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Gray But Great Final Start to Transpac

Today off Point Fermin not only did the fastest group of 20 boats arrive for the third and final start of Transpac, so did a moderate westerly sea breeze to get them off on an overcast start to their 2225-mile journey to Hawaii. Contrary to the earlier starts on Tuesday and Thursday of this week with their light air conditions, today’s 10-12 knots of wind in the start area had the fleet heeled over and going reasonably fast towards their first mark of the course, the West End of Catalina Island 25 miles away.

Some got off a little too fast: a 10-degree left shift made the pin end of the line very attractive, prompting three OCS calls from the race committee for entries in Cal Maritime Division 1: Cal Maritime’s Andrews 77 T/S CAL MARITIME, Tom Holtus’ Botin 56 BADPAK, and Michael Firman’s Infinity 52 ZEUS. Breaking free of the pack early is the largest monohull in the fleet, Manouch Moshayedi’s Bakewell White RIO100.

An hour earlier in the Epic Insurance Division of multihulls, three MOD 70s crossed the start in slightly less breeze on their way west, with Jason Carroll’s ARGO taking the start for an early lead.

Final Transpac Start Tomorrow

The last start of the 2023 Transpac will be tomorrow. First, the three MOD 70 trimarans will head west from Point Fermin for their 2225-mile journey to Honolulu in Epic Insurance Division 9 at 1200 noon. An hour later, the 20 fastest monohulls in this year’s fleet will follow. The latter are divided into three classes: Cal Maritime Division 1, SD Boatworks Division 2 and Whittier Trust Division 3.

With teams representing Australia, Canada, Italy, and the US, this is the most internationally diverse starting group in this year’s race. The US-based entries are also varied, hailing from New York, the Great Lakes, and Hawaii as well as from throughout California.

Within the teams in each division are some of the best amateur and professional talent in the sport, along with the long generational heritage of offshore sailing that Transpac represents since its very first edition in 1906.

Second wave heads to Hawaii in Transpac

Under sunny skies and a light westerly breeze, the second group of entries has started their 2225-mile journey to Honolulu in the 2023 Transpac. Nineteen boats divided in three classes  Ocean Navigator Division 4, Cabrillo Boat Shop Division 5 and Pasha Hawaii Division 6 – set off from Point Fermin to first clear the West End of Catalina island 25 miles away and then out into the open Pacific Ocean.

Like the first group of starters on Tuesday this week, they face an initial upwind challenge to clear the West End - the entire fleet tacked to port just after the start to have better pressure along the Palos Verdes coast - and then follow their navigator’s advice on the next steps. Do they carry on upwind to stay north close to rhumb line, thereby minimizing the extra distance sailed to Hawaii? Or bear off a few degrees once they clear the coast for increased speed at the expense of sailing extra distance in order to get an initial jump on the fleet and then maneuver to stay in front as the weather allows.

TS Cal Maritime Boat Blog

June 29, 2023

On Saturday, July 1 at 1 p.m. PT, Cal Maritime will begin its 2,225-mile adventure as one of the final group of boats departing San Pedro, California, to Honolulu in the 2023 Transpacific Yacht Race — a biannual open-ocean competition that features the top professional crews in the nation, in addition to one college team.

Throughout the race itself, crew members will take photos and videos of their journey, content you can view by visiting the team's Instagram page, @CalMaritimeSailing. 

Thanks to a live tracker, provided by Transpac officials, sailing fans can see CSUM's location in the Pacific Ocean by clicking here, scrolling through the list of competitors and clicking on the TS Cal Maritime link. 

Second wave of starters leaves tomorrow in Transpac

With the first group of 15 yachts making westward progress towards Hawaii after their Transpac start yesterday, the second group is in final preparations for their start tomorrow at 1:00 PM PDT. This group is larger – 19 yachts divided into three divisions – and are rated faster on the course so their start two days later is intended to compress the arrivals of finishers at Diamond Head in Honolulu.

Currently the YB tracker, sponsored by Pasha Hawaii, indicates yesterday’s starters are making great progress getting off the California coast. Their straight-line tracks indicate they had good steady breeze all night and are now close reaching southwestward in an arcuate path towards Hawaii which still lies over 200 miles away.

They’re off! First Transpac fleet starters on their way

Under clear Southern California skies, 6-10 knots of wind, and just a hint of fog out on the western horizon, the first wave of the 2023 Transpac fleet is on their way towards Hawaii. Nine entries in Boatswains Locker Division 7 and six in smithREgroup Division 8 crossed the start line today. One Hawaiian-based entry in the latter class – Russ Johnson’s Jeanneau 52.2 BLUE MOON – only arrived last night and received permission to delay their start until the next group sets off on Thursday.

A team who is taking on this race for the first time and on one of the smallest boats in the fleet is Herwig Baumgartner’s 1D35 BLACK MARLIN from Los Angeles with an assembled amateur crew of seven on board. This morning before leaving the dock at the Cabrillo Way Marina in San Pedro they “were looking forward to the tradewinds and the legendary downwind sailing Transpac offers.”

Transpac first start preview

Tomorrow at 1:00 PDT a group of 16 boats will cross the starting line in the vicinity of Point Fermin in San Pedro in the first start of the 2023 Transpac. After leaving the West End of Catalina to port they will sail another 2200 miles west towards the finish line at Diamond Head on Oahu… an epic journey.

They are the first of three waves of starting groups among 58 entries from Australia, Canada, Italy and the US in the 52nd edition of this biennial ocean racing classic, first sailed in 1906. Some are racing Transpac for the first time, others are veterans who keep coming back to enjoy this iconic race.

Multi-racial team for 52nd Transpac

The 2023 Transpacific Yacht Race has attracted 58 teams for the 2225nm course from Los Angeles to Honolulu, with the 52nd edition holding staggered starts on June 27, June 29, and July 1. Here’s one of the entrants looking to make waves:

For centuries yacht racing has been an elite activity. Sailing was known as the ‘king of sports and the sport of kings.’ Exclusive.

But now, the Offshore Racing Outreach (ORO) is bringing inclusivity to the yacht racing scene, with a team of sailors from diverse backgrounds set to compete in the biennial Transpac Race.

The team of nine will race an Andrews 56 aptly named Good Trouble, in honor U.S. House of Representatives John Robert Lewis, an American statesman and civil rights activist. And like Lewis, the crew is making waves.