On the edge of
being lost at sea

It would be impossible to count how many sailors have had the rich experience of racing the trade winds from California to Hawaii over Transpac's hundred years. Still it's safe to say they number in the thousands and nearly every one of them came away with vivid personal memories of making that 2,225-mile voyage.

This year two sailors from Hawaii -- Waikiki Yacht Club staff commodore Dan Doyle and his lone crewman Bruce Burgess -- finished their third Transpac together aboard Doyle's 1D 35, appropriately named "Two Guys on the Edge."

They were racing in Transpac's "double-handed" division, and thanks to modern technology they were able to relate their experiences -- both good and bad -- to a few friends.

For instance, on their second day of the race Doyle e-mailed, "We are sailing in flat seas ... have 12 to 14 knots of wind and are averaging 7 1/2 knots towards Honolulu. So far, no sun, but a very pleasant sail."

However, that message had followed an earlier one that ominously began, "Around 5 a.m., as the sun came up, the rig looked very wobbly."

They had discovered that a part of the rigging that holds up the mast had begun to fail. To repair it before the mast collapsed, they were forced to run downwind for a while -- in the opposite direction of Hawaii.

Another challenge for Doyle and Burgess came on the third day when their "brand new" radio began to malfunction. As boats can be assessed a penalty for missing the daily check-ins, this was no small matter.

Somehow they usually found ways to make it work, but the radio continued to be a problem for them throughout the race.

Another on-going problem was sleep depredation. Every time there was a wind shift, both sailors had to be on deck.

"July 21 -- what a night. So much for trying to get a little sleep," Doyle wrote. "The wind was everywhere, and 6 to 17 knots in the blink of the eye.

Bruce and I were up all night chasing the wind."

And yet in the same e-mail he joyously related: "This morning the wind settled down and the boat is now loving it. The big asymmetrical (spinnaker) is up and we are doing 9s and 10s (knots) on track for Honolulu."

There was also at least one frightening close encounter. A 150-foot Korean trawler crossed their stern one night at a threatening distance of just 100 feet.

Finally, an unfamiliar noise at night announced a final crisis before the finish. Doyle discovered their steering cable had chafed through down to the last two strands.

After some anxious hours with limited use of the helm, they replaced the cable with a spare guy wire to finish the race.

So, weighing the good versus the bad, will they do it again?

"Sure," Doyle says, "but maybe it'll be 13 Guys on the Edge."