Wind at last...Door opens a crack for a Transpac Record

by Rich Roberts on 13 Jul 2003 Now, this is Transpac. Steady northeast trade winds of 14 to 18 knots have boosted the fleet of 54 boats in the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race to their top speeds so far, including near-record one-day runs Friday into Saturday by Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 77 and Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket.

Bill Turpin's Alta Vita from San Francisco (shown before July 4 start) leads Karl Kwok's Beau Geste by only six miles in a battle of Transpac 52s in Division 2.

Both averaged 14.5 knots as Pegasus 77 sailed 349 miles and Pyewacket 347 in the 24 hours preceding Saturday morning's daily roll call. The record is 353 miles by Doug Baker's Andrews 70 Magnitude when it finished a close second to Pyewacket's record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds in 1999.

Though Pegasus 77's lead is now 60 miles, it still has 636 miles to go in the 2,225-nautical mile race and would need to finish by 9:41:27 p.m. Sunday Hawaii time (12:41:27 a.m. official Pacific race time Monday) to beat Pyewacket's record.

'The course record can only be achieved at this point if the trades kicked up to a steady 25 knots,' Kahn said. 'That's very unlikely.'

Behind them, there's an intense contest between two Transpac 52s: Bill Turpin's Alta Vita, San Francisco, and Karl Kwok's Beau Geste, Hong Kong. Beau Geste, with Gavin Brady and other New Zealand stars on board, romped 305 miles on the day to close to within six miles of Alta Vita.

Bob Lane's oft-modified Andrews 61 Medicine Man, Long Beach, is between them, boat for boat.

At the same time, Alta Vita closed its corrected handicap time gap behind Stan and Sally Honey's Cal 40, Illusion, to less than an hour.

Kahn, also charting that contest, noted: 'Illusion made a little incursion north that they seem to have later regretted. They have now gone back south for more breeze and sailed a few extra miles in the process.'

However, handicaps and head starts aside, the first boat to finish still may be the Aloha class pacesetter, Lady Bleu II, Roger and Brenda Kuske's Dynamique 62 from San Diego, that started July 1, three days ahead of Divisions 3 and 4 and five ahead of Divisions 1 and 2.

All boats reported Saturday, although Barking Spider, David Kory's Catalina 38 from Point Richmond, Calif. competing in Aloha B class, has radio problems and is checking in by e-mail to Honolulu communications officer Walt Niemczura, who forwards the position report to the communications vessel Alaska Eagle.

'We've been pulling our hair out in worry and frustration,' Kory e-mailed, 'and knowing that someone knows our problem helps a lot.'

Meanwhile, the first Transpac crew reached Hawaii, as Honolulu reporter Bobbie Jennings told her radio audience.

'That woke a few people up,' she said. 'The crew was from The Cone of Silence, and the Aussies were on their way home (by plane, of course). They stopped in at the club to thank everyone for their help and support . . . even though they didn't finish the race.

'The story goes back to the day they retired. I was sitting at home when the phone rang. It was a bad connection and it took much repeating before I heard the word 'Transpac.' 'Oh,' says I, 'you must be looking for some information on the race.' 'NO,' he said---then more static and hissing. I heard 'The Cone of Silence' and recognized the Aussie accent. 'Oh,' says I, 'you are calling from Australia and wanting to know how your boat is doing.' 'NO!', he yells. We ARE The Cone of Silence!'

'We finally established our identities and I got the story. They tried to contact Alaska Eagle or anyone in L.A. without success. They happened to have the WYC phone number so they tried there. The office staff suggested they call me.

'I never thought I would hear from them again, much less see them, but by golly, there they were at our yacht club last night. We hugged and cheered and shared some mai tais---almost as good a party as they would have received had their boat arrived at Transpac Row.'

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.

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

JULY 12 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, 636 miles to go.

2. Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles, 696.

Division 2 (started July 6)

1. Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa Cruz, Calif., 806.

2. Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong, 812.

3. Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Marina del Rey, Calif., 919.

4. Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, Lahaina, H.I., 900.

5. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, Calif., 808.

6. Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser, Seattle, 896.

7. Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan, 994.

8. Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schultz, Long Beach, 951.

9. Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne, Australia, 1,062.

WD---Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Division 3 (started July 4)

1. Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego, 607.

2. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore., 623.

3. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego, 655.

4. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico, 634.

5. Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables, Fla., 719.

6. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif., 734.

7. On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington, Calif., 848.

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, 745.

2. Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego, 784.

3. Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen, Glendora, Calif., 816.

4. Cool Man Cool2! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones, Dana Point, Calif., 837.

5. Tera's XL (ILC 40), Antony and Daniel Barran, Northridge, Calif., 765.

6. Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu, 817 (DH).

7. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina del Rey, Calif., 789.

8. Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle, 865.

9. Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia, 893.

10. Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif., 872.

11. Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C., 927.

Division 5 (started July 1)

1. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington, Del., 430.

2. There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice, Long Beach, 346.

3. Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San Diego, 450.

4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban Miyares, San Diego, 464.

CAL 40 (started July 1)

1. Illusion, Stan and Sally Honey, Palo Alto, 407.

3. Ranger, William Partridge, Richmond, Calif., 506.

3. Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu, 507.

4. Ralphie, Jill and Taylor Pillsbury, Laguna Beach/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, Snowmass, Colo., 505.

5. John B, Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif., 531.

6. Flying Cloud, Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long Beach, 529.

7. Celebrity, Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach, Calif., 545.

8. California Girl, Don and Betty Lessley, Point Richmond, Calif., 525.

9. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif., 537.

10. Redhead, Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho, 623.

ALOHA DIVISION (started July 1)

Aloha A

1. Between the Sheets (Sun Odyssey 52.2), Ross Pearlman, Calabasas, Calif., 304.

2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif., 409.

3. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif., 363.

4. Beautiful Day (Beneteau 47.7), William Boyd