Transpac Eve 2015

Aloha Westward Fans!

We have about 17 hours before Westward's start in the 2015 Transpacific Yacht Race! Our start is Monday, July 13 at 1 pm PDT. The boat is packed, the crew shirts have been distributed, and the first routes have been run. This year's crew is made up of Sam Bell, Willie Bell, Alli Bell, Mara Bell Hoshina, Zack Payton, and Graham Bell. Everyone (including Westward) is excited and ready to go!

If you've been following the adventures of Westward, you know that she has had an active racing calendar these last few years, including racing to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. She's looking forward to heading back out to the middle of the Pacific and on to Honolulu.

There have been the normal boat-type preparations, but the crew has also been getting ready. Last night, in addition to the Aloha Send-off Party in Long Beach, the Westward crew got together at Sam and Dana's with many of the Bells and Goughs (Shauneen's family--including Roger, who will be helping to bring the boat home) for a family celebration.

We have a lot to celebrate this year. Of course, there's another Transpac. We've also had a lot of growth (four babies since the last Transpac). Kailee and Marlin (Dani and Mike's children) and Owen (Jon and Lauren's son) got to celebrate their first Transpac Eve. More importantly, the whole crew (shore and sailing) got to help celebrate Owen Bell's first birthday. Continuing the family tradition of a life on water, Owen spent his first birthday racing Lido 14s with his mom and dad. In his first race, on his first birthday, Owen got his first first place! Looks like we have a future Westward Transpac skipper on our hands!

The "kids" at the Transpac Eve celebration.

Jon, showing how he feels about NOT spending 12 days on Westward in the middle of July this year.

If you're interested in following us this year, there are a few ways to do that:

1. Keep an eye on this blog. We'll be updating this from out on the water...sometimes at 2am, which leads to some pretty awesome posts.

2. You can keep in the know on the regatta’s site: http://transpacyc.com. (Also, if you're there, check out the first boat picture in the carousel!)

3. Yellowbrick! You can download the app on your phone or iPad (or whatever mobile device you choose) and also check out: http://yb.tl/transpac2015. Look for Westward--we are aqua this year.

Thank you, Westward Fans, for you support! We'll be posting from the other side of the start and look forward to seeing many of you in Honolulu! Best of luck to all our friends sailing to Hawaii with us!