Transpac 2005 Press Release 7

LONG BEACH, Calif.---If the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race had a yellow jersey, the crew of disabled sailors from Challenged America would be sharing it right now.

Like Lance Armstrong in France, the four men and able-bodied skipper Joshua Ross from San Diego climbed a mountain in the Pacific Ocean Wednesday to stand closer to Hawaii than any of the other 32 boats from the four classes of smaller boats that started Monday.

As cold winds increased to 20-25 knots from the northwest, morning position reports had Challenged America's Tripp 40, B'Quest, 2,059 nautical miles from the finish on Day 3 of the 2,225-mile race---that, despite sailing one man short because Jeff Reinhold had to stay behind because of an elbow infection.

Disabled? Urban Miyares (left) and Kevin Wixom are in front.

After 33 Division V, Aloha A and B and Cal 40 boats struggled off the line in 4 knots of wind, it was hoped that conditions would improve. Instead, they got worse.

Challenged America co-founder Urban Miyares, sailing his second successive Transpac, reported by e-mail: "We had a great start, but with new mast and rigging it took us about an hour to really get the boat in tune. Currently, it is big swell but overall glassy conditions.

"Currently, Captain Josh is driving, Jim [Halverson] is trimming and Kevin [Wixom] and Scott [Meide] are down below napping. I'm the lookout."

Miyares, a Vietnam veteran, is blind.

"I am trying to get used to the galley and trying to remember where we packed everything," he said. "It has helped that we have cookies. Our thanks go out to all of the supporters who made cookies for us. I think next Transpac we will do it just on cookies."

Two boats were two miles back: Steve Brown's Express 37, Brown Sugar, also from San Diego, and David Johnson's Plan B, from Long Beach. Plan B also led Aloha A class on corrected handicap time. Brown Sugar and B'Quest were second and third in Division V, behind Reed Barnard and Brian VanderZanden of Anacortes, Wash., sailing the J/35 Diablo doublehanded.

In the 14-boat Cal 40 fleet, Davis Pillsbury's Ralphie from Colorado had a two-mile lead on Sally Honey's all-woman Illusion with 2,063 miles to go.

The Division III and IV boats plus Shanakee II from Aloha A will start Friday, followed by the Division I and II thoroughbreds on Sunday. Both starts will be off the Palos Verdes Peninsula at 1 p.m., the latter following a ceremonial start by past Transpac competitors, including the legendary Windward Passage. Several of the boats will be departing from Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach starting at 9:30 a.m.

Former Indy 500 driver Dick Simon, 72, was finding his first sailboat race to be a frustrating adjustment.

For Dick Simon's Madrina, it's not the Indy 500.

"It took us 18 hours to pass [Santa] Catalina [Island]," navigator Sue Senescu reported from Madrina, a well-equipped Cabo Rico 56 in Alpha A class. "That is an average of 1 knot! High-energy Dick is frustrated with the light winds.
[Tuesday] we sailed with our whole class in sight all around us, bobbing. Our 27-mile run from the start to the first check-in was an all time screaming start---you could hear us screaming at the wind gods.

"Today was Barry [Senescu] and Sue's 18th wedding anniversary, Wendy [Miller] presented them with a wedding cake made of a tower of powdered doughnuts with a bride and groom atop."

Grant Baldwin reported from the communications vessel Alaska Eagle: "Another long cold night with NW winds 20-25 knots, 100% overcast, still no sun. The entire fleet now seems to be in the breeze. Rather unpleasant night with lots of wind and lumpy seas. Some ate dinner twice."

Official entries
(With total handicap time allowances in hours:minutes:seconds)

Division I (starts July 17)

Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00)
Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles. (0:00:00)
Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23)
Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach. (9:44:58)
Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07)
Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35)

Division II (Starts July 17)

Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46)
Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03)
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach. (45:59:58)
Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu. (51:49:29)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39)
Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach. (52:18:53)
Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco. (55:04:54)
Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle. (55:23:53)
Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37)
Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle. (57:52:37)
Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10)
Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu. (69:08:37)

Division III (Starts July 15)

Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45)
Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12)
The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia. (83:69:39)
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco. (84:08:21)
DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16)
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico. (86:10:42)
Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24)
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35)
Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle. (90:58:29)
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego. (91:10:54)
Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17)
Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu. (95:31:20)

Division IV (Starts July 15)

DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33)
Sensation (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco. (115:11:28)
Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05)
Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach. (119:24:28)
Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:24:04)
Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04)
Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45)

Division V (Starts July 11)

Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04)
Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico. (133:59:14)
Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44)
B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego. (136:41:18)
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59)
DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43)
DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego. (148:46:04)
DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Barnard, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54)

Cal 40 (Starts July 11)

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (163:20:29)
Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20)
Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47)
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27)
Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55)
Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28)
Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14)
Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20)
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17)
Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50)
Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31)
Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37)
Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35)
Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37)

Aloha A (Starts July 11)

*Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25)
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50)
Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04)
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (126:13:17)
Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24)
Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (128:53:47)
Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach. (129:07:19)
DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield, San Francisco. (131:54:20)

Aloha B (Starts July 11)

Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59)
DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James Read, San Francisco. (141:52:48)
So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago. (147:28:54)
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14)
Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08)

DH---Doublehanded.

*---Starts July 15.


Ayres Hotels Participating sponsor		Warmington Homes Participating Sponsor		Community Bank Participating sponsor


West Marine Participating Sponsor		Official Airlines for the Centennial Transpac

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.

HONOLULU CHAIRMAN
     Don Brown
     h. (808) 262-7001/b. 438-8633
     browndr@shafter.army.mil

PRESS OFFICER
      Rich Roberts
      cell phone (310) 766-6547
      richsail@earthlink.net