Transpac 2005 Press Release 7

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Any sailor seeking inspiration to race across the Pacific need only stroll past the historic names along the esplanade of Rainbow Harbor, which has been transformed into Transpac Village as staging area for the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race this month.

"I just had the itch to go to Hawaii from here," Roy Disney said before he, his son Roy Patrick and other winners dating through 42 races to 1906 were inducted into the new Transpac Walk of Fame Thursday.

Roy Pat Disney (left) and father Roy E.
are at home in the TP Walk of Fame.

Gladstone's Restaurant, owned by former America's Cup sailor John Sangmeister, hosted the ceremony attended by more than 200 on the veranda overlooking the harbor and the Walk of Fame. Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, delivered opening remarks. Chris Pook, who founded the Long Beach Grand Prix street race in the 70s and is now executive director of the Sea Festival Association of Long Beach, was emcee. Top city officials mingled with sailors and other guests.

The city offered Transpac the downtown harbor as its first permanent mainland base, with activities revolving around the annual Sea Festival. There is a 12x18-foot "scoreboard" outside Gladstone's to chart the progress of the 75 racers who will start at 1 p.m. next Monday, Friday and Sunday off the Palos Verdes Peninsula at 33-42.8 north latitude and 118-20.3 west longitude.

Sangmeister has been so caught up in the enthusiasm that he agreed to sail as a trimmer on Windquest, the DeVos brothers' maxZ86 moored at the end of the Pine Avenue Pier in the center of the harbor.

Disney, 75, has said that this race---his 15th---on his maxZ86 Pyewacket will be his last, and he hopes to go out holding the record---either the one of 7 days 11 hours 47 minutes 27 seconds he set in 1999 or one he might set in a battle with Windquest, Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, Randall Pittman's Genuine Risk and Doug Baker's Magnitude 80.

Transpac Commodore Jerry Montgomery (left) and Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill, flanked by past winners, unveil the Transpac Walk of Fame plaque.

Disney's record broke the one set in the previous race by his son, which put Merlin's 20-year-old record to rest as the father sat it out with a broken leg.

''He [Roy P. Disney] set the record that I had to build a whole new boat to break," the elder Disney said.

Other Walk of Fame figures present included Bill Lee, now Transpac's entry chairman, and John DeLaura, two-time Barn Door winner who achieved the race's last clean sweep---fastest time, first in class and first overall on handicap time---in 1993. Offspring representing former winners included Doug Ayres, Dave Ullman, and Leslie DeMeuse.

Other speakers included Dick Simon, former Indy 500 driver and car owner who will be sailing his first race, and Wendy Siegal, the Cal 40 class organizer who said, "With all of these great sailors around me, I feel like the small fish in a big pond."

A complete list of the century's winners and other historical information may be seen at www.transpacificyc.org (click "Race History" and then "Transpac lists").

Transpac sponsors are Ayres Hotels, West Marine, Warmington Homes and Community Bank.

Transpac partners are the Sea Festival, Shoreline Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, Gladstone's Restaurant and Raider RIBS boats.

Transpac Trivia Quiz

What were the largest and smallest boats ever to sail Transpac? Answer below.

Shades of San Francisco at Rainbow Harbor

The only other time that Transpac had a mainland base was

In 1939 as part of San Francisco's Golden Gate International Exposition, a.k.a. the San Francisco World Fair.

According to an account in the Transpac history Blue Book, "all the exposition exhibits were located on Treasure Island, a manmade body of land that had been created for the occasion.

"All of the boats were moored in the Port of Trade Winds, where they were tied up side by side in one long row of slips. With the whole fleet so accessible for inspection, interest was extremely high. In fact, on get-away day there were so many people on hand [that] that floats and slip fingers were sinking under water."

Rainbow Harbor is ready for a crowd, and no docks are excepted to sink.

Trivia Answer

Goodwill, 161 feet, in 1953 and '59, and Vapor, 25 feet, in 1999.

Official entries
(In order of handicap rating by seconds per mile)

Division I (starts July 17)

Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0.000)
Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.010)
Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles. (0.040).
Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (*)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach. (15.260)
Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (47.377)
Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (50.650)

Division II (Starts July 17)

Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (62.707)
Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (65.298)
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach. (71.999)
Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu. (81.117)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (81.878)
Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach. (81.884)
Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle. (*)
Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco. (85.971)
Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (90.225)
Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle. (90.590)
Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (100.363)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (102.265)
Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh/Zimmer, Honolulu. (108.225)

Division III (Starts July 15)

Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (116.837)
Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (123.158)
The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia. (130.869)
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco. (131.696)
DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel, Bel Marin, Calif. (132.320)
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico. (134.888)
Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (140.306)
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (141.265)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (141.302)
Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle. (142.395)
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego. (142.719)
Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (147.095)
Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu. (*)

Division IV (Starts July 15)

DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (179.858)
Sensation (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco. (180.299)
Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (182.046)
Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach. (186.899)
Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (190.019)
Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (191.454)
Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (193.611)

Division V (Starts July 11)

Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (207.028)
Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico. (209.719)
Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (212.941)
B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego. (213.947)
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (221.504)
DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (222.175)
DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego. (232.854)
DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Barnard, Anacortes, Wash. (235.432)

Cal 40 (Starts July 11)

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (255.665)
Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (256.939)
Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (257.864)
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (258.090)
Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (258.311)
Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (258.612)
Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (259.232)
Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (259.574)
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (259.964)
Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (260.187)
Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (260.570)
Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (261.590)
Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (263.311)
Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (264.303)

Aloha A (Starts July 11)

Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (130.602)
Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (195.445)
Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (197.593)
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (197.564)
Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (201.571)
Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach. (202.104)
DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield, San Francisco. (206.461)
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (*)

Aloha B (Starts July 11)

Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (216.469)
DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James Read, San Francisco. (222.073)
So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago. (230.841)
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (234.528)
Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (242.920)

DH---Doublehanded.

*---In process.


Ayres Hotels Participating sponsor		Warmington Homes Participating Sponsor		Community Bank Participating sponsor


West Marine Participating Sponsor		Official Airlines for the Centennial Transpac

Transpac Documentary Video/DVD

The two-hour historical documentary "Transpac/A Century Across the Pacific" is on sale in marine stores and nautical museums or may be ordered online with a credit card through a link on the Web site home page here. The Web site also has a mail-order form. The video format $39.95, DVD $49.95 and PAL $49.95 for countries requiring that medium.

HONOLULU CHAIRMAN
     Don Brown
     h. (808) 262-7001/b. 438-8633
     browndr@shafter.army.mil

PRESS OFFICER
      Rich Roberts
      cell phone (310) 766-6547
      richsail@earthlink.net