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43rd Biennial Transpacific Yacht Race / Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Club, Jerry Montgomery, Commodore June 23, 2005 Starting Lineups Set for Centennial Transpac LONG BEACH, Calif.---The handicap ratings are in and the starting lineups are set for the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race. Thirty-five of the 75 entries---14 Cal 40s, the smaller boats in Racing Division V and Aloha classes A and B---will lead off the series of staggered starts on July 11, followed by 20 Division III and IV racers on July 15 and the 20 fastest raters on Sunday, July 17.
The smallest but third fastest in Division III is The Cone of Silence, Jamie and Jenny Neil's Reichel/Pugh 32 from Australia that dropped out and returned to the mainland in 2003. It may also be the least comfortable entry. The most comfortable will certainly be James Warmington's Shanakee II, a Pedrick 75 with hot water, interior air conditioning, big-screen TV and a freezer, among other amenities. Starting with the Aloha A class on July 11, it also should beat the later starters to Honolulu, as it did in 2001.
The newest boat is Pegasus, the Transpac 52 launched just this month by Philippe Kahn, who won the Barn Door as the monohull with the fastest elapsed time on larger boats in the last two races. The oldest is Odyssey, a 58-foot yawl that sailed Transpac in 1939, '55 and '61. The wooden classic is in the Aloha class and returns with a crew counting 53 Transpacs among them, including Scott Abrams, grandson of Clarence MacFarlane, who organized the first race in 1906. According to skipper Cecil Rossi, "Scotty said, 'I gotta go. My grandfather did it a hundred years ago.' " Kahn has his own reasons for going. He said, "Transpac is our offshore practice for the TP 52 Worlds, so we are taking the race very seriously. However, we are not optimizing for Transpac, so we probably won't be the quickest of the best. It's the first step in our campaign." Nevertheless, Pegasus will have its usual world-class crew and is rated the fastest of four TP 52s that will race in Division II. The fleet includes three former record holders: Merlin, Ragtime and Skylark, which raced as Pyewacket in 1997. Merlin and Ragtime are sailing their record 13th Transpacs. Reinrag2, Wild Thing, Wind Dancer, Illusion and Between the Sheets will be defending their 2003 titles in Divisions III, IV and V and the Cal 40 and Aloha A classes, respectively. Barking Spider, the Aloha B winner in '03, has moved up to racing Division III. Illusion will have an all-woman crew led by Sally Lindsay Honey as Stan Honey returns to Pyewacket as navigator. There are eight foreign entries and six from Hawaii. Transpac Trivia Quiz The fastest elapsed time for a monohull (7:11:41:27) is noted above. What was the slowest ever---(a) 16 days, (b) 20 days or (c) 24 days? Answer below. Friday is Last Day to Borrow a Defibrillator Friday, June 24, is the last day for Transpac competitors to apply for the loan of AEDs (automated external defibrillators). The offer from the AED Institute of America requires an $800 deposit, refundable after the race. At that time the units also may be purchased with a discount from the usual price of $1,895. At least two crew members must be CPR/AED certified in the use of the machines, the company said. For those who are still in need of the certification, classes may be scheduled according to need. The class fee is $55 per person. More information: (714) 488-0454 and ask for Pam or Shannon. The First Woman Skipper (Take 2) It turns out that the subject of Transpac's first woman skipper discussed in a previous press release is subject to dispute. Bobbie Jennings, a Honolulu-based reporter who was contracted by the University of Hawaii some years ago to write the islands' version of the race's history, says it was Mrs. William Slaven McNutt on the 44-foot ketch Fayth in 1932---one of only two entries in that Depression-stricken race. Jennings says, "It is disputed whether she was to have the title [of skipper] because they had a professional skipper on board, but some records show her name at the top." In the heavy "Blue Book" volume of race history published in 1908, Capt. Waldemar Checkan is listed as skipper and Mrs. McNutt merely as a crew member. Jennings' account comes from another race historian, Albert Soiland: "Due to the exigencies of Captain McNutt's strenuous obligations, he was prevented from securing sufficient time off to make the race, and in order not to disappoint the Race Committee, his charming and splendid sailing wife volunteered to skipper the boat. So it came to pass that with Mrs. McNutt at the wheel, the Fayth and the Mollilou got away for the start at 11 a.m. on Aug. 20, 1932. "Mrs. McNutt made an excellent skipper, stood all her tricks, and handled the little ship like a master. In fact, some scurrilous wag avowed that Mrs. McNutt was a far abler skipper than her husband. And they won the race." Unfortunately, no account gives Mrs. McNutt's first name. One can only trust, in good faith, that the boat was named for her. Trivia Answer (c) Actually, just under 24 days: 23 days 23 hours 55 minutes 4 seconds by Viking Childe, a 42-foot ketch sailed by William Merry in 1939. It also holds the record for the shortest day's run: zero miles. Official entries Division I (starts July 17)
Division II (Starts July 17)
Division III (Starts July 15)
Division IV (Starts July 15)
Division V (Starts July 11)
Cal 40 (Starts July 11)
Aloha A (Starts July 11)
Aloha B (Starts July 11)
DH---Doublehanded. *---In process.
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 WEB PAGE
The official 2005 TransPac Yacht Race Website http://www.transpacificyc.org
06/26/05 |
