Editor’s note: Nigel Barron is a crew member aboard Artemis, the only Seattle-based boat to take part in the legendary Transpac open ocean race from Los Angeles to California. Nigel managed the preparation of the boat and crew for the race. The following is his take on the effort and his thoughts on why victory isn’t the only way to measure success.

The passing of time has afforded me the opportunity to look back over the race and think about what worked and what we might have done differently. Clearly, the biggest success for me was the boat getting here in one piece, with nothing to repair. We sailed roughly 2,700 miles, in all sorts of conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We all know the marine environment is harsh on boats, but this was testing everything to its limits.

Before I start to look at what we could have done differently, I want to talk about everything that went well. First, the crew was awesome! You hear all these horror stories about people melting down when they realize the closest land is now straight down, or getting sick and tired and not being a lot of fun to be around on the 2 a.m. watch. We had none of that. Aside from a certain crew member’s desire to find his “inner Zen” by seeing how long he could go without bathing, we had no issues. Everyone fell right into their roles. People took turns cooking and cleaning, and checking out the boat and systems.

Crew members Christopher (left) and Nigel are dressed for arrival in Hawaii.

It’s on these sorts of long trips in close quarters that you get to know a lot about your friends—sometimes too much! Scott would start each watch by sharing what his dreams were and what they could mean. If you know Scott, you can guess what most of the dreams were about. Andrew would come on watch and immediately set about coiling lines and re-folding sails. Bob would come on watch, sail 20 degrees higher than we wanted and quickly remind us why we named him “Super Turbo.”

Ian got a lot funnier as he ran out of cigarettes. I am positive there is no tobacco on the boat, because Ian cleaned the boat four times in order to be sure. Christopher would come on deck and sing that lyric from the Talking Heads, “Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.” Steve would come on deck and start trimming instantly. It was his way to wake up. Lou was a trooper. He was on watch with Scott. That alone gets you a gold star and a free trip to therapy.

The provisioning went really well. The last day we were out of food except freeze dried, which is how you want to get in. We caught a huge mahi-mahi that last day and Bob did an amazing job of preparing it. Lou was a little concerned about how long the fish took to die and the amount of blood Bob was able to get all over the back of the boat, but those concerns were quickly forgotten after we had some fresh fish. The new kite was stunning. Rock solid, easy to sail to and still in one piece.

A squall rears its head on the horizon. The weather modeling and forecasts didn't give the Artemis crew its hoped-for edge.

In thinking about what we could have done differently, I am left wondering what was wrong with the weather models. We kept all the files and with time on my hands, I have looked it over and would still do the same thing. We might have turned to Hawaii about 12 hours earlier, but that’s it. Everything showed there should have been less wind to the north and a header as we got closer to Hawaii. I think the boat could have been lighter as well. It is hard for me to say this, but I think we could have brought fewer sails. I say this only because we did not use two of them. The boat will be going on a diet on when we get back to Seattle.

So here I am, sitting in Hawaii after leaving Seattle on June 14. The delivery crew for the trip back arrives Tuesday and Wednesday, and July 23 we look to leave to head back to Seattle. The weather for the trip back is looking pretty nice and we plan to leave after the bars close, so most likely it will actually be early on July 24 when we leave. The first five days are going to be the worst part of the trip, as we have to sail to weather to get over the high. Basically, you leave Hawaii and sail as close to north/northeast as you comfortably can. I suspect it should take about 15 days give or take to get back, so we look to be in Seattle around August 8. We plan to arrive at the dock at 5 p.m. and go straight to the Sloop. I will still be able to send updates on the way back, but we won’t have the GPS transponder this time.

The new spinakker pulls Artemis toward the finish line.

"Same as it ever was." Another watch on the open ocean.

Instruments show Artemis clicking away the miles.

A mahi-mahi meets its fate as Artemis nears the end of its journey.

After 2,700 miles, the finish line comes into view.

Read more  about the boat and crew, check out the boat’s daily log and follow its course across the Pacific on an interactive chart at www.threesheetsnorthwest.com/artemis/.