Transpac 2007
44th
Transpacific Yacht Race
Los
Angeles to Honolulu
Starts July 9, 12 and 15, 2007
2,225 nautical miles
A second
century of racing across the Pacific
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Cirrus
had its day; is it Pyewacket's turn now?
"Don't
miss [Wednesday's] press release," someone on the boat e-mailed to their
fans. "Cirrus faster than Pegasus! Cirrus [sailed] one mile farther than
Pegasus. You can talk to your grandchildren about this day. Yep, I guess
But that was when
even world-class navigators were struggling in a quagmire of light wind
that made this one of the most challenging Transpacs in memory. As it
was, two more boats---Delicate Balance and Lucky Dog, both in Division
4---dropped out in frustration, following earlier retirements by Gaviota
and Ginny, all before they had sailed half of the 2,225 nautical miles.
That left 69 of the 73 starters still competing.
"Too
far to go, too many days out already," was the Delicate Balance report.
Did they bail out
too soon? The picture became much brighter starting late Wednesday into
Thursday when the leaders rediscovered the reason for the century long
popularity of this race.
As Philippe Kahn
reported from Pegasus 101: "We found the trade winds! High five! Now
we’re going [in] 12 knots of wind, the kite and staysail up and 10.5
knots of boat speed pointed straight at
Pyewacket also hit
its stride, logging 336 miles in the 24 hours leading to Thursday
morning's roll call---tops for this Transpac---at an average speeds of
14 knots and at times as fast as 18. That no doubt brightened Roy E.
Disney's outlook as he waited restlessly in
To do that,
Pyewacket would have to pass Diamond Head by 5 a.m. PDT Sunday (2 a.m.
It's possible. The
communications vessel Alaska Eagle, less than a day's run in front of
Pyewacket, reported 22 knots of breeze, and the modified Pyewacket had
reported sailing faster than the wind in sea trials.
Ed Feo's Locomotion
spoke for most of the boats: "Better spirits on board this afternoon
than at daybreak, as we have finally broken free of the stagnant,
drizzly air mass associated with a passing front last night. Enjoying
some stunning sailing in bright blue skies and matching water. The
master plan is to tap into the northern edge of the equatorial trades
and hopefully not pay too high a price in distance sailed to account for
the speed increase."
Cirrus
has no such concerns. Bill Myers' 34-year-old Standfast 40 continues to
lead the Aloha B division by more than 100 miles over the next boat,
Lady Liberty, the slowest-rated boat in the race. There are no all-woman
boats in this Transpac but Myers' all-Hawaiian Cirrus is close.
"I'm
just along for the ride," he said. "Lindsey and her mom have taken over
the boat. When you're in charge you've got knots in your stomach 24
hours a day."
Lindsey Austin, 22, is the skipper who landed on her feet after missing
the last cut for Disney's Morning Light team. Her mom Donna Austin is a
watch captain. Both have 100-ton Master's licenses and have done
numerous boat deliveries. Other crew members are Caroline Heinrich,
commodore of the Hawaii Women's Yacht Racing Association; Nancy Piper
and Christi Shacat.
Myers
messaged: "If
you check the chart it is almost impossible to find Cirrus in the mob of
high- performance bigger boats crowding around since we've been doing so
well. Lindsey claims we held back to be polite. Amazing how many friends
you have when you're number one."
Transblogs from the boats
On The Edge of
Destiny (Sean Doyle):
We just doused the
symmetrical kite, gybed and set the white asymmetrical all in one smooth
move in pitch black. Beat that ML! We have had to sail so far south to
get around the high that our course to
Pegasus 101 (
Locomotion
(unknown):
Salt water showers are the order of the day as water temps are finally
tolerable, and B.O. the inverse. It's shaping up to be a prolonged
battle with class rival Pendragon IV as she reported only four miles
closer to
NOTE:
Wednesday's report from Psyche of the death at home of a crew member's
father was misinterpreted to relate to skipper Steve Calhoun. The crew
member was Bill Wright. His father was Howard Wright Jr., who was the
Los Angeles Yacht Club commodore in 1962. The press officer regrets the
error and the loss. More at
http://transpac07.blogspot.com/ ---R.R.
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,
Archived press releases:
http://www.underthesunphotos.com/Press%20Releases/PR-index.htm
More
information:
www.transpacificyc.org
Transpac 2007 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 final elapsed time to determine
corrected handicap time)
(positions at 8 a.m. Thursday)
Division 1 (Started July 15)
1. Magnitude 80
(Andrews 80), Doug Baker,
2.
Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike
3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh
90),
4. Medicine Man
(Andrews 63),
5.
Rosebud (STP 65), Roger
Sturgeon,
Division 2 (Started
July 15)
1. Holua (
2. Morning Light (Transpac
52), Jeremy Wilmot,
3. Samba Pa Ti (Transpac
52), John Kilroy Jr.,
4. Hugo Boss (Volvo
60), Andy Tourell,
5. Skylark (
6. DH-Pegasus 101
(Open 50),
7.
8. Lucky (Transpac
52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28), 1,683.
9. Trader (Transpac
52), Fred Detwiler,
Division 3 (Started
July 15)
1. Denali (Nelson/Marek
70), William McKinley,
2. It's OK (Andrews
50), Tres Gordo Sailing,
3. Cheetah (ULDB 70),
Chris Slagerman,
6. Locomotion
(Andrews 45), Ed Feo,
7.
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko
Murase,
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek
68), Yasuo Sano,
Division 4
(Started July 12)
1. Reinrag2 (J/125),
Tom Garnier,
2. Cipango (Andrews
56), Bob & Rob Barton,
3. Ruahatú (Concordia
47), Ricardo Brockmann,
4. Verizon Wireless
(ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho
5. Raincloud (J/48),
Lorenzo Berho
6. Bolt (Nelson/Marek
55), Craig Reynolds,
Lucky Dog (J/125),
Colin Shanner,
RETIRED---Delicate
Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC,
Division 50/52
(Started July 12)
1. Kokopelli 2 (
2. Horizon (
3.
5. Hula Girl (
6. Passion (
7. Stags' Leap
Winery (ex-Chasch Mer;
8. Adrenalin (
9. Relentless (
Division 5 (Started
July 12)
1. Rancho Deluxe
(Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock,
2. Tower (Lidgard
45), Doug Grant,
3. On the Edge of
Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle,
4. Paddy Wagon (Ross
40), Richard Mainland,
5. Recidivist
(Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott,
6. DH-Tango (J/133),
Michael Abraham/Phillip Rowe,
7. DH-Narrow Escape
(Fast 40), Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr.,
8.
9. Uncontrollable
Urge (
Division 6 (Started
July 9)
1. Far Far (
2. Psyche (
3. Peregrine (Hobie
33), Simon Garland,
4. Inspired
Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard,
5. DH-Brilliant
(J/100), Tim Fuller/Erik Shampain,
6.
7. Brown Sugar
(Express 37), Steve Brown,
8. DH-X Dream
(X-119), Steen Moller/Bob MacDonald,
9. Shanti (Olson
911S), Jon Eberly,
Aloha A
(Started July 9)
1. Ariadne (Ladd 73),
Frank Easterbrook,
2. Between the Sheets
(Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), 1,955.
3.
Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps,
5. Enchilado (Jeanneau
54), Cesar de Saracho,
6. Alsumar (S&S 70),
Bill and Ted Davis,
7. Ho'okolohe (Farr
58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi,
8. Anna Katarina
(First 47.7), John Otterson,
Aloha B (Started July
9)
1. Cirrus (Standfast
40), William D. Myers,
2. Lady Liberty
(Catalina 36), John Wallner,
3. Traveler (North
Wind 47), Michael Lawler,
4. Mysteré (Swan 42),
Jorge Morales, Dana Point,
RETIRED---Ginny
(Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds,
RETIRED--Gaviota (Cal
2-46), Jim Partridge,
.
DH-Doublehanded.
Multihull
The Minnow (Catana 52
catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster,
LoeReal (Jeanneau 60
trimaran), H.L. Enloe,
Complete position
reports:
www.transpacificyc.org
COMMODORE
(310) 600-0158
ENTRIES CHAIRMAN
(831) 476-9639
PRESS OFFICER
(310) 835-2526
Cell (310) 766-6547 |
Cirrus
lives it up sailing
home to
Pyewacket needs to average 18 knots to get the record
A
happier crew on Locomotion
Click to
visit websites
Official
timekeeper of Transpac 2007
Shoreline YC
lead mainland host
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