Transpac 2005 Press Release 32

HONOLULU---They bought their combination ham-single sideband radio on the Internet for $550, thoroughly grounded it with aluminum foil off the kitchen self and checked standard weather reports daily to see where the best winds would be.

"We didn't try to be original," said Scott Self, who with Nigel Brown sailed his Hobie 33 Soap Opera to first place in Division V and among seven doublehanded boats in the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

HChallenged America's B'Quest crew after its second Transpac finish, fourth in Division V. (Lisa Niemczura photo).

Oh, and their sails were green.

"My favorite color," said Self, a soap manufacturer from Rockwall, Tex. "We didn't have any sail problems at all, and our radio worked better than some of the state-of-the-art stuff on the million-dollar big boats. All that carbon fiber causes problems."

Their only problem was when their heavy duty aluminum tiller broke at the head of the rudder on the 13th and final night as they were about to enter the blustery Molokai Channel with their spinnaker up.

"The boat went on its side, but the hatch was sealed, so we weren't going to sink," Self said.

They rigged their emergency wooden tiller in 30 minutes and were under way again, but without a spinnaker.

"We knew we had won the division and doublehanded, so we went very conservative," Self said. "But we were still hitting 15 knots."

Texans Scott Self (left) and Nigel Brown display Soap Opera's heavy duty aluminum tiller that broke on the last night but didn't deter their dual victories in Div. V and doublehanded class.

Their elapsed time for the 2,225 nautical miles was 13 days 1 hour 10 minutes 35 seconds, an average speed of 7.1 knots.

Their watch system was four hours on and four hours . . . on. They finished with a plastic crate still full of food because "it was so rough we could eat only one meal a day," Self said. "One guy couldn't leave the helm and the other had to trim all the time."

Sleep? "About one hour a day," Self said.

Self and Brown have been sailing together for 20 years so obviously are past becoming incompatible during two weeks on a small boat.

Brown said, "There's a real risk of that happening with some people, but Scott and I know what to expect from each other."

Triumphant Finishes for Ralphie, So Far and B'Quest

Other key finishers:

-- Davis Pillsbury's Ralphie at 11 p.m. HST Sunday, winning the 14-boat Cal 40 class by more than 10 hours, followed by a flood of wrong-way rivals Monday. Steve Calhoun's Psyche, which won overall under Don Salisbury in the Cal 40s' historic debut in 1965, was second in its first appearance in the race since.

-- Challenged America's B'Quest, a team of sailors with disabilities from San Diego, remarkably fourth overall among eight boats in Division V. Despite sailing short one crew and with veteran Urban Miyares ailing, they finished their second successive Transpac a half-hour behind Ralphie.

-- Larry Hillman's Swan 48, So Far, from Chicago, winning Aloha B at dusk Sunday for a runaway sweep on both elapsed and handicap time.

Magnitude 80 flies past the finish buoy, second overall in Division 1. (John Spadaro photo)

As expected, five boats did beat the older Pyewacket's Transpac record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds, led by Hasso Plattner's Barn Door win with Morning Glory early Sunday morning in 6:16:04:11. The others were Roy Disney's new Pyewacket in 6:18:32:25, Randall Pittman's Genuine Risk in 6:22:02:35, Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 in 7:03:02:57 and Doug DeVos's Windquest in 7:05:58:03.

Magnitude 80 was second overall to Morning Glory on handicap time in Division 1, but the King Kalakaua winner is now a battle between two Transpac 52s. Philippe Kahn's Pegasus holds a 25-minute handicap lead over Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud. Pegasus led by 40 miles at Monday morning's position report but owes Rosebud, an earlier generation TP 52, more than three hours. Pegasus was due to finish late Monday night or early Tuesday—and then start counting.

Meanwhile, the smallest boat in the race---Jamie and Jenny Neil's Super 30, The Cone of Silence, from Australia---threatened to steal the show with its surge to the front of the Division III pack, now 12 miles in front of Tim Beatty's Perry 56, Stealth Chicken. Tom Garnier's J/125, Reinrag2, is next and leads The Cone of Silence by 4 ½ hours on handicap time. With strong trade winds now blowing in the islands, all are expected to finish Tuesday morning into mid-day.

Quotes from the Boats

Dan Doyle, Two Guys On the Edge: "What a night. We had a few fire drills but are sailing fast and having some fun. We came up on a 150-foot Korean fishing vessel last night. To be polite, we put all our lights on, tried to call her on VHF and sailed as low as we could to leave her to windward. As we are sailing by her to leeward she changed course right at us. At first we did not know what to expect. They kept turning to and passed about 100 feet from our transom. I looked eye to eye with the fisherman and they never responded to us. Well, a little later, to keep us from sleeping, the spinnaker sheet broke. That caused a real fire drill getting it down. Multiple kite changes later we finally got a little sleep. I then tried to call in this morning check in to find the radio has gone south again. My brand new SSB. Damn."

Daily Standings for July 25, 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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