The 63-foot Reichel/Pugh-designed GoodEnergyco-skippered by George Hershman and Mark Comings is now the 60th entry in this year’s 51st edition of the Transpac, the Transpacific Yacht Club’s 2225-mile ocean racing classic from Los Angeles to Honolulu. GoodEnergy joins a strong fleet of similar high-performance monohulls along with a diverse array of many other boat types who will be starting in the race in three waves beginning on July 13th, 2021.
Having just bought this proven offshore yacht from Australia – she was built in 2009 as Loki in carbon/nomex at McConaghy, and was the 2020 winner of the Sydney-Hobart Race – Hershman thinks this is right time for Transpac.
“This has been a goal for us to pull together a great group of friends and talented sailors to do Transpac together,” Hershman said. “When we found such a well-accomplished boat like Loki, we knew this was the right boat and right time to bring together the GoodEnergyteam for this race.”
While this is the first Transpac for Hershman, he says he has surrounded himself with a strong veteran team the includes co-skipper Mark Comings, navigator Jib Kelly, Chuck Clay, Mike Burch, Kenny Dair and others to be named soon for the roster of 12 crew. To prepare for the race, the team plans to do the SoCal 300 in May, and some work on the boat: “Some optimization is needed for Transpac,” said Hershman. “We plan to update the sail plan and reduce some bulb weight, and upgrades to the electronics, but not much. The boat is in very good shape.”
Yet for such a high performance platform as GoodEnergy, the team’s goals are simple. “Our goal is to compete hard and sail our best,” said Hershman. “We have put together a strong team to do that. Our main goal is to enjoy ourselves and have a lot of fun! The group on the boat has grown up together as friends and finishing at Diamond Head together will be a magical moment.”
Many members of the GoodEnergyteam are from Cabrillo Beach YC, located at the starting venue’s Cabrillo Marina and not far from the starting line at Point Fermin in San Pedro. For those in the race who are not based locally, organizers from Transpacific YC have recently arranged a special service for Transpac participants to help with hotel bookings, rental cars, and more: visit www.visitsanpedro.org/transpac2021 for more information on this service. And for help with berthing requests, Al Garnier is available to help at drystorage@cabrillowaydrystorage.com.
“Given all the issues we all have faced during this past year, we’re excited about the enthusiasm and support we have seen for this year’s race,” said TPYC Commodore Jim Eddy. “A lot of hard work has been put into the planning, and we’re seeing a great response from our participants and sponsors.”
