Lucky

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It’s a little after 3 am out here in the middle of nowhere.

Well, actually we aren’t in any proverbial nowhere, we are out in the beautiful Pacific Ocean on a fantastic evening., so that part might be a little misleading. But the middle part is wholly accurate: we have just passed the halfway point in the 2012 Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii. Out here, right now, we are farther from any speck of dry land than you can get anywhere else on the planet. 1035 miles, if you want to be exact. So if ‘somewhere’ for you equates to terra firma, then I guess indeed we might be in the middle of nowhere after all.

Out here we are pushing into the tradewinds where the breeze comes on stronger and steadier. Earlier, the sliver of a moon pushed thru the patchy clouds, a welcome sight after a couple of dark dark nights out here. The way the reflected light plays off the water in a shimmery streak off the side of the boat which masks the speeds we are hitting as Hula Girl surfs, then loads up on the back of a wave, then surfs again. The darkness can almost fool you into thinking that we are stationary, a snapshot with all the trappings of speed, but frozen… unless you look down and see the water rushing by, or hear the hissing of the searing past the hull, or catch a glimpse of the spray thrown by the bow. Then it’s pretty clear we are trucking along. The moon has set now, and it;s all stars.

I just spent an hour driving. It’s just glorious out there. I snuck the earbuds in and fired up the tunes. It’s about my favorite thing in the world: driving a fast boat with the kite up at night on shuffle play. It will never get old.

It’ wont be getting light out here for a while… we are somewhere between Pacific TIme and Hawaiian time, where civic distinctions don’t exist and the mariners only deal with their own language, differences from Zulu, GMT, and the like. Life is good aboard… we are having a blast. Great company, great sailing, great competition. We have been underway a little over four and a half days, with about 4 to go, if we are lucky.

But who am I kidding…. we are already lucky.

Time to get some sleep before the next watch. Have a great night, and we’ll .see you all when the sun comes ’round again…

Wayne Zittel and the Hula Girl Team

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33.33%

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That’s about how far thru the 2012 Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii we are at the moment. We had a beautiful day, sailing in 15-18 knots, small waves, deep blue water. It’s looking a bit more like the brochure. Onboard Hula Girl we have a mix-and-match crew from various corners of North America, and even though this is the first time the group has sailed together, I have to say they are doing an impressive job…. even the Canadians… (whoa now, easy guys, it’s just a joke…)

Ok, that was close, but I’m back….

So our fleet is mixing it up a bit. Double Trouble, the J/125, has punched out nicely on a southern line, and is currently sitting in first in class, first overall. California Condor was down there too, but thru the night they reached up and are now north of us, near the smoking SC52 Medusa. Meanwhile, we have maintained a bit of leverage to the south. The breeze we are seeing out here for the past two days does not at all match the forecast models, so we have been paying increased attention to the NWS weatherfaxes and, even though they don’t match the reality out here, they are closer. If we had to guess (and we do), we’ll roll the dice that it will be a bit lighter and lifted to the north, so for now, we like our position relative to the competition. But there’s a lot of racecourse left… and plenty of time to keep us humble!

Life onboard has slipped into a fine downwind routine. Sleep, trim, drive, grind. Rinse and repeat. As everyone gets more time in the various roles, our sailing just gets better and better. Driving is smoother. Trimmers are more active. Boat is faster. All good. And a special tip of the hat to Martha, who currently holds the speed record of a blistering 17.4 knots! Nicely done!!

We just wrapped up dinner. John is driving, Tom is trimming. There are random crew sleeping about in bunks with Island dreams, no doubt. The breeze has backed down to a mild 14-16 knots, and it’s looking like a mellow evening. More soon…

Wayne ZIttel and the Hula Girl Team

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The Simple Life

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Well, what can I say? It’s all been pretty straightforward in the 2012 Pac Cup so far.

We are now into day two and scooting along. The daily run yesterday was a mediocre 215, but not horrible given the conditions that plagued the area earlier in the week. So I am definitely not complaining. As of the 8am roll call on Friday, we were 5th in class, 5th overall in our extremely competitive fleet… Medusa, the SC52 with a full contingent of talented crew punched out to claim an early lead in class and overall. And with Swazik, Double Trouble, Condor, and the rest, the team rosters read like a who’s-who of West Coast racing. This is going to be a tough fleet.

Most of the day yesterday was spent reaching with the Code 0. We saw Condor with their spinnaker up off our starboard side, but over the course of the afternoon they dropped down below us to the south, and eventually disappeared overt he horizon. Their heading was WAY south and I wasn’t comfortable with that, so we kept reaching with the Zero. In the late afternoon the breeze had not yet shifted to the north and had come up to about 14-15 knots, so we dropped the Code 0 and went back to the Jib Top and GS, which we carried thru the night.

First light. Breeze shifting right, to due north. That can only mean one thing in a Hawaii race: Spin-time. We went straight to the 2A, and with a bow pointed almost directly at the Islands, took off at about 11-12 knots in about 16 knots of breeze. We are riding a wave of new pressure onto the course, coming into the fleet with the new breeze. This should mean that we are closing with the smaller boats ahead of us very quickly, and that we are in for a good amount of unstable wind. And sure enough, it’s been shifty and puffy, but the team has been handling it well.

At the 8am roll call today, we found we had snuck into 4th place. Encouraging news for the team, even if the early standings don’t really mean too much (1600 miles to go!). Well to the north are Swazik and the other SC50, while well to the south are the J125 Double Trouble and Condor. Interesting to note that the leader is way south. Second place is in the middle. Third place is in the north. And fourth back in the middle. So there seems to be a lot of potential lanes out here, but as I said, it’s still very early. What I do know is that we have a bit of a drag race going, and we need to sail the boat well to keep up with these guys.

Freeze dried lasagne for dinner tonight, and probably a bit of salad. Then into our first night with the kite up. It’s pretty clear today (patchy clouds) but not much of a moon so it will be a dark one. Beautiful right now, 15 knots and flat seas, and we are looking forward to a fun evening.

More soon…

Wayne Zittel and the Hula Girl Team

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2012 Pac Cup Report – Feeling A Bit Lucky

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2012 Pac Cup Report – Feeling A Bit Lucky

Yes indeed. We here aboard J World’s Hula Girl in the 2012 Pacific Cup are feeling a bit lucky, and we aren’t even 24 hours into the race yet. We’re not sure how we sit in the standings, we aren’t sure this breeze will hold, we aren’t sure about much at all, in fact, except this one thing: we are sure that we were able to get away from the California coast a LOT less painfully than our brethren aboard the smaller boats that started before us! Pure luck of the drew, to be sure, but still we are happy we didn’t hit the hole they found. Some of those boats did a fantastic job punching thru it… nicely done… now we have to catch them.

It was a mild departure from SF Bay yesterday. Maybe 15 knots out the gate. Mostly flat water at the end of the flood. We started with a #3 and full main, and kept good company as we tacked out the channel and into the band of fog offshore. We were happy to still beholding good breeze, as we watched the ghostly shapes of the other racers alternately disappear, and then re-emerge from the patchy low clouds. Finally, we all punched out the other side and were in clearing skies with good visibility. Past the Pilot boat sitting out by the SF Buoy. Past the Farallone Islands. And into the blue Pacific.

Icon, the biggest boat in the race, punched out to an early lead. We won’t be seeing them again. The SC52 Medusa was straight in front of us, with the Swan 45 about even to the north, the other SC50 off our hip to the north, and Condor plus the two J125’s were drawing a line to the south. But I expect it all got shuffled last night.

The breeze went right (as expected) in the early evening, and about 11pm we awoke our new crew to their first middle-of-the-night-you-must-be-kidding-me sail change. Smooth as silk, and we were on our way with the Blast Reacher and Genoa Staysail. We carried that thru the night, but just a couple hours ago this morning, the breeze started to back down a bit so we shifted up to the Code 0 (with GS). All good now. Doing 9 knots or so pointed in a very good direction in about 10-11 knots of breeze. We expect this to be building into the afternoon, so hopefully we can get the Hula Girl back into the double digits boatspeeds.

Life aboard is great. It’s been mild, which lets our team acclimate to the new-to-them boat, and their new-to-them crew mates. We have run a couple full rotations, so everyone has had a bit of dance time with the Hula Girl. It’s always nice to get comfy before the spinnakers go up.

That’s all I got for now (less than 20 hours into it, after all!)…. but I’ll fire away with more details as we get deeper into the race.

All the best,

Wayne Zittel and the Hula Girl Team

* J World’s Hula Girl is the offshore training program for J World Performance Sailing School. We enter a number of grand-prix sailing events each year with a mix of our professional coaches and a crew of amateurs from around the world. To learn more, visit www.sailing-jworld.com.

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Thanks to all those who helped us get to the starting line!

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We appreciate the support, efforts and generosity of all those who have made it possible for the individuals and our company to get Hula Girl to the starting line for the 2012 Pacific Cup.  First, to the friends and families of our customers and coaches who support their loved ones’ pursuit of offshore adventure!  Thank you!


Thank you to the management and staff of the Waterfront Hotel and Miss Pearl’s Restaurant and Lounge.  They provide phenomenal hospitality to our out-of-town participants and go way, way, beyond to welcome our customers and support J/World at Jack London Square.

Miss Pearl’s generously hosted our team for a send off on Tuesday.  The pizzas were delicious and you gotta love their hurricanes!
If friends, family or you are coming to the Bay Area, please check them out.
Thank you to Atlantis Weathergear for their outstanding support of our efforts to share our passion for sailing.  This year’s team is sporting Atlantis’ Watch Jacket in their crew photo.

Thanks also to Dan and the team at West Marine Alameda.  They go “over and above” anytime we need something, but especially in assembling the bulk of our crew gear.

Our neighbors at Oakland’s Jack London Square have been fantastic:
Thanks to Wally and her team at Autobahn Cafe for not only making great sandwiches (meticulously wrapped in “halfs” with condiments on the side!) but the extras: organic hard cooked eggs, fresh artisan bread, and “homemade cookies for happy sailors.”  Wally and her team are special.
Kincaid’s at Jack London Square welcomed our crew with an extended happy hour on Monday and Keith and Tammy from CCK (California Canoe and Kayak)  raised a glass (or two) to support our team.  (as well as a providing a few last minute necessities for the crew).
Thank you to our safety gear partner Spinlock, Harken and Team McLube for keeping things moving with their Sailkote and Onedrop products.Apologies to all those I have not mentioned here!  There are many others!

And They’re Off!

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Hello all,

Sylvia Seaberg fired the starting gun at 1:50PM yesterday and J/World’s Hula Girl was off to Hawaii!  The team got a great start on starboard, close to the San Francisco shore in order to stay out of the last of the flood tide.  They tacked to the Golden Gate bridge on port, ducked a boat and road the ebb out.  Winds were in the mid-teens at the start, but the crew were set-up from the dock to switch to a larger headsail once the met lighter winds West of the Golden Gate.
As the gun went off at 1:50 PM., J/World’s Hula Girl started the 2012 Pacific Cup!   
Crew photo at the St. FYC.

Additional photos from yesterday can be seen at:

J World San Diego !!!!

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Well, things go full circle indeed.

I started teaching at J/World in San Diego years ago, back when the late great Larry Klein owned the shop and was racking up wins in some of the most prestigious sailing events in the world.  I still remember fondly the summer when he (and my good buddy Ron Rosenberg) won the J/24 Worlds, the Etchells Worlds, and the Dragon Worlds (yep, all in one summer!).  That pretty much cinched the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award for him.

But I’m getting off on a tangent.  J World San Diego.  One of the best year round sailing venues in the world.  Beautiful harbor, great So Cal weather.  A fun fleet of boats.  All good.

So good, in fact, that I am thrilled to report that we here at the main offices running J World in San Francisco and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico have just bought the San Diego location!

JWSD is one of the most respected maritime educational facilities in the world, and has touched tens of thousands of sailors through the years.  If you are a sailor, you probably know more than a couple of our alumni.  We are excited to be the new custodians of this institution, and to maintain, and expand upon, the great and proven programs.  Having another base on the West Coast will also fit in nicely with all the offshore cruising and racing events we do…  and adding another J/120 to the fleet means we’ll be able to step up the offerings.

Anyway, more info coming soon.  Just wanted to share the good news.  Right now, we are pretty busy getting ready for the 2012 Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii starting next week.  Man, when it rains, it pours.

Race reports coming soon…  all will get posted here directly from Hula Girl.

All the best,

Wayne Zittel
J/World San Francisco
J/World Puerto Vallarta
J/World San Diego (!)

 

Eight Bells….

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It was with great sadness that we learned of the accident involving the s/v Low Speed Chase this past weekend.  The Sydney 38, racing under the San Francisco Yacht Club burgee, was lost offshore on Saturday during the Full Crew Farallon Race.  One crew member is confirmed dead, four are missing, and three survived.


We are thankful for the efforts of the Coast Guard and Air National Guard for the rescue of three and the extended efforts to find the missing.  Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts go out to the friends and family of those who were lost and those who survived.  We have all lost more than we will ever know. 


– The J World Team

News Flash: Pacific Cup Opening!

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We just had a cancellation in our 2012 Pacific Cup program and now have one berth available!

Our Hawaii races are usually sold out almost two years in advance, so this is a rare opportunity.  Visit here for some more info on the event, and here for some info, pictures, and video of the boat in recent races.  If you are interested in learning more, contact us at info@sailing-jworld.com and we will be happy to email you a team brief which describes the program in greater detail.

All the best,

Wayne Zittel and J World’s Hula Girl

 

2012 Banderas Bay Clinic and Regatta Wrap Up

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Last week J World Puerto Vallarta hosted our annual Banderas Bay Clinic aboard our fleet of J/80s.  The three day session immediately precedes our participation in the ever popular Banderas Bay Regatta.  Per usual for winters in the Banderas Bay area, sailing conditions were extraordinary…

A couple of our J/80s, loving the sun, loving the breeze…

With a great group of racers joining us, we had a very productive clinic in some ideal conditions.  Boathandling, sail trim, sail handling, strategy, tactics…  and a whole day of starting practice!  Teams were formed, trash was talked, and maybe some margarita-based wagers were placed.  Then is was off to the real races…

Port tack upwind was a almost square into the waves
making for some challenging conditions
Teams moved from boat to boat and had a different coach each day. The J/80s raced mostly windward leeward and triangle courses (while many of the cruiser divisions had looonng reachy races).  I know I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but this place is absolutely awesome.  I have been fortunate enough to sail all over the world, and it’s a rare day when the sailing elsewhere rivals the average day in Banderas Bay.  Just look at these shots…  I have a whole camera full of them.  Blue skies, clear water, temperatures just over 80F/26C…  no foulies, no jackets, no long sleeves…  if this isn’t perfect, I can’t imagine what is.

When the spray settled and the last of the sunscreen had been washed off the smiling faces, it was off to the awards dinner, a huge fiesta out on the beach at the Paradise Village resort.  In order of finish:

1st Place: Team Canada was Tom (Sug), Tom (Cookie), and Greg.  
2nd Place: Team Girl Power was Bev, Martha, and Elaine.
3rd Place: Team Co-Ed was Irene, Roger, and Roberta.    

It was great to see how much everyone improved over the course of the week, and we expect great things from this group in the future…  so watch out if any of them show up on your home waters!


Anyway, that’s what I’ve got for now.  Only one more moth remaining to get your wintertime blues fix in the land of sunshine.