor. They started over at Golden Gate Yacht Club. There were four staggered starts and Such Fast was in the fourth start. Dave didn't hit his start perfectly but got off not too long after...
Channeling my inner race commentator...
{I have a bit of work to do!}
The first three starts...(the other competitors)
Such Fast Start
Getting the main and jib up before the start....
