LONG BEACH, Calif.---Splashing and crashing, charging and barging and the oompah of a tuba wafting on a brisk breeze under sunny skies set the tone for a rambunctious second start to the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Thursday.

Tabasco crew hangs on before the wild start Thursday

With 12 knots of fresh wind gusting to 14, Adrenalin was pumping. That's the name of David Clark's Santa Cruz 50 from Newport Beach that protested Sean Doyle's 1D35, On the Edge of Destiny, with Transpac's youngest crew ever. The pre-start protest---possibly for barging---will be sorted out after the two boats reach Waikiki in a couple of weeks or less, but a fair guess is that Destiny tried to squeeze in from behind the committee boat without right of way---"barging" in sailboat racing terminology.

If so, Destiny wasn't the only one. Although the line was set square to a due-west wind, presenting a cleaner shot from the pin end to the west end of Santa Catalina Island to the left, most boats chose to start at the committee boat end of the line.

"It looked like the whole fleet was coming right at us," said a race committee member. "There was tremendous barging going on."

Mike Webster blows his horn as The Minnow starts its first race

Several boats did 360-degree turns, apparently not for penalties but because they couldn't find room to get through the gridlock of what looked like West Los Angeles' 405 freeway at rush hour.

One collision was heard amid the chaos, but it probably wasn't between Adrenalin and Destiny.

Two boats started late. Richard Mainland's Ross 40, Paddy Wagon, blew out its mainsail before the start and returned to port to replace it, while James and Chris Gilmore's Columbia 30, Uncontrollable Urge, had an engine problem. They restarted together an hour late.

The tuba? The Minnow, a Catana 52 catamaran sailed doublehanded by brothers Mike and Bob Webster of Pryor, Okla., is one of only two multihulls in the race. It was named for the boat in Gilligan's Island, which says something about the offbeat attitude of its owners, who are new to sailing and consider racing as just a more enjoyable way to cruise the world, whether the wind blows or not.

"We don't worry about that," Mike Webster said. "The wind blows when it blows."

The Minnow was started alone 10 minutes after the monohulls, with Mike puffing heartily on his horn as they crossed the line. Bob would have made it a duet, but somebody had to steer.

Everybody was flying at the start

Mike said, "We got [the tubas] a few years ago to play on top of Mt. Harvard in Colorado"---and for the starts of great ocean races.

This is their first, although they sailed their first cat across the Atlantic to France last year to buy this one, which they sailed back across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

The other multihull---H.L. Enloe's Jeanneau 60 trimaran, LoeReal, from El Paso, Tex.---will start Sunday 10 minutes after the Division 1, 2 and 3 boats, including marquee competitors Pyewacket, Magnitude 80, Rosebud and Morning Light.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Monday's 23 starters found some encouraging wind after a depressing couple of days and were making up to 7 knots. Although they gained less distance southwest toward Hawaii, boats that went south, led by Simon Garland's Hobie 33, Peregrine, in Division 6 and Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52, Between the Sheets, in Aloha A, appeared to have gained leverage on the others as they continued south while rivals lifted west more directly toward their destination.

Rocio Berho was out to watch husband Lorenzo start on Raincloud in Division 4

Who made the best calls will become clearer in the next few days.

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. (1:00:09:46)
  
• 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)
  

Division 3 (Starts July 15)

• Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:15:53:03)
• 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