Transpac 2005 Press Release 31

HONOLULU---And the first to finish is . . . Alaska Eagle?

The Transpacific Yacht Race's longtime communications vessel quietly crossed the finish line off Diamond Head early Saturday morning, less than 24 hours before higher drama was due.

Alaska Eagle, the Transpac communications vessel, arrives at the Hawaii YC Saturday ahead of the fleet.

According to the latest position reports, the Centennial Transpac's oldest and fastest boats are now expected in Sunday's pre-dawn hours---the 68-year-old Odyssey 19 minutes before Hasso Plattner's high-tech maxZ86, Morning Glory, at 3:20 a.m. HST. Odyssey's Aloha A class rival, Between the Sheets, is due only 23 minutes later.

Odyssey is a 58-foot yawl that first sailed the race in 1939. The owner is Audrey Steele Burnand, who is not on board, but the skipper is her son-in-law, Cecil Rossi. Ross Pearlman's Between the Sheets, a Jeanneau 52, won Aloha A in 2003. Those two had a six-day head start on Morning Glory and the other boats in Divisions I and II and were still running in front of everybody in Saturday morning's reports with 163 and 168 miles to go, respectively.

Morning Glory was 312 miles out but sailing almost twice as fast at 13.8 knots for the race, although it lost 28 miles to its nearest rival, Roy Disney's Pyewacket, now 34 miles behind. Although winds were growing lighter, those two and three other boats were still on pace to beat the record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds set by Disney's previous Pyewacket in 1999.

Alaska Eagle, meanwhile, was at rest at the Hawaii Yacht Club after tracking the 75-boat fleet over 2,225 nautical miles from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Once a winner of the Whitbread Round the World Race, it is owned by the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship.

Radio 'Voice of Transpac' Signs Off in Waikiki

Grant Baldwin, the radio "voice" of 20 Transpacs, upon arrival sipped a mai tai and said it would be his last---Transpac, not mai tai.

"This is my swan song," he said. "I've been doing this since '79, mostly on this boat. It's time for somebody whose voice isn't as scratchy and who doesn't talk back [to the racers]."

But he is still savvy enough to offer an assessment of this race: "Very light [wind], practically no [rough] seas, a few squalls. The people who got low [south] and got low early did better, like Morning Glory and Ralphie."

Grant Baldwin, the "voice of Transpac," is retiring after his 20th race as chief radio communicator.

Ralphie is Davis Pillsbury's Cal 40 that is 58 miles ahead of the next boat in that fleet with 331 miles to go. Two former winners---Steve Calhoun's Psyche and Sally Honey's Illusion---moved up to second and third Saturday. Psyche's last Transpac was 1965 when it won overall on handicap time. Illusion won the Cal 40 class and was third overall in 2003.

Other boats also were making strong late moves. Tom Garnier's Reinrag2, the J/125 that won Division III in 2003, leapt from fourth to first overall with a 229-mile day while Jamie and Jenny Neill's Super 30, The Cone of Silence, from Australia put a 246-mile day behind Friday's spectacular 255 to close on the leaders.

In the race for the King Kalakaua Trophy (first overall on handicap time) that is dominated by Division II, Philippe Kahn's newest Pegasus, a Transpac 52, answered a late challenge by Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud by stretching its lead back to about five hours with 729 miles to go. Six of the top seven Kalakaua threats are in Division II, the exception being Morning Glory in fifth.

In Division IV, the Alamitos Bay Syndicate's Tabasco is now cruising for a double triumph 61 miles and about 14 hours ahead, but Hawaii's own Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess have been driving their 1D35 Two Guys On the Edge hard enough---nearly 400 miles the last two days---to where they are now in second place, boat for boat.

Like Tabasco, Larry Hillman's Swan 48, So Far also is home free with a 117-mile lead and 306 to go in Aloha B, while James and Ann Read's 42-foot Camille was just at the halfway point Saturday with an ETA of mid-day Aug. 4.

Quotes from the Boats

Sue Senescu, Madrina: "The day started out with four jibes in the first eight hours under a full moon. One of the jibes was particularly exciting for me as the wind was 25 knots and varying in true wind direction by plus/minus 30 degrees when in mid-jibe the instruments went dark and the preventer accidentally broke and I had to steer by feel and by the six-foot swells. That was a waker-upper. Didn't need any caffeine after that. We lost three lures today, all loaned to us by Marvin. Sorry, Marvin. One was a quick grab and go, culprit unknown. Second was a marlin! He broke the line right away and was gone faster than we could take a picture. Now what the heck would we do with a marlin? . . . I think that's the end of our fishing."

Jean Myer, Pursuit: "The last four nights the crew handed over each night watch with frustration to the oncoming watch as afternoon winds disappear, sails slat and we wallow listlessly. We dropped far behind the lead boats in our division, heard a large cluster of the fleet had made great time overnight and lost sight of Kahoots as they continued north and we tried to work our way south out of this mess. Mid-morning today, the tacticians gather around the nav station to form a new game plan. We give a soothing concert to the weather gods from the iPod. Jim and Mike even try a salt-water shampoo to see if the wind gods are unwilling to provide wind to such a ratty looking bunch. Somehow that all works, and by mid afternoon the port watch is hootin' and hollerin' and surfing in what look to be real trade wind conditions."

Daily Standings for July 23, 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.


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.

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     Don Brown
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PRESS OFFICER
      Rich Roberts
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