Cal Maritime sponsors Transpac

Cal Maritime sponsors Transpac © Walter Cooper

Starting with donation of the 72-foot yawl BARUNA in 1972, the Cal Maritime Academy Foundation (CMAF) has provided numerous opportunities for cadets to sail on offshore yachts as part of their training to become merchant seamen.

The experience they gain in seamanship, navigation, leadership and teamwork while offshore is an invaluable part of their skill set in this important and lucrative field.

No wonder Cal Maritime has the highest graduate employment rate (94%) of all Cal State Universities with starting salaries at the top of national averages.

Their entry in this year's Transpac on the Andrews 77 CAL MARITIME is made possible by a donation made in 2022 and is the second time the boat will race under the Cal Maritime flag as a donated yacht. CMA Cadets have participated in four past Transpac races but 2023 will be the second race (first in 2019) that the team is being fully supported financially by the CMAF donation program.

"Our sponsorship of this race is intended to bring attention to the program and Cal Maritime," said CMAF's Donation Program Manager Bo Smith. "Last year the CMAF Donation program provided over $7,000,000 in support, equipment and capital improvements to the Academy and over $250,000 to support Cal Maritime Sailing and the Offshore Sailing Program for 2022/2023. These are all funds provided by the generous donation of yachts through the sailing and yachting community."

Smith says these donations have been big and small over the history of the program. The most notable in recent years was the gift of SVEA, a 2017 Vitters-built yacht, one of the latest entries to the J-Class fleet in 2022. Several other donations have been generated by Transpac sponsorship, including MR BILL in 2021, COMPADRES (2022), KAZAN, SWIFTSURE and IT'S OK with CMAF's first race sponsorship in 2005.

This year's consists of 13 cadets, alumni and coaches, who a week ago averted tragedy after their storage trailer was stolen by getting a generous donation of sails from George Hershman's R/P 63 GOODENERGY (see the full story here).

The re-investment of donated funds by CMAF into its cadets has paid off well for injecting new talent into offshore sailing. CMA students and alumnists have proliferated the crews on numerous entries in Transpac over the years, including Kyle Vanderspek (CMA '15), who will be the navigator on Chip Merlin's Bill Lee Custom 68 MERLIN this year, and Piet Van Os (CMA '08), joined as navigator aboard Roy Disney's MORNING LIGHT project in 2007.

Yet another CMA alum is remembered as one of the great ocean racing navigators of the modern era: Mark Rudiger. Before his passing in 2008 Rudiger was already a legend in offshore racing circles, having navigated two Volvo Ocean Races. In the 1997/1998 race, on short notice, he navigated Paul Cayard's EF LANGUAGE to their win, and in the 2001/2002 race he co-skippered ASSA ABLOY to second place. Furthermore, during the 2005/2006 Volvo race event, and in the midst of his battle with cancer, he stepped in to help a struggling ERICSSON on Legs 6 and 7.

In the Sydney-Hobart race his teams scored two first-to-finish performances.

Yet Rudiger is also remembered for racing in 14 Transpacs, helping to win five Barn Door (first to finish) trophies.

In honor of Rudiger, a generous donation from Stan Honey of a gorgeous antique brass 1905 T. Hemsley & Son silver-vernier A-frame sextant has been re-purposed as the Mark S. Rudiger Celestial Navigation Trophy. This award, first offered in 2011, goes to the navigator who submits celestial navigation worksheets or evidence of traditional navigation to the finish inspectors immediately after finishing, and whose work is selected as the "best" by an impartial panel of judges.

For more information on CMAF, visit www.csum.edu/support/foundation.

For more information on the 2023 Transpac, visit www.transpacyc.com.