Though she's unsparingly appointed and equipped to the stringent ORC Category 1 requirements, the equipment list does not tell the whole story of this one-of-a-kind Passport.
In the process of preparing this boat for extended offshore work, a factory error in the connection of one chainplate was discovered. What ensued stretches the outer boundary of comprehensive yacht preparation.
The entire interior, from the galley forward to the head, was removed from the boat, board by beautifully varnished board. Naval architect Carl Schumacher and a crew of carpenters, riggers and fiberglassers stood inside a bare hull, knocked ideas and designed an interior framework that re-engineered not only the chainplate attachments, but the entire hull. A massive grid of longitudinal a lateral stiffeners was designed and installed. Great, long chainplate knees were fabricated, attached to the hull over a wide area, and tagged to the grid. The result is a hull so stiff you could put it on a twist rack and crank up loads that would turn an ordinary Passport to glass tortellini.
This has to be easily the strongest Passport 40 anywhere.
The beautiful Passport interior was reinstalled piece by piece, with some detail improvements to look and work better than new.
But with a great hull you still have only a canoe or a trawler. Trial Run was going ocean sailing, so the mast and boom got a long look too. Rigging was removed and stripped of all hardware and paint, spreaders were rebuilt (and reinforced), all sheaves and external blocks were upgraded, LPU paint was applied and new electrical wiring and halyards run inside. Now exceeding all standards for cruising yacht strength and beauty, she was re-stepped and held straight with all new stainless rod rigging.
This approach to upgrading a beautiful production yacht is rare in a boat this size, but it was the approach consistently carried out through all the preparation for taking Trial Run offshore.
When she was set up with all the modern gear for short-handed or fully crewed cruising and racing, she was taken out for a few laps around the Pacific.
One measure of a great boat is how well she cleans up after a passage. Many thousands of miles later, Trial Run still takes to a bucket and brush like the Queen's spoons. She's a well found yacht that is easy, fast, and safe to sail, and great fun to just look at.