Alone for Good

The world of the single-handed sailor is a different one. Anyone who has ever done any single-handed racing knows how true that is. We are ever-intrigued by this aspect of the sport, and also when the little guy embarks on his or her own single-handed mission. SA reader Ryan Finn and his J/90 are gearing up for a single-handed SSS Transpac run to Hawaii run, and he's put together a report on his qualifier. More than just a transpac effort though, Ryan is using his sailing eforts as a fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. A good kid sailing for a good cause. Enjoy.

Between Jan 7th and Jan 11th I sailed the J/90 Surfinn from Gulfport, MS to Key West to qualify for this summer's Single-handed Transpac. I'm using the Solo T-Pac as an opportunity to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and had been promised several large pledges if I could do the trip in under three days. Unfortunately it took me just over 3.5 days to complete the trip due to delays with getting the boat ready.

I left Gulfport in 25-30 knots of breeze from the NE. Once outside Ship Island I was repeatedly surfing at over 18 knots with a full main and #3. At that moment I realized that I never wanted to go hull speed ever again. It was awesome to be heading out into open water at such speed on such a small boat. I flew by a freighter with water flying up to the first spreaders and I couldn't help laughing out loud. This was short lived however as the wind had already started to head east. By nightfall I was sheeted in with a reefed #4 and a double reefed main just fetching to stay above the rumbline. With the wind still around 30 knots and breaking beam seas from 8-12 feet it was impossible to stand up and everything inside and out was totally wet. The semi rigid companionway cover I'd built from Sunbrella and foam was a joke and every wave was a personal address even when I was down below. I was pumping and sponging the leeward side of the hull regularly. I'd wait patiently for the water to slosh from the back of the boat to the front where I'd do whatever possible to get it into a bucket. Due to the cockpit being flooded every six seconds it was impossible to prevent every line on Surfinn from trailing out behind the boat. I only lost a few conveniences overboard this way. Surprisingly I was able to cook the freeze-dried food AlpineAire Foods had given me. Much better than doing all the food prep myself. However it took me 24 hours to figure out how to pee.

This was life for the first 48 hours, and I was learning a lot about the boat, the Northern Gulf in January and being inescapably wet. As I approached the lee of Florida the seas got flatter, and the breeze had eased to 15-20 knots. Surfinn was going at a good speed, even though we were on the wrong side of a GS eddy. I took the relatively calm conditions to change out of my thermals, and was amazed to find my entire body covered with thousands of little pimples from being drenched in saltwater for so long. They weren't painful they just looked really bad, and cleared up after a couple of days on land. After the second day the wind had stabilized to the ENE, just forward of beam, and I was well within 200 miles of Key West. I knew that my window was closing so I decided to push hard to finish within the three-day time limit. I was well on my way to doing this and then a huge header came in and the wind dropped to 0-5 knots. I spent the next 75 miles tacking upwind in this light breeze on my approach to KW. It was frustrating stuff. Fortunately a thunderstorm rolled in off the Everglades and brought running conditions. For ten miles I gibed under spinnaker through a huge fishing fleet until daylight broke. Far behind me I could see very heavy looking gray clouds, a sign that the new cold front was moving in. It was a lovely thing to see coming because it meant I'd be in KW very soon. Before the front arrived the breeze became very light so I doused the chute and sailed under mainsail only, directly at KW. With the autopilot on and 2 knots of boat speed I went below to get some sleep knowing full well that whatever filled in from behind would wake me up. I didn't even need to set an alarm clock. When I woke up Surfinn was doing over 10 knots and I flew into the cockpit to disengage the autopilot. The wind began gusting over 25 knots so I double reefed the main to avoid any trouble in the KW channel. The last ten miles were over in less than an hour, a perfect way to finish after the light air fiasco off Ft. Myers.

As for KWRW, we're goofy, that's why we didn't finish in the money at the regatta. We had a pick up crew and very little experience racing in a tight fleet. We had great boat speed, but we couldn't outrun the fact that we fouled boats and hit marks in more than one race. Three races actually. In fact you can look at the results and tell exactly when we didn't make big mistakes. I never really enjoyed firedrill racing, but I have to admit I really enjoyed racing in KW. If I can't do a Mini campaign next year I'll be there in 2005.

Now that KWRW is over I can focus on preparing the boat for Hawaii and fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If anyone reading this is interested in joining the fight against cancer, you can have a great effect by writing a check to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. A percentage of these donations (25% or less) go to getting me on the starting line and the rest of goes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. All donations are 100% tax deductible. All those who contribute over $100 will receive a Transpacchallenge T-shirt. Please mail checks or credit card information to the following address.

UK Sailmakers New Orleans (attn: Ryan)
400 South Roadway
New Orleans, LA 70124

e-mail: mofinn@hotmail.com
Phone: (504) 453-1788
Web address: www.transpacchallenge.org

Special thanks to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, UK Sailmakers Texas and UK Sailmakers New Orleans, Steve Tenney at Raymarine, John Gluek at Dimension Polyant, Aron Clark at AlpineAire Foods, and of course to my friends and family for putting up with me for so long.

-Ryan Finn