Press Release No. 9

Transpac 52S Yassou, J-Bird III First of New Class

Transpac 52S Yassou, J-Bird III First of New Class

The Transpacific Yacht Race has its first official entries for the new Transpac 52 class. Jim and Nancy Demetriades of Beverly Hills will race their new T/52, Yassou, alongside David Janes' J-Bird III from Newport Beach, Calif. in the 95-year-old event's first boat-for-boat competition for smaller vessels.

The largest and inherently fastest boats compete for the traditional Barn Door trophy awarded to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time. The Transpac 52 class, conforming to a box rule instead of handicaps, has created first-to-finish incentive among smaller but fast monohull keelboats of similar performance. Yassou was designed by Bruce Nelson, J-Bird III by Alan Andrews. Both were built to be suitable for inshore as well as offshore racing.

Also signing up were Taxi Dancer and Mongoose, a pair of veteran campaigners harking back to the golden age of the ULDB 70 sleds. In 1989 Taxi Dancer, then owned by Mitchell Rouse, was the third of 19 Class A entries to finish, with Mongoose only 13 minutes behind, and won the division on corrected handicap time. Now owned by Don Hughes, the bright yellow Reichel/Pugh 68 missed the 1999 race but returns under charter to Brian Mock of Corona del Mar, Calif. Mongoose, a classic Santa Cruz 70, will be doing its fifth Transpac and second under current owner Robert Saielli of La Jolla, Calif.

Those two will line up July 1 against the new Transpac 52s and familiar adversaries such as James McDowell's SC 70 Grand Illusion, the handicap winner of the '99 race; Roy E. Disney's record-holding turbo sled Pyewacket, a pair of new "super" sleds not yet officially entered and the legendary Merlin, which held the record for 20 years and has been much modified since - altogether promising a crush of heavyweights on the starting line.

Another recent entry was Jim Warmington's Shanakee II, a Pedrick 75 from Balboa, Calif. that will sail in the Aloha class. The latest entries bring the total to 29. Another dozen or more have indicated intent to enter before the May 20 deadline.

Credit Card + Computer = New Transpac Video

The two-hour historical documentary video "Transpac: A Century across the Pacific" is now available for credit card purchase on the Internet from anywhere in the world.

The video, created from 150 interviews and 300 hours of archival film, has received enthusiastic reviews. A VHS version is priced at $39.95 and a DVD at $49.95. A VHS PAL version for use outside the U.S. is $49.95.

Any of the three may be ordered through a link on the Transpac Web site (www.transpacificyc.org) or directly from L. Gaylord Sportswear, the official supplier of Transpac apparel for 18 years, at www.gaylordsportswear.com. Gaylord's new line of Transpac gear is also offered.

Transpac Cameo: They're Back!

Those two wild and crazy guys who had everyone worried two years ago are back, but this time they'll have a larger boat, more company -- "and a new radio," Bill Boyd said."

Boyd and Scott Atwood from Long Beach's Alamitos Bay Yacht Club sailed the 25-foot Vapor -- the smallest boat ever to race Transpac -- as a doublehanded entry in '99 but lost radio communication from the start. They were unable to report their daily position, as required, until they were 260 miles from the finish, which took almost 18 1/2 days.

Boyd said, "We knew right where we were," but they were more concerned about another problem: a broken rudder. They switched to an emergency rudder but had to limit their speed because of its severe vibration when they went too fast.

Boyd still owns Vapor but will sail a 15-year-old Santa Cruz 35, Pakele, which he recently acquired and is refitting extensively for the 2,225-nautical mile event. As hull number 14, it was the last boat from the Santa Cruz 33 mold of the "wizard," designer Bill Lee, then was stretched with a bustle.

"It doesn't look anything like a 33," Boyd said, "but it sails wonderfully."

Although the boat has a Hawaiian name - rough translation: "Get it on" - it has never been to Hawaii, where it will remain in a Waikiki slip Boyd secured after a 10-year wait. Boyd and Atwood will sail with Dr. Barry Morgan of Atlanta and Morgan's son Chris, 21, as part of a planned crew of six.

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

The latest entry list:

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.
• Rocket Science (Riptide 55), Nguyen Le, Amsterdam, NL.
• Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, Calif.
• Mystere (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Laguna Niguel, Calif.
• Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 73), Roy e. Disney, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Merlin's Reata (Lee 68), Al Micallef, Ft. Worth, Tex.
• Unnamed (Sydney 41), Seth Radow, Marina del Rey, Calif.
• Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, Santa Fe, N.M.
• Firebird (Nelson/Marek 55), Greg Sands, Long Beach, Calif.
• Taxi Dancer (R/P 68), Brian W. Mock, Corona del Mar, Calif.
• Mongoose (SC 70), Robert Saielli, La Jolla, Calif.
• Yassou (Transpac 52), Jim and Nancy Demetriades, Beverly Hills, Calif.
• J-Bird III (Transpac 52), David Janes, Newport Beach, 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.
• Seda (Erickson 41), Josef Sedivec, Bonita, Calif.
• Pakele (Santa Cruz 35), Bill Boyd, Long Beach, Calif.
• Blaze (Warwick 60), David Bishop, Sammamish, Wash.
• Shanakee II (Pedrick 75), Jim Warmington, Balboa.

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.