JP and Stephane attended the second Pacific Cup seminar at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, CA.

Saturday was focused on various topics such as:

weather & navigation downwind driving standing & running rigging electrical systems provisioning & storage crew welfare spares and repairs underway inspection procedures communication/daily check-in

6 person capacity liferaft

Sunday was a required 'Safety at Sea' seminar.  Check out the video showing flare, liferaft and lifejacket demos.

Do check your inflatable PFDs regularly! Last time Stephane had tested his life jacket was before the Pac Cup 2006.  However, performing a test last Friday he noticed the bladder was badly leaking, meaning he might have very well sailed in the Transpac 2007 with a defective life jacket.  No need to trigger the cartridge for those who have auto inflatable life jackets, it is quite easy to blow it by mouth.  Simply leave it inflated over night and check it the next morning. No excuses for not doing it.

lifejacket bladder

This past weekend was our first race of the season.  This race is called the Three Bridge Fiasco and is a great opener for the year.  As the name suggests, this race is a bit of a fiasco.

To finish the race, you have to go by the three main bridges of the San Francisco Bay Area; the Crissy Field 'Blackaller' buoy near the Golden Gate Bridge, the Island called Yerba Buena which is in the middle of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Island called Red Rock near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.  Boats can round all three marks in any order and in any direction, and with over 200 boats racing you can imagine the chaos.

The emails below were sent by Stephane Plihon aboard Recidivist (Schumacher 39) during the TransPac 2007.

It has been exactly 24 hours since we started from Long Beach and we're all very happy with the weather so far...  Not only it's been sunny (unusual for the first couple days of a TransPac from what I hear) and windy so the coast is now close to 200 nm behind us.

The emails below were sent by Stephane Plihon aboard Recidivist (Schumacher 39) during the Pacific Cup 2006.

30 hours since we have started...  the Golden Gate is now far behind us...  We did about 220 miles in the first 24 hours.  It's been a wet 24 hours but today I stripped down in shorts and t-shirt.  A little bit on the cool side but it's good to dry up.  I'm hoping my foulies will be somehow dry for the night but I doubt by looking at them.

Le Flying Fish will use a soft rudder as an emergency rudder for its lightweight, easy to build and repair, and low cost characteristics.  We hope we never have to use it but if we have to then we'll be prepared.

The first Preparation Seminar organized by the Pacific Cup organization will cover topics around safety, boat and crew preparation.