barry 1987
New member
I had the Capri 30 (Fast Lane) that sailed in the last Trans Pac. On towing, I trailered it up from San Diego to Alameda Ca. It came up on a double axel trailer towed by a small U Haul box truck. Towing was easy, just be aware when the trucks past you. You will need a permit from each state. Also the Capri is just over the legal width (11 ft). Remove about two feet of rub rail from each side of the boat and it will be within the limits (no pilot car needed).
The boat is easy to sail and is a good on all points of sail. Does it best in light airs. It also turns out to be a good ocean boat. A lot of pre-race ocean sailing showed that it would be just fine for the race. The main thing it has is a lot reserve buoyance due to the flare in the hull mid ships (beam 11’ 2”, waterline beam 7’3”). On the negative side .waterline to deck is a bit low. With this boat I did a lot of mods for the race. I installed a water-tight bulkhead between the mast and the bow for any oil canning and crash protection. It also serves to anchor the temporary inter forestay. Put in two 4-in. cockpit drains that flow out the transom. On the first and second night of the race, I had a wave break on the deck and fill the cockpit so water was going over the lee side winches. You could see the water draining out it went that fast. Boat came from the factory with glassed-in quarter berths, settees, floors and a water tight bulkhead aft of the cockpit. Installed self-tailing cockpit wenches and mast winches for spinnaker, rebuilt the headsail furler, installed all new standing rigging and running rigging, rewired where needed and ton of little things.
On the race I had a power problem which caused me to have to use the wind vane a lot (had a battery cell going bad). This meant that I was sailing slow. Ken was right in saying I didn’t seem to sailing aggressively. I knew that I wasn’t and wasn’t happy about it. Still not too happy about it.
On the trip back once I got north of the trades I had SSE/SW winds for 2/3 of the way to San Diego. This was due to weather coming into the islands. Other than a few squalls, the wind was 5-10k with some highs of 15k in the afternoon. Had couple of no wind times for hours. A day or so of 5k winds. With no engine it made for a long trip.
I would like to do the next race if I’m still fit and have the time. The boat is 95% ready .I’m sailing and racing here in SD so life is good.
The boat is easy to sail and is a good on all points of sail. Does it best in light airs. It also turns out to be a good ocean boat. A lot of pre-race ocean sailing showed that it would be just fine for the race. The main thing it has is a lot reserve buoyance due to the flare in the hull mid ships (beam 11’ 2”, waterline beam 7’3”). On the negative side .waterline to deck is a bit low. With this boat I did a lot of mods for the race. I installed a water-tight bulkhead between the mast and the bow for any oil canning and crash protection. It also serves to anchor the temporary inter forestay. Put in two 4-in. cockpit drains that flow out the transom. On the first and second night of the race, I had a wave break on the deck and fill the cockpit so water was going over the lee side winches. You could see the water draining out it went that fast. Boat came from the factory with glassed-in quarter berths, settees, floors and a water tight bulkhead aft of the cockpit. Installed self-tailing cockpit wenches and mast winches for spinnaker, rebuilt the headsail furler, installed all new standing rigging and running rigging, rewired where needed and ton of little things.
On the race I had a power problem which caused me to have to use the wind vane a lot (had a battery cell going bad). This meant that I was sailing slow. Ken was right in saying I didn’t seem to sailing aggressively. I knew that I wasn’t and wasn’t happy about it. Still not too happy about it.
On the trip back once I got north of the trades I had SSE/SW winds for 2/3 of the way to San Diego. This was due to weather coming into the islands. Other than a few squalls, the wind was 5-10k with some highs of 15k in the afternoon. Had couple of no wind times for hours. A day or so of 5k winds. With no engine it made for a long trip.
I would like to do the next race if I’m still fit and have the time. The boat is 95% ready .I’m sailing and racing here in SD so life is good.