New generation will chase Tahiti Race legends

by Rich Roberts on 30 May 2008 As the late Fred Kirschner drove his Santa Cruz 70, Kathmandu, across the starting line in the 1994 Tahiti Race he told his crew it was going to be more than just a sailboat race.

'Boys,' he said, according to crew member Chuck Furey of San Diego, 'this is the first day of the adventure of your lives.'

For most it would be the only such race or adventure. There hasn’t been another Tahiti Race in the 14 years since nor in the 16 years before. That sets it apart for the crews on the five boats scheduled to start the Transpacific Yacht Club’s 13th running of the 3,571-nautical mile chase to Papeete on Sunday, June 22, off Point Fermin in San Pedro.

Based on the memories of two men who sailed with Kirschner, all will cherish it the rest of their lives.

'The coolest race I ever did,' said Tom Fisher, another San Diego sailor who also has done five Transpacs and 10 races to Mexico. 'Hawaii’s nice, but [Tahiti] is going across the equator and seeing so many different weather patterns.'

Whatever lies ahead, Doug Baker of Long Beach hopes to sail his Andrews 80, Magnitude 80---a design unknown in 1994---to a record that will stand for, oh, another 14 years.

Over 83 years, Tahiti winners have included John Scripps, Robert Johnson, Ken DeMeuse, Eric Tabarly and Irving Loube. Kirschner was racing Kathmandu against another West Coast racing legend, Jake Wood on Sorcery, when he broke Johnson’s 1964 Ticonderoga record with a time of 14 days 21 hours 15 minutes 56 seconds, clocking an average speed of exactly 10 knots---three knots slower than Magnitude 80 averaged in the 2005 Transpac.

But Mag 80 may have a problem. Anna Kirschner, whose husband died in 2003, said, 'He’s going to be blowing that wind in the wrong direction so that nobody beats his record.'

Fisher recalled that 'Fred had a great time. It was sort of his life’s dream to run the race. He was like a kid in a candy store.'

That, despite a torn main sail that took two days to sew back together and some unusual weather while crossing through the Intertropical Convergence Zone---a.k.a. the Doldrums---where in the rising heat the wind blows straight up, if at all.

'Clouds come from nowhere and just keep dumping on you,' Fisher said. 'I remember once with six hours of heavy rain without any wind at all. But the boat was clean and the winches got the salt cleaned out.'

And the food wasn’t bad, with real refrigerators on board in the days before freeze-dried food became standard, and a highlight was catching a tuna for sushi snacks in the evening.

Furey said, 'We weren’t pushing super hard all the time, not like the Volvo and other ocean races today when you have an all-professional crew and a huge budget and you can keep the hammer down all the way. We were trying to be a little conservative so we didn’t run through all of our assets. It was an adventure and we were treating it that way.'

More than the record, Furey treasures the experience, such as driving at night with the Southern Cross as his guide. It is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations but one of the most distinctive, visible only below the equator.

'It gets hard to see the waves and read the instruments, so I turned the dampers way down on the instruments and drove by the Southern Cross,' Furey said.

Kathmandu finished about 27 hours ahead of Sorcery, a larger but much heavier Mull 82, not to be confused with Wood’s 62-footer of the same name that was first to finish and first overall on handicap time in 1974 and ’78. Wood, who died last year, rarely missed a major race and now may be reliving them with Kirschner.

Might Tongaroa seeking crew for Tahiti

Bill Boyd, owner-skipper of the Santa Cruz 50 Mighty Tongaroa, is seeking to add final crew members for the Tahiti Race. All will share costs.

Boyd, who is based in Honolulu, hopes to follow this race with the Sydney-to-Hobart classic in Australia after Christmas.

'I’m not looking for professionals,' he said. 'This is an opportunity for the average sailor who wants a real adventure.'

Those interested may contact Boyd at 808.230.5551.

More Tahiti Race information is available from www.tahitirace.org and www.transpacificyc.org

Official Tahiti Race 2008 entries
Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach
Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach
Mighty Tongaroa (Santa Cruz 50), Bill Boyd, Honolulu
Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach

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