PACIFIC CUP 2008 PREVIEW T
LATITUDE/ROB
here's an undercurrent of resurgence pushing this year's Pacific Cup. Not only is the event rebounding from 2006's 43-boat turnout — the lowest since 1986 — but it's doing it with some bling! This year's field of 61-boats includes a fully-tickled SC 50, a late-model TP 52, a year-old Antrim 40, and what's probably the fastest 45-ft keelboat ever built. Along with all the bling, there are other efforts worthy of a mention for different reasons. The only thing we regret is not being able to get to them all. The "Broken" Boat — Checkered Past is a customized Wyliecat 39 belonging to Chris Gibbs. Originally from the Bay Area, Gibbs will be sailing under the burgee of Richmond YC, but lives in Hamburg, Germany where he owns a store that sells high-end motorcycle leathers. He made an attempt to do the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers this past winter but when the boat wasn't ready in time, he was forced to abandon the plan and was left with a dilemma. He'd had been sailing the boat on the Elbe River and Baltic Sea, but they just weren't doing it for him anymore. So when he got the committment of long time friends Grant Donesley, Geoff Ashton and Gibbs' father, Larry, the choice was clear — ship the boat to the Bay for the Pacific Cup. Gibbs has known Ashton and Donesley since they were in the merchant marine together, he said, between trading barbs with his wisecracking crew as we talked about their trip. "When they said they were up for it, the decision was made." There's just a couple quirks to this tale. The first is that Gibbs is paraplegic and needs a wheelchair for mobility. He credits the boat's designer, Tom Wylie, and builder, Dave Wahle, with creating the perfect platform to allow him to
continue sailing. Wylie designed some modifications, like a wickedly simply companionway elevator with dogs for Gibbs' wheelchair wheels, that slides on ball-bearing traveler tracks and can be easily raised by hand with the 4:1 ratchet tackles on either side. "It's our fitness program on the way to Hawaii," Gibbs joked. "We don't want any atrophy on this boat. But A 'Checkered Past' with a mai tai future — (l to r) Larry Gibbs, seriously, Tom did a great job Grant Donesley, Chris Gibbs and Geoff Ashton. of not making it look 'handi-capable' or some horrendous shit like that." That elevator, coupled with a swiveling race car seat mounted to a carbon fiber tube which plugs into the cockpit floor and weighs maybe 20-pounds all up, makes the boat open enough that Gibbs can negotiate almost every inch of it from his wheelchair. When it came time to work on the interior, Wahle stepped in. He used a vegetable pallet and a forklift to lift Gibbs up and inside the boat the boat where Wahle,
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told him, "You wheel around, and I'll follow you with a chainsaw." The result is an open layout that easily accomodates Gibbs' chair. Another quirk? Larry Gibbs recently had a steak-sized tumor removed from his back. Another? Ashton is a survivor of both testicular cancer and Lymphoma. And Donesley? Well, he survived two strokes after a blow to the head from his surfboard caused a bloodclot to form in his brain. And the final quirk? These guys are racing for a win in Division B, not a pity party. That's if the group that refers to itself as the "broken" boat can keep from getting in fights over the helmsman's chair. So what's Gibbs looking forward to the most? "When's the last time you got to go 18-knots without a bunch of dickheads in matching shirts screaming at you?" he asks. And guess what he said they'll be wearing for the trip. "Totally — matching shirts." Unfinished business — Encinal YC's Rodney Pimentel is looking at this year's
