JULY 7, 1999 PRESS RELEASE #21 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Catamaran lost, crew saved as leaders blow away record

HONOLULU, H.I.—One boat's crew was rescued as their boat was lost and three boats topped the 24-hour distance record in the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Wednesday as strong winds swept the length of the course.

Doug Baker's Magnitude from the Long Beach Yacht Club, a 68 1/2-foot turbo sled, logged 353 nautical miles in the 24 hours before the morning's roll call but still trailed Bob McNeil and John Parrish's 75-foot Zephyrus IV and Roy E. Disney's 72-foot Pyewacket, which sailed 352 miles each. Zephryus IV was 11 miles ahead of Pyewacket, which led Magnitude by 22 miles.

All three were ahead of the record pace of Disney's old Pyewacket in 1997 (7 days 15 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds) as they passed the midway point of the 2,225-mile race. Scattered boats reported winds of 20 to 26 knots.

Meanwhile, the 76-foot catamaran Double Bullet II capsized 12 hours after starting Tuesday, but the crew was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. (Details in a bulletin publshed previously.)

"It was a wild night," Disney said by satellite phone Wednesday, watching the instruments and talking over loud whooshing noises. "If you can hear that whistling noise in the background, that's the keel. It does that at these speeds. We're doing 18 knots right now."

Disney, asked if he had ever gone that fast on a boat, said, "We've done it in sports, but sustained is pretty amazing."

Speed is relative, though, and Zephyrus IV is still in front.

"It's looking good but we'll have to work our tails off to catch those guys," Disney said.

Earlier, Pyewacket reported that Zephyrus IV may have gained its lead while Pyewacket was slowed by four feet of kelp snagged on an underwater appendage.

Besides the top three, Lou Grasso and Craig Lyons' fourth-place Front Runner, Newport Harbor YC, and Philippe Kahn's Pegasus, UC Santa Cruz Sailing Club, also had big days, logging 341 and 337 miles, respectively. The old record was 337, which Pyewacket equaled two days earlier.

The last boat they're trying to catch is the 30-foot Two Guys On the Edge sailed by Les Vasconcellos and Bruce Burgess of Waikiki YC. With a four-day head start, they were 886 miles from the finish, with Zephyrus IV 166 miles behind and due to fly past sometime Thursday.

Vasconcellos had another concern, however. He radioed a friend in Honolulu asking if he knew of any place to stop for beer.

The other Doublehanded entry, Vapor from Alamitos Bay YC with Bill Boyd and Scott Atwood aboard, remained out of radio contact, but race officials were cautiously confident of the boat's safety because no emergency beacons had been activated. At 25 feet, Vapor is the smallest boat ever to race in the Transpac.

James McDowell's ULDB 70 Grand Illusion moved into the lead for overall honors on corrected handicap time, just ahead of Zephyrus IV and Pyewacket.

Photos, e-mail from boats, daily position reports, crew lists and other information are available on the race web page, www.transpacificyc.org.

The 40th Transpac is sponsored by Iridium North America, the world's first global telephone and paging company. Several boats are carrying the phones. Through a constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites circling the globe, customers can make or take calls and receive pages in the most remote regions on Earth. Additional information regarding the Iridium system is available at the web site at www.iridium.com or by calling 1-888-Iridium.

Publicity: Rich Roberts Phone: (310) 835-2526
1258 Lakme Ave. Fax: (310) 513-1664
Wilmington, CA 90744 e-mail: richroberts@compuserve.com


Standings (in order of corrected handicap time):
DIV. 1 (started July 3)—1. Zephyrus IV, Bob McNeil/John Parrish, St. Francis/San Diego YCs, 1,052 miles to go; 2. Pyewacket, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles YC, 1,063; 3. Magnitude, Doug Baker, Long Beach YC, 1,085; 4. Pegasus, Philippe Kahn, UC Santa Cruz Sailing Club, 1,113; 5. Front Runner, Lou Grasso/Craig Lyons, Newport Harbor YC, 1,160.
DIV. 2 (started July 3)—1. Grand Illusion, James McDowell, Lahaina YC, 1,156; 2. Mongoose, Robert Saielli, SDYC, 1,187; 3, Velos, Kjeld Hestehave, SDYC, 1,289; 4. Cheval, Steve Popovich, Cabrillo Beach YC, 1,202; 5. Medicine Man, Bob Lane, LBYC, 1,198.
DIV. 3 (started July 3)—1. Gone With the Wind, Bill LeRoy/Jim Cascino, StFYC, 1,323; 2. Warpath, Fred Howe, Santa Cruz YC, 1,308; 3. Stealth Chicken, Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Alamitos Bay YC, 1,315; 4. M-Project, Manouch Moshayedi, Bahia Corinthian YC, retired.
DIV. 4 (started July 2)—1. Tower, Don Clothier, Waikiki YC, 1,213; 2. Great Scot, Tom Garnier, LAYC, 1,361; 3. Glama!, Seth Radow, California YC, 1,279; 4. Prime Time, John Borkowski/Richard Sherlock, Channel Islands YC, 1,299; 5. Sweet Caroline, William Rawson, Royal YC, Australia, 1,371; 6. Bolt, Craig Reynolds, Balboa YC, 1,410; 7. Apollo V, Ned Knight, Point Loma YC, 1,395; 8. Uproarious, Robert Bussard, Silver Gate YC, 1,369.
DOUBLEHANDED DIV. (started June 29)—1. Two Guys On the Edge, Les Vasconcellos/Bruce Burgees, Waikiki YC, 886; 2. Vapor, Bill Boyd/Scott Atwood, Alamitos Bay YC, no report.
CRUISING DIV. (started June 29)—1. Hurricane, Kim Stebbens, Sloop Tavern YC, 913; 2. Esprit, Bob Pace, Oceanside YC, 937; 3. Pacifica, Doug Jones, Southwestern YC, 966; 4. Endeavor III, Randy Bell/Eleanor Clitheroe, Royal Canadian YC, 982; 5. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Cortez Racing Assn., 966; 6. Tango, Howard Raphael, Palo Alto, Calif., 1,076; 7. Goodnight Moon, Carlton Vanderbeek, Dana Point YC, 992; 8. Derivative, John Robert Misko, Seattle, Wash., 1,101.