I know it’s been a while since I posted. In fact, Steve Badger texted me begging me to please write something—anything—so he could return to his morning routine of reading my blog on his royal throne while sipping coffee and sharpening his quips for later. Well, Steve, this one’s for you. You can thank the Pacific Ocean and the Transpacific Yacht Race for the delay.
Many of you are aware of my teenage dream and pledge to buy the high-performance racing sailboat, Merlin. The boat already had my name, and I simply fell in love with its epic story of winning races and capturing the imagination of the racing community. After purchasing her in 2018, I’ve had numerous adventures with family and friends on the high seas.
The latest was casting off on July 5th from Los Angeles to race to Honolulu in the Transpac. Life has been a blur of open ocean, sleepless shifts, and navigation. There truly was no time left for blogging on this trip. It’s hard to write when you’re holding on with one hand and trimming sails with the other. But as we crossed the finish line in Diamond Head, the adventure stirred up more than just trade winds and camaraderie. It stirred up thoughts about risk and who helps us bear it.
This race is not for the faint of heart, nor apparently, for the faint of underwriting. Finding insurance for an offshore race to Hawaii? Let’s just say that if I had asked for insurance for a Mars mission instead, I might have received better quotes with more coverage. Most fellow skippers I spoke to couldn’t get full coverage at all, and those who did paid dearly for it. I was only able to get partial coverage for Merlin. That’s a nerve-wracking proposition when you’re launching a valuable vessel thousands of miles into the blue with no AAA on speed dial.
We often take for granted how critical insurance is. Insurance is not just for races, but for life. Insurance allows us to finance our dreams, protect our assets, launch businesses, and yes, sail fast boats across wild oceans. Without it, many of us wouldn’t have the courage or capital to even attempt the extraordinary. It’s the invisible financial backbone of adventure and enterprise. Some who wanted to sail this race did not do so because insurance has become hard to find and afford for the Transpac.
My crew member Keahi Ho reminded me of these thoughts as we approached Maui with the strongest winds of the race. Keahi is a fireman from Lahaina, which was devastated by wildfires two years ago. He and his wife, Ali, lost their home while he was fighting the fire, saving others. For almost the last two years, they’ve been living the hard truth that insurance is not just a financial product, but a lifeline.
Here we were, racing to paradise, while he was still navigating heartbreak. The same wind that pushed our sails brought him toward closure. Insurance can’t fix everything, but it can keep people afloat while they rebuild. An article, Last Starters Are First to Celebrate, stated:
‘The last five hours of the race were super exciting,’ said Keahi Ho, who just completed his fifth Transpac aboard Merlin, Chip Merlin’s Bill Lee-designed 68-footer, describing driving the sled for the team’s fast final miles under clear, moonlit skies.
But fast-and-furious sailing isn’t without hazards. ‘The boat was going as fast as it possibly could,’ Ho continued, noting that the team was sometimes tickling 28 knots of boatspeed. ‘We stuffed the bow super deep—we thought the whole boat was going to go end-over-end, but somehow it came back up.’
Ho first crossed the Pacific at age five with his dad; now 51, life’s ephemeral nature was front of mind when considering this race. A firefighter in Lahaina, on nearby Maui, Ho lost his house and boat to the tragic 2023 fire that ravaged his hometown while he was working to save other people’s lives.
‘I thought about maybe not going this year, but I’m glad I did,’ Ho said in a post-race interview, noting the importance of taking advantage of life’s great opportunities. ‘After the fire, we’ve been super grateful for all the things we get to do—it reminds us how precious life is.’
You can read more about Keahi and Ali’s journey and how United Policyholders stepped in to help them in a piece I wrote earlier: Maui Policyholders Visit United Policyholders For Insurance Guidance.
The race was thrilling. The crew was outstanding. The ocean was humbling. However, this race reminded me of how thin the line is between adventure and adversity, and how vital insurance is to both.
If the insurance industry wants to inspire more boldness, more dreams, more people building homes, starting businesses, or sailing to Hawaii, it must show up for them. Not just in underwriting meetings, but when the skies turn dark after losses happen and communities need insurance to rebuild.
And as for me and this blog, when I go racing again, I promise not to stay silent for so long. Poor Steve Badger is depending on it.
Thought For The Day
“Fast Is Fun!”
—Bill Lee, Yacht Designer
#Racing #Hawaii #Chasing #Wind #Insurance