Pacific High?
29 June 2014
Almost every year the "Pacific High" shows up and takes it's appointed position sometime in late June to mid-July, until then the pattern can be pretty unstable. You would think that there would be lots of signs pointing to its arrival, but it is usually a surprise; things can change dramatically overnight.
Keep an eye on the upper level charts; when the pressure isobars start getting a lot of amplitude they will lock the High in place and summer will be here. So don't spend a lot of time fretting a forecast now for July 9th, everyting can change.
Keep an eye on the High!
14 June 2014
No, it's not too early to watch the Pacific weather pattern, and the relationship of the surface High to the 500Mb flow. It's 21 days until the Skipper's meeting and it woulld be good to have a sense of the pattern by then.
Why bother?
12 June 2014
Why go through the hassle of signing up for the social events in Richmond and Kaneohe, isn't it just an exercise since you'll be there anyway and can do it then?
The answer is no for several excellent reasons.
The first is the amazing volunteers at these yacht clubs won't know how many will participate making difficult to manage the logistics; sailors have been known to get grumpy when the food runs out.
They get even more unruly when they wait in a long line to register and someone is trying for the third time to get their credit card accepted. Watching your competitors party while you stand in line is almost cause for mutiny.
Nothing quite captures the disappintment and frustration of finding out that the event is sold out. Several of the events have a hard limit on participation; there just are not enough seats or room for more. What will you tell your crew when you get shut out?
Do it NOW.
What's in a name?
21 May 2014
We decided it would be more fun, and this is the fun race to Hawaii, to name the Divisions instead of the traditional Division A, B, DH, etc. Some of our favorite sponsors stepped up to claim naming rights so Sonnen BMW, Matson, Weems & Plath, Alaska Airlines and Latitude 38 are the names of the fully crewed racing Divisions.
We didn't want to leave the others out, so the Cruising Division is now offically the Holo Holo Division; that's hawaiian for just going around having fun. Seemed right.
Our multi-hulls were easy, the Hokulea Division takes the name of the great Hawaiian voyaging catamaran. The first Double handed division will be the Iwi Division, named after a small Hawaiian bird prized for its feathers. The second Double handed division will be the Kolea Division, the name of the Golden Plover that migrates from Alaska to Hawaii annually.
Nothing can go wrong.
25 April 2014
Commodore
Right, but only in that small town Theory; we all live in the much bigger city of Reality.
Things go wrong on even the best prepared boats. Now is the time to sit quietly and contemplate what might go wrong on your boat; write it down, and then figure out how you will deal with the problem.
There is a predictable list of failures that occur every race, you would think after 17 events that the list would be shorter or different, the truth is neither. Take a look at https://pacificcup.org/content/spares-and-repairs-underway
Be able to repair it or live without it.
Trust, but verify.
27 March 2014
Things can go pear shaped even in carefully designed, purpose built, well maintained boats, that's why you take the time to haul it out, pull the rudder, and pull the mast. Sometimes you find a Surprise. The attached photo doesn't represent a problem that would threaten anything but masthead lights and wind instruments, but it just as easily could have been something more serious. Those who have listened to the oft repeated counsel to verify will rest soundly, the others will be haunted by what they didn't check.