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43rd Biennial Transpacific Yacht Race / Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Club, Jerry Montgomery, Commodore April 1, 2005 Disney's 15th Transpac Will Be His Last LONG BEACH, Calif.---Roy E. Disney, a Transpac fixture long before he became the record holder, says his 15th race this summer will be his last. He is retiring from racing, selling his fourth Pyewacket, a Reichel/Pugh maxZ86, and planning to go cruising with his non-racing wife, Patty.
Disney, 75, said, "I just had sort of a momentous birthday in January, and when you finally get to where you say, 'I can't do this like I want to do it,' there you are. This boat is a thrill beyond belief to sail, especially in a breeze, but at some point you have to draw a line. I figured now is the time." Disney still owns a small racer-cruiser, Shamrock, a smaller namesake than the 52-footer he sailed in his first Transpac in 1975 when, he said, "I didn't have a clue about what I was doing." He had never even sailed s a crew member. A nephew of Walt Disney, he said his decision had nothing to do with the ongoing dispute he and partner Stanley Gold have pursued with the Walt Disney Company's leadership over the last two years. "It had nothing to do with the company," he said. "It has nothing to do with anything but me getting too old to be doing it anymore."
The only Transpac Disney missed since 1975 was 1997 after he shattered his right leg in a car accident near his vacation home in Ireland. While Disney waited in Waikiki, his leg in a cast from hip to ankle, his son Roy Pat took over as skipper and led the team that broke Merlin's 20-year-old record. Disney returned in 1999 to beat that record with a time that still stands and later recalled the experience: "I remember a jibe in 18.8 knots of wind. That was interesting . . . and loud . . . and profane. And when I was driving down to the finish it was so dark and we were making so much spray that all I could see was the instruments. We had the most wind and our top speed of the race: 35 and 22 knots." Disney's various Pyewackets also set records in the Bermuda-Newport, Chicago-Mackinac, Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii and the Victoria B.C. to Maui race, among several others. Transpac Trivia Quiz Which was the first boat to break Merlin's 20-year-old record (fastest elapsed time by a monohull) of 8 days 11
hours 1 minute 45 seconds in 1997? Answer below. Magnitude 80 Twice the Fastest Finisher A tired old adage says, "To finish first, first you have to finish" – but it's still true, because it's made Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 a winner twice this year in events leading up to Centennial Transpac 2005. When Disney's Pyewacket dropped out of the Puerto Vallarta race with a cracked mast in February, Baker's smaller Andrews 80 picked up the lead and line honors. And when Randall Pittman's larger Genuine Risk abandoned the Newport-to-Cabo San Lucas race with a canting keel problem, Mag 80 was there again to lead a three-boat assault on the race record. "The key word today is finishing," Baker said. "These boats are so high-tech that anything can happen. In the Cabo race when the wind hit 30-35 knots we had the big spinnaker up and we knew it was too much. We didn't take our fractional spinnaker, so we went with a masthead jib. It's hard to back of when you're racing, but you gotta finish to win anything." Merlin, the modified former Transpac record holder, also had bad luck in the Cabo race when its mast crumpled less than an hour after the start. But the canting keel system installed by the previous owner came in handy to keep the dangling rig from damaging the boat until it could be cut free. Merlin's new owner, Trish Steele of Maui, said, "It saved our tails once the rig went over the side. We canted the keel so the mast would fall away from the boat." May 1 Sailors' Seminar Filling Up Fast Response has been strong for the sailors' seminar Transpac has scheduled for all participants Sunday, May 1, at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Even entrants from out of state have indicated interest. Experts will lecture on subjects including communication, weather information, provisioning, rigging, ratings, insurance, return boat delivery and ratings. The event is free. Lunch will be available. Those interested are asked to contact Commodore Jerry Montgomery at mmmont@aol.com Defibrillator Training Dates Scheduled Instruction in the use of the Welch Allyn AED defibrillator units offered free to Transpac competitors by the AED Institute of America is scheduled at five sites from San Francisco to San Diego. The dates:
Each session is scheduled from 1 to 6 p.m. A minimum of two crew members must be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the safe use of the AED for a boat to qualify for the offer. This training will be an American Heart Association two-year certification course. The training fee is $55 per person. All reservations and deposits for the AEDs must be made before June 1. This is the first time any race organization has been able to provide this important lifesaving equipment at no cost to the race competitors. The AEDs will be distributed on July 9 at the pre-race dinner and will be collected on July 29 in Hawaii at the post-race dinner. Reservations and information: ( 714) 488-0454. Trivia Answer Trick question. Disney's third Pyewacket was the fastest of six boats that broke the record in 1997, but Bob Lane's Medicine Man got there first. The Andrews 56 got a three-day head start in Division 3 and hooked into constant 20-knot trade winds to clock 8:06:31:00, surfing past Diamond Head at 19 knots. But 2 1/2 days five later five faster sleds (including Merlin) beat that time, led by Pyewacket in 7:15:24:40. Paid entries as of 15 March, 2005
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. COMMODOREJerry Montgomery (562) 427-3116 mmmont@aol.com HONOLULU CHAIRMAN ENTRIES PRESS OFFICER
The official 2005 TransPac Yacht Race Website http://www.transpacificyc.org
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