42nd
TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
Starts July 1-4-6, 2003
www.transpacificyc.org
July 8, 2003 For Immediate Release
PYEWACKET'S
DAY OF RECKONING IN THE WIND GAME
LOS
ANGELES---Pegasus 77 sailed farther and faster
Tuesday but Pyewacket stretched its lead in the
marquee match race of the 42nd Transpacific Yacht
Race to Hawaii, a situation that has often been
an anomaly of the race for the last half-century.
 |
Karl
Kwok's Transpac 52, Beau Geste, shown before
Sunday's start, moved into first place in
Division 2, boat for boat and on handicap
time, and is second only to Pyewacket in
the latter for the entire fleet. Gavin Brady
is at far left. Photo by Rich Roberts
|
Meanwhile,
Renegade, an Andrews 70 sailed by Dan Sinclair
of Vancouver, B.C., dropped out Monday afternoon
with a problem described as "failure of the
boat's steering sheaves." Renegade started
in Division 2 a day earlier and was 260 miles
offshore in Mexican waters. Sinclair, sailing
his fourth Transpac, said the breakdown occurred
in 12-foot seas. He said the boat was in no danger
and was returning to San Diego but gave no ETA.
There
have been three dropouts since the starts, reducing
the fleet to 54 boats. Beau Geste, a Transpac
52 sailed by Hong Kong businessman Karl Kwok with
a largely New Zealand crew, now leads Division
2 boat for boat and on corrected handicap time,
second only to Pyewacket in the latter.
Until
1947, logic called for sailing a direct, or "rhumb,"
line of 2,225 nautical miles from Los Angeles
to Honolulu because sailors didn't realize they
could avoid a region of light wind by sailing
a little farther south.
With
improved weather information developed in World
War II, two boats---Chubasco and Westward---tried
just that in '47 and finished first and third.
Then in '49, when Westward's navigator, Bob Allan,
pulled the same ploy that delivered the first
Barn Door trophy to Richard Rheem's Morning Star
as first boat to finish, the others were sold
on the concept of the Pacific High---that monstrous,
undulating zone of high pressure waddling over
the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Avoiding
the high remains conventional wisdom in the 42nd
Transpac 54 years later, but it's a like a boxing
opponent, bobbing and weaving and leaving everyone
on every boat to look to the navigator for guidance.
And where does the navigator look? Often to Nashua,
New Hampshire, where George Caras of Commanders
Weather is based.
Studying
the positions reported at Tuesday morning's daily
roll call, Caras said, "North may be favored
a little bit [Monday] or [Tuesday], but south
will be favored starting [Thursday]. The goal
for a lot of the boats is going to be to get farther
south."
Those
would include Pyewacket, Roy E. Disney's Reichel/Pugh
75 that holds the race record of about 7 1/2 days.
Sailing a more direct course, Pyewacket logged
329 miles at 13.7 knots in the first full day
at sea and moved into first place in corrected
handicap time for the entire fleet.
 |
Dan
Sinclair's Andrews 70, Renegade, from Vancouver,
B.C., withdrew Monday with steering failure.
Photo by Rich Roberts
|
Oddly,
Philippe Kahn's R/P 77 Pegasus, taking a more
tactical southerly route, went 338 miles at 14.1
knots but dropped to 27 miles behind.
"[Pyewacket]
got a little lead because they found a shade more
breeze up north," Caras said, "but they'll
come down now to keep up with the wind. Their
wind angle may not be as good coming down and
it could tighten the gap or give Pegasus a little
bit of an advantage, but we'll have to see on
that."
There
also is good news and bad news for everybody,
Caras said.
"The
high [pressure area] is moving away from the fleet
farther out. That's going to allow that low to
come east-southeast, and that essentially will
weaken the trade winds. High pressure drives the
belt of the trades, but it'll be so high up that
it'll have less influence."
That
could dampen hopes of a record. The frontrunner,
Roger and Brenda Kuske's Lady Bleu II, a Dynamique
62 from San Diego that started with the Aloha
class a week earlier, was 884 miles from the finish
but sailing into weaker wind above the rhumb line.
"Their
smarter move would be to come a little farther
south," Caras said.
Wendy
Siegal, reporting from Willow Wind, the Cal 40
that won the Aloha class in 2001, confirmed Caras'
assessment.
"The
winds were as light as I can remember seeing them
in the middle of the Pacific," she said.
"We got down to 5 knots of wind . . . just
trying to keep the [spinnaker] filled as we slopped
along. We're supposed to be in 15-knot trades."
Tracking
charts for selected boats or the entire fleet
may be viewed by clicking on the link at the right
side of the www.transpacificyc.org
home page. Daily position reports and photos
also will be posted until the completion of the
race.
For
handicap ratings of the boats, go to: www.yachtracing.com/regattas03/transpac/03divisions.html
JULY 8 POSITION REPORTS
(Listed
in order of projected corrected handicap time,
noting actual miles to go)
RACING
DIVISION
Division
1 (started July 6)
1.
Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles,
1,684 miles to go.
2. Pegasus 77 (Reichel/Pugh 77), Philippe Kahn,
Honolulu, 1,711.
Division
2 (started July 6)
1.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong,
1,758.
2. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell,
Lahaina, H.I., 1,772.
3. Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long
Beach, 1,773.
4. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach,
Calif., 1,768.
5. Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin,
Marina del Rey, Calif., 1,828.
6. Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa
Cruz, Calif., 1,816.
7. Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser,
Seattle, 1,818.
8. Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya,
Japan, 1,863.
9. Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne,
Australia, 1,879.
WD---Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver,
B.C., Canada.
Division
3 (started July 4)
1.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego, 1,396.
2. Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables,
Fla., 1,429.
3. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San
Diego, 1,425.
4. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco,
Mexico, 1,417.
5. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.,
1,447.
6. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana
Point, Calif., 1,456.
7. On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington,
Calif., 1,459.
WD---The Cone of Silence (Australian Super 30),
James and Jenny Neill, Newport, NSW, Australia.
WD---Lucky Dog (J/125), Peter Putnam, Newport
Beach (DH).
Division
4 (started July 4)
1.
Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen, Glendora,
Calif., 1,488. .
2. Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San
Diego, 1,477.
3. Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego, 1,489.
4. Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle,
1,525.
5. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina
del Rey, Calif., 1,494.
6. Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran,
Northridge, Calif., 1,489.
7. Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia,
1,541.
8. Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif.,
1,529.
9. Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones,
Dana Point, Calif., 1,532. .
10. Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu,
1,521 (DH).
11. Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo,
B.C., 1,564.
Division
5 (started July 1)
1.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington,
Del., 1,068.
2. There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice,
Long Beach, 1,033.
3. Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San
Diego, 1,100.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban
Miyares, San Diego, 1,071.
CAL
40 (started July 1)
1.
Illusion, Stan and Sally Honey, Palo Alto, 1,064.
2. Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu, 1,118.
3. Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho, 1,115.
4. California Girl, Don and Betty Lessley, Point
Richmond, Calif., 1,105.
5. Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury, Laguna
Beach/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, Snowmass, Colo.,
1,114.
6. Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif.,
1,132.
7. Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long
Beach, 1,122.
8. John B, Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif.,
1,137.
9. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif.,
1,140.
10. Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach,
Calif., 1,173.
ALOHA
DIVISION (started July 1)
Aloha
A
1.
Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman,
Calabasas, Calif., 942.
2. Marla R (Beneteau 50), Jon Richards, Mesa,
Ariz., 966.
3. Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd,
San Diego, 968.
4. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos,
Calif., 995.
5. Lady Bleu II (Dynamique 62), Roger and Brenda
Kuske, San Diego, 884.
6. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert,
Seal Beach, Calif., 1,072.
7. Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.,
1,086.
8. Beach Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette,
Calif., 1,124 (DH).
Aloha
B
1.
Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point
Richmond, Calif., 1,165.
2. Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long
Beach, 1,176.
3. Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina
del Rey, 1,286.
DH---Doublehanded.
WD---Withdrawn.
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
