CF Members in Single Handed Race to Hawaii 2018

[Steadman Uhlich]

At least one member of CF is in the San Francisco Single Handed Sailing Society’s race to from San Francisco to Kauai Hawaii.

CF Member GAMAYUN is sailing her Freedom 38 boat “KYNNTANA” in the race.

Here is a copy of the data from KYNNTANA’s position on the race board/chart as of today (visit the link below for updated reports and graphic that tracks the racers):

38086 - KYNNTANA - Latest Report
2018-06-24 19:45:15
37°27'10.66"N 124°13'13.80"W
263 Degs at 5.95 Kts
Last: 24 HRS 54.6 NM at 2.3 KTS
Distance to go: 2034 NM

Here is a link where you can follow her progress in the race. This is a page with a graphic that shows the relative positions of the racers. If you click on the letter assigned to each racer (GAMAYUN is KYNNTANA or “K”) you will see their latest report of their position and previous 24 hour distance covered and current boat speed and distance to go in the race (as shown in example up above).
https://www.jibeset.net/gpswatch.php...4_1_1013718015

Here is a link to additional information about the race, along with info on the other competitors.
Racer News – Singlehanded Transpac 2018

Here are a few photos of GAMAYUN (borrowed from the race site) as the race began in San Francisco. That is her boat in the photo.

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos on this post from SSS members Christine and Jonathan.

If you know of any other CF Members in this race, feel free to post info and photos about them in this thread.

I am sure I am not alone in wishing her and the other competitors a safe, memorable, and enjoyable voyage.

Bon Voyage and Bon Chance to All!

[Paul Elliott]

I would be interested in GAMAYUN's comments on her route. During the first few days she and a lot of other boats were trapped in a band of dead air off the coast, and one does tend to wander in those conditions, chasing zephyrs with a faint hope of escaping the trap and getting into the steady winds further offshore. (I've been there and done that on numerous occasions.) But since then she seems to jibing a lot all over the course. She was way too far south for a while, now she's the furthest north of the fleet and it looks like she's chasing wind angles and spinning out into the dead heart of the Pacific High. Her blog mentions struggling with her Monitor windvane, but I doubt that this is what we're seeing.

Of course she's out there sailing her boat, and I'm sitting in my chair looking at WX reports. The reality is often much different than what it appears to be from shoreside. I hope she's having a great time!

[Dave_S]

Great stuff, a long way on your own.

Hope you get things sorted out. Good luck. Although I guess you won't see this until Hawaii. A bit like a cat in a box.

Anyway, good on you. :-)

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

I would be interested in GAMAYUN's comments on her route. During the first few days she and a lot of other boats were trapped in a band of dead air off the coast, and one does tend to wander in those conditions, chasing zephyrs with a faint hope of escaping the trap and getting into the steady winds further offshore. (I've been there and done that on numerous occasions.) But since then she seems to jibing a lot all over the course. She was way too far south for a while, now she's the furthest north of the fleet and it looks like she's chasing wind angles and spinning out into the dead heart of the Pacific High. Her blog mentions struggling with her Monitor windvane, but I doubt that this is what we're seeing.

Of course she's out there sailing her boat, and I'm sitting in my chair looking at WX reports. The reality is often much different than what it appears to be from shoreside. I hope she's having a great time!

Thanks for posting the graphic and the analysis.

It is interesting to see the track, and the ability to see the tracks of others in comparison, AND the Windy wind condition graphic as the base.

[Paul Elliott]

Here is that Day 1-2 dead zone I mentioned:

Note the southerlies to the east, and northerlies to the west.

GAYMUN has now jibed to the south. I suspect that the wind was getting pretty weak up there to the north.

[Paul Elliott]

Saturday, June 30 --

KYNNTANA continues to be the most northerly boat in the fleet, and is in the light-air edge of the Pacific High. Given her jibe angles, I suspect that she is chasing the hot wind angle, which is spinning her into the center of the high. This is sometimes known as a "death spiral", since it ultimately leads to lighter and lighter wind. Her other choice is to sail close to due south, which nobody wants to do. But sometimes you have no other choice.


But fortunately, the wind should be filling in in the next 24 hours:


But watch out for the tropical storms! 48-hour forecast:

[Steadman Uhlich]

Paul,
Thanks for continuing to post the Windy screen shots so we can see the race, and for adding your experienced comments to the images. That is helpful.

Your observation of the opposing wind directions is good.

The Tropical Storm.. I hope the fleet makes it to Kauai before that weather gets too close.

Minor point: Notice that one of the lead boat symbols appears to be sailing backward (or pointed to North America).

[Paul Elliott]

Saturday, June 30 PM --
KYNNTANA is moving southwest now, but in a series of very short jibes:

She has mentioned struggling with her Monitor windvane, and this may be an explanation? During my Hawaii races, the only time we see short jibing legs is if someone is trying to ride ahead of a tropical squall (this requires a fast boat, much faster than mine or I suspect GAYMUN's, and she's a bit far north to be seeing serious tradewinds squalls). Otherwise you waste a lot of time and energy, which is critical in a singlehanded race such as this. I suppose it could be her chasing the wind-shifts, but the GRIB shows pretty steady winds now.

[UPDATE: I see that her blog mentions not having a spinnaker and not being able to sail deeply downwind. Yes, she is sailing the angles necessary to keep her sails filled and her speed up.]



As for the tropical storms, the closest one (Tropical Depression Emilia) is supposed to be dissipating and tracking NW (as they usually do):


The larger one, Tropical Depression "Seven-E", is forecast to strengthen to hurricane-force by Monday, and weaken to storm-level by Thursday:


I doubt if either of these will hit the SHTP fleet, but even the remnants can create rain, thunderstorms, high winds, or no winds, or reverse the tradewinds (locally) depending on how the low-pressure remnant tracks.

Link to the National Hurricane Center (East Pacific): https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?epac

By the way, I'm getting the Windy / fleet track overlays directly from the SHTP website: https://www.jibeset.net/gpswatch.php...4_1_1013718015. Just click on "Details" at the top of the window, and then "Wind Display".

[Paul Elliott]

Just in case, please don't think I am in any way criticizing GAYMUN's strategy, technique, or anything else. The SHTP is a "sail the boat you've got" race, and while some have souped-up racing machines, many of the boats are essentially family cruisers. Just completing (or starting!) this race is a big accomplishment and I have nothing but admiration for those who participate.

[daletournier]

I'm not sure about her not being able to sail deep down wind comment. The Freedoms are very easy to sail ddw as the main doesn't have stays limiting how far out it goes and it's fully batterned and has a large roach, therefore holds great shape even in the very light stuff, the jib poles itself out due to the camber spar. Very easy to go wing to wing.

Maybe the Windvane struggles ddw?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I'm not sure about her not being able to sail deep down wind comment. The Freedoms are very easy to sail ddw as the main doesn't have stays limiting how far out it goes and it's fully batterned and has a large roach, therefore holds great shape even in the very light stuff, the jib poles itself out due to the camber spar. Very easy to go wing to wing.

Maybe the Windvane struggles ddw?

That had been my understanding of the unstayed Freedom rigs -- they do well downwind. But I've never sailed one, and GAYMUN said this in her SHTP blog:

The crazy turns have to do with keeping the sails trimmed to my polars. I can’t sail DDW and today especially in light air, that kills my boat speed, but it is what I’m comfortable with right now.

Of course in light air it's all a challenge, and she has been flirting with the light air side of the course for much of the race. DDW in light air with a Monitor steering is doubly difficult (as I know all to well).

[Paul Elliott]

The tracker shows Kynntana having rounded the point and heading into Hanele Bay. Given the one-hour (?) tracker updates, this means she has probably finished by now. Congratulations GAYMUN! Since this is a race I should point out that there are still two boats far behind her (but I don't know how the ratings will affect anybody's final score). It looks like GAYMUN was able to get her sails drawing well for the last portion of the race, and her track shows some good wind-angle tactics.

[daletournier]

Good on her. Must be lots of emotions right now. Relief, accomplishment, pride. Well done.

[gamayun]

Hey everyone! I am here in beautiful Hanalei after a very challenging passage. So many more details to tell you about, but I'll post more later when I get Kynntana back to the Bay area in August. After the first day, I lost the ability to download weather and was not able to get position reports so was flying blind out there. Got becalmed for 18 hours the first night (as did the whole fleet) and then again about 4 days later for nearly 2 days. I was trying to sail the Great Circle route to minimize distance (ha!) and to try to sail to my polars but the angles were ridiculous. After that I tried to maintain DDW in 20-27 knot winds and big swell. I started relying completely on AP rather than Montior but even that sometimes took me close to accidental jibe territory because of the swells. Saw at least 14 knots surfing down the waves. When I needed to rest, I had to set a more conservative approach. I was kinda figuring it out as I went. The first 4 days, I was pretty sick too. I don't know how I did in the race (heck, I'm sailing my home so it never really was about "the race") but I made it here in just under 16 days, which is what was the F38's theoretical time frame. The other Freedom (F30, Jacqueline, also from the Bay area) did really well and this was his second time at it. I plan to analyze all the tracks eventually. Practically no one flew a spinnaker. The winds just never really allowed it. I really appreciate all the comments here even if they might sound critical. I'm not overly sensitive because just saying "oh, you did great" doesn't help me to improve. There is so much I get from blue water veterans. I think my friends at home are also starting to think up good t-shirt slogans such as "I sailed to Hanalei and it only took 2461 miles to get there." So yeah, bring it on

[gamayun]

But don't get me wrong.....I love hearing "you did great". It was super challenging and I am proud of K and I for having succeeded.