42nd
TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
Starts July 1-4-6, 2003
www.transpacificyc.org
July 10, 2003 For Immediate Release
OUT OF WIND, OUT OF PATIENCE,
BUT THERE'S HOPE AHEAD
LOS
ANGELES---The slowest elapsed time ever in 41
previous Transpacific Yacht Races since 1906 was
five minutes shy of 24 days by William Merry's
Viking Childe, a 42-foot ketch from Long Beach,
Calif., in 1939.
 |
Transpac's
balloons have burst for hopes of a fast
race, but John Davis of Long Beach, shown
driving his Choate/Feo 37, Pipe Dream, before
his Aloha B class start July 1, is due for
a break after consecutive days of 56 and
65 miles. Photo by Rich Roberts
|
That
was the only Transpac to start in San Francisco
and actually was 140 miles shorter than the 2,225-nautical
mile course from Los Angeles in play since 1941.
For that route, the longest race was a bit over
21 1/2 days by Irving H. Baltzer and Verne Pemberton's
Blue Jacket, a 50-foot ketch from the Aeolian
Yacht Club, in 1953.
One
boat reported on the daily roll call that year:
"Out of wind, out of patience, out of beer."
The
current race isn't that bad yet, but the foregoing
is mentioned because competitors are starting
to relate to those painful passages of the past.
There was this report Thursday from the veteran
Wendy Siegal's Cal 40, Willow Wind:
"Early
morning, just at daybreak. Supposedly, there is
more wind to the south of us, but as of now we
are wallowing in 2-3 knots of wind. The newbies
on board don't believe in 20-30 knot trade winds
and, quite frankly, right now, I'm wondering if
it is all a myth. This is the second light air
Transpac in a row and this year is much worse
than last year. The wind predictions have not
been accurate at all. When we looked at the surface
analysis yesterday, we SHOULD have been in 20-knot
trades."
Typically,
Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 77 sailed only 249 miles
but stretched its lead over Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket---now
directly behind---from 8 to 43 miles. Pipe Dream,
a Choate/Feo 37 being coaxed along by John Davis
of Long Beach in the Aloha B class, has made only
56 and 65 miles the last two days of what looks
like an 18-day trip.
"The
24-hour runs are enough to make a grown man cry,"
communications officer Grant Baldwin commented
from Alaska Eagle.
Only
eight of the 54 boats made 200 miles---a bad day
by normal standards. Four are now projected to
reach the Diamond Head finish line as late as
July 18, the day of the awards dinner. No boats
are projected to finish before Monday, July 14.
Through
it all, Stan Honey, sailing his and wife Sally's
Cal 40, Illusion, from Palo Alto, with veterans
Skip Allan and Jon Andron as crew, has demonstrated
his usual Transpac navigational wizardry---heretofore
beneficial to Pyewacket---by putting this much
slower boat in the right places at the right times.
With 172 miles from Wednesday to Thursday, Illusion
had a better day than most of the boats in Division
4 and below and now lead the next Cal 40 by 68
miles.
In
his daily commentary from Pegasus 77, Kahn said,
"Our strategy [against Pyewacket] has worked
better than expected," and he also took time
to question Honey's strategy and check out the
Transpac 52 duel as Bill Turpin's Alta Vita made
a move on Karl Kwok's Beau Geste.
"Beau
Geste didn't play the shifts as we did in order
to dive south and cover Alta Vita," Kahn
said. "Stan Honey is heading north in his
Cal 40. It seems that he is trying to call an
early layline to set himself up for port approach
to Honolulu. That's an interesting move given
the present weather forecasts."
As
for the forecasts, there may be hope beyond the
horizon. Phil Mislinski, a freelance photographer
on Oahu, told the Transpac press office, "The
trades have been blowing really hard here---notes
have been flying off my refrigerator, magnets
and all---and the local forecasts say it's going
to blow through Sunday. There's a significant
chop and whitecaps on the water." Baldwin
said, "It's starting to smell like the tropics,
[and] the forecast from Commanders Weather indicates
stronger winds with east-northeast trades improving
over the next 48 hours."
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
10 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,
1,224 miles to go.
2. Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles,
1,267.
Division
2 (started July 6)
1.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong,
1,330.
2. Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa
Cruz, Calif., 1,349.
3. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell,
Lahaina, H.I., 1,376.
4. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach,
Calif., 1,344.
5. Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser,
Seattle, 1,392.
6. Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin,
Marina del Rey, Calif., 1,445.
7. Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long
Beach, 1,381.
8. Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya,
Japan, 1,461.
9. Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne,
Australia, 1,529.
WD---Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver,
B.C., Canada.
Division
3 (started July 4)
1.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego, 1,047.
2. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San
Diego, 1,066.
3. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.,
1,066.
4. Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables,
Fla., 1,108.
5. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco,
Mexico, 1,071.
6. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana
Point, Calif., 1,152.
7. On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington,
Calif., 1,185.
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.
Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San Diego,
1,145.
2. Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen,
Glendora, Calif., 1,175.
3. Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle,
1,204.
4. Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego, 1,180.
5. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina
del Rey, Calif., 1,169.
6. Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones,
Dana Point, Calif., 1,212.
7. Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran,
Northridge, Calif., 1,169.
8. Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu,
1,210 (DH).
9. Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia,
1,262.
10. Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif.,
1,257.
11. Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo,
B.C., 1,313.
Division
5 (started July 1)
1.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington,
Del., 751.
2. There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice,
Long Beach, 704.
3. Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San
Diego, 783.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban
Miyares, San Diego, 769.
CAL
40 (started July 1)
1.
Illusion, Stan and Sally Honey, Palo Alto, 740.
2. Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu, 808.
3. Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif.,
818.
4. Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury, Laguna
Beach/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, Snowmass, Colo.,
815.
5. John B, Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif.,
833.
6. California Girl, Don and Betty Lessley, Point
Richmond, Calif., 823.
7. Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long
Beach, 841.
8. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif.,
849.
9. Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach,
Calif., 872.
10. Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho, 912.
ALOHA
DIVISION (started July 1)
Aloha
A
1.
Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman,
Calabasas, Calif., 653.
2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert,
Seal Beach, Calif., 722.
3. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos,
Calif., 705.
4. Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd,
San Diego, 704.
5. Marla R (Beneteau 50), Jon Richards, Mesa,
Ariz., 715.
6. Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.,
782.
7. Lady Bleu II (Dynamique 62), Roger and Brenda
Kuske, San Diego, 645.
8. Beach Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette,
Calif., 842 (DH).
Aloha
B
1.
Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point
Richmond, Calif., 883.
2. Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina
del Rey, 1,037.
3. Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long
Beach, 1,062.
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
