2025 Transpac Race Profile: Andy Schwenk and ‘Sir Edmund’

Currently there are 61 boats signed up for the 2025 Transpac. We’ll bring you profiles of participants between now and the July 1 start. The first one below is submitted by local multiple-Transpac racer Andy Schwenk.

Each summer, West Coast sailors have a choice in the quest for Hawaii. They can enter Pac Cup in even-numbered years and Transpac in the odd. There are also singlehanded competitions and Victoria to Maui; at least there used to be. Generally, skippers choose their crews in the fall and the winter and spend the spring getting the final details worked out.

The required list is extensive: raft, communication, safety equipment, radio and satellite navigation, grab bags, med kits, required tools and equipment, and, of course, plenty of meals to be organized. Most boats upgrade systems to include batteries and charging, maybe a watermaker and fishing gear — and why not a BBQ?

It is not uncommon for winning boats to spend thousands on professional weather routing and a new quiver of sails.

This year it’s Transpac, the Big Daddy of West Coast ocean racing, sailed in most odd-numbered years since about 1906, except for war years and a few other exceptions. The record for a monohull is 5 days 1 hour, a multihull 4 days 6 hours. The race is 2225 miles and the route isn’t arrow-straight, so figure 25 mph give or take — that’s just average,

In 2019 I skippered an Oyster 56, Quester, to second in our division. In 2021, my pirates and I aboard Spindrift V, a speedy Express 37, brought home another first-loser trophy. In 2023 I served as watch captain aboard David Moore’s Westerly, and legendary ocean racer Will Paxton was able to flog us into first overall.

This year the plan is 49 feet of ocean-racing fury, Sir Edmund. She’s Chuck Burns-designed, Nova Scotia-built, cold-molded Port Orford cedar over ½ inch of foam. Her twin carbon spars are configured as a ketch for this regatta. During the last Delta Ditch run we had six sails pulling at once.

The crew of seven, with the exception of one, are Bay area all-stars. Cindy Evans will step off her Express 34 Joy Ride to trim spinnaker and grease winches. Mark Jordan, a sought-after Bay Area sailing instructor, will navigate and cover mid-deck. Scott Watkins will handle foredeck, both of them. Cyril Kollock is engineer and mainsail trim, both of them. Lisa Wilson will be shanghaied away from her beloved Express 37 Spindrift V to cover the pit and galley duties. Mike Schiltz will leave the rainy PNW behind to skipper the starboard watch and make sure we have plenty of coffee. The crew is split into two three-person teams, with Lisa floating between to make sure no one is asleep at the wheel.

Mastering both the navigation software and the hardware on deck to run numerous barber haulers, after guys and strings associated with two spinnakers at once will keep the team busy.

Of course, getting to sail by ol’ Diamond Head under moonshine or sunshine and enjoying the legendary aloha hospitality of Hawaii YC is only half the story.

Once the last ukulele has left the dock and the last supercharged pineapple beverage has been consumed, so starts the journey home. Something reminds me that it can be a lively experience as well. More about the 2025 Transpac here.

Andy Schwenk is a busy marine surveyor and yacht-delivery captain in the Bay. Now with 57 1/2 transpacific voyages under his keel, he’s looking forward to another round in the old whale pasture.