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Singlehanded Sailing Society

2006 Singlehanded TransPac

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Bill Merrick

Ergo

Ericson 35 Mk II

#3

Sausalito, CA

Occupation: Fundraising Consultant
Age: 57
I started sailing in Annapolis, Md. after meeting Nance Frank, skipper of the 1993 Whitbread crew, the US Women's Challenge. In exchange for fundraising advice, Nance taught me to sail and I raced with them for about a year. They raised enough money to start the race and I learned to sail from some very good sailors.

I moved to San Francisco in 1994 and crewed on an Olsen 30, Think Fast with Al Holt as Skipper for two years and bought my first boat, a Catalina 22, in 1996. I started sailing alone because it was easier than finding good crew. In 1999 I bought ERGO and have been sailing and converting her into a singlehanded offshore boat since.
In 2003, I read an article in Latitude 38 about the Singlehanded LongPac that mentioned that this race could be used as a qualifier for the TransPac. I decided to do it. I didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted to get offshore and make the shift from thinking to doing. The Singlehanded Sailing Society’s races are a great preparation for the TransPac. The ’03 Farallons race showed me that my boat wasn't set up for singlehanded offshore racing and the Longpac a few months later gave me the confidence to think seriously about competing in the ’04 Transpac.

I remember the ’04 TransPac as one very long day and one very long night. I wondered what it would feel like to be a thousand miles offshore by myself and discovered that it’s like being fifty miles out. It looks and feels exactly the same. The only difference is that if something breaks you have fix it or do without. My goals in that race were to finish, have fun and become a better sailor. I made my goals.
Immediately after the ’04 race I decided to do it again in ’06. The last race taught me that anyone who is competent to sail in San Francisco Bay probably has the skills to sail to Hawaii. Beyond sailing skills, the race is about how well the boat is set up, how resourceful the skipper is at figuring out problems and mental discipline. It’s very hard to stay in “race mode” for two weeks.
My goals for this race are to finish, have fun and knock at least 12 hours off my last time (16 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes).
Navigation: Fix mount GPS, two handheld GPS, sextant.
Self Steering: ComNav 1500 Autopilot, Fleming Windvane with Auxiliary Rudder, Raymarine 4000 Wheel pilot
Food: Precooked meals, canned food, bagels and peanut butter, grapefruit, rice, pasta, candy, hot sausage, smoked salmon, tuna fish, pretzels, juice.
Special thanks: My wife, Sara; the race chairs, Lucie and Ben, the other racers.