Morning Glory did not go slower than double digits

by Rich Roberts on 29 Jul 2005 His Transpac peers listened in awe as Peter Pendleton, boat captain on Hasso Plattner's record-busting maxZ86 Morning Glory, told how despite the light winds in the Centennial Race this month, ‘We never had single digits . . . always 10 knots [of speed] or better.

‘Coming into Molokai, Hasso said to Russell Coutts, 'OK, you've got 10 minutes on the helm, but if you get the [boat's] record speed you're through.' About three minutes later we hit 29 knots and Hasso said, 'OK, that's it,' and took the wheel back.’

Plattner left town soon after last weekend's pre-dawn finish, so Pendleton represented the team at the Transpacific Yacht Race's annual post-race press conference for the eight class winners. Also attending were former record holder Roy Disney, who sailed his 15th and last Transpac; Urban Miyares, co-founder and crew member of Challenged America's second successful effort by sailors with disabilities on their Tripp 40, B'Quest, and Lloyd Sellinger, skipper of the race's oldest crew ever on his Cal 40, Bubala.

Sellinger, 72, prodded Disney, 75, about how he had just sailed his first Transpac while Disney, only three years older, was sailing his last, with plans just to go cruising with his wife Patty.

Patty stood up in the audience and said, ‘If [Sellinger] thinks my husband is going to stop racing every boat in every harbor we go into, he's mistaken. He'll never stop racing.’

Roger Sturgeon, who sailed his Transpac 52, Rosebud, to first place in Division II and overall, said, ‘I got so much sleep on the way that I'm afraid I'm going to wake up. The top speed I saw was 23 [knots] plus and on this boat it was very stable, not scary at all.’

Sturgeon also had words of wisdom for all Transpac competitors: ‘You don't necessarily win if you prepare, but you lose if you don't prepare.’

Transpac Commodore Jerry Montgomery introduced Scott Self as skipper of ‘the new hot boat in ocean racing, the Hobie 33.’

Self, who sailed Soap Opera with Nigel Brown to an amazing first to finish and overall in Division V, plus the doublehanded sub-class, said, ‘We're just Texas lake sailors. Our whole program budget was $20,000, [which is] less than most of you spend for a new spinnaker.

‘We're talking to the Hobie people about getting a fleet of Hobie 33s out to do the race [in 2007].’

Miyares, B'Quest's blind bowman, said, ‘By all accounts, it looked like an impossibility. Just getting to the starting line has been our success.’

But they were in first place in Division V after three days and finished fourth out of eight boats.

‘This is the Mount Everest for the disabled,’ Miyares said.

Disney offered farewell comments, saying, ‘We had some great races and some not-so-great races, but you always end up in Hawaii with the wonderful weather and hospitality. Thank you for being such good friends. I'll meet you at the dock.’