800 / 33 = 1

It is not often that you win an 800 mile ocean race on a Hobie 33, so we thought we'd talk to a guy, Simon Garland, who just did. Enjoy.

You did the improbable - you won the 800 mile Newport to Cabo race overall on a Hobie 33! Tell us how you prepared for a long race on a 33.

SG
Just alot of detail work. The boat repaid us by being reliable and slippery through the water on its wet sanded bottom. Also the food was great which kept morale high.

You guys started off on a breezy lumpy beat - about the worst conditions for a 33. Were you thinking "Oh no....."? Did you have a drop out plan?

SG
We did have plans of turning left into San Diego if things were too nasty!. As it was the beat became a close reach as the pressure built in the afternoon and we had a little homemade blast reacher on board which we led to the rail. It made life pretty comfortable and by Dark we were getting ready to change to the Jib Top as the breeze lightened.

What is your background - have you done many long distance races before?

SG
Not many. I have a number of years of dinghy experience as well as miscellaneous bigger boats but have not done a race longer than the Coastal Cup. Incidentally the Boat won that in 2001 along with the crew from ENZO (the other H33 in this race) and a stowaway cat called Rambo.

How many people did you take, who were they and what type of watch system did you use?

SG
We Sailed with 4 on a 4 hour watch system. Our crew was:

• Nigel Garland my Brother who travelled from New Zealand and acted as cook.
• Paul Scoffin a fellow Kiwi who travelled from Jacksonville to participate. Incidentally I crewed for Paul in the 2002 Dutchman Nationals, which we won.
• Rick Egloff a co worker from Buffalo NY. Rick has many years experience and I have sailed with he and his brothers on their C and C 34 on the Great Lakes.

Everyone got along well and drove brilliantly down wind, especially during the windy second night and 3rd morning

Any new sails? What brand?

SG
I bought the boat in 2000 with a very good inventory. Key Rags were the 3DL Main, #2 and #3 as well as the UK AP Runner and North 1.5OZ reacher.

We didn't use the staysail but got some good miles out of an elderly Sobstad Jib Top and excellent service from the Blast Reacher which I made from Windsurfer cloth. Rick put his knee through it in the first 5 minutes but it held and we repaired it and used it on a Pole at night off Cedros the second night

Did you use asymmetrical spinnakers? if so, tell us how they worked.

SG
No, all symmetrical which worked fine and were manageable.

You obviously had mostly great conditions for the 33. What was your top speed and did you guys have any wipe outs?

SG
Top speed was 20 kts. We had one roundup when I was driving. Got a little high but we recovered quickly. As you know the boats handle with a minimum of fuss and are generally well behaved.

Did you guys have any problems on board - gear, electronics, sails, etc?

SG
Nothing Serious except the display on the old GPS became harder and harder to read. We switched to the first handheld backup and were fine

What would you estimate the budget was to do this race?

SG
I went all out and used the opportunity to acquire a Liferaft, Epirb and SSB. If I had rented or borrowed that stuff the Budget would have been about $2,000 not including the airfares for the crew to come into town and get home from CABO.

Now that you've won this one, you aren't foolish enough to do it again are you?

SG
It will be a while. Going down is fine but towing home over the road is a bit of a bear. My thanks to my Parents (who are visiting from New Zealand) for delivering the Boat trailer and Van to Cabo. A great effort for a couple in their 70's who are used to driving on the left hand side. They had a blast and are spending a couple of weeks in Mexico City and PV before heading home.

Thanks Simon.