Fourth time a charm? Northwest sailor Michael Reppy plans an assault on Marinite Peter Hogg's singlehanded record of 34 days 6 hours from San Francisco to Tokyo, which Peter set on the 40-ft Antrim trimaran Aotea in 1992. Reppy has attempted the record in two different boats: one, a 30-ft Shuttleworth (fast but small trimaran); two and three, the Open 60 Thursday's Child (old and heavy monohull).

But now he has upped the game by finding a 43-ft trimaran that looks uncannily a lot like the record holder Aotea. The new boat is named Dolphin Spirit after for the foundation to stop the hunting of dolphins in Japan. This record actually has a lot of history; the legendary Eric Taberly set the mark on Pen Duick V in 1969, in an official race with multiple boats and a fixed start time.

When Peter Hogg set out for the record he had only one sailor in mind. "I left in March because that’s when Taberly left, and I was trying to break his record. I had to restart a month later (in April) to finally do it. Taberly went through the Molokai Channel in the Hawaiian Islands. I went north of the islands quite a bit. You have to work with the Pacific High and distance sailed versus windspeed. It's about 5,500 miles. The conditions vary. It changes a lot from Hawaii on."

Michael Reppy's boat is a Tony Grainger design from Australia with some records of her own Down Under. When shopping for a suitable boat, Reppy looked all over the world only to find that his next boat was close to home in Seattle. "The boat is about thirteen years old, built in Melbourne, and raced there most of her life. I'd been looking around Europe, and actually flew to Brazil to look at a 40-footer. This one was pre-delivered to Seattle a few years back, and although she needed a lot of work she's perfect for the job."

One of the twists of fate is that during sea trials it was determined that Dolphin Spirit needed a new rudder installed on the main hull, and when seeking out designs Reppy talked to architect Jim Antrim. And what was Antrim’s reply? "Why don't you use Aotea's design?" So Dolphin Spirit has a bit of Aotea in her as she sets out to break Aotea’s record. The story of Aotea is a novel in itself. For the story of her untimely demise in 1995, see www.sfbama.org, and click on ‘Farallon Race Stories’.

The new rudder was installed and Dolphin Spirit relaunched at Napa Valley Marina last week. Reppy will sail her on the Bay for a few months before attempting the record, probably in April. He plans to enter the Doublehanded Farallones as a final shakedown.

For more on Dolphin Spirit, go to www.dolphinspirit.org/index.html. We wish Michael, and the dolphins, all the best, and will continue to follow this story.