Freja Racing

FREJA FINISHED
Well as you probably all have heard by now, Freja finished the race in the middle of the night. The report is saying it was at 2:04 AM, not sure if this was Hawaii time or pacific time.

Anyway, last I heard from Jon, he said they did make contact with their hotel so they could get early check in, as it was reserved starting tonight, and I asked how everyone was doing.

He said,
“yes! Everyone ok. There was a nice welcoming party and we’re drinking. Cheers!!”

This was sent to me at 8:35AM so, party on! What is “morning” anyway?? It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. LOL

Thank you for joining me on this journey over the Pacific Ocean with this beautiful boat, and amazing owner and amazing crew. On the standings, it’s showing Freja came in 4th out of 9 in class. Which is not bad, and it was a well-sailed race. Sounds like we had no injuries and nothing broken. (At least I haven’t heard of any) This alone is a huge accomplishment.

I’m sure Freja is ready for a good airing-out, good scrub-down, and then will get ready for its delivery back to Seattle with a new crew. And I’m sure you’re already getting real time updates on the state of tiredness and/or drunkenness the crew is in right now.

Thank you all and CONGRATS to Jon and the team!

Aloha!

Lindsey

Freja's arrival photos can be found here!

https://photo.pacificcup.org/Arrival-Photos-2022/Freja/

100 MILES FROM FINISH
Hello!

Didn’t get any middle of the night messages last night so they must have been busy. I did get one from Taylor, short and sweet today saying:

"All is good on freja.

Breeze is up and smiles are big. Just pushing, and keeping focus for the final approach.

Taylor"

And another text, I think maybe from Jon saying:

"About 100 mi from finish. Everything going good & sailing fast!"

Freja has dropped to 3rd place in class on the leaderboard but all bets are off, you never know what could happen!

Lindsey

THEY MIGHT FINISH TOMORROW!!!!
Seems like the crew is starting to feel like steamed broccoli but they are actually on the home stretch!!! I can’t believe it! They are in SECOND PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like they just have to scream in front of Surprise – very do-able! OMG OMG
https://yb.tl/paccup2022?fbclid=IwAR1VCXPOrg5OecNX8iW_mSNaPN1Xw-NSUZEwGl5xXadC934tIOTZ63AL27I

Update last night, we heard from Emelie at 10:29pm
Another productive day of marching down the track towards Hawaii. Rumor is we are actually going to pull this off. We are continuing our port jibe trend with good wind strength and direction helping us maintain a good heading towards the mai tais. Temperatures have gotten upsettingly hot for us delicate PNW-ites. we had a group meeting at evening shift change and decided that under no circumstances can we turn the oven on anymore. cold chicken tetrazini suddenly sounds delicious. we are also changing up the watch schedule to break up the time spent in the heat of the day, though consensus is still out as to whether it is better to be on deck in direct sun or inside the sweltering boat trying to sleep. There is added motivation to keep a low heading as to increase on deck shade from the sails. In greater news, the ocean garbage to wildlife ratio continues to improve and we are seeing more and more flying fish and tropic birds, while seeing less styrofoam and yoga pants. we finished playing our "guilty pleasures" playlist today, where poor Jon Cruse was subjected to the worst/best songs the millennial generation has to offer. he is approaching it with both extreme skepticism and attempting to be open minded. he retaliated with 15 minutes of Jimi Hendrix riffing and some ACDC, but unfortunately we still outnumber him and these Taylor swift songs aren't going to listen to themselves. Overall, we've agreed that the challenges of rapidly deteriorating creature comforts and hygiene are outweighed by the exhilaration of surfing down the back of a huge wave in 23 knots of breeze in the middle of the ocean with nothing but the full moon lighting our way in the darkness.

Emelie

And Jon wrote us at 4:51AM
We're in the home stretch with less than 500 nm to go. The winds have been pretty good but with some smaller squalls that either increase to decrease the pressure and require maneuvering.

Otherwise everything going well. With some luck we may finish before sunset on Sunday or overnight.

Aloha, Jon

I imagine they’ll arrive in Hawaii sunburned and super sleepy but SOOOO ready for that Mai Tai! Hopefully they will arrive as winners!!!

Lindsey

Pacific Cup 2022 - YB Tracking Race Viewer Pacific Cup 2022 - YB Tracking Race Viewer

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday's email here:
Hello to all you 86 Frej-heads out there!

• Well looks like Freja and Moonshine didn’t quite cross paths but they got really close. Freja is now heading more south and looking good. From the updates below it sounds like those competitive juices are starting to flow. The communication person from Moonshine found me so now I am on their e-mail list too :)

• Another update from sailish.com with all the local area boats listed: https://sailish.com/

• Also, I haven’t heard back on this, is anybody going to be in Hawaii at the finish line who can take photos of Freja? We have one volunteer but would like to have more.

• And lastly FYI I’m requesting some updates from those crew who we haven’t heard from much if at all yet!! Hope we’ll have some more updates tomorrow.

Update from Molly at 9:11pm last night:
Hello friends and family enjoying the simple pleasures of life at home; fresh water showers, meal prep that doesn't take over the entire living quarters or heat the place up to stifling temperatures or water sans chunks (don't worry, they're small). Anyways, I digress. Life here is going well but we're getting increasingly antsy for land. The "grumps" have been more frequent but are usually curbed by naps or a fresh bag of M&M's- its the little things for us on board.

Breakfast consisted of Cinnamon rolls at 6am which was delightful to wake up to. Christmas morning in the ocean is quite nice. Its really the only time we like to turn the oven on anymore. The question of running out of food came up and there is ZERO concern of this. We are a bit low on fresh veggies but the carrots are holding strong. The freezer still holds 5 meals of casseroles all very hearty. With the end "in sight" we might start to have one for lunch but, that would involve turning the oven on... Trade-offs everywhere. Frozen pineapple and frozen yogurt is saving the day.

Muscles are mostly good, shoulders and arms are feeling it for sure. Depending on the sea state,the driving is more demanding than anything else. Hands have some blisters and sores forming but nothing major. F***y fatigue is the REAL pain for most of us. Nothing else to report from the medical bay.

As an average, the ladies are far better sailors, duh. We have a really nice balance of skill, brawn, and brains aboard. Today we had our first "all hands" situation stemming from a misplaced jibe/ spinnaker wrap. The sail came down in one piece, the jib top was hoisted, the kite repacked and successfully reset. The jib top was struck and re-stowed on the rail for the next occasion. During the recovery, boat speed never dropped below 7 knots, and time from kite wrap to back under full sail on the proper jibe, was under 20 minutes. Not too bad for a bunch of amateurs.

Sailing fast, pushing hard.

Molly, Jake and, Crew

P.S. A note from the Freja test galley,

Peanut M&M's are a fine addition to the venerable PB&J.

And update from Jon at 11:56pm last night:

Ahoy,

We're having another great night of sailing under a near-full moon heading a bit South of rum line with 15 kts of breeze at about 9 kts boat speed.

We had a race port/starboard crossing with another boat - Wolfpack; we crossed in front of course.

Dinner this eve was pasta which was excellent. Everyone is healthy and there has miraculously been no sea sickness.

The race is up for grabs. The way the standings are calculated does not actually depict where everyone is. We have been making gains at night relative to the fleet and the best gage is to look at distance-to-finish - only one boat (Surprise) is closer than us. It will get more interesting as we approach Ohahu.

Stay tuned ...

Jon

sailish.com Sailing on the Salish Sea

Taylor Joosten and David Rogers are a couple. Taylor's on Freja, and David's on Moonshine. And we have them approaching each other on the tracker. They might say "hi" in the middle of the ocean. All boats shown are Goslings Rum (our) class except for Moonshine.

Is anyone going to be a the finish line in Hawaii to take photos when they arrive?

Thank you for all your great messages and questions. I’ll be sending those along to the boat after this.

Email from Taylor last night at 11:01pm

Hello!

After approximately 22 years on starboard tack, we threw in our first gybe and are taking a jog south. Everyone has found themselves needing to recalibrate to driving/sailing/living with everything going opposite. We have found the seas to be a bit more friendly and with us heading this way, though.

In other weather related news - for any of those concerned about the words "major hurricane" in a recent email, we have an update. JD and I have been tracking the tropical charts, with race committee monitoring the situation as well, and Darby should pass ahead and to the south of us. From Race Committee:
Conclusions: Hurricane Darby is NOT a threat to the race and is expected to pass south of Hawaii in a much weakened form during the 16/17th timeframe.

Phew.

We just had an amazing moon-set, and JD has decorated the boat in glow sticks in celebration of us reaching half-way.

Jonah just hit a 13knot surf and it's just about my turn to drive, so time to head back up.

Taylor

And another one from Jon early this morning at 4:58AM

Good morning.

Nice sailing overnight with a full moon and good wind. Last evening we had a brief but fun 1/2-way party.

Team and boat are doing great and hoping this good wind continues.

Cheers, Jon

Cheers!
Lindsey

SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO FREJA! 13.6KT BOAT SPEED (!) AND OTHER PANTS-RELATED TOPICS

Hello Freja Hype Machine!

Messages and Questions from you to the crew are welcome and encouraged as it has something for me to send to them other than my stupid comments like “make sure to take your pirate showers so you’re not too stinky”. Which is what I sent them today along with some messages from a couple of you :)

Update from JD at 12:26AM – he was asked how his sleep compares to at home with a newborn. I was guessing his sleep would be BETTER on the boat, but evidently it’s not since he’s the dad and not the mom. :)

re: JD's sleep. That's tough. On the boat, I am at a constant level of sleep depravation, so I attempt to sleep whenever I'm off watch; whereas at home with Kenna, I am usually very tired when I am up with her at night but am still able to get a full night of sleep (eventually). So I think my sleep is worse on the boat. Waking up every 3 hours is what Kristin has been doing all this time!

- JD

And then a hilarious update from Jonah today at 6:52AM. OMG. Those middle of the night watches get pretty loopy and funny I’m sure.

Good morning from the 2am-6am watch crew on Freja (Taylor/Molly/Jonah/Jake), just coming down below after 4 hours of happiness doing a hot spinnaker reach in 12-18 kt. I (Jonah) started it off right by getting up early so I could have another bowl of the outstanding mac & cheese and pulled pork left over from dinner. It only got better from there sailing under a powered up and moonlit kite and surfing the waves whenever possible.

Important discussion topics during the watch included "exactly what kind of a chalk/dirt mixture do these caffeinated espresso hammer gels taste like?", and "what's your favorite method for getting your pants back up in the head without falling over when the boat is heeled?" and my personal favorite "how to communicate effectively with your significant other while still never admitting when you're wrong".

The conversation flows simultaneously in parallel with the interjections made by sailors at work: wind shifting left, now at 006, OK to come down... helm is light, I'll take a little more main... the darkness over to windward looks darker than the darkness elsewhere, expect more wind soon... heading currently 220... working up, prepare for some more spice... 13.6 kt boat speed!! NOICE!!

Looking forward now to 6 hours off, better known amongst the crew as "the big sleeps".

-Jonah

I also wanted to pass along this cool article, a PaCUPdate, from Sailish.com which mentions Freja (including Molly and Jake!) and the other PNW boats. It’s from 2 days ago, sorry I meant to send it but then forgot.
https://sailish.com/

Meanwhile, back on land I’m at my desk when I should be doing work. Wishing I was out on the water. Talk to you all tomorrow!

Lindsey

sailish.com Sailing on the Salish Sea

ANOTHER 200 MILER AND SOME RANDOM YOGA PANTS

Hello!

We got an update from John Armstrong at 4:23am this morning:

We saw a good amount of ocean today, mostly sailing straight toward Hawaii on a reach amidst shifty winds as much as 50 degrees. The boat and its increasingly weathered occupants are well and happy.

It's a cloudy 4:00am as I write this with 7-14 kt winds, which has been most of the last day, with a few gusty periods that were awesome. Hoping for a windy, clear night tomorrow for the full moon!

We felt something a tad off on the rudder yesterday, confirmed to be an object by the GoPro on the book hook we sent down for a gander. Upon dousing the headsail and backing down, we ejected a pair of yoga pants trying to hitch a ride.

Not much wildlife save for a couple birds plus some barnacles riding along a piece of trash. Also spotted a laundry basket, and, ironically, a recycling bin.

All in all, great sailing, aiming to eek out as much speed as we can. Added bonuses have been phenomenal food, nearly as good company, and the installation of fans in each bunk today that makes sleeping much nicer.

Cheers,
John Armstrong

And then Jon Cruse wrote just now at 8:42pm

Hi,

Just a few quick notes before I try to sleep a bit before going on watch at 1000.

Great day today of sailing. We achieved 200+ miles in the last 24 hrs and have gained in ranking in our fleet. Earlier this eve the wind direction changed and we have set the A2+ and are now moving fast toward Kaneohe. The 1/2 way celebration should happen tomorrow.

We'll be watching Darby; see note below from the race committee. With our eta, we should come in behind any rough weather. We'll play it safe.

Goodnight.

Jon

Darby
This is a "major" hurricane, but it is not presently forecast to cross our paths. Your shore boosters may be anxious. Darby MIGHT make landfall on the big island in a weakened state around Saturday, but appears more likely to pass by the south. Expect gloomy gusty rainy weather on approach to the finish, depending on how this develops.

We received an early evening update from Taylor

Hello from Freja!

Enchilada casserole is currently in the oven, as we head into pre-dinner happy hour. In answer to a question, we have passed around the Ron Zacapa this trip. We typically gather for a dinner hour debrief/happy hour with a taste of rum (sometimes with cherries, sometimes with gummy bears...). There have been intermittent rain showers this afternoon, providing a nice gear rinse from all of the salt water.

We're currently sailing under the code 0, the rain showers generating 10 knot/40 degree swings in pressure/direction, keeping everyone on their toes. Thus far the race has had a bit more reaching than we were hoping for, but we've gotten really good at changing gears.

Dinner is ready, so time to sign off.

-Taylor

I had some of you asking my connection to Freja, I realized I don’t know if I ever explained who I am. So for those of you who are wondering, I have been a crew member of Freja since pretty early days after Jon bought the boat 5 years ago or so. I don’t race as much these days because I’m so busy with my 2 businesses and my 2.5 year old. [[[I did put a longer bio about me in the e-mail I sent-- I didn't want to have my larger story up on the public page]]]

Ok that is more than enough about me! Let’s check out the tracker:
https://yb.tl/paccup2022?fbclid=IwAR0UBYQDeazArQf1afg48MS4Pq4OIigjC_d5p9zAajDGv1Exbgz_eEm2O5I

I like to look at it with just our class, so open the class filter and un-check everything but the Goslings Rum class (although you know by now that Ron Zacapa, not Goslings, is the preferred rum of Freja on board!) so you can see what the competition looks like. Looks like Freja is doing pretty well, closer to the red course line than anyone else in our class, but not in the lead. Sooo many variables and so much time left in the race still.

-Lindsey

Pacific Cup 2022 - YB Tracking Race Viewer Pacific Cup 2022 - YB Tracking Race Viewer