2015 Transpac preview

by Transpacific Yacht Club on 13 Jul 2015 2015 Transpac – The first of four separate waves of 61 entries will embark tomorrow for the start of the 2015 Transpac. This is the 48th edition of this classic ocean race that stretches 2225 miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu, and is organized biennially by the Transpacific Yacht Club.

After leaving Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach to the waves and cheers of spectators and well-wishers, tomorrow 22 entries of divisions seven and eight will proceed west to the starting line set near the Point Fermin Buoy in San Pedro. After the starting gun fires at 1300 Pacific Daylight Time, this largest of the starting groups will head west towards the first mark of the course: the West End of Catalina Island, which must be left to their port side.

There are no other marks of the course to honor until finishing at the Diamond Head Buoy east of Waikiki on the south coast of Oahu, 2225 miles to the west.

The three other remaining starts will be held at 1:00 PM PDT on Thursday (Divisions four, five and six), at 12:30 PM (Multihulls) and at 1:00 PM (Divisions one, two and three) on Saturday July 18.

This is one of the world's oldest and longest biennial ocean races, first sailed in 1906 from an idea inspired by Hawaii's King Kalakaua in the late 19th century. The overall winner of the race in corrected time wins the trophy named for him: the prestigious King Kalakaua Cup. In the last edition of this race in 2013 the overall winner was from division eight: the classic S&S-designed 52-foot ketch Dorade, who repeated her first win of the same trophy in 1936.

This race thus has a unique combination of traits: a long history, a spirit of adventure, an intense ocean racing challenge in the North Pacific, and infused with the legendary Aloha spirit of Hawaiian culture and hospitality.

This year the oldest boat is also the largest in the start tomorrow, the division eight entry Martha, a Crowninshield-designed 84-foot schooner built in wood in 1907 by W.F. Stone in San Francisco. Skippered by Robert d'Arcy, Martha is based in Port Townsend, Washington, where as a sail training vessel she is the oldest working sailboat in the state, as well as the oldest living flagship of the San Francisco YC. She will have a crew of eleven for Transpac.

Martha is not the only wooden boat in the race: the division eight entry Westward, Sam and Willie Bell's Lapworth 50, was built in wood in 1962 at Cheoy Lee in Hong Kong, and the division seven entry Sweet Okole, Dean Treadway's Farr design from Kentfield, CA, was built in Hawaii in 1976 in cold-molded cedar and Koa wood.

Sweet Okole won Transpac overall in 1981 and placed second in 1985.

The smallest entry this year is a sportboat racing in division seven, the Feet 30 Fortissimo 11, built in Italy by BS Boats in Brescia to a design by Maurizio Cossutti and owned by Yasuto Fuda of Yamaguchi, Japan. Fortissimo is one of three entries from Japan in this race, with the others being Yasuhide Kobayashi's J/120 Julian from Minatoku and Akimitsu Harai's S-40 Crescent III from Yokohama, who is racing in division six.

Where space and weight is at a premium for this mostly downwind race, Fortissimo is one of four entries to be sailed by a crew of only four. The three others are also in division seven: Alex Farrel's 1D35 Alpha Puppy from Santa Clara, CA; Steve Campo's Hobie 33 Bazinga from Scottsdale, AZ; and Ed Sanford's J/105 Creative from Poway, CA.

In this starting group tomorrow there are five entries returning from the last race in 2013: Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52 Between the Sheets from Newport Beach, CA; Ron Simonson's Jeanneau SO44 Sleeper from Redondo Beach, CA; Alpha Puppy; Creative; and Westward. Sleeper finished second in division eight in 2013 to Dorade, and Westward finished third.

All boats entered in Transpac are required to make daily position reports by email or Sat Phone by 7:00 AM PDT each day for their 6:00 AM positions. Sea, sky and wind conditions are requested to be reported as well. All boats will have GPS trackers provided by Yellowbrick, where the boat's position, speed and heading will be continuously reported on the Yellowbrick website, with a six hour delay in the reports viewable here

Upcoming events on the Transpac calendar:

July 13: First Transpac Start: Divisions seven and eight, 1300 PDT

July 16: Second Transpac Start: Divisions four, five and six, 1300 PDT

July 18: Third Transpac Start: Multihulls (1230 PDT), Divisions one, two and three (1300 PDT)

July 29: Mt Gay Rum Party, Waikiki YC

July 30: Hawaii YC Bacardi Rum Okole Maluna Party

July 31: Honolulu Awards Ceremony - The Modern Hotel

Aug 1st: Kaneohe YC Party and Plywood Cup Regatta

Transpac 2015 - Division Breaks, Start Dates, and ToT Ratings

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 0	18th	Lending Club 2	VPLP 105 Maxi Trimaran	1.4580 ++
		Phaedo	Gunboat 66	1.0050++
		Extreme H2O	Gunboat 66	1.0820++
		Chim Chim	Gunboat 62	1.0000++

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 1	18th	RAGAMUFFIN 100	SUPER MAXI	1.0839
		WILD OATS XI	SUPER MAXI	1.0126
		RIO 100	Bakewell-White	0.9422

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 2	18th	WIZARD	R/P 74	0.8313
		BAD PAK	STP65	0.8138
		ZEPHYRUS	R/P 78	0.7446
		PELIGROSO	KERNAN 68	0.7348
		PATCHES	T/PAC 52	0.7013
		DESTROYER	T/PAC 52	0.6812
		BOLT	T/PAC 52	0.6706

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 3	18th	OEX	SNC70 (MOD)	0.6877
		PYEWACKET	AND 70	0.6625
		HOLUA	SNC70	0.6591
		MAVERICK	SNC70 (MOD)	0.6612
		BUONA SERA	SNC70 (MOD)	0.6590
		GRAND ILLUSION	SNC70	0.6526

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 4	16th	CRUSADER35	ELLIOT 35 SS	0.6404
		BRETWALDA 3	Rogers 46	0.6300
		VARUNA	Rogers 46	0.6220
		HAMACHI	J125	0.5840
		RESOLUTE	J125	0.5751
		TIMESHAVER	J125 (MOD)	0.5787

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 5	16th	BODACIOUS IV	SNC52	0.6054
		RELENTLESS	SNC52	0.5948
		J WORLD HULA GIRL	SNC50	0.5901
		LUCKY DUCK	SNC52	0.5869
		ALLURE	SNC50	0.5854
		HORIZON	SNC50	0.5834
		ADRENALIN LLC	SNC50 III	0.5817
		PARANOIA	SNC52	0.5810
		HOKAHEY	SNC52 (MOD)	0.5776

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 6	16th	CAZAN	DK46	0.5774
		SECOND WIND	SWN651	0.5676
		PIPE DREAM	Davidson 50	0.5661
		CRESCENT III	S-40MOD	0.5656

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 7	13th	Alpha Puppy	ID 35	0.5517
		Bazinga	Hobie 33	0.4938
		Celerity	Santa Cruz 37	0.5534
		Creative	J105	0.4998
		Fortissimo II	Feet 30	0.5263
		Julian	J120	0.5213
		Kokopelli	Santa Cruz 40	0.5189
		Patriot	J442 (Mod)	0.5273
		Picante	J133	0.5479
		Precepts II	First 40 DK-T	0.5393
		Sweet Okole	Farr 36 Custom	0.4808

	Start Date	Yacht Name	Type	ToT Rating
Div 8	13th	Andiamo	J46	0.5517
		Avanti	Jeanneau 54 DS	0.5381
		Between The Sheets	Jeanneau 52 (Mod)	0.5133
		Exit Strategy	Jeanneau SO 45.2	0.5063
		Majorie	BBY Custom	0.5285
		Martha	Schooner	0.5282
		Sleeper	Jeanneau SO 44	0.4797
		Transformer	Beneteau 523 SD OCN	0.5497
		Vivacia	Jeanneau 49 DS	0.5143
		Westward	Lapworth 50	0.4893
		Wind Dancer	Catalina 42	0.4794