Transpac Yacht Race News

2003 Start Dates:

Tuesday, July 1st - Division V, CAL 40 Aloha A & B
Friday, July 4th - Divisions III & IV
Sunday, July 6 - Divisions I & II

42th Biennial Transpacific Yacht Race / Los Angeles to Hawaii

Transpacific Yacht Club, Brad Avery, Commodore
www.transpacificyc.org

July 2, 2003

IT'S BEAUTIFUL DAY ON TRANSPAC'S FIRST FULL DAY AT SEA

LOS ANGELES---Speed, beauty and comfort embodied in a Beneteau 47.7 model cruiser-racer were setting the early pace among 25 boats on the second day of the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race Wednesday. Meanwhile, 23 Division 3 and 4 boats were preparing to start Friday, followed by the last and fastest dozen on Sunday.

Mike Dorgan at the helm of William Boyd's Beautiful Day before Tuesday's first Transpac start. The Beneteau 47.7 from San Diego was at the front of the fleet at first roll call Wednesday morning.

William Boyd's Beautiful Day, an Aloha-A class entry representing the San Diego Yacht Club, had sailed 128 of the race's 2,225 nautical miles toward Honolulu since Tuesday's 1 p.m. start by Wednesday's 8:30 a.m. roll call and position reports. The average speed was a modest 6.7 knots, but that was expected to accelerate upon reaching the northeast trade winds about 500 miles out.

On projected corrected handicap time, Stan and Sally Honey's Cal 40, Illusion, from Palo Alto, was the overall leader among the 10 Cal 40s, 11 Alohas and four racing division 5 boats that started Tuesday in painfully light winds off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Illusion had sailed 117 miles and led all of the Cal 40s, boat for boat, with the Pillsbury family's Ralphie second and Don and Betty Lessley's California Girl third.

With a five-day head start and favorable conditions, one of the Tuesday starters could even beat Philippe Kahn's defending Barn Door winner, Pegasus 77, and Roy E. Disney's record holder, Pyewacket, to the Diamond Head finish line. But that isn't an overriding goal in the Aloha class, where most of the boats are too laden with creature comforts and amenities to compete head to head with the ultralights.

After Tuesday's drifting start, the boats found fresh breeze to 11 or 12 knots in the San Pedro Channel that was still blowing 8 1/2 by the time the leaders passed the West End of Santa Catalina Island---the only mark of the course 23 miles out. The first boat around was There and Back Again, a Tripp 40 sailed by Robert Rice of Long Beach.

Doug Ludden, an unofficial observer following in his own Cal 40, said, "As soon as the wind filled, There and Back Again just took off and left everybody. The wind went really to the west an everybody got lifted incredibly. Everybody was on their biggest sails. It appeared that the entire fleet got around the West End without having to tack."

Only Beautiful Day was in front of There and Back Again at morning roll call time.

Earlier, it was touch and go whether Ralphie would get to the starting line on time. Less than three hours before the start the crew was still at the dock in San Pedro drilling holes in the topsides for new jib tracks.

"Plus, we had a little smoke down below," Davis Pillsbury reported from his boat later. "Turned out to be OK, though. Something to do with the new alternator."

Daily position reports, news summaries, photos will be posted at www.transpacificyc.org until the completion of the race.

Souvenir Transpac 2003 programs may be requested by e-mail to bavery@mail.occ.cccd.edu. There is no charge.

EDITORS: Press/photo boats, courtesy of private owners and J/Boats and Raider RIBS inflatable tenders, will be available to accredited media for all three starts. Complimentary, copyright free photos in high and low resolution also are available. Please contact the press officer (below) concerning either matter.

Division 1 (starts July 6)

Pegasus 77 (Reichel/Pugh 77), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu.
Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles.

W. E. Rawson's Helsal II.

Division 2 (starts July 6)

Alta Vita (Transpac 52), Bill Turpin, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), Karl Kwok, Hong Kong.
Bengal II (Ohashi 52 ),Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan.
Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), Lahaina, H.I.
Helsal II (Adams 60), W.E. Rawson, Melbourne, Australia.
Icon (Perry 65), Richard Robbins/Jim Roser, Seattle.
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach, Calif.
Pendragon 4 (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki Schwartz, Long Beach.

Myron Lyon's J/160, Innocent Merriment.

Division 3 (starts July 4)

Dasher (Santa Cruz 50), Roger Groh, San Francisco.
Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif.
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego.
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico.
Lucky Dog (J/125), Peter Putnam, Newport Beach---DH.
Maitri (J/160), Peter Johnson, San Diego.
On Point (Schock 40), Nick Martin, Wilmington, Calif.
Pipe Dream IX (J/160), Scott Piper, Coral Gables, Fla.
Reinrag² (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore.
The Cone of Silence (Australian Super 30), James and Jenny Neil, Newport, NSW, Australia.

Richard Mainland's Ross 40, Paddy Wagon.

Division 4 (starts July 4)

Bolt (Olson 40), Craig Reynolds, Balboa, Calif.
Cool Man Cool² ! (Sydney 38), Harrell Jones, Dana Point.
Hot Tamale (J/120), Tom and Doug Jorgensen, Glendora, Calif.
Krakatoa (Young 32), Rod Skellet, Sydney, Australia.
Lawndart (Cape Bay Fast 40), Bill Allan, Nanaimo, B.C.
Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Swept Away (J/120), Louis Bianco, Seattle.
Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego.
TERA's XL (ILC 40), Antony & Daniel Barron, Northridge, Calif.
Two Guys On the Edge (1D35M), Dan Doyle, Honolulu---DH.
Wild Thing (1D35), Chris and Kara Busch, San Diego.

Tim and Sue Coker's Choate 40, Masquerade

Divisions 5 (starts July 1)

B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America/Urban Miyares, San Diego.
Masquerade (Choate 40), Timothy Coker, San Diego.
There and Back Again (Tripp 40), Robert Rice, Long Beach.
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Wilmington, Del.

Cal 40 (starts July 1)

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lesley, Point Richmond, Calif.
Celebrity (Cal 40), Gerald Finnegan, Redondo Beach, Calif.
Flying Cloud (Cal 40), Darrell and Scott Wilson, Long Beach.

Illusion (Cal 40), Stan Honey & Sally Lindsay Honey, Palo Alto.

Darrell Wilson warms up his Cal 40, Flying Cloud, followed by Dennis Conner on Persephone

John B (Cal 40), Greg Boyer, Newport Beach, Calif.
Ralphie (Cal 40), Jack and Taylor Pillsbury/Eleanor and Davis Pillsbury, San Francisco.
Ranger (Cal 40), William Partridge, Richmond, Calif.
Redhead (Cal 40), Andrew Opple, Ketchum, Idaho.
Seafire, John T. Harrison, Honolulu.
Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Seal Beach, Calif.

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 www.transpacificyc.org. 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.