42nd
TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
Starts July 1-4-6, 2003
www.transpacificyc.org
LIVING
A PIPE DREAM IN TRANSPAC 2003
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---It was convenient how Transpacific
Yacht Club scheduled its 42nd biennial race from
Los Angeles to Hawaii this summer because it fit
right into Scott Piper's plans.
"This
is part of the third circumnavigation," he
said.
Piper's
Pipe Dream IX from Coral Gables, Fla. is one of
three J/160s and eight J Boats overall. All will
start in Divisions 3 and 4 on the Fourth of July,
following the Cal 40 and Aloha fleets on July
1 and preceding Divisions 1 and 2 on July 6.
The
other J/160s are Peter Johnson's Maitri and Myron
Lyon's Innocent Merriment, both from San Diego.
There also are a J/145, two J/125s and two J/120s.
There is even another boat named Pipe Dream: John
Davis' Choate/Feo 37 from Long Beach. But it's
a good bet that among the race's 59 entries none
has as much mileage under its keel as Pipe Dream
IX.
Piper,
64, has sailed the 53-foot boat 79,341 nautical
miles since he bought it in 1996. That's more
than 35 Transpacs, at 2,225 miles each. In the
past seven years the Florida orthopedic surgeon
has been around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good
Hope, through the Suez Canal and through the Panama
Canal four times, including on this tour.
"We
left Miami on Feb. 22," Piper said. "Hawaii's
on the way, which is why we're doing the Transpac.
We'll go from there to the Marshall Islands, Palau,
the Philippines, Borneo . . . I do most of my
racing in an Etchells and use the big boat to
cruise, but whenever a race presents itself, I
do it."
That
includes the Sydney-Hobart race on circumnavigation
No. 2 and a course record in the Annapolis-Bermuda
race in '96 on what he calls a "shakedown
cruise."
Most
of those miles have been in comfort. "Of
the three J/160s going, we are by far the most
in a cruising mode," Piper said. "I
have everything on that boat you can imagine."
Maitri
and Innocent Merriment reported enjoying "extensive
wine cellars [and] fresh showers every day"
when they finished 1-2 overall in last year's
San Diego-to-Puerto Vallarta race. Piper said
his amenities include a fridge and freezer, washer-dryer,
three air conditioners, a large transformer, three
extra fuel tanks, a big-screen TV---"You
name it," Piper said, "we have it."
He
launched his current lifestyle 10 years ago, alternating
a couple of months of work with portions of his
circumnavigations, flying between Florida and
his stopovers. "It's been a successful formula
for me," he said. "Though not as lucrative,
the practice held together."
His
wife Gillette will join him after Transpac for
a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands before he sets
out for the Marshalls in October. "I met
her as a blind date after a Newport-Bermuda race
when I was 21 and she was 19," Piper said.
"She named the first boat."
They'll
celebrate their 40th anniversary before he starts
Transpac.
TRANSPAC
NOTES
The
skippers and crews of Transpac's eight San Diego
entries will be hosted Tuesday, June 17, by LARRY
BAUMANN, owner of the Bali Hai Restaurant on Shelter
Island. The reception will start at 6 p.m. and
feature Polynesian dancers and complimentary food.
Accommodation is limited to the first 200 reservations,
which may be made by phoning (619) 523-9318. .
. .
The
Aloha sendoff dinner is scheduled Saturday, June
28, 6 p.m., at the new Hyatt Regency Huntington
Beach Resort, 21500 Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington
Beach. Tickets are available to race non-participants
by contacting AL GARNIER at (310) 816-6515. The
price is $52. . . .
Looking
for still another party? Willow Wind skipper WENDY
SIEGAL and navigator DUNCAN HARRISON, who generated
the Cal 40 revival with 10 boats, will host a
getaway gathering Sunday, June 29, 5 p.m. at Gangway
13, Slip 267, in the Alamitos Bay Marina. Since
food and drink will already be stowed, guests
are asked to bring their own. . . .
NEIL
BARTH of Newport Beach has withdrawn his Volvo
60, America's Challenge, which he planned to sail
doublehanded with TROY BETHEL. "We are simply
unable to complete the project in a time frame
that will enable us to race safely and competitively,"
Barth said. The total fleet is now 59 boats. .
. .
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. Those
interested are urged to sign up by phone at (949)
645-9412, ext. 2.
OFFICIAL
ENTRIES (as of June 13, 2003):
(Some
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.
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.---DH.
Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point,
Calif.
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego.
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico.
Lucky Dog (J/125), Peter Putnam, Newport Beach---DH.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego.
On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington,
Calif.
Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables,
Fla.
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.
Division
4 (start July 4)
Beautiful
Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd, San Diego.
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.
Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia.
Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina
del Rey, Calif.
Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle.
Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego.
Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran,
Northridge, Calif.
The Cone of Silence (Australian Super 30), James
and Jenny Neil, Newport, NSW, Australia.
There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice,
Long Beach.
Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu---DH.
Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San Diego.
Division
5 (start July 1)
Lawndart
(Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C.
Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San Diego.
Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long Beach.
Starbuck (Black Soo 31), Greg Nelsen, Piedmont,
Calif.---DH.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington,
Del.
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 and Sally 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.
ALOHA
DIVISION (start July 1)
Aloha
A
Beach
Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette, Calif.---DH.
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.
Aloha
B
Axapac
(Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.
Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point
Richmond, Calif.
Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina
del Rey.
DH---Doublehanded.
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
