We are hours away from launch for Chris Bertish's TransCat Expedition 2025: Oceans Without Borders! Chris will leave the docks at Mission Bay Yacht Club today, June 24, 2025 around 12:30PM PST to get under the bridge and set sail across the ocean, solo and completely unsupported, on his 20’ beach catamaran in order to set a new world record.
Watching him prepare the Wildcat at close range yesterday was a deep lesson in meticulous planning, careful consideration of back up systems, scenerio options and methodical packing for the crossing. Chris believes this is his most challenging and dangerous mission yet as he will be completely exposed to the elements with no cabin, shelter or facilities for anywhere from 18-24 days of open ocean sailing.
Sleep will be at a minimum, water a precious resource to be carefully conserved, and the realities of capsizing, night sailing a tiny craft and potential numerous other hazards a very real possibility.
Chris has faced numerous other dangerous expeditions in his big wave surfing career, his transverse of the Atlantic Ocean (solo & unsupported) on a stand up paddleboard and his most recent transpacific wing foil crossing, BUT he says the multiple elements of the unknown of this one are daunting.
He says, “The only way to solve this one is to do it. I’ve done as much testing as I can. It’s never enough but that’s just the way it is. You can’t figure it out and you can’t find a solve for everything. You just have to move through it while you’re in it.”
Easy to read while we are onshore, those words are a very different reality for someone who is hundreds, and then thousands, of miles from shore left alone and exposed to the elements. Chris’ crossing will take approximately 18-24 days and 2850 NM before he arrives on the beaches in Waikiki, on Oahu.
You can follow his voyage via his live tracker at: www.transcatexpedition.com
Chris, we salute you!
