‘Blue Flash’s Pacific Cup — Lions of the Sea
I learned from my “TransBack” experience (bringing Merlin back from the ’23 Transpac) that being in the right place at the right time is half the battle when taking advantage of unique opportunities. So when I added my name to the list of available crew for the 2024 Pacific Cup, I figured I’d let the universe determine what the next move would be.
Matt Arno from the Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas reached out with his J/105 ambitions for this race, and laid out his plan: trailer Blue Flash from Texas, step the mast at KKMI in Richmond, win the Pacific Cup, put the little boat on a bigger boat, ship the boat back on the other boat to the mainland, and drive it back to Texas.
Sounds good, solid plan, let’s do this.
The Blue Flash team would consist of four sailors: the skipper, Matt Arno, a nuclear physicist; his first mate and watch captain, Scott Hurst, a software developer hailing from New Jersey; Grant Hayes, retired, a Bay Area racing veteran and Alameda local; and myself, a sailing addict and native of San Jose, employed as a project manager for a large electrical contractor.
Although the four of us lacked time on the water together due to geographic differences, we did make time to meet, practice, and evaluate our racing chemistry. We had a short fuse before race day and a lot of ground to cover. Matt and Scott brought strong offshore heavy-wind experience and knowledge. Grant and I had local racing experience, connections, and knowledge. We would really need to focus only on supporting their program once outside the Golden Gate.
The boat arrived with little time to spare. (Getting from Texas to Richmond would cost six tires, two rims, and a hog.) Setup went smoothly at KKMI due to the skipper’s prior experiences racing out of town.
A faulty alternator almost dashed our race dreams — it was a special one with a special pulley and belt. Solar-only was an option but would require an uncomfortable power diet. We were saved by a local vendor, Buchanan Auto Electric in Oakland, who expedited our rebuild and handed us a sparkling new high-performance alternator.
With seconds to spare, Blue Flash was ready for battle.