Race ArchivesRelentless, the modified Nelson Marek One-Design 35 has crossed the most meridians, but somewhere around 140º west, the Criminal Mischief crew will say “Aloha! See you in Hawaii!” to Tim Fuller and Erik Shampain on Relentless. Alfa Romeo, is flying at 16 knots just north of 26º30’ and has recently passed Bengal 7, the Division 3 leader and the frontrunner among the Japanese Transpac Race entries. Later today, Alfa will storm out ahead of the entire fleet and will probably overtake the communications vessel, Alaska Eagle.
Full Article >John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti Team took to the stage seven times during Transpac 09's Awards Ceremony at the Waikiki Shell. Samba Pa Ti had a rare clean sweep and won the Barn Door Trophy, The King Kalakaua Trophy & Governor of Hawaii Trophy among other coveted Transpac trophies. Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Lt. Governor James R. "Duke" Aiona, Jr. appear with John Kilroy Jr. and Samba Pa Ti crew.
Full Article >After the photos were taken on the bow of Medicine Man, Minister Al Bento handed his cell phone to Jared Morford. The caller on the other in end of the line was his good friend, Mike Elias. Morford held his ear to the receiver and hesitated as he replied, “Well, I’m married now. How are you?”
Full Article >The Transpacific Yacht Race is a life changing event. Jared Morford of Medicine Man will never forget Transpac 09 because he and Sharon Watkins have decided to tie the knot, here in Hawaii. Sharon Watkins and Jared Morford will celebrate their wedding on the bow of Medicine Man, today, Friday, July 17th at 1:00pm. Al Bento, four time past Staff Commodore of Hawaii Yacht Club, who is also licensed as a minister by the State of Hawaii, is an avid angler and has been a tremendous Transpac host, will officiate. A reception will follow at Hawaii Yacht Club. All are invited to attend. Congratulations Sharon and Jared.
Full Article >From the time the Lynx Educational Foundation announced its tall ship entry in Transpac 09, it has had the Southern California and Hawaiian sailing community abuzz. As America’s Privateer Lynx neared the Hawaii, helicopters, boats, film crews and the rest of the extended Transpac family braced for her arrival. It was almost 9:00 pm on Thursday evening when the Lynx’s white mast light and starboard running light was visible to the awaiting crowds at Hawaii Yacht Club.
Full Article >She’s a showstopper! Lindsey Austin knows how to stage her returns to Hawaii. During the 2007 Transpacific Yacht Race, Austin returned home to be crowned the youngest division winner in Transpac history. On Wednesday evening, Austin and the Addiction crew swooped into Ala Wai and stoked the flames of the sold out 800-person Mount Gay Rum Party at Hawaii Yacht Club. Addiction, with its battle flag fluttering from the tack to the top of the jib halyard, was finally back in Hawaii following at 16+ day voyage.
Full Article >Two men with a passion for sailing and competition bantered back and forth over the Internet before the 2007 Transpac Race about who would beat whom across the finish line. Philippe Kahn and his Pegasus team had rigged the Open 50 up enough so that Kahn could doublehand the boat with Richard Clarke, a great sailor well suited to race with Kahn. Dave Ullman was on the Santa Cruz 70 Mirage along with Adrienne Cahalan, who had sailed quite a bit with Kahn as a navigator.
Full Article >John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti, a modified TP 52, is the big winner of the Transpacific Yacht Race. Kilroy’s Samba team racked up a clean sweep. The team was first to finish in Division I and won the coveted Barn Door for having the fastest elapsed time of all of human powered traditionally designed sailboats. The team also won the King Kalakaua Trophy, for the best corrected time in the entire fleet. Additionally the eight-man team won the Governor of Hawaii Trophy; the W.H. Steward Memorial Trophy; the Harry Uhler Memorial Trophy; and the trophy for the Shortest Elapsed Time Under 73 Feet. For navigating Samba Pa Ti to the First Corrected Time Overall and the Best Division I Corrected Time, navigator, Nick White, collected the Chuck Ullman perpetual Trophy.
Full Article >A special fraternity has developed among the Transpac kids. While the Morning Light kids were in the limelight in 2007, there were also the On the Edge of Destiny kids. Sean Doyle, Justin Doyle, Ted White, Roscoe Fowler and Cameron Biehl comprised the youngest team ever to race the Transpac. Their average age was just under 20 years old.
Full Article >The record for double-handing the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu has been broken. At 4:38:35 am HST today, Philippe Kahn and Mark “Crusty” Christensen, crossed the Diamond Head finish line in the Open 50, Pegasus 50, in a record time of 7 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. They shaved over two and a half days off of the previous record set by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum in 2001 also with an Open 50, Etranger in the most enduring and greatest ocean race in the world covering 2,225 nautical miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
Full Article >Tom Akin had a lot to say about sailing Flash, a TP 52, to Hawaii. His initial comments were, “I found out what is its like to be in a TP52 for seven days. You sit in water, you eat in water, and you sleep in water. It’s wet. The beast is not as luxurious as my Santa Cruz 52. I was looking for a creature comfort and couldn’t find one.”
Full Article >A staggered start, weather patterns and tactical decisions combined so that boats are streaming into Ala Wai in Honolulu and the greeting parties can barely keep up with the pace. Aloha welcome parties overlap. The consensus among the sailors is that it was a fun and fast race.
Boats in port - Alfa Romeo, Criminal Mischief, Magnitude 80, Bengal 7, Relentless, Samba Pa Ti, Akela, Hula, Bad Pak, Medicine Man, Flash, Tachyon III. Pegasus 50, Cipango, OEX due in shortly. By the end of the day, most of the fleet have made their final gybe, crossed the finish line and will be wearing leis and telling the story of their race to family, friends and fellow sailors.
Full Article >It was even better than old times for Peter Tong, owner of the Santa Cruz 70, OEX. Tong beamed from ear to ear while he and his crew celebrated being the first of the legendary ULDB’s to arrive on Transpac row. Tong is just one of the sled owners of today who took part in the most competitive, nearly one-design, racing in Transpac history.
Full Article >The Alfa Romeo team is deep in slumber following a press conference and other activities that started at 2:40 am. That is nothing new for the members of the 2008/09 Volvo Ocean Race winning team, Ericsson 4 who were also on this record-setting run. Jimmy Buffett's Restaurant & Bar replenished one and all and gave them plenty of energy for an early morning swim before the revelers piled into a van and headed for breakfast at IHOP.
Full Article >Every step of the way from Point Fermin to Diamon Head, John Kilroy and the crew of Samba Pa Ti did a samba for Transpac 09 race watchers. The eight-man crew danced with the stars above their asymmetrical spinnaker and kept an eye on the weather throughout the race. Their strategy from the beginning, according to Kilroy and his tactician, Stu Bannatyne, was “to make as few maneuvers as possible throughout the race.” The big gain for the team is when they continued north to a layline for Hawaii and split with Akela. Samba found pressure and speed up north and worked the boat hard to hunt down Akela. Ultimately, Samba arrived in Hawaii nearly four hours ahead of Akela.
Full Article >The boat and the crew are fine, but J World, a J/120 out of Honolulu, HI has withdrawn from Transpac 09. Wayne Zittel, the skipper, e-mailed the Transpac communications vessel, Alaska Eagle and informed Transpac officials of the boat's withdrawal. He stated, "Vessel and crew are fine, and there are no issues beyond significant damage to our downwind sail inventory!"
Full Article >Tim Fuller and Erik Shampain crossed the Transpac 09 finish line more than 13 days after they started Transpac 09, on June 29th. They doublehanded Fuller’s One Design 35 that had been customized and made bullet proof for short-handed sailing by Bruce Nelson.
Full Article >It was a “storm cloud from hell,” that caused Akela to sit for four hours and watch Samba Pa Ti put 30 to 40 miles on them. From then on, Akela’s owner, Bill Turpin stayed away from the clouds, but they were defenseless against the pressure that Samba found up north. Despite it being “a good fast race,” as Turpin put it, they missed out to Samba Pa Ti on the Barn Door trophy for having the fastest elapsed time of all of the boats other than those in the Unlimited Class.
Full Article >Bengal 7, Yoshiko Murase’s Ohashi 46 and his crew, Haruhiko Mori, Masaki, Takasu, Takeshi Hara,Yasuharu Ando, Yasuyuki Hirano and Yoichi Ito were the first Japanese boat to finish Transpac 09. The sun was still high in the sky and Executive Chef, Ken Taijeron of Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber prepared Japanese inspired dishes for the crew and a cadre of supporters who have been waiting for all of the Japanese boats to finish. While there was friendly competition among the Japanese teams, there is certainly unity among those championing them during the race.
Full Article >Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80, specifically designed by Alan Andrews Yacht Design for West Coast distance races, crossed the Diamond Head finish line at 2:17:41 am on Sunday. Magnitude 80’s elapsed time of 6:16:17:41 (subject to ratification) was within minutes of Morning Glory’s record run of 6:16:04:11 in 2005 that established a course record, which held until Alfa Romeo’s finish yesterday.
Full Article >The Magnitude 80 crew watched the sunrise this morning knowing that their boat is safe and sound at the dock at Hawaii Yacht Club. It looks as if the rest of the fleet including, Pegasus 50, had a good night. The Pegasus team managed to fix their alternator and generator and Philippe Kahn and Mark "Crusty" Christiansen can continue to send us regular AV updates from the water.
Full Article >From the time that they left Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, CA with their war flag flying and their red shirts on, Chip Megeath and his Criminal Mischief crew has given race trackers something to watch. They bolted off the starting line quickly, made a dare devil move and headed south into breeze that was as light as 4 knots at times and then set a supersonic pace, logging three consecutive 300+ mile days. Criminal Mischief, the second boat in the fleet, crossed the Diamond Head finish line before sunset on Saturday.
Full Article >The most recent update puts Alfa Romeo approximately 150 nautical miles out from Transpac 09's Diamond Head Light finish line. The pace has slowed, but the boat is still hauling the mail at over 15 knots. The Aloha reception crews at Waikiki Yacht Club and throughout Honolulu are making preparations for the team's arrival. It looks as if the Jimmy Buffett burgers will be hitting the right spot in the freezed-dried food-fueled crew sometime early in the morning HST.
Full Article >It's like waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Alfa Romeo has communicated to the Committee that they are within 100 miles of the Diamond Head finish line. The welcome troops are starting to arrive at Waikiki Yacht Club. Welcome boats are expecting to see Alfa Romeo come into view between midnight and 12:30 am. The excitement to follow is likely to overshadow the 0600 position report.
Full Article >Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo is on track to break one record and keep us holding our breaths right down to the last second. After knocking out couple of 400-nautical mile days since departing Los Angeles, Alfa Romeo’s pace slowed a bit on July 9th and she posted an awesome 391-nautical-mile day. The 0600 position report shows Alfa Romeo within 367 nautical miles of Hawaii and the 20-knot easterly winds and two to three meter seas stretch between her and her Diamond Head destination. She is less than a day away. Her ETA according to the 0600 position report is 04:17 am PDT, or 01:17 am HST. Everyone is rooting for perfectly executed maneuvers from the 16-member crew.
Full Article >This just in from Philippe Kahn and Mark "Crusty" Christensen who are tearing up the Transpac race track. Reports Kahn, "In the last reporting schedule, Mark and I broke the 24 hour record for Open 50s. It was 325 nms, we did 339.3. That's exciting." That's an understatement!
Full Article >Alfa Romeo has been averaging 16.5 knots, which is over 2 knots faster than the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Race previous monohull record pace set by Morning Glory in 2005. The super maxi clipped off 431 nautical miles over the 24-hour period, breaking the Transpac 24-hour record that it established earlier in the week. Not only are Neville Crichton and his Alfa Romeo team eyeing the course record for monohulls, if they keep it up, they could squeak in under the wire and beat the multihull record. (Don’t forget, Murray Spence reported pinning Alfa Romeo’s needle at 35 knots during a delivery.)
Full Article >Alfa Romeo, Neville Crichton’s Reichel Pugh 100, is on track to set a new course record for a monohull. As the team surfs closer to Hawaii, their eye will be on the clock. Their focus on Hasso Plattner and Morning Glory's record of 6:16:04:11 may shift to two other faster elapsed times that are not touted as much as the monohull records. Those times are held by multihulls and go back to the 1995 and 1997 Transpacific Yacht Races.
Full Article >Alfa Romeo and Pegasus have picked up the pace. They are flying along and could smash monohull, multihull and doublehanded records. During the night Alfa Romeo was trucking along at over 20 knots. Extrapolating her ETA, she could arrive as early as Friday evening. If she crosses between the Diamond Head LIght and Buoy before 7:18:28 pm HST, it looks as if she will set an all-time Transpacific Yacht Race record.
Full Article >Professional crews, especially those who are making the trip with a diet of freeze-dried food, don’t talk about their meals. They talk about what sails they have up and how many miles they have ticked off every day. The frontrunners are keeping track of the records they are setting or have the potential to beat. Assuming they can find time to boil water, pour it into a pot, stir it up and ladle it out, they are not talking about it. The crew that finished completed a nine-month circumnavigation during the Volvo Ocean Race only to catch an airplane and join Alfa Romeo are hoping that Alfa Romeo will be dockside before they dive into their stores and pull out the “stainless steel tuna”. That’s what the crew that refer to the freeze-dried food that they acquired from Ericsson’s left over Volvo Ocean Race provisions.
Full Article >The troops are closing in on Hawaii faster than ever anticipated. Everyone is crunching the numbers to see what it will take for Alfa Romeo to break the multihull record. If they get in before sunset (7:17 pm HST), not only will they break the record, they’ll make the photographers happy.
Full Article >The following is a snippet from Philippe Kahn's blog coming from Pegasus 50. Kahn prides himself in his boats and his equipment. His nav station, with its redundant systems, is the envy of navigators.
Full Article >Alfa Romeo, Akela and Criminal Mischief are knocking at the door of Transpac Division wins and course records for traditionally ballasted monohulls and RRS 51 and 52 waiver boats. There is still a lot more Pacific Ocean to cross before reaching Hawaii, and as Jim Pugh of the San Diego firm, Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design cautions, “If you finish first, first you must finish.”
Full Article >This from Ernie Richau on the swift-moving Division I Andrews-designed Magnitude 80, "The last 24 hours of sailing have been in 9 to 18 knots of breeze. We have covered 369 miles, with our code A3 and genoa staysail up. The big news for the crew today was our move up in the standings. The wind speeds are forecast to increase slightly over the next 24 hours as we enter the trades. Everyone is well and we are looking forward to running in the trades tomorrow."
Full Article >Before the Division I and II boats pulled away from the dock on Sunday, many in the Aloha Send-off were busy collecting autographs. Some were trying to cover the Morning Light poster with cast and crew autographs. One fellow caught Paul Cayard and Stan Honey deep in conversation. Initially, he was after Cayard’s signature, but when he realized who the blond behind the white Alfa Romeo sunglasses was, he went for the famed navigator’s signature too. Honey scrolled his John Hancock right in the center of the man’s long-sleeved Transpac wicking shirt and immediately raised its value.
Full Article >Neville Crichton’s Reichel Pugh 100, Alfa Romeo, established a new 24-hour run Transpac record from yesterday’s early morning position report through 0600 on July 7th. Alfa Romeo covered 399 nautical miles and surpassed the previous monohull record set by Morning Glory during the 2005 Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Race.
Full Article >Murray Spence, Alfa Romeo's Captain, briefs us with a snapshot of what the first 16 hours were like aboard Alfa Romeo, starting with the international team's send-off from Transpac Pier to their high speed flight around the top of Catalina Island and SW to skirt the high.
Full Article >The Transpac 09 communications vessel, the Alaska Eagle, left Los Angeles on Monday, June 29th with the first group of starters. They stayed with the cluster forging the southwesterly path to Hawaii. Not racing, but rather relaying communications from the fleet to shore and teaching adult students about navigation and engineering aboard ocean-going vessels, they use quite a bit more power to keep their generators going than the racing boats. The report from David Lee, who is in charge of communications, “We just stopped Alaska Eagle mid-ocean to dip the fuel tanks, verify quantity of fuel remaining. We've been using the Iron Staysail a lot lately . . . Seemed like the right thing to do, so all the crew went over the side for a swim . . . zero wind, absolutely glassed off. Roxanne Vetesse, who regularly crews on a 48-foot IOR boat in Oxnard, remarked, "It could be worse . . . . we could be racing!"
Full Article >Most of the boats entered in Transpac 09 are veterans of the world’s most enduring and greatest ocean race. Many have completed two or three Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacs; however, it is not unusual to hear that the boat has done four or five Transpacs. It’s also commonplace to meet sailors who have raced in several Transpacs. Also common are third, fourth and even fifth generation Transpac legacies. The Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpac is a rite of passage in many West Coast and Hawaiian sailing families.
Full Article >Divisions I and II yachts in the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Race started their 2,225 nautical mile voyage in an i2-15 knot breeze from the Southwest. Cameramen in the helicopters hovering over the starting area and following the 17-boat fleet along the racecourse to see whether they would clear the west end of Catalina, were filming the Mylar sails, white decks and glistening hulls in nearly crystal clear conditions. As the race boats moved through the white capped seas they left a frothy wake behind.
Full Article >Hundreds of thousands crowded Rainbow Harbor’s shoreline, the decks of the Queen Mary and the marina basins of Long Beach to celebrate Independence Day. Side tied along Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in front of Gladstone’s, Samba Pa Ti, Flash, Pyewacket, Alfa Romeo and Pegasus 50 were the center of attention. Crowds strolling the docks and promenades and posing for photos in front of the glistening boats and their tall masts, made it slow going for those crews who were still rushing from their containers to their boats to close out their punch lists.
Full Article >Pegasus 50 is docked bow to stern with Alfa Romeo. Both are a marvel to look at and both are eyeing Transpac records. The 100-foot long Alfa Romeo is monstrous. Its deck is clean and wide and the sheets and halyards lead to powered winches that are trimmed with the push of a button. Down below, the cabin is spacious and designed for moving sails from side to side during shorter races in Europe.
Full Article >The sun rose in Long Beach to reveal a glassy calm on the water. It won’t be long before the Division I and II crews will be begin to appear on the docks to make their final preparations for Transpac 09. Their checklists are short and they are hoping that they already have the tools and parts that they need, because as many as 400,000 people are expected in Long Beach for July 4th celebrations and the streets of Long Beach will be gridlocked.
Full Article >In addition to following Transpac 09 on at www.TranspacRace.com, other social media is being created about the race. Daily activity updates are posted at http://www.facebook.com/TranspacPier.
Full Article >“Before you leave today, I will ask you, ‘who do you think got more out of the visit, you or the kids?’” That is what Ron Hingst, of Racing for Kids, a unique international charity that draws on the popularity of motorsports to bring attention to the health care needs of children and child health institutions, said before the Morning Light kids paid a visit to children receiving treatment at Miller Children’s Hospital at Long Beach Memorial Care Center.
Full Article >As soon as Alfa Romeo took its prominent position at the end of Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, it became everybody’s darling. Its mast towers above the palm trees along Shoreline Drive and it is the first thing that pedestrians and boaters notice when they enter Rainbow Harbor.
Full Article >The July 3rd Daily Standings as of 0600 PDT for Transpac 09 have the Spanish crew aboard Charisma leading the charge to Hawaii. Charisma is 1,734 nautical miles from Hawaii and over 150 miles ahead of her nearest competitor in Division VII, Between the Sheets, a Jeanneau 50. The doublehanded sailors aboard Relentless continue to set the pace in Division 6. They have stretched their lead to 10 miles over the Canadian boat, Narrow Escape.
Full Article >Thursday’s Aloha Send-off from Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach was picture perfect. Tachyon III, Kanzunori Komatu’s Santa Cruz 52, with members of the Japanese Olympic Sailing Team on board, led the parade out of the basin. Like each of the 18 Transpac 09 race boats that followed, Tachyon III was escorted out of Rainbow Harbor’s entrance by paddlers from the Kahakai Canoe Club. Free Range Chicken, Bruce Anderson’s deluxe Perry 59, was the final Transpac race boat to leave the pier. As she streamed away from the dock, the crew showered their escorts with fresh fuschia-colored leis. Long Beach added more pageantry to the send-off by having Navy seals sky dive from a blimp and splash down in between the end of the pier and the Queen Mary.
Full Article >History surrounds the Transpacific Yacht Race and everywhere you turn at Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, you run into living legends. Christopher Branning confided, “We are 15 of the luckiest people in the world. Being part of the Morning Light crew has opened up opportunities."
Branning, a strong dinghy sailor who recently graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, was one of 15 trained by Transpac legends before he sailed the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpac Race in 2007 on Morning Light. Recently, Branning showed up at Club Transpac like a pro. He melted into the crowd and before he knew it, he was in a clutch of world-renowned navigators.
Full Article >Transpac 09 Division 6 & 7 boats have been heading SSW since their start on Monday, June 29th. Their three-day head start over the next group of 19 larger boats has only given them a 150 to 250 mile advantage. The Division 6 & 7 boats have been pointed in a SSW direction and coasting along at a top speed of less than 7 knots. Charisma, Alejandro Perez Calzada's Sparkman & Stephens 57 continues to be the most northerly and westerly of the fleet. Charisma has not yet dipped below 30º N and is approaching 123º. Transpac 09's only Spanish entry is sailing along at approximately 6.5 knots and is over 30 nautical miles ahead of her closest Division 7 competitor, Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 50, Between the Sheets.
Full Article >Boats in Divisions 3, 4 & 5 start their Transpac 09 race tomorrow. Before they head out for the most enduring and greatest ocean race in the world they have a lot of decisions to make. Crews from each of the 19 boats are looking toward their navigators to determine what route they are going to take initially, so that they can decide which sails to take and which to leave behind. While the navigators work through their strategy, the rest of the crews are out purchasing odds and ends and loading food onto their boats for the passage.
Full Article >After sailing through wind ranges of 8 to 15 knots immediately following Monday’s start and making a number of headsail changes, Divisions 6 and 7 Transpac crews went over the top of Catalina Island and settled into steadier conditions. Relentless leads and is 2,100 nautical miles from the finish line off Diamond Head and Lynx, the 114-ton tall ship, is finding difficult to get the momentum going. Lynx has 2,165 nautical miles left to go on the 2,225 nautical mile racecourse.
Full Article >The 45th running of the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii got underway for Division 6 and 7 boats. With the Hollywood hills a short commute over the LA Basin’s freeways, there were a number of different scripts, grips and presenters at Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor.
Full Article >After months of preparation, the boats in Divisions 6 and 7 will parade away from Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach and head out for the first of three starts in the 45th running of the Transpacific Yacht Race, the most enduring and greatest yacht race in the world. The start will take place off of Point Fermin. Spectators will be able to watch from the water and from the bluffs of Point Fermin Park, the most southerly point in Los Angeles.
Full Article >The Alfa Romeo Owners of Southern California and San Diego rolled their Giulia Spiders, 64 Spiders, GTV’s, Duettos and Alfettas onto Transpac Pier and the boardwalk surrounding Gladstone’s in Long Beach for the first Alfapalozza event. At the end of the pier, and the backdrop for their gathering, was Neville Crichton’s super maxi yacht, Alfa Romeo.
Full Article >IonEarth tracking transponders will be distributed at the Skippers Meeting for the 45th running on the Transpacific Yacht Race. The Skippers Meeting will take place at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific at 1500. The Transpacific Yacht Club is working with IonEarth to track the fleet in the most enduring and greatest yacht race in the world. IonEarth will track the 48-boat Transpac fleet from the start off of Point Fermin through the time that the boats touch the dock in Hawaii.
Full Article >ROY's Chasch Mer, commissioned by Randy Parker, of Santa Cruz, was the first ULDB design. Designed by The Wizard (Bill Lee), she is also the only SC50 with foam core (all others are balsa wood core). Chasch Mer entered her first Transpac in 1979: 30 years ago.
Full Article >Transpac ‘09’s Schedule of Events is loaded with ceremonies, cocktail parties, safety at sea seminars, skippers meetings, receptions, dinners and screenings. Yes, we will have a special screening of “Morning Light – Making the Cut” for VIP’s and we will have another special screening that is open for everyone.
Full Article >A few more boats pulled into Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach on Saturday. Some of them, including the Andrews 70, Alchemy and the TP52, Flash, used the windy Coastal Cup race from San Francisco to Catalina Island as a shake down cruise for the Transpac Race. Some boats ducked into Santa Cruz rather than brave the 30-knot winds, the rough ride and more carnage.
Full Article >Seahorse International Sailing magazine and World Regattas have teamed up with Transpac 09 to introduce Transpac Trivia to www.TranspacRace.com, the official website of the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race. With over 100 years of Transpac history, 1,700 starters in Transpac 44 races, there is enough Transpac trivia to keep sailors talking wherever they are - at Transpac Pier in Rainbow Harbor, at their computers while tracking the race, on the rail or at the helm during the 2,225 nautical mile race stretching from Long Beach, California to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Full Article >Four-time Transpac veteran, Yasuhyuki Hirano and his two-man delivery crew have arrived at the Pine Avenue Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach. They snugged their lines at the dock in front of Gladstone’s restaurant 37 days after casting off from Gamagori in Aichi, Japan. The Bengal 7 crew logged over 5,600 nautical miles during their peaceful passage. Said Hirano, “It was long, and we had good weather and good wind.”
Full Article >What are you going to do when the Volvo Ocean Race is Over? Race fans and sailors alike can turn their attention to the Transpac, the World’s most enduring and greatest ocean race. Sailing the 2,225 nautical mile distance may be unthinkable to many. To Volvo Ocean racers, Dave Endean, Ryan Godfrey, Phil Jameson, Tony Mutter and Craig Satterthwaite who will have sailed over 37,000 miles in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, it’s a busman’s holiday that starts and finishes in warmth and sunshine. It is also the opportunity and sail what some have called “the fastest yacht in the world,” Alfa Romeo II, in a distance race.
Full Article >The bet is on again between Philippe Kahn and Dave Ullman. Once again, it’s for a pittance. It certainly won’t affect either’s net worth. It will, however, give one of them bragging rights on Transpac Row in Honolulu and some more acclaim among the international fraternity of sailors. When they meet in Hawaii sometime during the first half of July, they’ll shake hands and one will reach into his pocket and turn over a soggy dollar bill to the other. The bet? Whose boat will have the shortest elapsed time during Transpac ’09?
Full Article >Alumni from the 2007 Transpac Morning Light crew are sprinkled throughout the 51-boat Transpac 09 fleet. Two of them, Kate Theisen and Graham Brant-Zawadski are up for another once-in-a-lifetime experience during this Transpac. They have joined the Lynx crew. America’s Privateer, Lynx, a 122-foot square topsail schooner, travels 7,000 nautical miles each year to ports along the West Coast and Hawaii, serving as a living history museum and classroom for the study of early maritime history and its role in establishing America’s freedom, as well as earth, life and physical science.
Full Article >Join us for an educational day regarding the weathers impact on the Transpac race. From reading weather charts to reviewing GRIB files, this seminar is intended to provide the Transpac participant with an extensive overview on how to plan and execute the 2,225 mile journey across the Pacific.
Full Article >Forget spring cleaning, planting flowers and all of your other chores and make sure that you and your crew are set for the Greatest Ocean Race in the World - Transpac09. Start ticking off the list of things to do before you and your team slips the lines and joins the Transpac09 sendoff parade out of Rainbow Harbor. Above all, don’t let the end of May sneak up on you without registering for Transpac09 and the Weather Symposium.
Full Article >Congratulations on your recent entry into the most prestigious yacht race in the world - the 2009 Los Angeles, California to Honolulu, Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Race. Enclosed is a list of inspectors for your convenience. Inspection of the vessel must be completed by Monday June 22, 2009. This will allow ample time to remedy any discrepancies. If your vessel will not be in the Southern California area prior to the Sunday July 1, 2009 date, please contact me at your earliest so that we may set up a date for inspection. We will be more than happy to accommodate you.
Full Article >The Racing Rules of Sailing require a certain number of crew to have taken and passed a Safety at Sea Seminar. These seminars are sanctioned by US Sailing and offered around the country. Please plan ahead when considering this requirement, as the seminars may not be available just prior to the Transpac.
Full Article >Team Leglus was conceived and created by Mr. Tomikura who had his own lifelong dream of challenging the Transpacific yacht race from Japan. Mr. Tomikura's dream came one step closer to a reality when the yacht club has decided to purchase an Ohashi 52 which already participated to the race three times under the a different ownership. In order to give his mission the best chance of succeeding, he opted not be a part of the sailing team. He decided to look for a new skipper and crew members, the best to be found, not only from his yacht club but also from general public, and announced his challenge in Kazi, a well-known sailing magazine in Japan.
Full Article >Three decades after his first – and only – Transpacific Yacht Race, Neville Crichton will return to the 2,225-mile course from Los Angeles to Honolulu, aboard the supermaxi Alfa Romeo. “It has taken me the best part of 30 years to get back to the Transpac Race, but I can’t wait,” said Crichton, a pre-eminent yachtsman and 2003 Yachting New Zealand Sailor of the Year.
Full Article >The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes, as a participant in the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race, LYNX "Americas Privateer", a 114 ton top-sail schooner. LYNX embodies the early history of the Transpac when, in 1906, the schooner Lurline was the winner and set a race course record that stood for many years. “We’re very pleased to welcome the tall ship fleet into the Transpac community and look forward to their participation in the race” says Dale Nordin, Commodore of the Transpacific Yacht Club. “Seeing a tall ship cross the finish line off Diamond Head in Honolulu will be incredible”, comments Nordin.
Full Article >Organizers of the 2,225 mile Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu have announced a new perpetual trophy for competitors in the Open Division. The newly established Open Division was created for those monohulls which utilize waivers under the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) for movable ballast and/or the use of powered sail handling gear. These entries will be eligible for a new shortest elapsed time trophy which is currently under development by TPYC. This perpetual award is intended to be a trophy that emphasizes the high-tech, unlimited, modern world of yacht racing - truly created for those yacht owners that push the edge of design, development, and performance.
Full Article >2009 Transpac Race Program Cover
Full Article >The upgraded online entry system for the Transpacific Yacht Race is off to a vigorous start with 16 boats from five countries already signed up for the next summer's 2,225-nautical mile race to Hawaii. Those include Ragtime, the Spencer 65 now owned by Chris Welsh of Newport Beach. The two-time Barn Door winner will be extending its record number of Transpacs to 15. The wooden wonder followed its overall victory in this year's Tahiti Race with a homecoming cruise to New Zealand and has enjoyed a Down Under summer of racing to be climaxed by the Sydney-Hobart Race after Christmas.
Full Article >There’s a new wave in ocean racing, and the Transpacific Yacht Race will ride it to Hawaii in 2009. The TPYC board of directors has posted an Advance Notice of Entry Requirements for the 45th race from Los Angeles to Honolulu next year with two key changes: a maximum length overall (LOA) extended to 30.48 meters (100 feet) for fastest elapsed time or course record contenders and the free use of stored energy for sail hoisting, trimming and adjusting---essentially, ending a Transpac ban on powered winches.
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