The Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii is one of the most popular and enduring long-distance ocean races in the world, dating to 1906. That was the year of the great San Francisco earthquake, which literally altered the course of the event.

The idea for the race came from Clarence MacFarlane of Honolulu, who invited several sailors in San Francisco and Los Angeles to race to the islands. The race was scheduled to start in the early summer of 1906, but when MacFarlane sailed his 48-foot schooner into San Francisco Bay he realized there would have to be a change of plans. The city lay in ruins following the earthquake 27 days earlier.

But MacFarlane wasn't easily discouraged. He simply changed the starting point to Los Angeles, and except for one nostalgic return to San Francisco for the start in 1939, the race has started from the Los Angeles area ever since. The line is set off the cliffs of Point Fermin near San Pedro on the Palos Verdes peninsula, an area of rolling hills and expensive homes. The finish is off the Diamond Head lighthouse east of Honolulu, establishing a distance of 2,225 nautical miles.

This year's race will be the 40th Transpac, as it is called. The race is run biennially in odd-numbered years, alternating with the Newport-to-Bermuda race that also started in 1906.

The fastest in the fleet have traditionally competed for the Transpacific Yacht Club Perpetual Trophy, which is better known as the "Barn Door" for its unique size. It is a 3 1/2 x 4-foot plaque of hand-carved Hawaiian koa wood bearing the words "FIRST TO FINISH," which isn't necessarily so anymore. Since 1991 the starts have been staggered, the slower boats starting two to three days ahead of the faster boats, in order to compress the finishes and facilitate celebrations in Hawaii. Also, since allowing multihulls to compete, the fastest elapsed time will almost certainly not be logged by a monohull. In the last race in 1997, Roy E. Disney's 70-foot turbo sled Pyewacket had an elapsed time of 7 days 15 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds to break a 20-year-old record set by the boat Merlin in '77. But that same year, Bruno Peyron's 86-foot catamaran Explorer finished in 5:19:18:26, a record for multihulls. So because it is possible that a slower boat could finish first and that a multihull will be faster, the Barn Door is now designated for the monohull with the fastest elapsed time. Disney, by the way, is a nephew of Walt and vice president of the Walt Disney Co.

The largest boat ever to race the Transpac was the 161-foot Goodwill, whose best time was 10 1/2 days in 1959. Size is now artificially restricted by imposing "speed limit" ratings on all entries through evaluation of potential performance. The fastest rated class is Transpac Maxi, which features the "turbo-sleds" that broke the standard ULDB 70 sleds' domination of the Barn Door in 1995 when Hal Ward's Cheval finished first, despite losing two-thirds of its mast and sailing the final day with a jury rig.

Along with the boats, the face of the race itself is evolving with modern times. In 1997 there were two all-woman crews, as well as a crew composed entirely of people with HIV and AIDS, carrying a message of hope on the horizon for a cure for the disease.

Also, there is now a "cruising class" for less-competitive sailors who prefer some comforts to Spartan racing conditions. They may not use their auxiliary engines but may use power-assisted winches and other aids.

No sailor has been lost in the race, although one once fell overboard and was rescued after a day-long search, and another skipper died after being stricken with a perforated ulcer.

The Transpac has developed the pattern of a downwind race over the years, but it's still somewhat tricky to sail. After sailing into westerly breezes for the first day or two, the racers usually find the southeast trade winds. However, because of the Pacific high-pressure zone to the north, the strongest winds usually are south of the rhumb line, so a direct course to Honolulu is not advisable.

The record for entries was 80 in 1979, the fewest two in 1932.