Why not race Transpac 2025? A crew of friends for 50 years signs up
by Transpacific Yacht Club 28 Nov 2024 19:21 GMT
July 1, 2025
Santa Cruz 52 Heroic Heart © Transpacific Yacht Club
For many Transpac skippers and crew, the race to Hawaii is their first ocean crossing. Not so for the crew of Heroic Heart—which includes two sets of brothers, Steve Firestone and Dan Firestone, Ron Zamir and John Zamir, Mike Wolfe, Andy Cranmer, Bobby Feinberg, Gil Varon and Sam Attrill.
Though it's their first Transpac, this crew first sailed the LA to Hawaii route together 50 years ago, when they were just teenagers.
It was the summer of 1975 on an 85' wooden schooner, Vltava, which the kids and their parents had rebuilt and outfit for long distance voyaging. For the young crew and their parents, the 1975 crossing kicked off an era of sailing and working together as a team. In 1976, they set sail around the world as the core crew of Vltava, with their parents and friends joining them along the way. The oldest of the crew was 19 years old, the youngest just 14, and 17-year-old Steve was elected captain. That 18-month voyage changed their lives, solidifying them as friends for life and laying the groundwork for many more achievements in business, while growing their families and continuing to sail the world on bigger and bigger yachts.
But there was something special about that first 1975 trip from Marina Del Rey to Hawaii: it coincided with the Transpac, which included several legendary yachts of the day, such as Windward Passage, Sorcery, Ondine and Ragtime.
"This was the first we had heard of Transpac, but all these famous boats were racing, and we were fascinated," says Steve. That early experience stayed with them and over the years they often talked about one day competing in Transpac, but life always got in the way. Until now. This same crew has now teamed up to compete together in their first major offshore race, the 2025 Transpac.
The decision to finally make this dream a reality came about when Mike and Dan were hanging out one afternoon. Mike had just spoken with a good friend of his, Bill Guilfoyle, a veteran of several Transpac campaigns and the current Transpacific Yacht Club Commodore.
"When Mike mentioned our crew had always been interested in doing Transpac, Bill described the fun and excitement of the race and encouraged him to go for it. The next step was to put our band back together," says Dan. So, he sent out a text to the group: "Mike and I are doing Transpac in the summer of 2025, and we'd love for you join us!"
"There was some reluctance at first, as we are all now in our mid 60s, and with no real offshore racing experience, not to mention that we didn't even have a race boat to do it on. But we asked ourselves, 'Why the hell not?' And much to our delight, one by one the rest of the team jumped on board," Dan says.
They looked at several boats including extreme one-off designs, Santa Cruz 70s, Santa Cruz 50s and a J/140. "After many hours touring boats and countless conversations, we narrowed it down to the Santa Cruz 52 because it's a good platform for us," says Mike, who has extensive racing experience though mostly round the buoys in J/24s, Melges and J/70s. "It's comfortable, safe, fast, competitive. They go upwind. They feel good and look good. It's a bit forgiving." He tipped a hat to Guilfoyle for his wealth of knowledge on the boat and the race. "The way he disseminates information without making you feel small is empowering and he understands our program. He's been a mentor for us," says Mike.
But where this voyage really began, Steve explains: "We grew up in Los Angeles and at the time there were five families that were very close. We'd take vacations together and all the kids were in the same age group. One of the families wanted to buy a sailboat and said, 'Why don't we get a big one so we can all sail together.'"
That's when they found Vltava, an unfinished wooden schooner. The parents, concerned about teenage drift and the allure of that era's increasing drug use, decided working on the boat and sailing would give the kids something to focus their energies. "Alongside our parents, we learned skills such as wood working, plumbing and electrical, and eventually finished out the boat. At the same time, we learned to sail, navigate, how to maintain the boat and to look out for each other. We started out with local sailing trips, then ventured down to Mexico, and in the summer of 1975, we made our first ocean crossing from Los Angeles to Hawaii. With our newfound confidence and love of sailing, the idea of a circumnavigation began to gel. After much planning and preparation, that voyage began in November 1976. It was all with the idea to give us a life experience, and it really resonated with us."
They learned celestial navigation, basic medical skills and how to troubleshoot boat repairs. They experienced the hustle of sourcing parts in foreign countries and calling home via ham radio. They endured terrifying weather and challenging ocean passages. And they learned how to communicate with each other, forging friendships that would last for decades.
"That kind of bonding is unique—most people don't have that opportunity. You become closer to those people than any other people in your lives. It gave us a real sense of ourselves at an early age. We came home and started businesses together and created a dynamic yet stable life together," says Steve. Over the years they continued to sail and cruise together. They bought bigger and bigger yachts, and their kids grew up sailing with them, enjoying summers in the Med and winters in the Caribbean.
"We are all now very excited about our latest adventure, competing in Transpac 2025," says Steve. They settled on the Santa Cruz 52 Vela, now re-christened Heroic Heart after the line in the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, "Ulysses."
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
"That poem is one that we've been exposed to over the years and was quoted in reference to my dad at one time," says Steve. "It describes us as well. We're in our mid 60s now, and not of the strength we once were, and yet strong in will, and not about to yield, so it resonates."
Based in Santa Barbara, they've spent the past several months sailing Heroic Heart as much as they can, getting to know the boat and how to work it together. Their Santa Cruz 52 joins two others also registered to compete in the 2025 Transpac—Dave Moore's Westerly and Steve Sellinger's Triumph, which finished 1st and 3rd, respectively, in their division in the 2023 Transpac. The team hopes to be competitive, but their number one goal is to enjoy the shared experience and, of course, complete the race. "We'll be sailing more on the edge and taking advantage of having a fast downwind boat," says Steve. "The racing will be a new challenge but bringing back those old communication skills and teamwork—that will be the same."
Dan views that as a competitive advantage. "The fact that we know each other well, that we've all been communicating well for 50+ years, is one of our strongest assets. Also, we have thousands of sea miles, sailing all sorts of boats, all around the world, but they've been larger, offshore cruisers built with automated systems and a fair amount of luxury. We've done something like 12 ocean crossings to Hawaii, but we've never actually sailed the entire route, port to port, sailing from beginning to end. The beauty of this campaign is we're back to sailing. You pull on a line, you hoist a sail, you steer with precision. We're really looking forward to racing this boat and we're falling in love with it. It's the perfect combination of size and manageability."
On top of the joys of working together again, Dan says, "I'm so excited to be sharing an adventure of this sort, with this specific group of guys that I've known virtually all of my life. It's really a team effort—it's not about any one of us, it's about all of us together."
During the winter months, while the boat is in the shop undergoing repairs, reinforcements and the installation of key racing gear, the crew is taking the maintenance of their bodies just as seriously. "We're very aware of how, without proper training, you get hurt on these boats. It's not just strength, it's flexibility. You can get hurt easily just bending to reach something. Almost all the guys are doing physical training and yoga together weekly," says Mike. Attending the same yoga class, having dinner together afterward, meeting weekly for project progress reports and talking almost daily, keep them close and continuing to bond as they move toward the starting line of the race.
For Mike, that's now the driving reason for doing Transpac. "It's brought us together in a way that only a common project can. Everyone respects one another, there's a lot of affirmation and recognition of things done well, appreciation for what each person gives to the program. You know a lot of sailing projects are solo or just two people and lack that esprit de corps—working together on Transpac, everyone is learning and growing. Our friendships are deeper and richer than maybe they would be if we were just friends that get together on the weekend or take a day sail. When a group endures hardship together, they're bonded. All of our sailing, preparation, excitements, disappointments are a common language for us—we say, 'remember when we broke our spinnaker pole in the Ensenada race' and it takes us all back to that moment. We're sharing and making new memories and those are the kinds of things that hold people together. In the United States right now there's an isolation epidemic, a depression epidemic, especially among men. We don't have that problem because we're intentional about exercising our relationships. We're generous with each other."
But why Transpac and not another ocean race? "We are California guys," says Mike. "Transpac is our big signature race on the West Coast. We grew up with it, people we know have done it, you get swept up in the fever around town when boats are preparing for it."
"We may catch the bug and want to do others, but this is all about Transpac," adds Dan. "Sailing LA to Hawaii, there's no better route. Every day it gets warmer, you have the wind at your back, it's long enough that you get into the rhythm of the waves."
"Plus, who doesn't like running down wind and surfing waves? It's the most fun in the world," says Mike.
And the biggest reason: "It's the 50th anniversary of our first crossing to Hawaii, so it's very poignant for us. We're so excited to be a part of Transpac 2025," says Steve.
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