Phaedo is racing for redemption in this year’s Transpacific Yacht Race

by Rachel Jaspersen on 19 Jul 2015 The wait is finally over for Lloyd Thornburg and the crew of his bright orange Gunboat 66 Phaedo who’ve been dying to return to the Transpac ever since they suffered a gut-wrenching dismasting during the 2013 edition of this classic offshore race. “We definitely feel like we have some unfinished business here,” said Thornburg before the start today. “But, we’re real happy with the work we’ve done on Phaedo, and we think we’ll be even faster than we were before.”

And that’s a good thing because this year’s race is stacked with competition. In fact, now that the maxi trimaran Lending Club has opted out of the race to go for the course record in a different weather pattern before today’s start, so the multihull division is now comprised of Thornburg’s Phaedo, Pat Benz’s Gunboat 66 Extreme H2O, and John Gallager’s Gunboat 62 Chim Chim. Phaedo will also be competing for bragging rights with sleds like Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin 100, Manouch Moshayedi’s Rio 100, and Roy P. Disney/Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats XI that are also starting today.

Being aboard his bright-orange catamaran for the start of the Transpac is also particularly special for Thornburg and the crew who set the elapsed-time record in Transatlantic Race aboard his chrome and lime green MOD 70 trimaran Phaedo3 less than a week ago in the UK. He then rushed to LA for the Transpac start so he can complete a rare owner/driver offshore double by competing in his own boats in the Transatlantic race and the Transpac in the same year. And if all goes well, Thornburg is hoping to add the Transpac to his growing list of wins.

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