42nd
TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
Starts July 1-4-6, 2003
www.transpacificyc.org
July 9, 2003 For Immediate Release
A
FLYING HORSE ON A SLOW TRACK TO HAWAII
LOS
ANGELES---"A big cheer on board the mighty
Pegasus."
That
was the word from Pegasus 77 owner/skipper Philippe
Kahn after Wednesday morning's position reports
showed his Reichel/Pugh 77 had taken the lead
from Roy E. Disney's R/P 75 Pyewacket in their
Division 1 match race of the 42nd Transpacific
Yacht Race to Hawaii.
 |
Transpac
veterans Bruce Burgess (at helm) and Dan
Doyle of Honolulu are having a troublesome
but reasonably happy race home. Details
in today's report. Photo courtesy of "Two
Guys On The Edge"
|
Both
boats suffered in winds lighter than usual. Grant
Baldwin on the communications vessel Alaska Eagle
reported, "Weather conditions have deteriorated
for the entire fleet. Trade winds are down, boat
speeds are down . . . and fish count is down."
Pegasus
77 sailed only 265 miles in the previous 24 hours
but that was 31 miles more than Pyewacket, which
has endured the added pain of bearing south away
from the rhumb (direct) line in search of stronger
breeze. Pegasus 77 is now headed more directly
toward the finish line 1,447 miles away, eight
miles closer than Pyewacket in the 2,225-nautical
race.
"We
invested in the south and our investment is starting
to pay off," Kahn said. "We are now
ahead on all leader boards. But this is a long
race and our competition is tough. We're not even
halfway to Honolulu. This may be a race where
the lead changes a few times more."
Although
Kahn also noted that Pegasus 77's 24-hour average
speed of 11.4 knots was "not bad for light
air," it was far off Pyewacket's record pace
of 12.4 knots over 7 1/2 days in 1999. At the
moment Pegasus 77, the 2001 Barn Door winner,
is projected to finish about two hours in front
but about half a day off the record.
The
unstable conditions are such that two smaller
Transpac 52s sailing in better wind patterns had
better days than Pyewacket. Division 2 leader
Beau Geste, sailed by Hong Kong businessman Karl
Kwok, logged 235 miles and Bill Turpin's Alta
Vita from San Francisco was second only to Pegasus
77 with 254.
Perhaps
significant is that Stan and Sally Honey's Cal
40, Illusion, regained the race's overall lead
on corrected handicap time as it sailed farther
south than any other boat except Andy Sibert's
Enchanted Lady, a Roberts 55 ketch from Seal Beach,
Calif. that had the best day among the Aloha competitors
with 173 miles.
Just
slightly ahead of the big boats now after starting
two days earlier on July 4, the smaller Division
3 and 4 boats continued to slog along as best
they can. Earlier, Honolulu's Dan Doyle, sailing
the 1D35 Two Guys On the Edge with Bruce Burgess,
filed surprisingly upbeat e-mail reports via satellite.
"Now
is the part of the race where Two Guys should
begin to pick up the pace on the other boats,"
Doyle wrote. "The only case where that will
be difficult is if we spend the entire race in
light winds, making this a displacement/waterline
race rather than a planing one. Time will tell.
"We
had an interesting day today with electronic problems
continuing to plague the boat. We took on a lot
of water right into the nav/electronic station
which has impacted our ability to use our radio
effectively and has generally wreaked havoc throughout
the boat. I spent virtually all day with Bruce
driving and me crawling around the bilge trying
to diagnose the problems.
 |
As
The Cone of Silence owner/skipper James
Neill looks on, crew member Richard McMillan
checks the faulty jet drive door that forced
the Australian Super 30 to drop out of Transpac
2003. Neill praised the ANZDL shipping line
for its assistance in collecting the boat
for shipment back home. "They made
it really easy, a pleasure to deal with,"
Neill said. Photo by Rich Roberts
|
"The
wind is blowing right down the rhumb, our fishing
line is out and I am having a nice glass of red
wine. All and all, not too bad of a day. For now,
it's on to the south!"
Australian
James Neill's Super 30, The Cone of Silence, returned
to Long Beach around midnight Tuesday after dropping
out last Saturday. He was welcomed by Marina Shipyard
operator Bud Tretter with sandwiches and a case
of beer---not quite the luau welcome customary
at Waikiki but a great relief to family and friends
back home who hadn't heard a word for three days
and were in no mood to appreciate the boat's appropriate
name.
"We
are back safe and sound," Neill reported.
"We were unable to get through to Alaska
Eagle on bed check or today’s [roll call]
and would be grateful if you would pass on the
message. Thanks for having us in your race. We
hope to give it another try in 2005.
"For
the record, the reason we retired is the boat
suffered damage to its jet drive doors due to
operator error. In essence, we have a jet drive
which sucks water up through a door and then out
through another. Someone accidentally opened the
cleat that holds the doors shut. This went unnoticed
and eventually the water pressure coming in through
the half-opening blew the back door off its hinges.
"It
took some time to notice the damage and frankly
we couldn’t work out why we were so slow.
We tried to fix it in the water but just couldn’t.
It will take two minutes to fix on the crane.
"Lastly,
the radio earth [ground] was attached to the doors,
which might have been the reason we were unable
to reach Alaska Eagle today."
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
9 POSITION REPORTS
(Listed
in order of corrected handicap time; actual miles
to go noted)
RACING
DIVISION
Division
1 (started July 6)
1.
Pegasus 77 (Reichel/Pugh 77), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu,
1,455.
2. Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles,
1,447 miles to go.
Division
2 (started July 6)
1.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong,
1,523.
2. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell,
Lahaina, H.I., 1,561.
3. Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa
Cruz, Calif., 1,566.
4. Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin,
Marina del Rey, Calif., 1,596.
5. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach,
Calif., 1,539.
6. Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser,
Seattle, 1,582.
7. Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long
Beach, 1,558.
8. Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya,
Japan, 1,652.
9. Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne,
Australia, 1,727.
WD---Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver,
B.C., Canada.
Division
3 (started July 4)
1.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego, 1,223.
2. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San
Diego, 1,250.
3. Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables,
Fla., 1,265.
4. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco,
Mexico, 1,255.
5. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.,
1,270.
6. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana
Point, Calif., 1,301.
7. On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington,
Calif., 1,319.
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., 1,328.
2. Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San
Diego, 1,312.
3. Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego, 1,332.
4. Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif.,
1,349.
5. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina
del Rey, Calif., 1,326.
6. Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle,
1,372.
7. Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones,
Dana Point, Calif., 1,372.
8. Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia,
1,387.
9. Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran,
Northridge, Calif., 1,328.
10. Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu,
1,359 (DH).
11. Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo,
B.C., 1,428.
Division
5 (started July 1)
1.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington,
Del., 912.
2. Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San
Diego, 939.
3. There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice,
Long Beach, 892.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban
Miyares, San Diego, 917.
CAL
40 (started July 1)
1.
Illusion, Stan and Sally Honey, Palo Alto, 898.
2. Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu, 965.
3. Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif.,
975.
4. Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury, Laguna
Beach/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, Snowmass, Colo.,
967.
5. California Girl, Don and Betty Lessley, Point
Richmond, Calif., 962.
7. Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long
Beach, 976.
8. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif.,
988.
9. Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho, 1,007.
10. Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach,
Calif., 1,023.
ALOHA
DIVISION (started July 1)
Aloha
A
1.
Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman,
Calabasas, Calif., 795.
2. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos,
Calif., 842.
3. Marla R (Beneteau 50), Jon Richards, Mesa,
Ariz., 827.
4. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert,
Seal Beach, Calif., 899.
5. Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd,
San Diego, 834.
6. Lady Bleu II (Dynamique 62), Roger and Brenda
Kuske, San Diego, 757.
7. Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.,
930.
8. Beach Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette,
Calif., 990 (DH).
Aloha
B
1.
Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point
Richmond, Calif., 1,028.
2. Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina
del Rey, 1,167.
3. Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long
Beach, 1,122.
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
