Race Report: Meridian 400 from aboard s/v Reliance, Tom Wilson

Here is a brief article about Tom Wilson and his Meridian 400 race aboard s/v Reliance, on March 14-16, 2025

The Art of Racing in The Rain with Tom Wilson

By Nella Nelson

A stormy March day begins with winds up to 25 knots just off Ventura’s coast. Massive wave trains start building up beyond the horizon. Most Venturans, including sailors, are hunkered down in bed. But not Tom Wilson. In fact, he’s heading right out into it with sails billowing on his 35’ J-boat, ironically called Reliance. He faces 400 miles of sailing and that’s not all. He’s aboard alone!

As a member of the PSSA (Pacific Single-Handed Sailing Association – Marina Del Rey) Yacht Club, Wilson has mastered the single-handed sailing race. The Meridian 400, his race of the stormy day, is a pre-qualifier for the single-handed Trans Pac (San Francisco to Hawaii). This particular Meridian 400 proved to be extra challenging with wild weather and 400 miles to cover in the roughest conditions. Six boats competed in the race with two dropping out.

I watched Tom struggle with ropes and issues with his mast the day before departing. He rigged everything into place and happily set sail at 11:00 AM the next morning. The Meridian 400 took off from the Channel Islands breakwater, pushed out by a gradual south wind. After approaching the northwest of the Channel Islands, a swell rolled in from the north and met with the south wind, creating three different wave trains.

“It was a washboard effect,” Wilson explained. “In the afternoon, we entered the transition zone where the wind calmed and the sea subsided. After a couple of hours, we got back into the normal westerlies. The sea state improved and pushed us out to the first waypoint 150 miles offshore.”

Wilson went on to describe his favorite part of the race: “On Sunday, we turned to the last waypoint at 2:00 AM. By sunrise, a calm westerly wind moved us at 7 knots on a very quiet ocean. What a relief! I had dolphins escorting me for an hour and I passed a group of whales frolicking on the surface.”

“I think of sailing as of any sport,” Wilson added after finishing in third place. “There are good days and bad days and the good days outweigh the bad. I’ve learned that the ocean is always changing and if you’re patient, you’ll find the good times.”

Wilson recalled his hardest race, the Guadalupe Island Race, which started in Marina Del Rey and headed south 300 miles around Guadalupe Island. From that point, it returned back and finished at the east of Catalina. Though fun to sail downwind, the race proved highly challenging to sail back into the wind, seas and current.

Wilson’s love of sailing began at the age of eight in the 1960s. His parents joined the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club near Long Beach and immediately enrolled Wilson and his brothers in the sailing program.

“We started in 8-foot dinghies,” he recalled, “and moved up to FJs, 505s, and international 14s and then I moved on to ocean racing on larger boats.” Wilson sailed his longest distance upon retiring in 2013 with his wife, Claire. Over the course of two seasons, they sailed down the coast and into the Sea of Cortez. After bringing their 45’ sailboat to Ventura, they sold and bought a smaller boat to race.

Not a stranger to danger, Wilson spent 36 years climbing poles with 16,000-volt lines for Southern California Edison. He often responded to car-hit poles and transformer fires. His other interests include raising sheep and chickens on his 5-acre parcel.

“I love a lot of things about sailing,” Wilson concluded, “especially traveling by wind power alone, just the sound of the wind and waves as you move gently through the ocean and arriving in a new cove or harbor. The competition part is fun. When I’m out sailing, all the problems and cares from the mainland seem to fade away into the background. It’s just me and the ocean, watching all the things that live out there. It’s pretty incredible, not to mention the awesome sunrises and sunsets you see.”

*PSSALA conducts single-handed races every month except November-December. Summer races are an easier start and contain 4-5 hour racing right offshore. Visit pssala.com

Tom’s video of the breaking Cortez Bank after rounding the second waypoint (Bishop Rock) on March 16, 2025