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Setting sail
Young Sarasotan is slated to embark on a Trans
Pacific boat race and a film.
BY MORGAN STINEMETZ
CORRESPONDENT
Christopher Branning of Sarasota is living a dream that should only get
better with time.
He's 21 years old, a second-classman (junior) who's ranked ninth in his class at the United States Merchant
Marine Academy at King's Point, N.Y.
In August, he was selected as one of 13 men and two women who will race a Transpac 52 sailboat from
California to Hawaii (2,280 miles).
Roy Disney, who is behind the project, will make a movie about the team, its training and the actual
race to
Hawaii. The movie is scheduled to see theatrical release through the Disney organization in 2008.
More than 500 youths applied for admittance to the tryouts. Thirty were selected to compete for the
15 crew
slots and were flown to Los Angeles. All 30 went through trials from Aug. 5 to 12.
"We had cameras filming us and we were wearing microphones," Branning said. "I think
that everyone cleaned
up their language very well."
Most of the sailing at the trials involved racing in identically equipped Catalina 37s. They were being
judged the
entire time.
"There were seven applicants and a cameraman on board, though some boats had eight and no cameraman.
There were four boats that raced against each other, and there was always one judge on the boat. He
offered
no advice, though. It was an emotional roller-coaster for me. Some days I got off the water and felt
confident.
Other days I got off the water and felt not so confident.
"We had a good pool of talent," Branning added, saying the judges reported having a "very
hard time making
the selection."
The selection notification came on the last day.
"They gave us a time to be at a room at the hotel we stayed in, and when I got off the elevator,
there was a
camera and microphone. I walked down this long hall and went into a boardroom; Roy Disney and Robbie
Haines (the sailing team manager) and the judges were there, around a table. I sat at the end of the
table.
"Roy said that he thought that I was organized and that he was pleased that we had won the race
the day
before -- I was a trimmer and tactician -- and then Robbie Haines said that he hoped that
I could join them in
Hawaii.
"I didn't know what to say. It felt incredible. It was everything that sailors dream of."
The 15 crew members who were selected -- now called the Morning Light Team, "Morning Light"
being the
name of the boat they will use -- will race to Hawaii in July 2007.
At the time, the average age aboard will be 21.2 years, making it the youngest team ever to compete
in the
Trans Pacific race.
Branning has managed to stuff a lifetime of experiences into his 21 years. The graduate of Pine View
School
for the Gifted has been sailing since the second grade. He's also a certified scuba diver and a licensed
airplane
pilot.
This past summer, he placed second in the U.S. Singlehanded Sailing Championships in Milwaukee, Wis.
He's deadly on the race course, something he gets from his parents, both of whom live in Sarasota. Mother
Barbara Branning has won the women's Laser master's championship and two Snipe national titles while
crewing for sailing legend Augie Diaz. His father, Peter Branning, is a former Laser master's world
champion.
"The key to Chris is just to get out of his way," his father said. "He's highly motivated."
He chose King's Point because, he said, he wanted to be in the military and wanted the school that would
give
the most options for military service.
"When I graduate from King's Point, I can go into the Army, Air Force or Navy. I'll be a commissioned
officer,"
Branning said. Becoming a naval aviator is his ultimate goal right now.
College, however, is going to be put on the back burner for a year. Branning has reached an accommodation
with the authorities at the Merchant Marine Academy because he is going to take a year off to take part
in the
Disney sailing project and the movie.
"I will go to school through Oct. 28. Then the normal schedule would require me to head out to
sea for 200
days. But I'll take a whole year off, and when I come back, I'll go straight out to sea," he said.
Race training starts over Thanksgiving weekend when the 15 crew members will sail from Maui to Honolulu
via
Molokai in a double-hulled voyaging canoe. The purpose of the exercise is to teach the young sailors
both old
and new methods of navigation. Training starts in earnest in January.
From a teamwork standpoint, the die already has been cast.
"The people who tried out all became really good friends. ... It was a fun group and we had a blast.
It was
competition, but it wasn't mean- competitive. No one was trying to make another person look bad. Everyone
was part of the team," Branning said.
Branning, who has studied celestial navigation, radar navigation, electronic navigation and navigation
law at the
Merchant Marine Academy, said he would like to be Morning Light's navigator, but he'll have to earn
that slot.
The Disney organization will give the team everything they will need. The Transpac 52 is a world-class
sailboat
and has raced the classic before, as Pegasus. The team will have the best sails available and will have
sailed
together for months. The boat will be equipped with seven cameras, Branning said. By the time they are
actually racing, the crew will be so accustomed to being filmed they will not give it a second thought.
Will the movie be good for sailing in general?
"Absolutely," Branning said. "It will bring sailboat racing into every home. Roy Disney
wants people to
understand what sailboat racing really is all about."
Morgan Stinemetz can be reached by phone at 722-9022 or via e-mail at mstine7611@earthlink.net.
Last modified:
October 07. 2006 6:27AM
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TRANSPAC RACE STATUS
