LONG BEACH, Calif.---"Have you imagined yourself a sole survivor of a shipwreck in a small vessel with no power, drifting alone in the Pacific? Do it now."

The Santa Cruz 50s are back, including the first one from 1979

So read the grim e-mail report from Psyche, Steve Calhoun's Cal 40 from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. that started the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii with 22 other boats Monday.Although breezes up to 18 knots blew over the Southern California beaches Wednesday, the morning's position reports placed the early starters only 54 (Anna Katarina) to 105 (Peregrine) nautical miles offshore, averaging 1.6 (Lady Liberty) to 3.5 (Mysteré) knots in speed in winds described as light to nonexistent.

Jorge Morales Mysteré, a Swan 42 from Dana Point, Calif., was farthest along the 2,225-nautical mile track with 2,082 miles to go, while Michael Lawler's North Wind 47, Traveler, had logged only 64 miles after a six-hour re-start because of a crew injury.

One boat grew impatient, dropped its sails and turned on its engine. According to the Flagship satellite tracking system, Jim Partridge's Cal 2-46 from Pasadena, Calif. was motoring southwest directly toward Hawaii at 7.5 knots.

"They just want to get to Honolulu," a Transpac official concluded.

It takes two to Tango at 70

Such was the prospect facing 27 boats in the Divisions 4 and 5, plus nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s due to start Thursday at 1 p.m. off Point Fermin in San Pedro. Public sendoff ceremonies at Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach start at 10 a.m., and the start may be viewed from the bluff at Point Fermin Park.

The last 23 boats will start Sunday on the same time schedule.

Thursday's starters will include not only Transpac's youngest crew ever---five sailors aboard On the Edge of Destiny averaging 19.8 years, as noted earlier---but the race's oldest crew ever, if doublehanded crews count. Michael Abraham, skipper of the J/133 Tango, is 70, and navigator Philip Rowe's 70th birthday is Thursday. The Newport Beach duo also sailed the race in 2001 and swore they'd never do it again.

Now Abraham says, "I'd like to tell people of AARP age that once you go on Medicare you gotta keep going on with your life. Our wives think we're crazy. I think mine called our agent to see if my life insurance was still good. We'll be okay. We're loading four gallons of Geritol."

Psyche, shown at start, later was suffering at sea with the early fleet

The youngest sailor in this year's race? It could be Justin Diepenbrock, 15, the son of Mike Diepenbrock, skipper of Rancho Deluxe, a Swan 45 from Sacramento and nephew of xx Diepenbrock, the navigator.

"Transpac is something we always wanted to do together," Mike said, "so after a few years of raising our kids we figured we'd better get on with it."

Another Thursday starter will be Honolulu businessman Gib Black's Stag's Leap Winery, a Santa Cruz 50 recently named for its new sponsor. It lived the first 28 years of its life as Chasch Mer, something of an icon as the first of its kind in a long line of successful ultralight racers hatched from designer Bill Lee's legendary chicken coop in Soquel, Calif.

Randy Parker sailed it in its first Transpac in 1979 and it has done five more since. Black bought it when Parker died two years ago. The boat is a perfect fit for Transpac's following trade winds.

"This is the boat I was in love with," Black recalled. "I was a surfer as a kid, and this is just a big surfboard."

Rancho Deluxe, with the race's youngest sailor (15), checks its spinnaker at Rainbow Harbor

For those already at sea, it was hardly surfing conditions.

Calhoun messaged from Psyche, "Night fell, and so did the wind, teasing us with 6-knot 'gusts,' and then dropping to nil. Our first goose eggs on the knot meter occurred about midnight. This is the second most discouraging event, consequent to the wind dropping. The first most discouraging, yet to occur this year, is the '360,' which refers to what happens to a sailboat when the wind is so absolutely zero that the boat is no longer moving forward. At all.

"But life could be worse. We are presently sipping wine and watching the sun go down with [another Cal 40] Far Far on the horizon."

The Transpacific Yacht Club has joined with Casio Computer Co., Ltd., in a sponsorship agreement to make the company's Oceanus watch the official timekeeper of the 44th biennial race. The Oceanus is a solar-powered chronograph watch with a time signal-calibration function developed by making full use of Casio's advanced electronic technologies. News and product information: http://world.casio.com/

Transpac supporters also include the Long Beach Sea Festival 2007, Gladstone's Restaurant, Ayres Hotels and L. Gaylord Sportswear.

Transpac 2007 entries
(ORR rating allowances in days:hours:minutes:seconds based on handicap distance of 2,300 n.m.; subtract time allowance from actual elapsed time to determine corrected handicap time)

Division 1 (Starts July 15)

• Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-21 hours, 9 minutes, 13 seconds)
  
• Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33)
  
• Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36)
  
• Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12)
  
• Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37)

Division 2 (Starts July 15)

• Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32)
  
• DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (2:00:47:54)
  
• Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17)
  
• Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28)
  
• Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19)
  
• Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (2:06:06:45)
  
• Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05)
  
• Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12)
  
• Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (2:09:31:32)
  
• Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33)

Division 3 (Starts July 15)

• It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31)
  
• Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28)
  
• Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. 2:197:54:52)
  
• Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (2:22:57:25)
  
• Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach 2:23:51:49)
  
• Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (3:03:43:16)
  
• Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (3:03:56:13)

Division 4 (Starts July 12)

• Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34)
  
• Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29)
  
• Delicate Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (3:20:58:21)
  
• Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (3:21:37:33)
  
• The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding, Salisbury Downs, Australia (3:21:57:52)
  
• Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02)
  
• Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, San Diego (3:22:26:21)
  
• Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37)
  
• Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (4:00:24:09)

Division 50/52 (Starts July 12)

• Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25)
  
• Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (3:16:42:19)
  
• Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38)
  
• Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36)
  
• Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (3:19:43:59)
  
• Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (3:20:35:39)
  
• Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42)
  
• Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46)
  
• Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (4:05:22:35)

Division 5 (Starts July 12)

• Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37)
  
• Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22)
  
• Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16)
  
• DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach (4:19:58:16)
  
• DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr., Payson, Ariz. (4:20:59:25)
  
• Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (4:23:42:31)
  
• On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40)
  
• Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (5:02:01:10)
  
• Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24)

Division 6 (Starts July 9)

• DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller, Point Richmond, Calif. (5:12:37:00)
  
• Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (5:20:14:31)
  
• Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (5:21:13:46)
  
• DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta, Calif. (5:21:44:43)
  
• Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (6:03:41:56)
  
• California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif. (7:01:16:11)
  
• Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (7:02:47:32)
  
• Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (7:03:57:50)
  
• Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif. (7:17:47:09)

Aloha A (Starts July 9)

• Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (4:08:39:09)
  
• Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif. (4:10:58:57)
  
• Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev. (4:22:27:48)
  
• Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (4:23:43:58)
  
• Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (5:06:21:29)
  
• Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif. (5:08:31:43)
  
• French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (5:11:59:45)
  
• Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15)

Aloha B (Starts July 9)

• Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif. (5:18:26:52)
  
• Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (6:12:14:02)
  
• Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (6:14:37:49)
  
• Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif. (6:20:18:32)
  
• Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu (7:02:14:16)
  
• Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (8:12:05:44)

DH-Doublehanded.

Multihull

• LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (July 15)
  
• Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob Webster, Pryor, Okla. (July 12)

The official 2007 TransPac Yacht Race Website http://www.transpacificyc.org
Website © 2006/2007
Doug Vann, Lisa Niemczura, Walt Niemczura