July 4, 2007

Pyewacket will face unlikely rivals in Transpac    

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Handicap ratings for the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii are out, and the fastest monohull ever to sail the race faces an intriguing set of scenarios.

Can Pyewacket beat Ariadne, a 73-foot cruising yacht? Can Pyewacket beat Lady Liberty, a Catalina 36?

About 50 of the 74 entries are expected to be moored in Rainbow Harbor's Transpac Village in downtown Long Beach by the weekend, awaiting their starts from Point Fermin in nearby San Pedro on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, July 15.

The schedule of events starts Saturday evening, July 7, at 6 p.m. with opening ceremonies and the dedication of 11 monuments along the Transpac Walk of Fame. The 5 1/2-foot-tall monuments present highlights and photos of each decade of the race since its inception in 1906.

Back to the future, based on computations from the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) system administered by US Sailing, Roy E. Disney's radically modified 94-foot Pyewacket-with-wings is almost a day faster than it was in 2005 when it finished only 2.5 hours behind the record time of 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds by Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory.

But Transpac is more than a race for the Barn Door for fastest elapsed time by a monohull. Those with no hope for that compete for the King Kalakaua Trophy for first place overall on corrected handicap time. Pyewacket owes the slowest-rated boat---John Wallner's Lady Liberty, a Catalina 36 from Calabasas, Calif.---9.4 days in time, and Lady Liberty will have a six-day head start when it sails off the line at Point Fermin next Monday at 1 p.m.

So, in normal conditions, whatever those are, if Lady Liberty should finish in about 15 days and Pyewacket has to make up more time than it needs to sail the race, who will correct out ahead?

"Wow!" Wallner said. "I'm already there. I figured if we're the slowest boat, we're the ones to beat. No one cares if they lose to Pyewacket, but no one wants to lose to us."

Disney, pondering the prospect, asked, "So we probably don’t count on winning overall? It might be close. We just have to pick everybody off before we get there." 

There are several other threats for the King Kalakaua Trophy, including Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, Roger Sturgeon's new STP65, Rosebud; nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s in their own division, two-time Barn Door winner Philippe Kahn sailing an Open 50 doublehanded, and Disney's Morning Light team of young sailors on Kahn's former Transpac 52 that was second overall by 40 minutes to Sturgeon's TP52 Rosebud in 2005.

Further, there is Ariadne, Frank Easterbrook's 73-foot cruiser from Newport Beach in the Aloha A class that is the fastest-rated boat starting Monday. In this case, Pyewacket owes 5.24 days to a boat with a six-day head start. Officially, it doesn't count for any trophy, but which crew will slap hands for reaching Diamond Head first?  

Easterbook said, "It could be very interesting. It means a lot. My team is pumped!"

Disney said, "It sounds like the time machine has come into this."  

In 2005, Pyewacket and Morning Glory were both maxZ86s rated as the "scratch" boats with zero ratings. That baseline---based on a handicap distance of 2,300 nautical miles and not the actual distance of 2,225---is still in place, but now at minus–33.110 seconds per mile, which converts to 21.15 hours faster over the course, Pyewacket appears to be out of reach in the ratings.  

The next fastest-rated boat, Magnitude 80, is rated at 7.110, or 25.7 hours back.

That doesn't necessarily mean the race for a record or the Barn Door is a slam dunk. Remember how a funny little wooden boat from New Zealand named Ragtime came out of nowhere to stun grandiose Windward Passage in 1973? And how only an inspired and hasty jury rig saved Cheval's Barn Door victory when it lost half its mast on the last day in '93?

The ratings are listed below.

On the three start days the public will watch the race boats depart amid cannon-firing fanfare past the Queen Mary and to the starting line off Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.

The waterfront site will be transformed into Transpac Village, surrounded by the Aquarium of Pacific, upscale restaurants, amusement attractions and Shoreline Village with its shops and cafes. A "Club Transpac" tent will host race-related events. 

The Transpacific Yacht Club has joined with Casio Computer Co., Ltd., in a sponsorship agreement to make the company's Oceanus watch the official timekeeper of the 44th biennial race. The Oceanus is a solar-powered chronograph watch with a time signal-calibration function developed by making full use of Casio's advanced electronic technologies. News and product information:  http://world.casio.com/ 

Transpac supporters also include the Long Beach Sea Festival 2007, Gladstone's Restaurant, Ayres Hotels and L. Gaylord Sportswear.

More information: www.transpacificyc.org

Transpac 2007 entries  

     (Ratings in seconds-per-mile for handicap distance of 2,300 n.m.)

Division 1 (Starts July 15)

Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (--33.110)

Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (7.110)

Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (44.690)  

Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (45.840)

Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (48.590)     

Division 2 (Starts July 15)

Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (73.840)

DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (76.380)

Samba Pa Ti  (Transpac 52),  John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (81.451)   

Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (83.647)   

Morning Light  (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (83.669)  

Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (84.698)  

Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (85.424)

Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (88.988)

Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (90.040)

Division 3 (Starts July 15)

Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (96.458)

It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (97.709)

Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (103.786)

Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (106.301)

Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (111.063)

Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach  (112.482)

Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (118.520)

Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (118.858)  

Division 4  (Starts July 12)

Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (126.093)

Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (139.082)

Delicate Balance (Custom 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (145.522)

The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding, Salisbury Downs, Australia (147.075)

Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, San Diego (147.818) 

Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (148.545)

Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (149.653)  

Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (150.225)

Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (150.891)   

Division 50/52 (Starts July 12)

Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (118.837)

Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (138.843)      

Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (139.921) 

Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (142.372)

Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (143.582)   

Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (144.930)   

Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach(150.592)     

Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (150.646)

Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (158.676)

Division 5 (Starts July 12)

Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (166.816)

Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (167.253)

Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles  (175.259)

DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach (180.729) 

DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr., Payson, Ariz. (183.115)  

Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (187.370) 

On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (187.974)

Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (190.987)

Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (202.367)

Division 6 (Starts July 9)

DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller, Point Richmond, Calif. (207.574)

Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (219.509)

Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (221.055)  

DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta, Calif. (221.862)

Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (231.181)     

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif. (264.944)

Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (267.327)

Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (269.161)

Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif. (290.795)  

Aloha A (Starts July 9)

Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (163.804)  

Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif.  (167.451) 

Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev. (185.421)

Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (187.408)   

Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (197.778)

Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif. (201.175)

French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (206.602)

Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (206.076)

Aloha B (Starts July 9)

Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif. (216.701) 

Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (244.540) 

Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif. (248.291)

Traveler (North  Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (257.179) 

Cirrus (Standfast 40),  William D. Myers, Honolulu (266.459)

Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (319.454)  

        DH-Doublehanded.

Multihull

LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex.  (July 15)

Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob Webster, Pryor, Okla.  (July 12)

COMMODORE

Al Garnier

(310) 600-0158 

reinrag@aol.com

ENTRIES CHAIRMAN

Bill Lee

(831) 476-9639

wizard@fastisfun.com

PRESS OFFICER

Rich Roberts

(310) 835-2526

Cell (310) 766-6547

richsail@earthlink.net