Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

And they're off . . .

Click on the "day" to read the daily report from Kinetic's crew as they race to the finish for glory and Mai Tai's.

Thank you to all of our supporters and sponsors!

More Photos

July 3 1830 HST

Hello all:

We had ideal conditions in Victoria for the start - warm, sunny, a Westerly wind, spectator boats, ...

We started at 0710 HST (all times will be Hawaiian Standard Time), and beat out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in a Westerly that built to 25 knots before weakening somewhat. We made great time and turned the "corner" at Duntze Buoy and are now headed South, with 5 other boats within sight.

Everyone is well. Happy birthday to Geoff onboard.

Thank you to our Shore Crew - friends and family who have helped us all get started on this adventure.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 4 2027 HST
Lat 44 deg 49 min, Long 126 deg 38 min,
true wind speed 15-20, boat speed 9-10+,
overcast and dark.

Many sail changes yesterday have settled into more steady conditions today, with a focus on choosing the right path through the predicted weather, and sailing fast in that direction. We have fair wind and fast, reaching sailing conditions. Top speed so far is 14.0 knots, by watch captain Peter Wealick.

Food is awesome - we had fresh salmon and salad for dinner tonight, followed by strawberry rhubarb pie. After we eat, we sit on the high side to steady the boat.

We've seen porpoise playing in our bow waves and seabirds fishing on the wing in the wave troughs.

Everyone is well. Happy birthday to Daniel in Australia from Geoff - he'll see you soon.

Thank you to our Spectator Boats - our families and friends really appreciated the front row seats at the start of the race.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 5
Lat 43 deg 16 min, Long 127 deg 32 min

Weather cloudy with scattered breaks of blue sky. Winds great most of the day and getting lighter later on. Saw several fishboats including a few that showed blindingly bright yellow lights, visible for many miles around.

More porpoise playing around the boat. Small seabirds, a lone larger bird (albatross already?), a spectacular sunset with seemingly man-made, geometric patterns in the clouds low on the horizon.

We sail 24 hours per day by organizing into two team called watches. Starboard watch includes Rich Ballantyne, Greg Westerlund, Mark Sykes, Bernie Walker and Clayton MacKay. Port watch includes Peter Wealick, Naomi Roddick, Damien King, David Sutcliffe and Geoff Hargraves.

Geoff and David sailed together on the same watch in the last Sydney to Hobart race, on a Kinetic sistership named Kioni. Geoff recently sailed in the cross-Atlantic ARC and wanted to experience a classic Northern Pacific Ocean race. We neglected to tell him about the non-tropical temperatures during the first part of the trip. But he's coping well.

Thank you to our sponsor Harmony Airways for their assistance with passenger travel and air freight on one of their flagship routes, Vancouver - Maui. A perfect fit with the Vic-Maui race, and a repeat of their commitment in 2004 when their Maui service was inaugurated on Boeing 757s during the last Vic Maui race.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 6 1142 HST
Lat 41 deg 07 min, Long 128 deg 15 min,
true wind speed 4, boat speed 3,
sunny and warm (except by Australian crew standards).

From the earlier weather conditions, one spinnaker (a nice new one) is headed to the sail loft when we finish the race. We'd gladly sacrifice another for more wind.

Of course these light winds were in our plan. Weren't they? Kinetic is using it's well known "light air machine" techniques to keep moving. Watch captain Rich Ballantyne is anything but bored. Sail changes, chafe, winch repairs, ...

Nicknames assigned so far include Marco, Polo, Seabiscuit, Groom, Sleepy. No, we're not telling who is who. "What goes on the boat stays on the boat."

We are eating like Kings. Thank you to Vickie and to our Sponsor M&M Fine Foods - North Shore locations - offshore racing will never be the same.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

(Note about the picture: it was not taken during Vic Maui, as you can tell by the land, but it does show a spinnaker -- the one that's going to the loft?? I don't know.)

2nd Report from Kinetic, July 6, 2018 HST
Positions Tango Uniform November Alpha and Bravo India Romeo Delta

In an attempt to soften up some monofilament sail repair line (at least that's what we claimed it was to the Kinetic weight police in Victoria when we were caught smuggling it onto the boat), we trailed the line in the water behind the boat. Somehow we caught a nice tuna which had become entangled in the sail repair line. As the unfortunate tuna became deceased in the process of retrieving the line, we decided to make the best of the situation and keep the meat to augment our gourmet lauder. Plus we still have to soften the line up some more before we can use it for sail repairs.

Shortly afterwards, we were overflown by small dark birds, one of which flew full force into our mainsail. He/she then carried on.

There being no Voodoo on the good ship Kinetic, we take these fortunate events as good omens for tomorrow's wind and progress to Maui.

David Sutcliffe
Skipper, Kinetic

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 7 0417 HST
Lat 40 deg 30 min, Long 129 deg 14 min,
true wind speed 4, boat speed 4,
sunny.

As it will be a few more nights before we have a Full Moon, we had a gibbous moon during the early part of the night, providing great light to steer by, and stars beyond imagination for the rest of the night. Cassiopeia wheeled above the horizon and behind us, although it was the real constellation rather than the boat. Antares was out there somewhere too. The Dipper is so bright that it jumps out from the other stars, appearing three dimensional.

Speaking of Antares, while in Victoria, we collected a bottle of rum on a bet dating back to the last Vic Maui. A bet is a bet, and they honoured it. We're thinking of offering them double or nothing this time around.

Kinetic always races to Maui with a crew of 9 guys and 1 gal. Naomi is retaining her sense of humour despite being surrounded by a guy "culture", in several senses of the term. Being a nurse probably helps. Last race, the sole female crew member, Debbie, got married (to a non crew member!) in Hawaii after the race, so apparently she wasn't put off men altogether.

We've added Knotty, Snorry, Noisy and Salty to our list of nicknames.

No Night Runner for us, we beat to weather all night. Sunrise this morning came at about 0300 HST; the sky is already bright well before the sun breaks free of the Horizon. We spared a Freehand to video the sunrise.

All are well and very well fed.

Thank you to everyone ashore who have been sending us email to kinetic@kineticsailing.com.  Receiving your messages is one of the highlights of each day.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

2nd Report from Kinetic, July 7 1752 HST

Hello all:

Our present wind situation is either too good or too bad to disclose. Actually, we're not sure which it is and only time will tell. Stay tuned.

After seeing no boats for a few days, we had a close crossing today with a large container ship - the duty officer responding to our VHF radio call seemed surprised to be hailed and agreed that we weren't going to dent the side of his ship. Much. A second ship passed safely by without needing our helpful assistance. ColRegs rule, except when the law of displacement takes effect.

Navigator Greg Westerlund is complaining that the food is so good and abundant that he needs to be fitted for a larger muu-muu. We may use spinnaker remnants for this garment. Speaking of food, today we enjoyed pan seared fresh caught tuna with rice and fresh vegetables, followed by Mrs. King's homemade carrot cake, courtesy of dinner chef Damien King; this was preceded by a lunch of chicken fajitas and fresh baked pear muffins, prepared by chef Bernie Walker, and breakfast of apple pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup prepared by chef Peter Wealick. Eat your hearts out!

We saw big fish leaping in the distance. Porpoise again. Small birds and an albatross. Millions of acres of blue sky and deeper blue water.

We have great camaraderie on board. The last of ten nicknames, "data", was pegged onto another vict- ... crew member. Snoring bunkmates can be drowned out by the sound of the engine charging the batteries or by the watermaker pump; failing that, we have earplugs. Core strength workouts have started and are taking hold of some crew but not others. Last night discussion raged about the origins and principles of gravity and electricity; tonight we have unified theory on the agenda. Diplomas are promised at the end of the trip.

Day 5, no showers yet, watermaker working well, maybe in a few days. Dry ice is under-performing.

Thank you to our sponsor Memorial Cup Vancouver Giants 2007.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 8 1253 HST
Lat 37 deg 17 min, Long 131 deg 27 min,
true wind speed 9, boat speed 7,
mix of sun and cloud cover, warm.

The sea water temperature is gradually warming and is now 66.8F.

We've had great wind and sailing since our last report. The fleet roll call and position reports were very interesting today. Only two boats are closer to Maui than we are - and they are both in Division 1. We had a 24hr run of 165 miles which is remarkable given that we were sailing in much lighter air than many of our competitors. Light air machine ...

We are the lead boat (DTF or distance to finish) among the seven boats in our Division 2, and will focus on maximum speed in the next few days while protecting that position. We have four boats trying to pass us to our left in more wind (maybe?), one trying to pass us slightly to the right (no way!), and one simply following directly behind us. Much will depend on what the Hi pressure area does. Anyone willing to lend us a pair of "executive decision makers" (dice)?

Bernie whipped up an amazing salmon soup for lunch today. We could use more soy sauce and some wasabi for our fresh catches.

Everyone is participating in driving duties, spreading the fun and experience around. We are running out of jokes that haven't been around for 20 years already; please send more but keep them brief. We all laughed long and hard about "Cowboy Chili".

We forgot to mention an "all hands on deck" call the other night when we blew up a spinnaker and one crew member slept right through it all while wearing ear plugs. We won't single anyone out by naming her.

We've seen our first flying fish of the trip. Plus a few Gatorade bottles floating high without any growth on them - obviously not from our fleet (there are no Vic Maui boats directly in front of us, yet), but from where?

Thank you to our preferred supplier Shopper's Drug Mart - Mt Seymour Parkway, North Vancouver - we have no sunburns yet.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Note to everyone sending emails to/from Kinetic:

We are immensely enjoying receiving all your emails. They brighten our spirits and raise our morale. Not that we aren't giddy enough already. Given the time constraints onboard the boat, and the lack of a high speed internet connection in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we are generally unable to respond to individual emails. Please keep sending us email and we'll keep sending you daily reports.

(Mysteriously, this report is ¯somewhere, over the rainbow, o'er the ocean, or just somewhere!  And, Naomi has kindly sent a message on to many of her pals which I will substitute in for the skippers report, for now! (The date doesn't quite match, but who's checking! Thanks Naomi.)

Ahoy everyone:

It is Day 8, one week since we left Victoria.  I can't believe we've been a week at sea!  Life is going along smoothly aboard, a bit too smoothly if you've noticed our progress.  Our gamble didn't pay off, and we are stuck in light winds and the dreaded high, the low seems to stay tantalizingly just out of our reach. 

Yesterday was our first really hot day.  I learned how to sew chafe patches on halyards using the sailing palm.  I also went up the mast to check on the connection to our anemometer.  Fair light winds, but the sails were occasionally flogging quite violently.  I did get spun round the outside of the shrouds once, on a particularly good lurch.  Kind of fun actually, just a few more bruises to add to the usual ones.  The view from 70 feet up was incredible.  360 degrees of ocean.  You can seen the curvature of the earth.  Unfortunately, I couldn't see any new wind.

Caught another tuna yesterday.  Had to convince our skipper that we didn't need to catch a second one, as we still have frozen meals to eat, and will have plenty of time to fish after Hawaii. We have a new mascot, one of those wiggly Hawaiian hula girls, who we have mounted on top of our instruments.  We have named her "Heine", short for Heineken, as, due to the heat, Damien was hallucinating and thought at first glance she was a cold sweating bottle of Heineken.  In fact we were all fantasizing about a cold beer.

Oh yeah...big event yesterday:  GOT TO WASH MY HAIR!!!  David was fixing our water maker which had crapped out, and had to bleed the air out of the system.  Couldn't let that bowl of water go to waste!  That plus a good fully body baby-wipe wipe-down, and I feel good as new.  Who needs showers? 

Great night watch last night.  Have finally beat the overwhelming sleepiness that has plagued me most nights (guess which nickname is mine-anyone who knows me will have already guessed) with a handful of chocolate-covered espresso beans and a cuppa.  Moon almost full, scudding werewolf-movie clouds and warm.  Magic!

Bye for now,

Naomi

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 10 0605 HST
Lat 33 deg 41 min, Long 133 deg 24 min,
true wind speed 12, boat speed 8,
mostly cloudy, warm refreshing showers, warm & humid air.

Last report: "Much will depend on what the Hi pressure area does."

We have had a torturously slow 24 hours, with light winds from the wrong direction and a lumpy confused sea. Like Icarus and the sun, we sailed too close to an unstable area in the "lee" of the westward-drifting Hi pressure area. After a night of the gybing monologues, conditions have improved in the last few hours and mutinous spirits are abating. The skipper, taking personal responsibility for the many varied and heartless whims of nature, has secured a "safe passage carta" from the piratical crew for the benefit of the navigator. We expect to have lost a fair bit of ground (sea?) to those of our competitors to our left (south). With the wind having finally veered and strengthened, the second half of the race is on.

Our bobble-hipped Hawaiian Hula girl mascot is firmly mounted above the instruments where she sways and jiggles with every zephyr and roll. Mai tai's, anyone?

Skippers mantra: "I shout because I care." (not on Kinetic, of course)

Modified nicknames: Snorry, Snorer, Snorous, Snorest. Usage for the latter: "it's blowing hard from the West-Snorest".

Our sail repair kit once again became afoul of a crew-sized tuna which was cooked and eaten within hours.

The new jokes that have arrived are appreciated. Some by more, and more by some.

Happy Birthday to Rae Sutcliffe, one of the inspirations for David's offshore sailing.

Thank you to Gull Performance Apparel, personal sponsor to watch captain Peter Wealick, right down to the underwear. Not that we've seen it ourselves, but he does claim it's there.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report July 11 0600 HST
Lat 31 deg 20 min, Long 134 deg 20 min,
true wind speed 8, boat speed 5,
mostly cloudy, warm & humid air.

Next-to-last report: "Much will depend on what the Hi pressure area does."

Last report: "We have had a torturously slow 24 hours, with light winds from the wrong direction and a lumpy confused sea."

The end of the pain must be near now. We have had some wind on and off overnight; what wind we do have is coming from the right direction now. As much as we enjoyed boating a 25 lb Mahi Mahi (Dorado) this morning, we are ready to put away the monofilament and get some serious sailing speeds dialed in.

Mark Sykes turns out to be quite a keen peeler. He peels during the day, he peels during the night, he dreams of peeling, he pre-visualizes peeling and he even asks his watch captain for more opportunities to peel. When he's actually peeling, he uses a spike, a strop, a harness and he goes to the very end of the pole, demonstrating a fine sense of balance, a ballet-like agility and zen-like concentration. He rarely slips - he is a natural. This morning, though, he did slip mid-peel and darn near lost his ... Anyway, peeling is a technical sailing expression and I won't explain it further here. I'm sure you all understand, especially Mark's co-workers back at the shop.

Damien King trims kite and drives like a seasoned old pro. Nothing phases him, except perhaps loud noise. Damien is less interested in peeling than Mark, but does it in a pinch - he'll do anything to avoid a bareheaded change. Damien is the "King of the Galley". One amazing meal after another, courtesy of Damien's galley team and our sponsor M&M Fine Foods, augmented by the sea. Please send more soy sauce and wasabi ...

Oxymoron of the day: mensa dummy (from an email we received; funnier than some of the jokes onboard)

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 10, July 12 1200 HST
Lat 30 deg 35 min, Long 135 deg 33 min,
true wind speed 5, boat speed 3,
sunny and hot.

We have again had a torturously slow 24 hours, with very light winds from various directions and a glassy, lumpy sea. The forecast suggests that will change tonight.

Thanks to Leslie Maxwell and her gift of a kerchief, yesterday we were practicing tying various knots. However, there is the law of unintended consequences to consider. Early this morning it became evident that the starboard watch was working to perfect a new knot, the "navigator's noose". The skipper intervened, leaning hard on what few shreds of maritime law and naval discipline still prevail onboard modern sailing yachts. (None, as it turns out.) After some discussion, a maritime court was convened, the real culprit was discovered to be the bobble-hipped paper doll. Bernie Walker was foreman of the jury. The doll was convicted of bringing light, fickle winds and bad luck to Kinetic and was summarily voted off the island. At last sight, she was adrift on a (biodegradable) raft under a wisp of slowly rising smoke.

It's been a quite day as the on-watch sails the boat and the off-watch concentrates on resting. We are staying on top of maintenance, which has been relatively easy to date. Some special events are coming up soon and we'll report on those when the time is right.

As I write, Clayton MacKay is heating fresh water for showers for half the crew today. The other half will shower tomorrow, watermaker willing.

Debate continues to rage on various aspects of quantum physics.

We have had to discard some spoiled vegetables - cucumbers and carrots go quickly. Our diet continues to consist of one spectacular meal after another.

It is now plenty warm during the night watches and hot hot hot during the day. Our visiting Australian crew member Geoff Hargraves has stopped wearing multiple layers of clothing 24 hours per day.

PS. Navigator Greg Westerlund is doing just fine!

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 11, July 13 0550 HST
Lat 30 deg 32 min, Long 137 deg 34 min,
true wind speed 15+, boat speed 8.5-12,
mixed sun, clouds, squalls and rainbows.

Kinetic is trucking along in the early morning light, weaving a course among ominously dark squalls, intense rainbows and patches of clear sky, doing boat speeds of 8-12 knots with 15+ knots of wind and a quartering sea. Flying fish scatter ahead, along the wave troughs, perceiving Kinetic as a predator. Of course, it's not the flying fish we are actually after.

After yesterday's banishment of the bad luck doll (a veritable Jonah-ette as it turns out), our navigator is much relieved by the favorable turn in the weather as the other crew were starting to close in on the culprit who had brought the doll onto Kinetic in the first place.

The first showers of the trip, yesterday, were described by the recipients as cleansing, bloody beautiful and rippa and by the non-showering crew members as an olfactory relief of epic proportions.

We have one Australian, Geoff Hargraves, onboard, and one ex-Australian, Bernie Walker, onboard. Bernie is sounding more Australian by the day. A regression? In any event, both are cunning linguists and the other eight of us are learning to speak Australian. We've been boiling our billy for a cuppa at daily smoko, eating tucker including chooks, sangers and even vegemite (only the most dedicated among us go that far), using braces, uplifts and tweakers, talking footie, berrimundi and so on.

We had a good chat with our friends at Harmony Airways yesterday, courtesy of the miracles of wireless communications. They were high in the sky above us and traveling a hundred times faster. It's a great young airline, with fun and positive crew, and a flight schedule so convenient that our families and friends are flying on Harmony to meet us in Maui.

Thank you to Gaylean Sutcliffe and her helpers for organizing our race from the "shore side" in Vancouver, Victoria and Lahaina.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 12, July 14 1130 HST
Lat 28 deg 46 min, Long 142 deg 03 min,
true wind speed 15-20+, boat speed 9-12+,
clouds and squalls, sun trying to burn through.

Kinetic is sailing hard to regain ground lost when we slipped from first place, early in the race, to last place, two days ago. At today's fleet roll call, Kinetic reported the best 24 hour distance run among all the Div 2 and Div 3 boats, leaving only the two remaining Div 1 boats to clock better distances. Check our transponder data to get a nearly real-time idea of our boat speeds. Peter has the best speed so far at 14.2 knots, with David a notch behind at 14.1. High speeds don't get counted if they are not "on course".

Latest night was the darkest night so far, making steering and trimming extremely challenging. We employed some secret techniques to keep going fast while being safe/conservative at the same time.

We are peeling spinnakers with each significant change in wind speed and have done quite a few sail evolutions.

We had a great half way party yesterday, details to follow when we've got a little more time for a report. We now have less than 1,000 miles of ocean to go. Touch wood, we may arrive in Lahaina around Wednesday evening, July 19. Or not.

We are seeing entire "glides" of flying fish and also discovered a squid stranded on the deck during the night.

It is hot and very humid below decks, and wet and wild above decks. Kinetic's crew is experiencing equal measures of youthful exuberance, sheer exhilaration and persistent fatigue, medicated by Vitamin I (Ibuprofen).

Thanks to Damien's mom Marie King for the awesome homemade chimichangas.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

Naomi has kindly sent a message on to many of her pals which I will add to the skippers report.

It's Day 12, Friday. After suffering through several days of light winds, we finally started moving Wednesday night. What a relief to start actively sailing, instead of listening to those sails go "thwack, thwack", and the boom shock loading with the swells with an alarming crash. The weather has been warm, mostly overcast with some light showers.

Speaking of showers, port watch never did get their turn for a shower, as the wind picked up and all were busy sailing the boat. 12 days without a shower...that's a record for me. I have resorted to wiping my hair down with baby wipes. Everything feels sticky and damp, my skin, clothes, sleeping bag. The cabin walls are dripping with condensation. We hang towels off the life lines in an attempt to dry them, but every stays damp, damp, damp! I'm surprised I'm not growing mould behind my ears...

Fatigue is setting in, especially on the night watches. Little routines like brushing your teeth seem less important than diving for your bunk on your off-watch to get some shut-eye. Sleeping is not easy, as the boat is rolling from side to side, and there are alarming crashes and shouts above decks as sails are changed or wrestled into trim.

Yesterday was very grey. Grey skies, grey seas. I was on the helm trying to get the hang of steering downwind in rolling seas with the spinnaker up. Keeps the trimmers on their toes, as I go from almost gybing to rounding up. Damn this boat is big! Once you catch a wave however, the bow points down, you feel the boat surging beneath you and hear the water rushing behind the transom - yeeehaaaa!!! I can see why this is so addictive.

We had our little half-way celebration yesterday. There were grass skirts, leis, coconut-shell bras (I won't say who was wearing one, only it wasn't me), and rum drinks strong enough to make your eyes water. We're goin' to Maui!

Naomi Roddick
Kinetic crew
 

.....I'm sure Day 13 was awesome; so awesome in fact that the crew was too busy sailing fast and having fun, fun, fun, that they couldn't find the time to post a news release!

Oh, if I do find it I will post it.

Web Master(?),

 Steve.

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 14, July 16 2200 HST
Lat 25 deg 05 min, Long 148 deg 14 min, true wind speed 10+, boat speed 7-8, mostly sun, some clouds, squalls and rainbows.

Kinetic is sailing downwind, smooth and fast in the late evening light on starboard pole, after a stunning, fiery sunset painted the sky, the clouds and our faces. Wow! It is now starlight, with big, black threatening clouds scattered about. We see a series of planes high in the sky, glinting bright silver, Hawaii-bound like us. They may arrive first, but we will have had the greater journey.

We found an expired flying fish on deck this morning. A few frigate birds cam by, pure white, to check for fish stirred up by our wake.

Our crew has gelled into a smoothly functioning team and we are pushing ourselves and the boat hard. Running a race that lasts over two weeks and that goes twenty four hours per day, we treat it as a marathon rather than a sprint, and we pace ourselves. We also have a lot of fun; the banter and ribbing goes on constantly and no one or no subject is safe. Thank goodness that you can't see or hear us!

After setting the best 24 hour run outside Div 1 a day ago, we set the second best 24 hour run for the fleet at today's roll call, missing first by just two miles. We are gaining ground on the boats ahead and stepping out on the boats behind. We hope for more of the same at the next roll call.

The weather looks interesting ahead - a weak low pressure area with lighter winds is moving East to West across our path - and who knows what that will do to the fleet positions before the finish in Lahaina.

Thank you to Steve and Debbie Kempton for their "shore support" including email and web updates,

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

 

Monday, July 17th, 0430

Ah..night watch. I believe this is what they call the "dog watch", 0200 to 0600. This is always a tough one. We have been on watch from 1800 to 2200 (only 24-hour clocks at sea), then 4 hours sleep, then on watch again at 0200. My biggest struggle at sea, is staying awake on night watch. Need toothpicks to keep the eyes open. If anyone asks if I'm sleeping, I just say I am checking my eyelids for pinholes (learned that one from my dad).

Many people expressed surprise (and consternation?) at the fact that I was the only woman on board with 9 men. Actually, it's not bad at all. Being a nurse certainly helps to inure me against the brunt of the testosterone. Sometimes I feel like the crew mom...when guys are sick, or seeking medical advice. When there's tomfoolery going on, it's usually quite entertaining, although I occasionally feel like I have way too many little brothers.
Apparently, the same jokes never get old, no matter how many times a day they are repeated, and farts and other toilet humour are funny no matter how old you are - as long as you are male. But kidding aside, the guys are great, no question.

And so we sail on. Steady winds and relatively flat seas tonight. There were stars out earlier tonight before they were snuffed out by clouds, with a waning half-moon. Phosphorescence in the water looks like little stars bouncing in our wake.

Naomi Roddick
Kinetic crew

...and later from the skipper:

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 15, July 17 0652 HST
Lat 24 deg 39 min, Long 149 deg 11 min, true wind speed 12, boat speed 8, warm, mostly low clouds with squalls.

We had movie nights the last two nights in a row. The plan was that the off watch would view a DVD movie on the computer, and that both watches would enjoy hot buttered popcorn. The reality turned out that the off watch dove into their bunks right away, while the on watch ate the popcorn and never did watch the movie.

We have been keeping busy doing preventative and required maintenance. Our spinnaker halyards are holding up quite well because, in equal parts, we prepared them with an abrasion cover called "Ice", we adjust them at least hourly and the winds have been light more often than not. We've jury-rigged a system on the boom where the boom vang is attached to take the load off a fitting that is near failure. We're paying close attention to maintaining fair leads on the spinnaker guys, due to the enormous loads and potential for chafe. We periodically change the pucks on the spinnaker guys as they are deforming, even though we've switched to custom made, heavy-duty pucks. So far, we've had the necessary spare parts and supplies onboard for the jobs that have come up.

In the "olden days" on sailing ships, falling asleep on your watch was subject to severe punishment. Last night, on the 0200 - 0600 watch, there were five crew: one below brewing tea & coffee, one trimming the spinnaker, one grinding spin & trimming the main, one resting and one driving. It was dark, clouds had obscured the earlier starlit sky and very little moonlight was peeking through. The boat was bombing along, with the helm well balanced, at 8 to 8.4 knots, ten or fifteeen degrees above the rhumb line. Life was good, very good. Successively, each crew member was lulled to sleep, until at last the helmsman got the noddies. How many noddies we will never know ... but the last one caused him to wake with such a sudden movement that it woke everyone else up. Gales of rib-shaking laughter followed, boisterous enough to wake up the off watch crew, making 10 very alert people on board. Kinetic continued to sail along, paying no heed.

Speaking of watches, we have nicknames for both now: porto's for the port watch and boardies for the starboard watch. Inter-watch rivalry has intensified to the point that judicial recounts may be necessary for the all-important "miles run" tally for each watch. Honour and rum are at stake, and not necessarily in that order.

We chart our daily progress on a paper chart which is taped to a bulkhead where everyone can see it. Less than 500 miles to go!

PS we have just lost our second and last coffee bodem, due to crew error (we hope the sergeant keeps a tighter grip on the tools of his regular trade). No coffee will certainly affect some crew more than others. To paraphrase Apollo 13: "here are the available materials; make me a coffee maker."

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC


 

Hello all:

 Kinetic report Day 16, July 18 0100 HST

Lat 23 deg 38 min, Long 151 deg 35 min, true wind speed 9, boat speed 7 

 A few people have mentioned our missing Day 13 report and the Day 14 and 15 reports arriving together.  We thought everyone knew that there is no Day 13 in a sailboat race; it's just like elevators and hotels.  OK, maybe that's not quite true; but sometimes in an ocean race you are too busy or too tired or both to write and send a report.  Plus the navigators station with the computer can be a difficult place to sit for long in a seaway.  We're sorry to have missed that day's report.  Thankfully, people can check the transponder position reports which are updated every four hours around the clock. 

 Yesterday we sailed up to and among a "field" of dolphins, several dozens at least, if not a hundred or more, splashing all around us like whitecaps on a sunny day with a brisk Westerly blowing in English Bay.  Of course, the videocamera battery failed to cooperate but the image will remain clear in our minds.  They seemed to be organized and heading somewhere in particular as they did not dally to play in our bow wave as dolphins often do.   

 Dinner was "Indian":  naan bread, chicken tiaka masala, deli saag and rice.  Followed by dessert.  To say we are eating well would be an understatement of offensive proportions.  Damien, Bernie, Clayton and Peter have done yeoman's work. 

 We are seeing many more airplanes each day blazing the trail to Hawaii.  Day and night, twenty four hours, just like us.  They appear as silver darts with bright contrails during the day and as blinking lights, moving fast, at night.  Without navigational instruments, we could now simply follow them the rest of the way to Hawaii. 

 Mail call is immensely anticipated and enjoyed - everyone crowds around to hear and read the mail - nothing is private, much laughter and ribbing is triggered, especially by the bachelors among us.  We receive our email wirelessly, using a single sideband radio and a radio modem, attached to a laptop computer. 

 The skipper has offered a bottle of rum as a reward to the first crew member to spot an enemy sail.  Eyes scan the horizon relentlessly, and with renewed interest. 

 We are sailing downwind in the dark, as a dark squall line chases us, envelops us, blocks out the stars, and dumps huge warm globules of rain on us.  The squall passes over us and moves on, the stars reappear overhead and the moon rises out of the sea behind us, casting a bright silverly grey moonbow from horizon to horizon across the dark clouds now racing ahead.  A moment frozen in time. 

David Sutcliffe,

Skipper, KINETIC

Hello all:

Kinetic report Day 17, July 19 0200 HST
Lat 22 deg 36 min, Long 154 deg 14 min, true wind speed 13, boat speed 8 starlight and low scudding clouds, impending moonrise.

Early in the evening, we ran through large flocks of seabirds, wheeling and feeding in the waves. A sign of nearby land, we think. The wind is holding for now although it has dropped a little from earlier in the evening/night. We take nothing for granted, having previously been swallowed by a few too many wind holes. Refreshing showers spritzed us and lightning flashed around us as we sailed through and between ominous squalls.

We have run out of propane, meaning no more cooked meals or hot drinks until we get ashore. Given the past and present depth of provisions and waistlines, and the ambient heat, neither are likely to be missed much. Everything is dripping wet in the hot and humid climate. And that's outside the boat! Down below is a veritable sauna.

We hope to see and overtake another race boat sometime today. But first we have to find them, gain the weather gauge on them, and ...

We have not seen land day 1, 16 days ago, nor have we stood on solid ground in all that time. After very little seasickness offshore, crew are mindful about the possibility of landsickness, which can be experienced in the first few days ashore after a long passage at sea. Contributing factors are believed to include dehydration, alcohol consumption and exuberance.

The crew's level of excitement is rising as the TTG (time to Guinness) is declining. Touch wood, this should be our last race report before finishing in Lahaina sometime overnight tonight. We'll file one more report, post race, to let you know how things turned out on finishing and arrival.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

July 19 0655 HST

Sail Ho! cries crewmember Clayton MacKay (or he should have)

Broad on the starboard bow, four or five miles ahead, flying a huge yellow spinnaker, almost certainly Kahuna, who we have been grinding miles out of for some days now. Now obscured by a line squall. Did they see us? We have the weather gauge and we are overtaking them, sailing out of the bright morning sky where they may not see us right away. On the other hand, we are flying a brilliant fuscia kite which would be difficult to miss in the broad daylight.

Kinetic will stand a bottle of rum to Kahuna, if they cross the line ahead of us. It's well aged, as we won it from Antares the same way two years ago.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

July 19 1325 HST

Sail Ho! cries crewmember Damien King

After some two thousand four hundred miles of ocean sailing, we have three competitors in sight at the same time, two ahead, one behind, as the fleet converges on Maui and struggles to finish in unusually light winds.

Directly on our bow, several miles ahead, two enemy sails! Most likely Turicum and Tripp Tease ... We are grinding them down, sailing our light air machine.

Kahuna is now behind us on our starboard hip, with a bottle of rum already staked for line honours.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

July 19 1730 HST

Sail Ho! we cried, three times today. After thousands of miles of ocean, four of the Division 2 sailboats are within sight of each other, dueling through light air for line and handicap positions on the last hundred miles of the race.

We are sailing an inside line towards Pailolo Channel, bearing 233M, with three boats on the same gybe, all to our starboard. The rearmost is Kahuna, flying a yellow chute, bearing 338M. Ahead of Kahuna and abeam of us is a white hull, off white main, white and green chute, bearing 260M. Ahead of them and off our bow is a dark hull (we think) flying a two (or more) tone blue chute, brightly sunlit, bearing 237M. Night Runner? Turicum? Tripp Tease?

The Realist adjusts the sail ...

See you in Lahaina. Eventually.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

 

Kinetic report Day 18, July 20 0010 HST

Kinetic has just passed one eighth of a mile to leeward of the foremost boat of the three boats that it first sighted yesterday morning and afternoon. The three boats and Kinetic are all in a tight group less than 3 miles in diameter. Kinetic is now clear ahead of all three boats, driving hard for the finish at Lahaina.

We are not sure whether there is another boat to pass to earn Division 2 line honours. The race committee must know, though, as they appear to have turned the transponder on to a full time transmit setting. Enjoy!

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC

July 20 0514 HST:

A race to the finish, with Kinetic being the second boat across the line in division 2!

Kinetic report, after the finish, July 21

Kinetic finished the 2006 Vic Maui race in pre-dawn darkness yesterday, July 20, at 0514 HST. We crossed the line with our sails lit by a high powered spotlight and with a bright white flare burning, allowing spectators on shore to see the boat. The cheering from the on shore spectators was loud enough that we could hear it across the water!

Kinetic's finish was the first among the four boat pack that had converged the day before the finish. The next three boats all finished about three quarters of an hour later, within a few minutes of each other, making a very dramatic end to the race. One division 2 boat, Night Runner, had finished about four hours earlier, leaving Kinetic to be the second division 2 boat across the line, and correcting to sixth in the division and tenth overall on handicap.

After finishing, we were welcomed by family, friends and our local greeting team, Mulligans at the Wharf. Family and friends lavished hugs and kisses on us, we sprayed each other with too many bottles of champagne, and Mulligans supplied a lavish buffet of various foods and an impressive array of drinks ranging from Mai Tais to Guiness.

A big thank you to all our family, friends and the many sponsors and suppliers who supported our grand adventure.

David Sutcliffe,
Skipper, KINETIC


Well, we made it. Seventeen days after leaving Victoria, Kinetic crossed the finish line in Lahaina. I could smell the land as we neared Maui. Because it was dark, we could only make out the lights from town - civilization!....Is that a good thing...or not? There is something magical about sailing on the vast ocean, seemingly alone, with only the sun, stars and moon to provide light. No traffic noise, no pollution (in the air at least), no crowds. Seeing the Milky Way in its infinite depth, reminds us of how small we are.

As we neared Lahaina and were peering into the dark to spot the finish mark, suddenly we saw spotlights flashing at us from shore. We weren't sure if we had actually crossed the finish line until we heard a great cheer from the shore. That ignited our exuberance on the boat...we started cheering and shouting, Mark lit a bright white flare off the stern, and David spot lit our sails and sail number.

Dawn arrived as we approached the dock, to see family and friends cheering and waving. We were presented with leis and champagne as we docked. Even Kinetic got a lei to drape across her bow. There were some emotional reunions as loved ones greeted their sailors, arriving safe and sound - if not a bit grizzled and unwashed.

Each of us got a bottle of champagne, much to much for us to drink - even for us hardened sailors - so.... we shook them up and started spraying each other and the crowd on the dock! Mulligan's Irish Pub was there to greet us too....imagine, Guinness and Mai Tais at 6 in the morning!

I feel a sense of accomplishment, having completed my first ocean race. Years ago, I never would have believed that I could do something like this. But not long after I learned to sail 5 years ago, I was fascinated by the idea of sailing the open ocean. And now I have - and I loved it as much (or more) than I imagined I would. It feels like I was always meant to do this. Work and home in Vancouver already seem like a distant memory. Of course I miss my old life to some degree, but my new life is just starting.

I am looking forward to a couple of weeks of rest in Maui, but then it is onwards to the south and west, as Kinetic sets sail for the South Pacific. After racing, cruising will seem like a piece of cake. And another leg of this adventure will begin.

Many thanks to friends and family for their support, and a special thank you to Gaylean Sutcliffe for dealing with mind boggling logistics. It also has been great to hear from those of you who have enjoyed reading our reports.

Must go, the surf is calling... More to come from the Adventures of Kinetic....stay tuned.

Naomi Roddick
KINETIC crew
 

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