Ullman Sails 2011 Transpac Report

The 2011 Transpac wrapped up on Friday night with the trophy presentations at the Shell in Honolulu.  The bi-annual race was closely contested in almost every fleet and came down to the final day in most cases.  Stories of hardships and adventure were rampant when the boats reached Hawaii but everyone was in high spirits as everyone there had achieved their goal of sailing over 2,000 miles in one of the oldest offshore races.

Ullman Sails was well represented with many of our team members on boats in almost every class.  Loft owner, Bruce Cooper, was on board the TP52 Patches with JB Cianciarulo and Peter Wheelon.  Patches led their class from the beginning and were overall leaders early on.  A brand new Ullman Carbon Main and Redlina 2A Spinnaker were delivered only a few days before the race.  A final push saw them run out as class winners and fifth overall!

Dave Ullman was in the highly competitive sled class on Holua.  The racing was very tight with positions changing every day as the classic boats battled it out.  Holua placed fourth in class and fourth overall.  Holua is powered downwind by Ullman Sails Red Line Racing Asymmetrical Spinnakers.

Chuck Skewes had his usual fast ride on Alchemy.  The Alchemy team has been tweaking the boat this way and that and are now a dominant force in both offshore and inshore racing.  Chuck helped power the team to a third in class and third overall with a 100% Ullman Sails inventory!

Erik Shampain and Team Horizon (Pictured on Left) on the Santa Cruz 50 have been the boat to beat for some years now. They have had a great run up to this Transpac with a first overall and first in class in Pacific cup, followed by a first in class and first overall in the 2011 Newport to Cabo Race.  They continued their impressive streak with a first in class for Santa Cruz 50's also using a 100% Ullman Inventory.

Scott Poe and Keith Magnussen were on the First 40 NAOS2.  This was Scott Poe's tenth Pacific crossing and his experience shone on the boat as his leadership skills pulled the guys through and into second place in their division.  NAOS2 was using a brand new 100% Ullman Inventory with new oversized spinnakers for the much larger spinnaker pole bought just for Transpac.  They saw a top speed of 17.5 kts which is impressive for a "Turbo Camper."

Team Locomotion went with a mix of Transpac first timers and veterans.  Viper 640 sailor and TV Celebrity Dr. Jim Sears was among the group of first timers and took some epic video that will soon be release on Ullman Sails TV.  Locomotion uses a 100% Ullman Inventory.

Charlie Jenkins delivered a new Ullman Redline 3A to the J-145 Bad Pak.  The new 3A helped them in the reaching conditions and paved a way for a first in class.

A very special thanks to the communications vessel Alska Eagle for all their hard work on the course.  They came into the loft for repairs to their sails to ensure a safe passage to Hawaii.

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2011 Yachting Cup

This years Yachting Cup was my first since I was about 16 and I raced on a NY 36.  A lot has changed since then, boats are faster, sails are different, I have some grey hair and Yachting Cup was windy!  The typical light wind venue was nothing of the sort as Saturday saw puffs in the 20kt range.  85 boats competed over 3 courses in their respective classes.  The ocean hosted two courses and the south bay made held the third.

Saturday saw heavy winds, big seas, and lots of carnage.  The ocean conjured up some great racing and wild mark roundings.  Between shrimped, blown out, and twisted sails we actually got some racing in.  Pendragon received the award for most unlucky when they caught an underwater cable after rounding the leeward mark.  The TP 52's were strutting their stuff in the big wind and consistency paid off as Mayhem was quickly becoming the boat to beat.  It's OK. Blue Blazes and Staghound were all closely situated for the final day.

The Farr 40 fleet was extremely close.  Dark Star won the day and led Piranha going into Sunday's final two races.  Flying Tiger's saw two Ullman boats leading the was as Niuhi and Mile High Klub were well ahead of the pace.

Sunday was slightly lighter and a little more friendly to the Southern California crowd.  The exciting Flying Tiger Fleet came down to the last race as Mile High Klub finished the stronger of the two Ullman boats and beat Niuhi to the top of the podium.  A bad start on Niuhi opened the door for Payson Infelise's MHK.   He took full advantage of the mistake to sail into the lead and never looked back.  Both Tigers use 100% Ullman inventory and are sporting the latest spinnaker design.

PHRF I was ever so tight as we came into the final two races.  It's OK managed to hang on for the victory as Staghound finished second and Blue Blazes third.

J-120 fleet was dominated by the Ullman powered Caper as they cruised to an easy victory.

In the J-105 fleet Wings lost out in a nail biter to place second in the highly competitive fleet. Wings uses 100% Ullman inventory.

Schock 35 fleet was dominated by Ullman customers with Code Blue coming out on top of the classic fleet.





Great weekend, good weather and a fun party made this a memorable event for all who participated.

Thanks to Bronny Daniels for the pictures.

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