Look whats new in the Transpac

by Rich Roberts on 25 May 2001 Flashy graphics, cutting edge electronics, a refrigerator and a carbon
fiber wine rack, along with space-age speed -- those are some of the
special features on four of the world's latest ocean racing sailboats, plus
a couple of recycled warhorses, that will race to Hawaii in the 41st
Transpacific Yacht Race this summer.

Starts for various classes are scheduled June 25 and 30 and July 1.
Currently 37 boats are entered.

Two of the new boats are 'supersleds,' the first of a new generation in the
evolution of ultralight displacement boats (ULDBs) born of the mad dash for
Transpac's Barn Door trophy in the 70s. Both -- Bob McNulty's 74-foot
Chance and Philippe Kahn's 75-foot Pegasus -- were designed by Reichel/Pugh
of San Diego and built by McConaghy's in Australia.

Two others are the first of a new class of Transpac 52s - Jim and Nancy
Demetriades' light blue Yassou and David Janes' dark blue J-Bird III - that
will race boat for boat for their own first-to-finish prize.

Chance is dark blue, like its ULDB 70 predecessor of the same name that
swept honors in 1991: first to finish, first in class, first overall on
corrected time. It used the Newport-to-Ensenada race in April as its maiden
event, but the others will be racing for the first time.

Kahn's Pegasus is painted dark blue fading to white, stern to bow, and
carries technology befitting its owner, who is a software developer. It has
a port communication station and starboard computer linked to a central
navigation pod capable of running navigation and e-mail communication
simultaneously.

Did somebody say 'port'? The Demetriades can offer port, Chablis and
Chardonnay. Yassou, has room for 10 wine bottles in the rack Bruce Nelson
included in the interior design.

Prefer it chilled? Alan Andrews designed a refrigerator into Janes' J-Bird
III -- an accessory not seen on most racing boats these days when the
weight of fresh food and other luxuries is considered the enemy of speed.
Most boats opt for freeze-dried grub. 'Otherwise,' Andrews said, 'the boat
is fairly Spartan.'

Andrews also worked over Bob Lane's well-traveled Medicine Man, which at 56
feet was by far the smallest of six boats that beat Merlin's 20-year-old
record in 1997. Now it's 61 feet and eager to run with the big dogs again.

Finally, there is Merlin - now Merlin's Reata, re-christened by its new
Texas owner, Al Micallef, and sporting a striking paint job surrounding a
new deck, cabin top and interior designed and fabricated by Leif Beiley of
Bravura Yachts. Only Merlin's hull - 68 1/2 feet long with only 12 feet of
beam -- remains from Bill Lee's original breakthrough design. The
star-studded graphics, created by Gary Miltimore of Newport Beach, feature
the legendary wizard twirling a lariat.

Merlin was given a canting keel bulb in 1997, a new rig in '98 and now
Beiley has added a daggerboard between the keel and rudder to improve
pointing ability. Object: 'To lay the west end of Catalina [Island],'
Beiley said. Off the wind, the board comes up.

'My numbers tell me it's going to be faster than the boat has ever been,'
said Beiley, who has joined the crew. 'If the wind is straight down the
tailpipe, we could be right there with everybody.'

Lee wholeheartedly approves of the new look and modifications. 'We launched
that boat in February of 1977, so she will be a quarter-century old next
year,' he said. 'More people have had fun going fast on Merlin than on any
other boat.'

Chance and Pegasus were the first to be launched. The latter is doing
shakedown trials at Santa Cruz. The others, including Yassou, which arrived
by cross-country truck from Eric Goetz Custom Boats in Rhode Island, were
getting their final rigging at yards around Southern California.

Photos of some of the new boats and Merlin's Reata may be seen on the
Transpac web site (www.transpacificyc.org).