Transpac 2007
44th
Transpacific Yacht Race
Los
Angeles to Honolulu
Starts July 9, 12 and 15,
2007
2,225 nautical miles
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Double
Barn Door winner to doublehanded racer
It's
not necessarily that they can't afford to pay or provide for a full
crew; most just prefer it that way.
Philippe Kahn, the software entrepreneur who created the camera phone,
has raced other Transpacs with, as one once said, some of the best crews
money can buy. His other Pegasus boats won the Barn Door trophy for
fastest elapsed time in 2001 and 2003, but he is doing this one
doublehanded on an Open 50, Pegasus 101, with Richard Clarke, a Canadian
member of Kahn's Pegasus Racing syndicate. They'll start Sunday at 1
p.m. PDT with the other biggest and fastest off Point Fermin in San
Pedro.
Most
of the remaining starters may be viewed up close at
"This
is going to be a fun adventure," Kahn said, with some trepidation.
Five
other doublehanders are already at sea after the first two starts Monday
and Thursday, and one team---Tim Fuller and Erik Shampain on Brilliant
from
The
other doublehanders are Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr. on Narrow Escape in
Division 5, Steen Moller and Bob MacDonald on X-Dream in Division 6 and
tuba playing siblings Bob and Mike Webster on their catamaran The
Minnow.
In
Friday morning's position reports Brilliant was as close to Honolulu as
anybody, tied with Ho'okolohe at 1,919 nautical miles to go, with
Cesar de Saracho's
Enchilado---both in Aloha A---only one mile behind. However, the early
positions were still too tricky to project final finishing positions
with much certainty; boats to the south generally trailed in the
standings but were sailing faster and could be gaining leverage for
their eventual turns toward the islands when---if?---they find the trade
winds.
For example, the
boats that logged the most miles over the 24 hours preceding Friday's
morning roll call tended to be low in the standings. Chip McGeath's
Santa Cruz 52 Kokopelli 2 had the best day of any boat with 180 miles at
10.6 knots, but Cirrus, Traveler and Lady Liberty ranked last in Aloha
B, despite sailing much farther than the leaders.
This will be Kahn's
10th race across the Pacific, so he knows the drill well.
"I think the weather
systems may be more complex than they have ever been," he said. "The
[fastest] track today goes right through the [Pacific] High. Some routes
even want you to go north, while others want you to sail minimum
distance. Usually, that option leads to challenging light conditions."
That's what Kahn and
Clarke must deal with in their quest for Transpac's doublehanded record:
10 days 4 hours 4 minutes 19 seconds by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum, also
on an Open 50, Etranger, in 2001. Open 50s, with canting keels and huge
dagger boards projecting from their cabin tops when not employed, are
often sailed singlehanded, but even with two crew they're a handful.
"This
has truly turned into a personal Everest," Kahn said. "Doublehanded is
very intense because you want to push all the time, as opposed to
singlehanded when you naturally throttle down. Literally, I'm a big guy
for training to get up that mast, but we're doing it. Heck, I even have
to go up the mast for rig checks. So it’s the full package. I'd never
spent much time up the mast before.
"For
now we are a bit slower than the polars [speed projections] that we were
told by the designer. These boats love to reach and you can’t be afraid
of sailing extra miles. Yet doublehanded, you really can’t sail the same
ways as a crew. When we sail with five we just whip jibes and tacks.
With just two it’s a totally different story. Jibing is a major move
that needs to be planned 30 minutes in advance and carefully executed.
Over 28 knots it’s a real challenge."
Clarke
is a world-class Finn sailor so he's used to sailing shorthanded.
"We
figure we'll lose 30 miles overall to the fully crewed boats just doing
tacks, jibes and sail changes," he said.
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,
Editors: If you are publishing excerpts of this release, you may link to
http://www.underthesunphotos.com/transpac2007.htm
for the complete version.
Archived press releases:
http://www.underthesunphotos.com/Press%20Releases/PR-index.htm
More
information:
www.transpacificyc.org
Transpac 2007 entries
(Standings by corrected handicap time. ORR rating allowances in
parentheses in days:hours:minutes:seconds based on handicap distance of
2,300 n.m.; subtract time allowance from actual elapsed time to
determine corrected handicap time)
Division 1 (Starts July 15)
Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh
90),
Magnitude 80 (Andrews
80), Doug Baker,
Rosebud (STP 65),
Roger Sturgeon,
Peligroso (Kernan
70), Mike
Medicine Man (Andrews
63),
Division 2 (Starts
July 15)
Hugo Boss (Volvo 60),
Andy Tourell,
DH-Pegasus 101 (Open
50),
Lucky (Transpac 52),
Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28)
Morning Light
(Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot,
Skylark (
Holua (
Trader (Transpac 52),
Fred Detwiler,
Division 3 (Starts
July 15)
Denali (Nelson/Marek
70), William McKinley,
It's OK (Andrews 50),
Tres Gordo Sailing,
Cheetah (ULDB 70),
Chris Slagerman,
Pendragon IV
(Davidson 52), John MacLaurin,
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek
68), Yasuo Sano,
Ragtime (Spencer 65),
Chris Welsh,
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46),
Yoshihiko Murase,
Locomotion (Andrews
45), Ed Feo,
Division 4
(Started July 12)
1. Bolt (Nelson/Marek
55), Craig Reynolds,
2. Delicate Balance
(Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC,
3. Raincloud (J/48),
Lorenzo Berho
4. Verizon Wireless
(ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho
5. Ruahatú (Concordia
47), Ricardo Brockmann,
6. Cipango (Andrews
56), Bob & Rob Barton,
7. Reinrag2 (J/125),
Tom Garnier,
NO REPORT--Lucky Dog
(J/125), Colin Shanner,
NO REPORT--The Secret
(MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding,
Division 50/52
(Started July 12)
1, Relentless (
2. Adrenalin (
3. Hula Girl (
4. Kokopelli 2 (
5. Stags' Leap
Winery (ex-Chasch Mer;
6.
7. Passion (
8. Tachyon III (
9. Horizon (
Division 5 (Started
July 12)
1.
2. Recidivist
(Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott,
3. Rancho Deluxe
(Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock,
4. DH-Tango (J/133),
Michael Abraham,
5. DH-Narrow Escape
(Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr.,
6. Uncontrollable
Urge (
7. Tower (Lidgard
45), Doug Grant,
8. Paddy Wagon (Ross
40), Richard Mainland,
NO REPORT--On the
Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle,
Division 6 (Started
July 9)
1. DH-Brilliant
(J/100), Tim Fuller,
2. Peregrine (Hobie
33), Simon Garland,
3. Brown Sugar
(Express 37), Steve Brown,
4. Psyche (
5. Far Far (
6. DH-X Dream
(X-119), Steen Moller,
7. Shanti (Olson
911S), Jon Eberly,
8.
9. Inspired
Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard,
Aloha A
(Started July 9)
1. Enchilado (Jeanneau
54), Cesar de Saracho,
2. Ho'okolohe (Farr
58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi,
3. Alsumar (S&S 70),
Bill and Ted Davis,
4. Ariadne (Ladd 73),
Frank Easterbrook,
5. Between the Sheets
(Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), 1,942.
6. French Kiss (Beneteau
50), Bryan Daniels,
7.
Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps,
8. Anna Katarina
(First 47.7), John Otterson,
Aloha B (Started July
9)
1. Mysteré (Swan 42),
Jorge Morales, Dana Point,
2. Ginny (Calkins
50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds,
3. Cirrus (Standfast
40), William D. Myers,
4. Traveler (North
Wind 47), Michael Lawler,
5. Lady Liberty
(Catalina 36), John Wallner,
RETIRED--Gaviota (Cal
2-46), Jim Partridge,
.
DH-Doublehanded.
Multihull
LoeReal (Jeanneau 60
trimaran), H.L. Enloe,
Minnow (Catana 52
catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster,
Complete position
reports:
www.transpacificyc.org
COMMODORE
(310) 600-0158
ENTRIES CHAIRMAN
(831) 476-9639
PRESS OFFICER
(310) 835-2526
Cell (310) 766-6547 |
Special
Olympics youngsters get a ride on legendary Ragtime withy skipper Chris
Welsh
Philippe
Kahn's Pegasus 101, an Open 50, sits tilted with its keel canted to port
Phillip
Rowe (r.) acknowledges 70th birthday salute. Buddy Mike Abraham is
already 70
Erik
Shampain (r.), with Tim Fuller, points the way to
Click to
visit websites
Official
timekeeper of Transpac 2007
Shoreline YC lead mainland host
Transpac schedule of events
Sunday,
July 15
10 a.m.---Final
start ceremonies,
1 p.m.---Divisions
1, 2, 3 start, Point Fermin, San Pedro
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