Ragtime looks south to Tahiti after 14 Transpacs

by Rich Roberts on 17 Dec 2007
Ragtime is restless, and maybe a little homesick. With a record 14th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii fresh under its wooden hull, the 65-foot ocean racing icon will return to the South Pacific waters of its birth in the 13th Tahiti Race starting next June from San Pedro.

Owner/skipper Chris Welsh of Newport Beach, Calif. said the resurrection of the race after a 14-year hiatus was too tempting to pass up.

'For a West Coast sailor, Tahiti is Everest,' Welsh said after filing his entry. 'I felt it was compelling, like here's the race, you've got the right tool to do it, and who knows how many times in your life you'll have that all at once?'

Other early entries are Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80, from Long Beach, and Allen Hughes' Open 60, Dogbark, Seattle. Another high-end Long Beach boat, Bob Lane's Andrews 63, Medicine Man, is verbally committed.

The Notice of Race and online entry form are posted at www.transpacificyc.org.

The 3,571-nautical mile race will start Sunday, June 22, at 1 p.m. off Point Fermin in San Pedro, cross the equator and finish at the historic Pointe Venus lighthouse on the north end of the island of Tahiti, six miles east of Papeete.

Any boat is eligible that complies with part 4.1 of the NOR that reads: 'Monohull yachts must be at least 33 [feet] LOA , be self-righting and properly ballasted. Monohull yachts may not be slower than a Southern California PHRF off-wind course rating of 114 sec/mile . . .'

The lower speed rating is equivalent to that of a Cal 40. Also, all boats also must pass inspection for 2006-2007 ISAF Special Regulations for Category 1 standards of safety and accommodation (www.ussailing.org/safety/isaf_new.asp).

There is no upper limit on boat size, and all entries must have a minimum crew of four. Multihulls of a minimum 45 feet LOA also are welcome.

The race has been run intermittently a dozen times from 1925 to 1994. The record is 14 days 21 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds---an average speed of about 10 knots, modest by current standards---established by Fred Kirschner's Santa Cruz 70, Kathmandu, in 1994, the last time the race was run.

Ragtime, long admired for its sleek and black low-profile hull, was built in New Zealand in 1964 by the late John Spencer. Originally christened Infidel, it was brought to Long Beach in the early 70s, renamed and in 1973 sailed by a local crew of eight that stunned a skeptical racing community by snatching Transpac's Barn Door prize from the record holder, Windward Passage, by 4 minutes 31 seconds---still the closest first-to-finish in race history---and followed that with another win in '75.

Ragtime has had several owners, one of whom extended its transom 3 1/2 feet to a length overall (LOA) of 65 feet for additional waterline speed, and in its 44th year it still has seas to sail.

Welsh took possession three years ago and has continued to campaign it in the Transpac and various events. For Tahiti it figures to be faster than ever. It now has a more powerful rig, a new rudder and currently is being fitted with a more efficient keel that will reduce its displacement by about 1,500 pounds.

Welsh is undecided whether he'll continue on to New Zealand, where Ragtime was built. That's more than another 2,000 nautical miles, about the length of a Transpac. Welsh has already found the Tahiti Race---probably two weeks or more---a difficult stretch for prospective crew.

'The biggest problem has been prior commitments [to other races],' he said.

But the temptation is almost irresistible.

'More people have climbed Everest than have done the Tahiti Race,' Welsh said. 'More people have been in space than have done the Tahiti Race. That's why it's so special for sailors.'

Dockwise Yacht Transport has told the Transpacific Yacht Club that a ship scheduled out of New Zealand could pick up as many as 15 boats at Tahiti the first week in August and deliver them back to North America at Ensenada, Baja California, 12 days later. Information on Dockwise: www.yacht-transport.com/

In accordance with the 2006-2007 ISAF Special Regulations 6.01, at least 30% of a yacht’s crew including the owner/charterer must have attended a US Sailing sanctioned Safety at Sea Seminar within the last five years before the start of the race. Safety at Sea seminars are scheduled on the West and East coasts.

Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, Calif. will hold a seminar Jan. 26. For information contact Becky Lenhart at 949.673.3515. A complete list of US Safety at Sea seminars, their dates, locations and contact information may be found on the US SAILING web site at http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Seminars/index_new.asp!by_clicking_here.