Press Release No. 7

Friday is Final Day for Discounted Transpac Entry Fees

Friday is Final Day for Discounted Transpac Entry Fees

The winter sale is ending. Friday, March 2, is the last day discounted entry fees will be offered for the 41st Transpacific Yacht Race.

After that, fees for boats under 50 feet will jump from $600 to $750 and those for boats over 50 feet will go from $800 to $1,000.

Entry forms are available on the Transpac Web site, www.transpacificyc.org. For details, entry chairman Jerry Montgomery may be contacted by e-mail at mmmont@aol.com.

There currently are 13 entries, including one of the latest: Étranger, overall winner of the recent Marina del Rey-to-Puerto Vallarta Race.

Transpac 2001 entries to date:

Divisions 1 and 2

• Triumph (Santa Cruz 52), Howard Diethrich, Phoenix, Ariz.
• Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, Haiku, H.I.
• Lawndart (Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C.
• Baronesa V (Open 40), Shuichi Ogasawara, Japan
• Ouch (J/120), Ted Mayes, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Doublehanded

• Étranger (Jutson 50), Howard Gordon, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
• Watercolors (Sabre 402), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach, Calif.

Aloha Class

• Joyride (Beneteau First 42s7), William Johns, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
• Gecko (Tartan 41), Jim Fabrick, Laguna Beach, Calif.
• Tango (Beneteau 41), Howard Raphael, Palo Alto, Calif.
• Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif.
• Axapac (Wylie 39), Barry Ruff, Vancouver, B.C.
• Bonaire (Moody 65), Gil Jones and Associates, Newport Beach, Calif.

Transpac Cameo

Étranger, Howard Gordon's Open 50 from San Luis Obispo sailing in class PHRF-A, proved uncatchable in the 1,125-nautical mile Marina del Rey-to-Puerto Vallarta Race after starting a day earlier than five larger boats in PHRF-AA. Can it repeat that performance in Transpac 2001, when it will also get a 24-hour headstart?

"I sure hope so," Gordon said. "We go faster than most 50s, but those 70s are really fast."

Étranger (pronounced A-trawn-jay) is an Australian creation, designed by Scott Jutson, built by John Sayer and sailed by David Adams to first place as True Blue in the '94-95 BOC Challenge single-handed race around the world. It not only was first to finish at P.V. but also posted an elapsed time of 5 days 23 hours 32 minutes 27 seconds, second only to Philippe Kahn's Andrews 70 turbo sled Pegasus by half a day and faster than any other AA boat. At 2,225 miles, Transpac is twice as long, but the scenario is similar. Both races feature early upwind sailing, where Étranger is at a disadvantage despite using water ballast, but then it's downwind the rest of the way.

"I'm not looking forward to how they'll rate us, especially after this race," Gordon said, laughing. "A few people suggested we should have come in close and spun around for about 12 hours [before finishing]."

Étranger had a crew of four for Puerto Vallarta but will have only two - Gordon and Jay Crum - as a double-handed entry in Transpac 2001. It will be Gordon's first Transpac, but Crum has done several.

Starting Dates and Pre-Race Sendoff Parties

• Aloha: party June 24; start June 25, 2001.
• Under-50-footers: party June 29; start June 30.
• Over-50-footers: 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

Entry Information:

Jerry Montgomery
e-mail: mmmont@aol.com

WEB Page:

Walt Niemczura, Web Master
www.transpacificyc.org
e-mail: walt@hawaii.rr.com