On the Warpath Mon Final Report: At noon on our last day of racing we sighted Gone With The Wind on port tack, aimed at Molokai. Now we had a 100 mile boat-for-boat race to the finish line. Although we gave GWTW (a "Turbo" Santa Cruz 50 with a tall rig and bulb keel) five hours on corrected time and we were resigned to third place in a three boat class, this was a challenge we were up to. As Andre said, "It's not much of a bone, but we're going to chew on this one." We let GWTW go off on port tack for Molokai, crossing her stern about a mile behind. For the next seven hours we sailed hard in the building trades. As we approached Molokai's Ilio point it was blowing 30 knots and the waves were giant. GWTW had disappeared along the squally coast of the Island. Then, as we screamed down a wave, Scotty spotted them sailing toward us on starboard. By now it was dusk and we had one more jibe to make for Diamond Head. Andre was steering. "Are we going to cross them?" he asked, looking for waves. "Hard to tell" was the reply. Even Joe Buck wasn't sure. It was another classic Transpac moment. Two boats, after racing 2,200 miles across the Pacific, end up in hairball conditions in the Molokai Channel surfing toward each other at 20 knots. We were both down to our small "chicken" spinnakers. Both crews,looking forward to an uneventful run to the finish after nine days of hard sailing, now had a tough match race on their hands.

A huge long surf got us past GWTW's bow by 50 yards. We wanted to wait for a lull to jibe, but GWTW's perfect angle to Diamond Head left us no choice. Andre spun Warpath on a wave and we crash-jibed hard but in control, just a few boat lengths below GWTW. Averaging 15 knots and on the edge of wiping out, both boats roared across the Channel with water flying everywhere. As Andre steered, Joe Francis rode shotgun: calling the waves, working the main,and watching GWTW's heading. Joe Buck gave us course corrections from the nav station via radio with Fred in the cockpit Scotty and Steve did the grinding as I trimmed the spinnaker sheet.

Soon Oahu's lighted hillsides were close on our starboard side as we ran on toward Diamond Head. Three boatlengths behind us, Gone With The Wind's red and green bow lights swung with every wave. We sailed this way to the finish, trimming sails and taking in the dramatic silhoutte of Diamond Head. An incredible finish to an incredible race. With Fred now steering, we rushed past Diamond Head bouy toward bright Waikiki. We laughed and shook hands all around. We finished last in our division, but the race for us had come down to the final twenty miles and we had won.

Notes: Warpath finished Transpac '99 9th overall out of 21 boats in the racing class. She missed second place in class II by 50 minutes. Warpath finished at 9:37 HST July 12. Nine days, nine hours for an average speed of 9.8 knots.

My thanks to Fred Howe, Andre and Mary Lacour for putting together a great boat and crew and for inviting me along --Brad Avery.

EMAIL FROM GLAMA!: July 12: To all our family friends and fans,

Another interesting day on the water. We continue to push ahead with our even more limited means. It seems that very little of what we started with has survived the journey (in terms of sail inventory). We are using what we have left conservatively in hopes of maximizing our speed and attempting not to have to limp across the finish line.

Suprising that we are doing as well as we are. Todays winds have two ranges, 14-22 kts and 19-27 kts occasional bursts have been as high as 33 kts. Needless to say, the kites we have left can't take what the ocean has been dishing out. We have had to use other means. That being said, our ability to improve against our competition has been lacking the last few days. We are giving it all we can, but we just don't have the horsepower right now. If the winds slow down to approx. 22 kts., I believe our position could improve. So much for that. The seas are not cooperating.

We now believe we are fighting to hold on to third place and continuing to push ahead although more conservatively than we would like.

Prior to the start of this race, a friend of mine who has sailed this race numerous time suggested that this race, unlike many other ocean races, would tax all of my sailing abilities. Upwind, downwind, reaching, light wind, moderate and heavy, weather prediction, people skills, etc. Up until a few days ago, I realy didn't understand what he meant. In fact, we didn't see half of what he told me I would. Well, I am here to tell you today, approx 200 miles from the finish line, that he was absolutely spot on with his comments.

I have seen all the weather, all the seas, and performed all the maneuvers he said I would, including one that I don't want to do again (and we did that one twice thus far... no damage thank you... but spreaders in the water is no way to sail a boat). I have been sailing for nearly 28 years and have put to use all the skills I have learned during that time, all in this race. I have learned much from this experience and would wholeheartedly recommend it to all that care to challenge themselves and their abiltities on the water. Make sure that your boat and crew are sound. Don't do it if you question either of those two.

Glama's crew are all amatuer sailors. Only one has been offshore before (East Coast and Europe never in the Pacific). All have risen to the occasion. Some have had a difficult time but have overcome their fears. Others have taken sailing to the next level and I have seen their level of sailing skill improve dramtically over the last two weeks. Others believe they are better than they are, and the crew has learned to keep them in check and apply the brakes when necessary.

This is where the people skills have come into play. As skipper and captain of Glama, the safety of each crew member is my repsonsiblity. It is also my resposibility to assure that each memeber of the crew goes home wiht a memorable experience. I can safely say that this will not be a problem (at least up to this point of the race...we do have anohter 200 miles to go!).

I am proud of each and everyone of these gentlemen. I am proud to call them all my friends. They have beaten the odds and have turned back the words of many naysayers to our campaign who said that we couldn't do it. Our campaign started very early then died with unforseen problems with the boat. A three month effort that didn't look like we would make it was reborn 2 weeks prior to the start as Glama was now ready for Offshore. Working round the clock for two weeks, the crew (along with the help of Peter Franzen, arguably the best Shipwright on the West Coast and Doug Brown our shore side Crew Chief), put the final touches on the campaign.

What a wonderful experience this has been... for all of us!

Looking forward to the finish! I need a nap. I have had three hours of sleep in the last 24. I said we were sailing conservaitely... let's call that aggressively conservative!

That's all for now! We have a race to win!

Seth A. Radow Skipper: Glama!
Via SailMail Forwarded by Dan Nowlan

E-MAIL FROM GLAMA!: Date unkown. To all our friends and fans:

We continue to progress on what we believe is the most opportune course. Having gone south early we have paid a price in terms of corrected time. We now have the strongest winds in the fleet and hope that it is strong enough to push us up the corrected time ladder. Last nights results indicate that our strategy may be working. We have gained 3-5 hours on the first, second and fourth place boats. We are progressing quickly with winds of up to 28+.

Strong winds have been creating another problem for us in terms of durability. That being of sails rigging and crew. We are now down to our last spinnaker. Some rigging has exploded, lines have exploded and gear lost overboard during night time maneuvers. What is most interesting is that we have been able to gain on the fleet with what is left of our limited inventory. This leads us to believe that the fleet is suffering from similar problems and that our sail inventory migh be deeper. We have been quite ingenious wrt rigging sails for heavy downwind sailing. Most interesting is that we have been exceptionally fast in the heavy winds and probably not giving up much in terms of speed relative to how we should be performing under spinnaker.

A friend offered us a 2.2 oz. heavy weather spinnaker a few days before we left. We turned it down believing our current spinnaker would be more than enough to handle the job. This has proven to be one of the poorer decisions I have made thus far... and I have made a few. But that's racing... decisions are as follows: some good, some bad, some brilliant and some just downright pathetic. I have covered the gamut in this race. Our finish will tell what the sum total of my decisions will be.

We are now in our final sprint to the finish. We started that yesterday. So far so good except for the kite. We are hoping the last one will make it all the way to the finish.

That's all for now. Need to get back to work... we have a race to win!
Have a great day!

Seth A. Radow
Skipper: Glama!
Via SailMail Forwarded by Rich Roberts

On the Warpath Mon, 12 Jul 1999 15:30:41 -0800 Running along in 20 to 25 knots of breeze, Joe Buck noticed a clear area ahead that had many more whitecaps than anywhere else. Soon we were in it, a frothing mass of what turned out to be a new squall forming. Now it was blowing 35 knots. Fortunately, we had the smaller 1.5 oz reaching kite up. With Warpath's bow sending sheets of spray high in the air, we planed from one big wave to the next, salt filled air swirling all around us. Boatspeed was a steady 15 knots with prolonged surfs to 20. The roar and motion was enough to wake the off watch, which promptly began dragging sails aft to keep the bow from burying in the waves. On deck Fred filmed as Joe Buck and Steve hung on.

Warpath screamed across the sea, sails as taught as sheet metal, disaster kept at bay by a hundred fittings and a steady course. From below, Scotty peered out the companionway and started goofing at the helmsman. "This is some serious shit, Scotty!" I yelled back at him, looking out at nothing but flying white water. Then I was laughing at Scotty and the hairiness of it all. Joe Buck, who has only done this race a dozen times, wisely counseled that no one talk during the melee. Suddenly the bow buried in a wave, lifting a two-foot wall of water over the deck. The torrent roared aft, completely smothering the boat, cascading into the cockpit and down the aft hatch. Joe Buck, in his long pants, stood up as if to catch the inevitable and got soaked. Now there was laughter all around as we blasted along. As quickly as we were in it, we were out of it. The big waves and 25 knot trades continued, but the 35 knot "invisible squall" was behind us, a patch of white upon the sea.

CHICKEN DROPPINGS-FINAL DAY AT SEA. 12 Jul 1999 21:19:54 +0000 NOW ABOUT 120 MTG, EVERYONE ONBOARD IS LOOKING FORWARD TO A FINISH SOMETIME AROUND SUNSET. FOR MOST OF THE DAY SUNDAY, WE WERE STYMIED BY LIGHT AND SHIFTY NE TRADES. FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN WE GYBED AT LEAST 30 TIMES. LAST NITE WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE STRONGEST SQUALL THUS FAR, WITH WINDS EXCEEDING 30 K FOR OVER AN HOUR. BOWMAN 'FRENCHIE' MACLEOD STEERED US THRU THE BEAST. NOW SAILING IN 23K TRADES, GYBING ALONG THE RHUMBLINE, CONTENT TO STAY BETWEEN WARPATH AND THE FINISH BUOY. AS THIS GREAT RACE COMES TO A CLOSE I NOW REALIZE IN RETROSPECT THAT THE RACE STRATEGY THAT HURT US MOST WAS INCLUDING NOT 1, NOT 2, BUT 3 (THREE!) MEALS WITH CHICKEN MEAT AS A MAJOR INGREDIENT. TALK ABOUT PISSING OFF THE CHICKEN GODS! ROSSI -

STEALTH CHICKEN USED THE NEW MAGELLAN GSC 100 GPS/SATELLITE E-MAIL HANDHELD RECEIVER TO RELAY THESE MESSAGES TO TPYC. AT PRESENT THE GSC 100 CAN ONLY TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE TEXT DATA (SUCH AS E-MAIL), BUT EFFECTIVE THIS FALL SOFTWARE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALLOW RUDIMENTARY COMMUNICATION OF IMAGES. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAPABILITIES OF THE GSC 100 VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.ORBCOMM.COM

CHICKEN DROPPINGS DAY 8 11 Jul 1999 22:45:49 +0000 STEALTH CHICKEN HAS BEEN PLAYING DODGE BALL WITH TRADEWIND SQUALLS THE LAST 24 HRS. WE'VE BEEN ON THE CODE 3 POLY RUNNER THE ENTIRE TIME. IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS THE SENSE OF EXHILARATION AND SATISFACTION OF NAILING A MID SQUALL GYBE AT NIGHT IN BIG BREEZE. WE HAVE NOT BOFFED A GYBE YET, KNOCK ON CARBON. NOW ABOUT 25 S OF RHUMB, GAMBLING A BIT THAT AN EASTERLY SHIFT WILL HELP US TO EXTEND ON GWTW, THE DIV II LEADER. CONGRATS TO ROY DISNEY AND HIS CREW ON A GREAT PERFORMANCE. TO ALL OUR FAM AND FRIENDS ARRIVING TODAY - KEEP THOSE MAI TAIS CHILLED, THE CHICKEN WILL ROOST TOMOROW ! ROSSI-

PYEWACKET July 10, 1999 Digital photo sent via SailMail

Looking down from the masthead whlie sailing past Kalaupapa.

CHICKEN DROPPINGS-DAY 7 10 Jul 1999 21:52:28 +0000 STEALTH CHICKEN HAS ENTERED "SQUALLSVILLE" AN AREA ALONG THE RACE COURSE LOCATED ROUGHLY BETWEEN LONGITUDE 145-155. ONE'S LIFE ONBOARD A TRANSPAC YACHT IS NEVER MORE INTENSE. YOUR LIFE IS COMPLETELYDOMINATED BY BOAT HANDLING AND STRATEGIC DUTIES RELATED TO EVERY SQUALL THE BOAT ENCOUNTERS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE LAST 12HRS WE HAVE CHANGED KITES 4 TIMES AND PUT IN 16 GYBES. THUS FAR THE SQUALLS HAVE BEEN MIN RAIN AFFAIRS, WITH MODEST CHANGES IN PRESSURE (MOST LESS THAN 30K), BUT SOME HAVE PROVIDED RADICAL OPS TO GAIN FROM THEIR WINDSHIFTS. ALL ONBOARD FOCUSED @ EXTENDING ON THE 50&52. ROSSI

On the Warpath Sat, 10 Jul 1999 08:30:43 -0800 Our "clean" race without any sail handling mishaps ended in the usual way, during a jibe in a squall at midnight. The spinnaker pole, being the lance that it is, tore its way through the foot of our new 3/4 Ullman spinnaker as it passed from one side of the boat to the other. In the building breeze we quickly set the 1.5 spinnaker, only to have it suddenly fill in the middle of the rigging, catch on something, and tear itself from foot to head. Another drop and another set, this time successfully. Andre, Scott, and Fred immediately had the torn 3/4 on the salon table for sticking back together with repair tape. The 1.5 spinnaker will require the full services of a sail loft. In between all this, we had a spectacular crash during another jibe, with the boat rounding up into 25 knots of wind. We remained sideways for an eternity, pinned down by sheer wind force with the rudder finding more air than water. In this pitch black hell w struggled to get Warpath back on her feet. A lot was said but not much heard over the din of flogging sails, wind and wave. Like a punch drunk fighter, Warpath finally rose. A trifle haywire, we once again roared off into the night, pressing the boat as hard as we could, in spite of urges to do otherwise. Processed by Amateur Radio Station KF6NPC

Pyewacket July 9th Sat, 10 Jul 1999 04:32:53 -0700 We're obviously pleased with our result from the decision to go South to get more breeze. Zephyrus has 150 miles of leverage to the north, however, and could be tough if the wind direction cooperates with her.

We are hoping to get another bite of wind speed advantage from our decision to go south, and are hoping that the wind direction allows us to reasonably gracefully converge with Zephyrus.

Pyewacket's only (slight) injury came last night when Doug Rastello had a flying fish hit him in the face. The crew on deck naturally assumed that the crewman (unnamed) sitting next to Doug had smacked Doug, but the distinct stench of flying fish soon absolved the accused crewman.

We are enjoying delightful tradewind sailing, surfing along in 18 knots of wind with nice surfable seas and puffy tradewind clouds. The standard allotment of flying fish and porpoises fill out the rest of thepicture. Via SailMail

CHICKEN DROPPINGS DAY 6 09 Jul 1999 21:46:32 +0000 STEALTH CHICKEN HAS HAD A VERY RELAXING PAST 24HRS, VMG RUNNING IN 12-22K NORTHEASTERLY TRADEWINDS, UNDER MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. HOOKED ONTO OUR FIRST RAIN SQUALL LAST NITE W/ ABOUT 20 MINS OF 30K WINDS. THE NEW 3/4 OZ RUNNER HANDLED IT WELL. THE CHICKEN IS ABOUT TO CROSS THE ROAD (=RHUMBLINE) TODAY, NOT TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE, BUT SIMPLY A RESULT OF SAILING THE FAVORED GYBES. WE RECKONED WE WERE NEAR IT THIS MORNING WHEN WE BEGAN NOTICING NUMEROUS RECTANGULAR BLOOMS OF YELLOW PHYTOPLANKTON STRETCHING FOR AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE. ROSSI

July 9. RealAudio Reports from RADIO RUDIGER aboard Zephyrus IV using their Iridium Satellite phone. This is the one ya' gotta hear!

On the Warpath Fri, 09 Jul 1999 04:00:40 0000 Major crew screwup today. Heard a growl up forward, then Andre appeared in the main salon: "somebody used toilet paper in the head!" He then marched over to the tool pouch and got a pair of needle nosed pliers to remove the offending tissue. A short inquiry was held. Nothing forthcoming. Shades of H. Bogart in the Caine Mutiny. Like everything else aboard Warpath, the head is neatly labeled with one of those clean label devices. (in this case with a reminder not to use "TP" affixed to the underside of the lid.) Every locker, drawer, valve, switch is neatly labled. An excellent practice by Andre, who takes boat preparation to an art form. My favorite: a zip lock bag containing little tubes of lip balm, each one labeled with a crewmember's name, including an extra, labeled "spare." We had a burger buffet for dinner tonight. Sat munching around the salon table watching Austin Powers on the portable DVD player (interfaced into the cabin's Bose Surround Sound.) On deck, Joe Buck fussed with the B&G Deckman hand held, and Fred talked with someone on the mainland with the Iridium phone. Oh, the sailing. Not so good today. We had Stealth Chicken a mile or two off our port bow this morning, but she made distance on us all day in light (12-16 knots) conditions. By sunset, we could hardly see her. Better pull the plugs on all our toys!

Pyewacket Thursday 09 Jul 1999 05:25:03 -0700 Yesterday we finished the last of the real food prepared by the Disney commissary. The freeze-dried wasn't bad however; Tabasco sauce helped. The jury is still out on our move to the south; we're anxiously awaiting the next rollcall. In the evolving terminology of "Transpac-speak", Robbie is "all bunched up."
Beautiful sailing, as usual for this part of a Transpac. Unfortunately, there is a new moon, so parts of the night can be like "Mr. Toad's wild ride." The new boat is working fine, but we miss the big rudder from the previous Pyewacket.
Best Wishes to all, Pyewacket. [Thursday's report Submitted on July 9 UTC]

Messages from Pacifica are posted on her own website.

CHICKEN DROPPINGS DAY 5 STEALTH CHICKEN 08 Jul 1999 21:29:08 +0000 SPIRITS HAVE REACHED ALL TIME HIGHS THESE LAST 24 HRS, NOT BECAUSE DAYLIGHT REVEALED WARPATH IN SIGHT A COUPLE OF MILES NORTH AND BEHIND (SHE HAD SAILED US OFF THE HORIZON YESTERDAY MORNING) BUT BECAUSE ALL OUR ONBOARD "TOYS" ARE FINALLY FUNCTIONAL:HANDHELD SATELLITE COMMUNICATOR, LAPTOP WITH VIDEO, AND THE DIGITAL CAMERA. MELLOW SAILING TODAY IN 18K NORTHERLY TRADES. ROSSI-
[Now, if they just knew what day it was.... Ed.}