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From the Ko Olina Resort and Marina Media Center  |
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| JULY 10, 1999 PRESS RELEASE #24 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Zephryus IV fades as Magnitude chases Pyewacket toward record HONOLULU, H.I.—Zephryus IV seemed to have sailed itself out of the 40th Transpacific Yacht Race with a bold move that didn't work out, as Pyewacket sailed toward a record finish at about 3 a.m. PDT (midnight Hawaiian time). From position reports given at Saturday morning's daily roll of the boats, Roy E. Disney's new 72-foot maxi sled was making 12 knots and was 17 miles ahead of Doug Baker's 68-foot turbo sled Magnitude with 229 miles go. The finish line is the Diamond Head buoy offshore from the 100-year-old Coast Guard lighthouse at the base of the landmark volcanic crater. Bob McNeil and John Parrish's 75-foot Zephyrus IV was 291 miles out. As the rest of the fleet went southwest directly toward the islands, the big green boat surrendered its halfway lead when it took a westerly route over the last two days, anticipating more favorable wind conditions. Saturday it had turned south, but not before falling 62 miles behind Pyewacket, which was positioned on a direct line to Diamond Head. The run to the finish was a success story for Magnitude, which like Zephyrus IV was dismasted in the rough early going of the 1997 race. That's when Disney's previous, smaller Pyewacket lowered Merlin's 20-year-old record to 7 days 15 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds. Magnitude had gained another eight miles on Pyewacket Saturday and was moving faster at 12.4 knots but was on a track directly behind, leaving few options for a tactical attack. It appeared that seven or eight boats could finish Sunday—including Bob Lane's 56-foot Medicine Man from Long Beach, which stole some of Pyewacket's thunder in '97 by finishing first after a three-day head start. Medicine Man, "turbocharged" with water ballast and a taller mast, jumped two spots to third place in Div. 2 Saturday. James McDowell's ULDB 70 Grand Illusion continued to lead Div. 2, boat for boat, and paced the entire fleet on corrected handicap time based on its projected finishing time of 5:30 PDT Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Bob Hanel of Cabrillo Beach YC had located his capsized 76-foot catamaran Double Bullet II about 200 miles off San Diego. A seagoing tug was towing it back to Southwest Marine shipyard in San Pedro, still upside down. At a speed of 4 knots, it was expected to arrive late Sunday afternoon. Double Bullet II flipped 12 hours into the race. Its crew of six was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter responding to an Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon (EPIRB) signal. The only other multihull entered was the 60-foot trimaran Pacific Challenge owned by Clive Armitage of Eugene, Ore. It was dismasted off Northern California en route to Los Angeles. Seas were initially too rough for a tug to rig a tow line, and the boat could not be found later. Vapor, at 25 feet the smallest boat ever to race the Transpac, remained out of radio contact Saturday. Photos, e-mail from boats, daily progress and position reports, charts, 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 www.iridium.com or by calling 1-888-Iridium. Publicity: Rich Roberts Media center: (808) 946-0020 Cell ph: (808) 366-0959 Hotel: (800) 245-4521, room 2039 e-mail: richroberts@compuserve.com Standings (as of 8 a.m. PDT July 10; in order of corrected handicap time): DIV. 1 (started July 3)—1. . Pyewacket, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles YC, 229 miles to go; 2. Magnitude, Doug Baker, Long Beach YC, 246; 3. Zephyrus IV, Bob McNeil/John Parrish, St. Francis/San Diego YCs, 291; 4. Front Runner, Lou Grasso/Craig Lyons, Newport Harbor YC, 315; 5. Pegasus, Philippe Kahn, UC Santa Cruz Sailing Club, 342. DIV. 2 (started July 3)—1. Grand Illusion, James McDowell, Lahaina YC, 380; 2. Cheval, Steve Popovich, Cabrillo Beach YC, 482; 3. Medicine Man, Bob Lane, LBYC, 470; 4. Mongoose, Robert Saielli, SDYC, 504; 4. Velos, Kjeld Hestehave, SDYC, 664. DIV. 3 (started July 3)—1. Gone With the Wind, Bill LeRoy/Jim Cascino, StFYC, 655; 2. . Stealth Chicken, Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Alamitos Bay YC, 612; 3. Warpath, Fred Howe, Santa Cruz YC, 633; 4. M-Project, Manouch Moshayedi, Bahia Corinthian YC, retired. DIV. 4 (started July 2)—1. Great Scot, Tom Garnier, LAYC, 825; 2. Tower, Don Clothier, Waikiki YC, 626; 3. Glama!, Seth Radow, California YC, 706; 4. Prime Time, John Borkowski/Richard Sherlock, Channel Islands YC, 742; 5. Sweet Caroline, William Rawson, Royal YC, Australia, 844; 6. Bolt, Craig Reynolds, Balboa YC, 901; 7. Uproarious, Robert Bussard, Silver Gate YC, 808; 5. Apollo V, Ned Knight, Point Loma YC, 921. DOUBLEHANDED DIV. (started June 29)—1. Two Guys On the Edge, Les Vasconcellos/Bruce Burgees, Waikiki YC, 353; 2. Vapor, Bill Boyd/Scott Atwood, Alamitos Bay YC, no report. CRUISING DIV. (started June 29)—1. Hurricane, Kim Stebbens, Sloop Tavern YC, 420; 2. Esprit, Bob Pace, Oceanside YC, 435; 3. Willow Wind, Wendy Siegal, Cortez Racing Assn., 476; 4. Pacifica, Doug Jones, Southwestern YC, 530; 5. Endeavor III, Randy Bell/Eleanor Clitheroe, Royal Canadian YC, 568; 6. Tango, Howard Raphael, Palo Alto, Calif., 655; 7. Goodnight Moon, Carlton Vanderbeek, Dana Point YC, 517; 8. Derivative, John Robert Misko, Seattle, Wash., 643. |
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Website © 1999 Tiare Marine Sciences |
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