Port’s Poire sets sail in race to Hawaii

His passion for sailing started when his family bought a boat and sailed on local lakes.

On his latest sailing adventure, Joe Poire took a sail boat from Los Angeles to Oahu, Hawaii.

“At every level, there’s racing,” he said.

The executive director of the Port of Whitman County was aboard a 50-foot racing sail boat named “Grins” on a 2,600-mile race to Hawaii with 10 other men.

“I’ve got the perfect way to lose 11 pounds in eight days,” he said.

The boat was strictly made for racing. Poire said it was 111 degrees below deck, with bare canvas strung among bunk racks for sleeping quarters. Anything that made the boat heavier was tossed, he said.

For the past 20 years, he’s raced sail boats, and this is the fourth year he’s raced to Hawaii.

In addition to serving as navigator for the Transpac 2013 race, Poire checked weather information, made reports, charged the battery and made drinking water.

“I got an average of three hours of sleep a day,” he said.

The crew ranged in age from mid-20s to 62. Very few women race in this type of competition, he said.

“Women are smarter than that,” he said.

Crew members stood shifts during the trip. Poire said the boat is divided into three sections. The men in back think and drive. The men in the middle “are built like NFL linebackers and grind (winch lines),” while the men in the forward portion of the boat are young, very physically fit to send up a mast 100 feet in the air over the water.

“They’re young and just want to go on an adventure,” Poire explained.

Using weather maps to catch the best wind, the crew headed south from Los Angeles, then looked for squalls to get the winds to carry them to the islands.

“That’s my job,” he said. “I put the boat in front of the weather.”

Some of the boats went north to catch the winds, but the winning boats stayed to the south, what is known as a classic strategy to catch the best wind. The classic instruction for sailing to Hawaii is “sail south until the butter melts, then turn right.”

“It’s just fun, just sailing” he said. “I just really enjoy it.”

The Transpacific Yacht Race began in 1906 and attracts entrants from all over the world.

The Monohull Dorade, built in 1929, won first overall this year, making it the oldest boat to win and a two-time winner having won the Transpac in 1933, 77 years before.

The 52-foot sail boat was designed by 21-year-old Olin Stephens.

In her heyday, Dorade was a radical departure with fine lines, narrow beam, deep ballast, light scantlings and a long waterline. Dorade was the boat that put Stephens and his design office on the map.

More than 70 years ago, Dorade won the Transatlantic, Bermuda, Transpac and Fastnet races. The current owner, Matt Brooks, is taking the boat to as many of those original races as possible to see if he can duplicate past wins and so far he has done it.

Transpac started the slowest boats in the entry on a Monday, the mid-range boats Thursday and the fastest boats Saturday.

A feature the racing crews ran into this year that they had not experienced before was running into the increased presence of floating debris, believed to be largely a result of the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

Most of the fleet reported close encounters and some near misses with large logs, tires, a small capsized boat and other unidentified debris of all sizes.

Some boats were damaged by that debris. The 73-foot trimaran Lending Club was aiming for a record crossing when a collision with some debris damaged the boat. Because of the damage and striking five more objects, the boat did not break the record.

The crew swept sea creatures that washed up on deck back into the ocean after waves crashed over the bow of the boat.

Poire said he saw leatherback turtles, and thousands of flying fish every day which were chased by dolphins and killer whales.

“The coolest thing we saw were 20-foot sharks in the Molokai Channel,” Poire said. He said the sharks came up to the boat as the crew dangled their legs over the side.

The two sharks came directly toward the boat, one with its mouth wide open.

Poire said he also saw an albatross fly overhead.

At one point, the boat ran 116 miles in six hours with an average of 22 knots.

The Grins crew placed sixth out of more than 50 boats.

“The guys in front had a quarter knot or more on us,” he said.

The top finisher beat Grins by seven hours.

The only payment Poire receives is his airfare.

Over the last 20 years, Poire has sailed about 15,000 miles all over the world. His most memorable was sailing from New Zealand to Africa, more than 4,000 miles in 21 days.

“I hope to sail 20 more years,” Poire said.