42nd TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
Transpacific Yacht Club
www.transpacificyc.org

July 17, 2003 For Immediate Release

A VARIETY OF VIEWS, SEEN AND UNSEEN, ON TRANSPAC 2003

HONOLULU---The last of 57 starters finished the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race Thursday a few hours before winners of seven classes reflected on their performances, alongside an inspiring blind competitor from the first disabled crew in the race's 97-year history.

Winning Transpac skippers in seven of the eight divisions: front, from left, Joshua Ross, B'Quest; Ross Pearlman, Between the Sheets; Paul Edwards, Wind Dancer; Sally Honey, Illusion; rear, from left, Chris Busch, Wild Thing; Bill Turpin, Alta Vita; David Kory, Barking Spider; Stan Honey, Illusion. Philippe Kahn, Pegasus 77, was not present. Photo by Rich Roberts

Urban Miyares, who co-founded Challenged America of San Diego 12 years ago with Transpac as the ultimate goal, was a watch captain on B'Quest, a Tripp 40 sailed by five disabled sailors with an able-bodied skipper, Joshua Ross.

"If he stays with us he'll be disabled soon enough," Miyares told guests at a media conference at the Waikiki Yacht Club.

More seriously, Miyares, who was blinded by Agent Orange in Vietnam, said, "What I'm trying to point out is the difference between being disabled and being sick. We're trying to manage our disabilities so as to function normally."

An example, Miyares said, was how the rest of the crew, including paraplegics and a one-armed veteran, described the sights along the 2,225-nautical mile route to him---sunrises, sunsets, wildlife, a full moon at sea, a shooting star and more.

"They're my eyes," he said. "I'm their legs. The visions I get are more picturesque than what you might see---and I definitely have an advantage at night."

Pipe Dream, a Choate/Feo 37 sailed by John Davis of Long Beach, finished well before sunrise Thursday at 3:32 a.m., the 54th boat to cross the landmark finish line off the dormant volcano called Diamond Head. The boat's elapsed time was 15 days 17 hours 32 minutes 39 seconds, about twice as much time as Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 77 needed to claim the Barn Door award for the fastest elapsed time. Three others returned to the mainland with breakdowns early in the race.

The awards dinner will be Friday night at the Renaissance Ilikai Hotel. The final results below reflect post-race penalties imposed by the race committee for failures to check in for scheduled position reports. The penalties affected no leaders in division standings, although David Kory's Barking Spider, the winner in Aloha B class, was penalized two hours because he failed to report four times because of a malfunctioning radio. Each incident adds 30-minutes to a boat's recorded time.

Bill Turpin, whose Transpac 52, Alta Vita, from San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club scored first on overall corrected handicap time, said he achieved all he had hoped for.

"I don't have the means to compete for the Barn Door," he said. "I went into this race with the idea of winning the corrected time."

Tom Garnier, who sailed Division 3 winner Reinrag2 with four other family members in a crew of six, said that when the boat sprang a leak the first night, his nephew Kevin Garnier noted, "This water is too cold, so let's head south. If we're going to sink, let's sink in warm water."

Urban Miyares, the blind co-founder of Challenged America and a watch captain on B'Quest, addresses the Transpac press conference with part of the crew in foreground. Photo by Rich Roberts

Chris Busch, sailing Wild Thing from San Diego to first place in Division 4, offered praise for the performance of another 1D35, Two Guys On the Edge, campaigned doublehanded by Honolulu's Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess.

"I wouldn't want to go doublehanded," Busch said. "That's too much to take on. And yet they went as well as we did some of the time. That's unbelievable."

Paul Edwards sailed a Catalina 42, Wind Dancer, representing the Ventura
(Calif.) Yacht Club. "This was a group of six people who'd been sailing together for 10 years, but we were all rookies in Transpac," he said. "We tried to read all the articles---and followed Illusion."

The latter, a Cal 40, was Stan and Sally Honey's entry among 10 boats---Transpac's first class ever for as single type of boat.

"It's much more work than sailing on Pyewacket," said Honey, who in past Transpacs has navigated Roy E. Disney's maxi sled to two Barn Doors and the current elapsed time record. "But I hope the message that gets communicated to the sailing community is that you can take a good old boat with a good old crew and be competitive in the race."

Illusion led the race on handicap time until the last two days when stronger winds favored the larger ultralight boats.

Ross Pearlman of the Del Rey Yacht Club has been racing only two years but sailed Between the Sheets, a Sun Odyssey 52.2, to first place in Aloha A class. "It's been enjoyable finding out how expensive this sport can be," he said.

The final word was from Kory of Point Richmond, Calif., whose stock Catalina 38, Barking Spider, won Aloha B.

"I'm walking away a big cheerleader for this event," Kory said. "People with any kind of boat can do it."

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.

Boats' handicap ratings may be checked at www.transpacificyc.org/03/tp03-ratings.html

Rod Skellet (center), skipper of Australia's 31-foot Krakatoa, watches as a crew member gets the customary lei greeting after finishing Transpac 2003. Skellet, whose boat finished sixth in Division 4, said, "She's the toughest little boat out there, but she's built for Sydney-Hobart, not for Transpac." Photo by Rich Roberts

POSITION REPORTS AT 8 A.M. PDT JULY 17

(All 57 starters finished or accounted for; 3 dropped out after starting; listings in order of corrected handicap time)

RACING DIVISION

Division 1 (started July 6)

1. Pegasus 77 (Reichel/Pugh 77), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu, elapsed time 7 days 16 hours 31 minutes 17 seconds/corrected time 7:16:31:17.
2. Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles, ET 7:20:48:55/CT 7:20:48:55.

Division 2 (started July 6)

1. Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa Cruz, Calif., ET 8:17:01:25/CT 7:12:20:29.
2. Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong, ET 8:16:13:49/CT 7:15:56:42.
3. Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Marina del Rey, Calif., ET 9:08:26:10/CT 7:19:42:05.
4. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, Lahaina, H.I., 9:04:07:43/CT 7:23:02:48.
5. Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser, Seattle, 9:03:58:43/CT 8:05:34:40.
6. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, Calif., ET 8:15:42:47/CT 8:06:13:00.
7. Bengal II (Ohashi 52),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan, ET 9:23:51:27/CT 8:13:41:51.
8. Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long Beach, ET 9:08:56:37/CT 8:19:03:15.
9. Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne, Australia, 10:09:21:09/CT 8:20:32:21.
WD---Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Division 3 (started July 4)

1. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore., ET 10:06:28:38/CT
7:20:48:34.
2. Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego, ET 10:11:37:08/CT 7:23:46:39.
3. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego, ET 10:16:00:52/CT
8:05:01:05.
4. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico, ET 10:12:09:47/CT
8:06:15:34.
5. Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables, Fla., ET
11:05:32:35/CT 8:14:36:57.
6. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif., ET
11:02:21:48/CT 8:16:13:58.
7. On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington, Calif., ET
11:12:49:43/CT 9:04:54:38.
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, ET 11:06:23:14/CT 7:21:31:35.
2. Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego, ET 11:12:16:43/CT 8:03:24:33.
3. Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran, Northridge, Calif., ET 11:06:16:01/CT 8:05:59:34.
4. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina del Rey, Calif., ET 11:10:31:00/CT 8:06:50:18.
5. Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen, Glendora, Calif., ET 11:21:57:34/CT 8:07:43:06.
6. Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia, ET 12:04:59:42/CT 8:08:06:47.
7. Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle, ET 12:00:56:22/CT 8:08:37:47.
8. Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu, ET 11:18:25:10/CT 8:08:51:37 (DH).
9. Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones, Dana Point, Calif., ET 12:01:11:34/CT 8:09:33:42.
10. Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif., ET 12:04:04:08/CT 8:13:45:09. 11. Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C., ET 12:04:02:45/CT 8:14:16:
11.

Division 5 (started July 1)

1. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington, Del., ET 13:01:34:12/CT 8:08:45:49.
2. There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice, Long Beach, ET 12:13:01:20/CT 8:12:06:22.
3. Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San Diego, ET 13:06:19:31/CT 8:17:34:42.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban Miyares, San Diego, ET 13:05:12:19/CT 9:01:37:29.

CAL 40 (started July 1)

1. Illusion, Stan and Sally Honey, Palo Alto, ET 13:00:21:05/CT 7:16:02:04.
2. Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif., ET 13:13:51:21/CT 8:04:17:41.
3. Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu, ET 13:13:39:49/CT 8:04:19:30.
4. Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury, Laguna Beach/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, Snowmass, Colo., ET 13:15:01:10/CT 8:10:15:54.
5. Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long Beach, ET 13:16:09:57/CT 8:10:54:27.
6. California Girl, Don and Betty Lessley, Point Richmond, Calif., ET 13:16:28:36/CT 8:13:15:07.
7. Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach, Calif., ET 13:22:03:33/CT 8:13:27:59.
8. John B, Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif., ET 13:21:11:34/CT 8:14:04:23.
9. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif., ET 13:21:46:55/CT
8:16:05:28.
10. Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho, ET 14:10:09:56/CT 9:03:06:54.

ALOHA DIVISION (started July 1)

Aloha A

1. Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman, Calabasas, Calif., ET 12:08:07:10/CT 8:15:07:10.
2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif., ET 13:02:24:59/CT 8:21:56:32.
3. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif., ET 12:14:29:40/CT 8:22:00:16.
4. Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd, San Diego, ET 12:15:00:28/CT 9:01:40:16.
5. Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C., ET 13:04:18:33/CT 9:02:56:51.
6. Marla R (Beneteau 50), Jon Richards, Mesa, Ariz., ET 12:19:41:25/CT 9:06:35:25.
7. Lady Bleu II (Dynamique 62), Roger and Brenda Kuske, San Diego, ET 12:01:54:15/ CT 9:12:13:40.
8. Beach Music (Tayana 52), Kirby Coryell, Lafayette, Calif., ET 13:21:10:47/CT 9:19:44:22. (DH).

Aloha B

1. Barking Spider (Catalina 38), David Kory, Point Richmond, Calif., ET 14:06:57:58/CT 8:19:24:02.
2. Sea Dancer (Ericson 35), Alvin Wheatman, Marina del Rey, ET 15:15:03:30/CT 9:04:54:45.
3. Pipe Dream (Choate/Feo 37), John Davis, Long Beach, ET 15:17:32:39/CT 10:19:31:26.

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