Press Release No. 2

Barn Door Opens Wider for 40s and 50s in 2001

Barn Door Opens Wider for 40s and 50s in 2001

Trophies will be awarded to those first to finish, boat for boat, in classes being defined to a new Transpac 40/50 Rule by a committee of prominent designers and handicappers.

The suggestion and gift of a first-to-finish trophy for 50-footers came from Transpac campaigner Don Clothier of Hawaii, who sailed Tower, a Lidgard 45, to second place in Division 4 in 1999. The Transpac board of directors has taken Clothier's suggestion one step farther with a 40-foot class, as well.

The Barn Door - so-called for its size and shape as a 3 x 4 1/2-foot, 3-inch thick plaque hand-carved from native Hawaiian koa wood -- is one of the more unusual and most coveted trophies in sailing. Officially called the Transpacific Yacht Club Perpetual Trophy, it has been awarded since 1949 to the fastest monohull in the biennial 2,225-nautical mile race from Los Angeles to Honolulu and has been claimed by some of the legendary competitors of the sport.

But competition for the Barn Door, because of its prominence and tradition, has been exclusively among large ultralight displacement boats (ULDBs) in recent years and has often overshadowed the rest of the race - thus, this move to increase recognition for the sailing skills and technological advances among entries of all sizes.

TPYC Commodore Sandy Martin said, "It is intended that the yachts eligible for these trophies be fast but practical and that they be exciting enough for the professional sailor and manageable enough for amateur sailors. While the system will likely type-form the yachts, their primary focus will be on the downwind course to Hawaii. It is Transpac Yacht Club's intention that qualifying yachts will be suitable for other races as well."

The committee for the Transpac 40/50 Rule includes Bill Lee, Alan Andrews and Jim Pugh, all of whom have designed Barn Door winners, along with Dan Nowlan, Offshore Director of US Sailing, and Jerry Montgomery, 2001 Transpac handicapper and entries chairman. Montgomery was skipper of Ralphie, the Santa Cruz 52 that was the overall winner on corrected time in 1997.

The rule, prepared by Lee in its initial draft, lists some basic guidelines, including:

• Maximum length for 40-footers: 40.00 feet; maximum length for 50-footers: 50.00 feet. Grandfather of length for existing yachts: 40-footers 43.00 feet, 50-footers 53.00 feet.
• Minimum displacement for 40-footers: 10,000 pounds; minimum displacement for 50-footers: 16,000 pounds.
• Maximum of one keel and one rudder.
• Water ballast located within the hull and deck structure is allowed.
• Configuration may be masthead, fractional or masthead/fractional. Code 0 jibs are allowed.
• Maximum spinnaker pole length for 40-footers: 18 feet; maximum spinnaker pole length for 50-footers: 22.5 feet.

Lee, whose sleek Merlin revolutionized Transpac in 1977 with a record that stood for 20 years, called the current draft rule "a framework to start with.

"The numbers are quite arbitrary," Lee said. "The first round of numbers I wrote for the committee may be arbitrary, but by the time it goes to the public the numbers will be fine-tuned to generate the best possible yacht for the purpose.

"One way to look at it would be to think of what the best one-design yacht would be for average sailors to race to Hawaii, [say] a giant Melges 24 +/-, then lock those dimensions and allow the balance of the design to vary within the box. . . . I think we are looking for the yacht the most people will buy, not the most radical yacht. Because of the grandfather, it is not necessary to select dimensions which embrace existing yachts, but rather it is possible to think on a clean sheet of paper and select dimensions which will yield the best possible new yacht for the objectives."

Martin said, "A great deal of latitude will be allowed in hull shape, foil shape, deck layout, rig configuration and other items. Yachts must meet the ORC requirements and stringent stability requirements. In many respects these yachts will be defined by a system similar to that used for the Whitbread (now Volvo) 60s, although they will most likely be lighter boats for the length. The measurement system is very much intended to be a simple development rule as opposed to a handicap rule."

While competing for first-to-finish trophies, Transpac 40s and 50s also will qualify for the race's traditional handicap classes.

Aloah! Cruisers Earn Respect - and a New Name

The Transpacific Yacht Club has embraced the Cruising class but jettisoned the name. It will now be called the Aloha class, more in tune with the spirit and tradition of the race.

The class was established in 1997 to accommodate older displacement designs, but experience in the first two showings convinced Transpac that the name didn't do the competitors credit.

"These men and women weren't just cruising," TPYC Commodore Sandy Martin said. "They were racing all-out."

Martin alluded not only to the winners - Fred Frye's Tayana 52 Salsipuedes in '97 and Kim Stebbens' Hurricane, a Septre 41, in '99 - but also recognized the resolve of the '99 crews aboard Wendy Siegal's Cal 40 Willow Wind and Randy Bell's C&C 40 Endeavor III, which continued to race after repairing a broken boom and damaged mast, respectively, in mid-ocean.

Anyone who thought competitors in the Cruising class were less than hardcore sailors just because they had furniture and refrigeration on board gained a new perspective of respect. Both declined assistance, fixed their problems and kept sailing to the finish.

2001 Start, Party Dates in Place

Starting dates and pre-race sendoff parties have been determined for all classes.

The Aloha (formerly "Cruising") class will lead off on June 25, 2001, following its party June 24. Others:

Under-50-footers, party June 29, start June 30.

Over-50s, party June 29, start July 1.

Multihulls, party June 29, start July 4

Transpac Publicity:

Rich Roberts
Phone: (310) 835-2526
e-mail: richsail@earthlink.net