First start today

Centennial Transpac sees the Aloha cruising set sail

The 43rd biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii unfolds the first of three phases when 34 of the 75 entries set sail Monday.

It's the Centennial Transpac with an entry list exceeded only by 80 in 1979, celebrating their bold predecessors who first contested the 2,225 nautical miles in 1906, at one point farther from land than any other place on earth.

There are eight boats from five foreign countries, most of whom joined in the traditional Aloha skippers meeting and send-off dinner attended by 650 competitors, family and friends in Huntington Beach on Saturday night.

The first starters will be Division 5, Aloha A and B and 14 Cal 40s. They'll be followed this coming Friday by 20 boats in Divisions III and IV and on Sunday by the 20 top-rated boats, including a few that are the fastest ever to sail the race.

After some rating revisions, a pair of canting-keel maxZ86s - Roy Disney's Pyewacket and Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory - are now the scratch boats, each giving only 23 seconds for the race to Randall Pittman's slightly depowered 90ft Genuine Risk as they attack Disney's elapsed time record for monohulls of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds.

John Davis competing in Aloha B, also has a target. "I won the 'Tail-End Charlie' award as the last finisher last time and I still have the slowest-rated boat, so I think I have a good chance of defending my title," he said.

For those keeping score, Pyewacket and Morning Glory will owe his CF 37 Pipe Dream 6 days 20 hours 43 minutes 8 seconds in the concurrent contest for first place on overall corrected handicap time and the King Kalakaua Trophy.

All starts will be at 1300 local time off the Palos Verdes Peninsula at 33deg 42.8N and 118deg 20.3 W. The finish will be off the landmark Diamond Head volcano at 21deg 14.8 N and 157deg 48.9 W.

For some of the boats, it's not only a race but a family affair. Reinrag2, the J/125 that won Division III in 2003, will have five Garniers on board, matching the De Sarachos of Mazatlan, Mexico on their bright red Jeanneau 54, Enchilado. Doug Ayres will sail a Santa Cruz 70 Skylark named for the boat his grandfather and father first raced in 1947. "My son Dorian, 17, will be the fourth generation of our family to be in this race," Ayres says.

Rick Gorman's daughter Megan, 18, and son Daniel, 16, will be aboard Incredible for their first Transpacs.

Patricia Steele of Maui traces her racing roots back several decades. She's the new owner of the legendary Merlin that held the record for 20 years and will stay apace of another icon Ragtime when both sail their 13th Transpacs.

Scott Abrams, 63, a Matson Navigation Co. captain, is the grandson of Clarence MacFarlane, who founded Transpac in 1906. He has guided ships on about 600 voyages over the same route, plus sailed 12 Transpacs, although none in recent years. Appropriately, for the Centennial Transpac, he'll sail on Odyssey, a 58-foot wooden yawl that did the race with Steele's ancestor as skipper in 1939. "I sort of had to go," Abrams said.

Steve Calhoun will sail Psyche, which under Don Salisbury's captaincy was the first of three Cal 40s to win successive laurels and the King Kalakaua Trophy as first overall on corrected handicap time in 1965, '67 and '69.

Roy Disney, 75, will start his 15th and final Transpac. Indy 500 veteran Dick Simon, a rookie skipper in this game, and Lloyd Sellinger, each 72, will be sailing their first Transpacs, the latter as skipper of the Cal 40 Bubala with the oldest crew ever - all six hands aged 65 or older.

Among the Cal 40 fleet, with 14 boats (the largest turnout of the class since 16 in 1971), Mark Schrader's Dancing Bear and Sally Lindsay Honey's Illusion look like co-favorites.

Schrader made a singlehanded circumnavigation in 1982-83 and raced in BOC Challenge in 1986-87, an event of which he subsequently became Race Director. His seven-man crew includes fellow ocean racing veteran Peter Hogg and Cruising World Executive Editor Herb McCormick, plus sailing photographer Billy Black. Kimball Livingston of Sail magazine will crew on Fin Beven's Cal 40, Radiant.

Honey, the wife of Pyewacket navigator Stan Honey, will sail with Liz Baylis, Melinda Erkelens and Charlie Arms - a four-person team of accomplished women racers.

With Honey, her husband and Transpac veterans Jon Andron and Skip Allan, Illusion led the 2003 race on handicap time until the last two days, finishing third overall.

Meanwhile Five of the doublehanded entries will start Monday, including the first women's team: Patricia Garfield and Diane Murray on a Catalina 47 Charmed Life from San Francisco.

But one of the most compelling tales is the return of Challenged America, the team of disabled sailors from San Diego that proved competitive in Division V last time and is returning with a partially new crew. The hull of their Tripp 40 B'Quest will be encircled with 'in memory of' hull stickers.

"It's something we just have to do," said Kevin Wixom, leg amputee and new crew member. "Although I've been with the program for a little more than a year, my teammates and I realize that there have been many before us who made this all possible. They too had dreams of one day racing to Hawaii but, unfortunately, are no longer with us. We're the sailors who are now fulfilling their dreams, and they will always be part of the crew."

James Warmington's 74-foot Shanakee II, rated about 29 hours faster than the next Aloha boat, will give the other Alohas a four-day head start by going Friday.

Entries:

Division I (Starts July 17)

Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00) Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles. (0:00:00)
Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23)
Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach. (9:44:58)
Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07)
Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35)

Division II (Starts July 17)

Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46)
Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03)
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach. (45:59:58)
Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu. (51:49:29)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39)
Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach. (52:18:53)
Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco. (55:04:54)
Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle. (55:23:53)
Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash.
(57:38:37)
Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle. (57:52:37)
Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10)
Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu. (69:08:37)

Division III (Starts July 15)

Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45)
Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12)
The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia. (83:69:39)
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco. (84:08:21)
DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16)
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico. (86:10:42)
Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24)
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35)
Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle. (90:58:29)
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego. (91:10:54)
Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17)
Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu. (95:31:20)

Division IV (Starts July 15)

DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33)
Sensation (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco. (115:11:28)
Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05)
Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach. (119:24:28)
Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:24:04)
Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04)
Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45)

Division V (Starts July 11)

Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04)
Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico. (133:59:14)
Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44)
B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego. (136:41:18)
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59)
DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43)
DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego. (148:46:04)
DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Barnard, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54)

Cal 40 (Starts July 11)

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (163:20:29)
Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20)
Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47)
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27)
Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55)
Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28)
Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14)
Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20)
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17)
Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50)
Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31)
Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37)
Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35)
Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37)

Aloha A (Starts July 11)

*Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25)
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50)
Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04)
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (126:13:17)
Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24)
Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (128:53:47)
Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach. (129:07:19)
DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield, San Francisco. (131:54:20)
*---Starts July 15.

Aloha B (Starts July 11)

Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59)
DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James Read, San Francisco. (141:52:48)
So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago. (147:28:54)
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14)
Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08)

DH---Doublehanded.