SEQUIM BAY — Ask them why they are doing it — racing from Victoria to Maui with just the wind to keep them moving — and the three sailors have a series of answers.
The skipper of the sloop Freehand, Ken Hays, 51, mentions bragging rights.
“We sort of see ourselves as giant slayers,” said the Sequim architect.
On Saturday, Hays and two of his three crew members were aboard the Freehand to test the radio for the upcoming yacht race to commence July 3.
The race the 37-foot, 12-year-old sailboat will join is called the Vic Maui, and has enticed yachts to cut thousand of miles across the briny deep from Victoria to the Hawaiian Islands every summer for about 30 years.
The contest allows for up to 18 days to finish the voyage — Hays hopes to do it in about 14.
The Freehand has a small crew — four souls — and is the smallest vessel of 17 set to compete in the race.
“We’re the smallest, not the slowest,” Hays said.
Bragging rights are a big part of the reason for making the grueling trip. But for Hays, it’s a training run of sorts.
For the other hands aboard the Freehand, the reasons are more elusive.
Chuck Lamb, 66, of Sequim, a retired railroad executive, has made long-distance sailing trips before. He recalled that he was asked if he would like to go along with the Freehand.
“I wouldn’t like to go, but I wouldn’t miss the opportunity,” Lamb said.
“It’s too much fun.”
