Transpac tallies 77 entries, the second most ever

by Rich Roberts on 15 Jun 2007 New fast racing machines, some intriguing doublehanded hopefuls and a pair of youthful crews are among 77 boats on the final entry list for the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

With entries now closed, there are six boats from four foreign countries---three from Japan. The others represent nine states, including six that will be racing home to Hawaii. Two are multihulls. Ragtime, with its latest owner, Chris Welsh, will be starting its 14th Transpac, a record heretofore shared with former record holder Merlin, which is not sailing this time. Ragtime was first to finish in 1973 and 1975.

If all 77 make it to the starting line off Point Fermin in San Pedro July 9, 12 and 15 it will be the second largest fleet in Transpac's 101 years, topping the 75 in the previous race two years ago. The record is 80 in 1979.

Two former rivals are going in new modes. Roy E. Disney will be sailing his 16th Transpac on the radically modified Pyewacket, while Philippe Kahn, who won consecutive first-to-finish Barn Doors in 2001 and 2003 but couldn't beat the record Disney set in 1999, will be racing doublehanded on his latest Pegasus, an Open 50.

Disney announced his retirement from racing after finishing 2 1/2 hours behind Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory in a record-setting battle of maxZ86s in 2005. He then donated his boat to the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship. For a while he was occupied with starting up his Morning Light project that will have a team of sailors ages 18 to 23 sailing Kahn's old Transpac 52, Pegasus, and---although they claim to care little about this part---along the way creating a film documentary to be released next year.

But as the '05 setback gnawed at him, Disney changed his mind and, at 77, has chartered Pyewacket from the school to get the record back.

He isn't taking any chances on failing. Major modifications have transformed the maxZ86 into a 94-foot thoroughbred with rear deck wings, reminiscent of the 90-foot New Zealand America's Cup boat that was one-upped by Dennis Conner's catamaran in 1988.

Kahn has gone in another direction, with a crew of one: Canadian Richard Clarke, a longtime Pegasus Racing team member, three-time Olympian and 2004 world champion Finn sailor who has taught the software entrepreneur from Santa Cruz how to sail the Olympic singlehanded dinghy. They are one of five doublehanded entries.

'This will be my 10th time across the Pacific,' Kahn said. 'I wanted to do something really challenging, meaningful. The sailing will be challenging. It will include celestial navigation (mandatory), and 50 per cent of the work on board. It is a personal Everest, and that is something worth doing.'

Kahn bought an Open 50---a design conceived for fast single- and doublehanded ocean racing---and, like Disney, ran it through a boatyard to bring it up to speed.

'Because she had suffered a lot of abuse, we had to refit her,' Kahn said this week. 'We hope to sail her for the first time next week. Are we cutting it close or what? We are doing justice to a great Owen Clarke design and we have a small chance at the doublehanded Transpac record. That's all very exciting. I always learn so much sailing with Richard that I couldn't think of a better choice [as crew].'

New boats in their first Transpac will include Jim Madden's Reichel/Pugh 66, Stark Raving Mad III; Roger Sturgeon's STP 65, Rosebud, and Lew Beery's seventh It's OK, this one an Andrews 50 in partnership with Andy Rose and Tom Purcell.

But the best proven long-range commodity among all of the above will be Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, an Andrews 80 that was the smallest and fourth of five boats that broke Pyewacket's record in 2005. More recently Mag 80 obliterated the 22-year-old record in the windy Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta race by 31 hours and two months later won a light-air overnight Newport Beach to Ensenada race, with Stark Raving Mad III close behind.

Stark Raving Mad III comes with a canting keel, which is about all It's OK lacks with its fridge, microwave and other amenities. Sturgeon's former Rosebud, a TP52, was the overall winner in 2005, and the new version showed it would be competitive by beating Mag 80 and Stark Raving Mad III overall in last weekend's First Team inshore regatta around the buoys at Newport Beach.

Alongside Kahn's doublehanded bid will be Tango, a J/133 to be sailed by owner/skipper Mike Abraham and crew Philip Rowe of Newport Beach. Abraham is 70; Rowe will turn 70 the day they start on July 12. They also sailed the 2001 race doublehanded on a Sabre 402, Watercolors. It took them nearly 14 days and they swore as they stepped off the boat they would never do it again.

But, Abraham says now, 'When you're older you forget how miserable it was.'

He said he has spent considerable money preparing the boat, but that 'in this part of my life I'm not saving anything.'

The Morning Light sailors' peers in this race will be the two sons, Sean and Justin, of veteran Transpac doublehander Dan Doyle of Hawaii sailing his 1D35 with three pals. With an average age of 19.8 years, they are believed to be the youngest Transpac crew ever. The boat Two Guys On the Edge has been renamed On the Edge of Destiny.

All boats except multihulls are eligible for the Governor of Hawaii and King Kalakaua trophies for first overall on corrected handicap time. The Rudy Choy Perpetual Trophy is awarded to the fastest multihull. Ratings and class breaks are not yet announced.

Transpac activities will start in Long Beach July 7 with the unveiling of 11 Walk of Fame monuments---one for each decade of the race---to be placed around Rainbow Harbor, a popular tourist site surrounded by restaurants, shops and the Aquarium of the Pacific. This summer's schedule of pre-race activities will be integrated into the city's annual Sea Festival celebration.

As in 2005, complimentary dock space will be provided in Rainbow Harbor for all boats, local and from out of town, to make their final preparations there. On the three start days the various divisions will depart amid public fanfare past the Queen Mary and to the starting line at San Pedro.

The Transpacific Yacht Club has joined with Casio Computer Co., Ltd., in a sponsorship agreement to make the company's Oceanus watch the official timekeeper of the 44th biennial race. The Oceanus is a solar-powered chronograph watch with a time signal-calibration function developed by making full use of Casio's advanced electronic technologies. News and product information: http://world.casio.com/

Official entries

(Divisions to be assigned)
DH-Addiction 2 (J/35), Richard Blackburn, Honolulu
Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach, Calif.
Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev.
Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif.
Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach, Calif.
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif.
DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta, Calif.
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif.
California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif.
Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu
Delicate Balance (Custom 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif.
Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz.
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif.
Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach, Calif.
French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif.
Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasaden