42nd TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
Starts July 1-4-6, 2003
www.transpacificyc.org

May 27, 2003 For Immediate Release

TRANSPAC HITS 18-YEAR HIGH WITH 61 ENTRIES

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Sixty-one boats---the largest fleet since 1985 and the 10th largest ever---are signed up to start the 42nd biennial Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu in July.

Four that just made last week's final entry deadline reflect the character of this year's fleet: Dan Sinclair's Andrews 70, Renegade, from Canada; Francisco Guzman's J/145, Jeito, from Mexico; John Harrison's Cal 40, Seafire, from Honolulu, and Tom and Doug Jorgensen's 39-foot J/120, Hot Tamale, from California.

Big and small, old and new, and from everywhere on the map---this Transpac has it all. There are boats from 77 feet (Philippe Kahn's defending Barn Door winner, Pegasus) to 31 feet (Greg Nelsen's doublehanded Black Soo 31,
Starbuck) and from every corner of the U.S. and five foreign countries, including three from Australia.

"It's very healthy that the fleet is so diverse," said Brad Avery, the Transpacific Yacht Club commodore. "It's a grass roots phenomenon. People are starting to feel again that they can sail Transpac and win, no matter what kind of boat they have. It's not just a Grand Prix event."

Trophies will be awarded by divisions, and any boat is eligible to win the Governor of Hawaii Trophy for first overall on corrected handicap time. Division assignments are currently provisional and will be finalized within the next two or three weeks.

The match race for the Barn Door (fastest elapsed time) between Pegasus 77 and Roy E. Disney's record holder, Pyewacket, will command international attention, but there figures to be lively competition in Divisions 1 through 4, as well as among the Cal 40s and nine Aloha entries.

Harrison's entry boosted the Cal 40 group to 10 boats for the 40th anniversary celebration of its glory days when it dominated Transpac on corrected time for three successive races.

"That's from the efforts of Wendy Siegal," Avery said.

Siegal, of Sunset Beach, Calif., sailed the only Cal 40, Willow Wind, when she won the Aloha class in 2001. Then she launched a campaign to round up a full fleet for 2003. Her biggest catch was Stan and Sally Honey's Illusion. Honey, himself a Transpac icon as a navigator, would normally be on Pyewacket but has given up his spot to another world-class competitor, Peter Isler, to join the Cal 40 group.

Ironically, 40 years after its inception the Cal 40 is the first Transpac class devoted to a single production boat.

Transpac hasn't topped 60 entries since 64 boats raced in 1985. The record is 80 in 1979.

TRANSPAC NOTES

Hawaii's DAN DOYLE and BRUCE BURGESS, sailing the Sonoma 30 Two Guys On the Edge, dedicated their doublehanded success in 2001 to lymphoma survivor NATALIE FRAZIER, then 12. This time, sailing a 1D35 of the same name, they have a similar motivation, according to an interview with RAY PENDLETON of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "By sailing on [GARY] JOBSON'S behalf, it is our hope to raise at least $10,000 between Bruce and I," Doyle said, "and then look to other Transpac participants and the sailing community at large for additional donations. And because there has been no Transpac trophy for the Doublehanded class, we also hope to establish one this year and have it dedicated as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Gary Jobson Perpetual Trophy." Jobson was recently diagnosed with lymphoma and has been receiving chemotherapy treatments. Recent reports indicate he is recovering. . . .

ROY E. DISNEY discusses Transpac and other issues in an interview with Sailing World magazine editor JOHN BURNHAM in the current June edition. It also may be read at www.sailingworld.com. . . .

The Sailing Instructions are now posted at www.transpacificyc.org. . . .

Pegasus 77, Pyewacket and KARL KWOK'S new Transpac 52, Beau Geste---all with world-class crews---will race the Coastal Cap as a tune-up for Transpac. The 360-nautical mile race starts June 14 from San Francisco to Santa Catalina Island. . . .

The last Safety at Sea seminar before Transpac---required of 30 per cent of the crew and both members of a doublehanded crew within the last five years---is scheduled June 28 at the Orange Coast College of Sailing and Seamanship in Newport Beach. The most recent one in March drew a full house of 126 people, most of them Transpac participants, so those interested are urged to sign up by phone at (949) 645-9412, ext. 2.

OFFICIAL ENTRIES (as of May 26, 2003):

(Division assignments provisional)

RACING DIVISION

Division 1 (start July 6)
Pegasus 77 (Reichel/Pugh 77), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu.
Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles.

Division 2 (start July 6)
Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa Cruz, Calif.
America's Challenge (Volvo 60M), Neil Barth, Los Angeles---DH.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong.
Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, Lahaina, H.I.
Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne, Australia.
Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser, Seattle.
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, Calif.
Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long Beach.

Division 3 (start July 4)
Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan.
Dasher (Santa Cruz 50), Roger Groh, San Francisco.
Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif.
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego.
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego.
Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables, Fla.
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.

Division 4 (start July 4)
Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif.
B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban Miyares, San Diego.
Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones, Dana Point, Calif.
Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen, Glendora, Calif.
Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C.
Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle.
Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran, Northridge, Calif.
There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice, Long Beach.

CAL 40 (start July 1)
California Girl, Don and Betty Lesley, Point Richmond, Calif.
Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach, Calif.
Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long Beach.
Illusion, Stan Honey, Palo Alto. John B, Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif.
Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, San Francisco.
Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif.
Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho.
Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu.
Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif.

Divisions to be determined
Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.
Beach Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette, Calif.---DH.
Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd, San Diego.
Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia.
Lucky Dog (J/125), Peter Putnam, Newport Beach---DH.
Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San Diego.
On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington, Calif.
Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long Beach.
Starbuck (Black Soo 31), Greg Nelsen, Piedmont, Calif.---DH.
The Cone of Silence (Australian Super 30), James and Jenny Neil, Newport, NSW, Australia.
Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego.
Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu---DH.
Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San Diego.
DH---Doublehanded.

ALOHA DIVISION (start July 1)

Aloha A
Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman, Calabasas, Calif.
Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif.
Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Lady Bleu II (Dynamique 62), Roger and Brenda Kuske, San Diego.
Marla R (Beneteau 50), Jon Richards, Mesa, Ariz.
Windborne (Gulfstar 50), Tom Ryan, Marina del Rey.

Aloha B
Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point Richmond, Calif.
Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina del Rey.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington, Del.

COMMODORE
Brad Avery
(949) 645-9412
brad@occsailing.com

ENTRIES CHAIRMAN
Bill Lee
(831) 464-4872
wizard@fastisfun.com

PRESS OFFICER
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net