Transpac 2005 Press Release 7

LONG BEACH, Calif.---A spectacular start in moderate breeze sent Roy Disney's Pyewacket, Randall Pittman's Genuine Risk and Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory off to Hawaii shoulder to shoulder in the Centennial Transpacific Yacht race to Hawaii Sunday.

Nearly a hundred spectator boats watched the trio of long-striding thoroughbreds---GR is named for a former Kentucky Derby winner---the three fastest-rated contenders in the 75-boat fleet disappeared into the lingering mists of a morning fog lined up left to right in the above order with a clear advantage over 17 rivals in Divisions I and II.

Pyewacket and Renegade (right) hit the pin with Morning Glory and Genuine Risk (far left) at mid-line for the start.

Sailing upwind through the San Pedro Channel faster than the winds of 8 to 11 knots, they passed the west end of Santa Catalina Island 20 miles offshore---the only mark of the 2,225-nautical mile course---in 1 hour 45 minutes in a straight line with Pyewacket leading Genuine Risk by 100 yards and Morning Glory another 100 yards back.

Disney said by phone from his boat later Sunday that "these boats do have a way of getting away from everybody else," but he didn't see much of his last Transpac start.

"I had that damn [video] camera in my hand trying to pan around and let the audience see everything that was going on," he said. "It's cold out there but we're feeling good. It's really nice to get past the island quickly."

Five minutes after the start Pyewacket, Genuine Risk and Morning Glory (l-r) have made it a three-boat race.

The start of Disney's 15th and last Transpac coincided with the 50th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland in nearby Anaheim, Calif., following his bitter feud with Disney Company management over the last two years.

"Isn't that interesting?" Disney said. "Just when we make peace over there I can't be there. But the rest of my family was there."

Morning Glory's navigator, Peter Isler, also phoned in to say that with the wind blowing from 250-260 degrees southwest at the start off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, "We thought we were going to have trouble laying the island [without tacking], but in the end we all laid easily."

However, initial wind prospects for the race were so-so, although chances of breaking the record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds set by Disney's previous Pyewacket in 1999 were good because these boats are so much faster in similar conditions.

"Hopefully, we'll have enough [wind] to break the record, but it’s not gonna be a windy year," Isler said. "I was conferring with [Pyewacket navigator] Stan Honey before the start and he agreed that it would be kind of a light to moderate run into Oahu. About the third day we'll be spinnaker running."

The communications vessel Alaska Eagle confirmed that dim view earlier Sunday, noting that "the weather has gone to hell in a hand basket. Boat speeds are down significantly with only a handful of boats [already at sea] covering more than 200 miles in 24 hours."

The Kahakai Outrigger Canoe Club escorts 1971 Transpac winner Windward Passage out of Rainbow Harbor for a ceremonial start

Bengal 2, Yoshihiko Murase's Ohashi 52 from Japan, tried for a pin-end start against the larger boats but ran out of time and had to peel off to let Dan Sinclair's 70-foot Renegade sweep past the marker. Robbie Haines drove Disney's maxZ86 Pyewacket just to windward, while Pittman, taking time to the gun from Ken Read, had the 90-foot Genuine Risk at mid-line leeward of Plattner on Morning Glory's helm, flanked by Russell Coutts on the German maxZ86.

Those three quickly pulled away from the pack, although the fourth-rated boat, Windquest, Doug DeVos's older maxZ86, "rounded the island only a couple of minutes behind us," Isler reported.

Ralphie, Innocent Merriment Leap Into Class Leads

Although boats that started Monday and Friday were standing up straighter Saturday into Sunday, Davis Pillsbury's Cal 40 Ralphie from Colorado made a dramatic gain in that fleet with a 196-mile day that jumped it from fourth to first, as Sally Honey's all-woman Illusion slipped to third with only 171 miles---worst in the 13-boat fleet.

Ralphie also was second overall on handicap time to Kahoots, Kerry Deaver and Bob Williamson's Andrews 43 that boosted its lead in Division IV to 20 miles.

Myron Lyon's Innocent Merriment, a J/160 from San Diego, leapt from fifth to first overall in Division III. B'Quest, Challenged America's team of sailors with disabilities sailing one man shorthanded, moved up to second place behind the doublehanded Soap Opera, a Hobie 33 sailed by Texans Scott Self and Nigel Brown.

B'Quest's sixth crew member, Jeff Reinhold, had to drop out the day before the start because of an elbow infection, which was healing well enough for him to watch the starts from a spectator boat Sunday.

Crew lists and boat info

For crew lists and other details about the boats click on "Entries" to the left.

Daily Standings for July 17, 2005.

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.


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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.

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