Around The World Of Sailing

Samba Pa Ti Wins -- What a Morning It Was

HONOLULU---Cameras ready - places everyone - cue sun - cue boat - action!

And so Hollywood came to Hawaii, or so it seemed Thursday as Roy E. Disney's Morning Light project reached its climax when the Transpac 52 of the same name sailed by its crew of sailors ages 18 to 23 finished the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

The year-long documentary from crew selection through the race is scheduled to hit the big screen next spring, but who will believe the ending was for real? Sunrise was at 6:03 a.m. and Morning Light finished at 6:09 a.m. against a flaming orange backdrop of the eastern sky on a nautical set that even Tinsel Town wouldn't believe.

"Honest, only God could do this at the finish," Disney said. "He clearly understood the title of the movie."

It hardly seemed to matter that another TP52, John Kilroy Jr.'s Samba Pa Ti, had finished in the dark more than four hours earlier to leapfrog Brack Duker's Santa Cruz 70 Holua, the Division 2 frontrunner, for first place in the division, leaving Morning Light in third.

The younger sailors felt no disappointment---"None whatsoever," said Charlie Enright, 22, of Providence, R.I.---and were happy just to have been in the hunt almost to the end.

Piet van Os, 23, of La Jolla, Calif., who teamed with Chris Branning, 21, of Sarasota, Fla., as navigators, said, Van Os, "The fact that we feel good is an understatement."

At Friday night's awards dinner they will share the podium with two strong teams of professionals, including world-class navigators Mark Rudiger on Holua and Nick White, who made the gutsy call that brought Samba Pa Ti a roundabout win. Holua finished less than an hour behind Morning Light, which owed it about 3 1/2 hours in handicap time.

Other finishers Thursday included, alphabetically, Denali, Enchilado, Hugo Boss II, Narrow Escape, Pegasus 101, Relentless, Skylark, Tabasco, Tango and Westerly. Twenty of the 732 starters remained at see as this was written. Five had dropped out.

Kilroy explained Samba Pa Ti's sudden detour: "We went on the great navigator Nick White's Pacific tour. Since our boat is optimized for higher speeds, we had to find wind. The wind was too light for our boat. Even still, it was fun to be out of the office."

White, a New Zealander with a strong ocean racing resume said, "We were sailing our own race. I saw the pressure and knew it was time to go. Some thought we went too far south, but it looks like it worked out."

Van Os said, "I was trying to think why they did it. We thought it was a flyer. We didn't think it was going to work. We saw it but it looked too risky. But their boat reaches better than ours, so if I was in that position again I'd make the same call we made."

Morning Light was accompanied over the 2,225 nautical miles by Cheyenne, a 125-foot power catamaran---formerly Steve Fossett's sailing PlayStation---carrying a production team.

Kilroy said, "We were all impressed with the kids on Morning Light. Obviously they are talented and were well trained . . . [although] it was actually quite distracting at times having such a large escort vessel around. In an ocean race you’re used to being out there alone. We were glad when we turned down."

The Morning Light sailors enjoyed the mid-Pacific competition while it lasted.

Mark Towill, a native Hawaiian, said, "One morning we woke up and they were two lengths behind us. It's a crew full of professionals who have gone around the world and stuff."

The Morning Light team averaged 21.2 years in age, which put them in step with the local On the Edge of Destiny team of five young men averaging 19.8 years that placed third in Division 5 a day earlier as the youngest team ever to sail Transpac.

The Morning Light skipper was Jeremy Wilmot, a 21-year-old Australian who was elected to the position by his American peers.

"That was the longest, hardest, struggling, stressful thing I've ever done in my life," Wilmot said. "But at the end of the day I loved it."

Morning Light made an unusual zigzag move of its own when after passing the Koko Head peninsula near Diamond Head it turned into shore, then jibed and sailed back out before jibing again to finish. A cynic might have thought the youngsters were playing to the two helicopters and various photo craft recording their every move for the documentary.

Wilmot explained, with Aussie humor, "We thought we'd get killed by the production team if we ruled out finishing with a spinnaker."

Van Os said, actually, that "we learned when we were training here for four months that usually you get good puffs coming down that valley, but they weren't there so we went back out."

Robbie Haines, Disney's longtime Pyewacket sailing manager who doubled as Morning Light's head coach, said, "They practiced that."

ChiMac 2008 - Planning Ahead

The last of the racers trickled in to Mackinac Island in the early hours of Wednesday July 18, and many more arrived Tuesday after the Awards Ceremony and the Rum Tent.

That being said - will someone please order the appropriate speed record breaking conditions for the 2008 Race.

As the 100th sailing of the event, it would be ideal for the racers to get to the island in good time and have the opportunity to enjoy their time before having to speed back to the real world of automobiles and offices.

If you have ideas or suggestions for 2008 coverage - please let us know!!

Golden Gate YC Shares America's Cup Vision

Last week, Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) lodged a challenge for the 33rd America's Cup with Defender Society Nautique de Geneve (SNG), and in taking this step, the GGYC also wants to support the competitive position of all challengers.

"Close racing and intense rivalry are at the heart of a great event," GGYC Commodore Marcus Young said. "We want the next regatta to be as exciting as the last one - and to do that it must offer neutral rules and an equal chance for all syndicates."

He said the recent Protocol proposed by SNG raised serious concerns in departing from fair competition.

"It is proposed to abandon neutral regatta officials. The Challenger Commission would lose its voting powers. And for the first time in history, the Defender not only wants to introduce its own new rule for the class of boat to be raced, but also to keep this new rule secret. It will be disclosed to challengers at a much later stage, putting all challengers at a huge disadvantage."

"These proposed changes are moves against the fantastic and close competition that we have witnessed in the last regatta," he said.

Golden Gate's vision for the 33rd America's Cup is for a circuit of races in the current ACC yachts, shared neutral event management and a democratic challenger commission.

GGYC supports the right of challengers to determine their own selection series format. It also wants to create a continuous circuit of world-class events throughout the world to provide exciting competition in the interim Cup years for the competitors, media, sponsors and fans.

The San Francisco club supports the continued use of Valencia as the venue for the next regatta. "The city has made an enormous investment developing a magnificent America's Cup port and infrastructure that far exceeds any previous Cup host city and this should be retained," the GGYC Commodore said.

"The proposed changes would not only reduce the asset value of current boats to almost zero but also jeopardize the participation of syndicates and damage the event," he said.

GGYC believes all participants - challengers and the Defender - should start immediately to mutually develop a new design rule, allowing all future competitors a fair and equal opportunity and sufficient time to develop, design and build their new yachts.

Each competitor should be permitted to build the same number of yachts.

"Achieving these goals would benefit all challengers in delivering fair competition and build on the great successes of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia," Young said.

GGYC awaits confirmation of acceptance from SNG to become the Challenger of Record for the 33rd AC.

Pyewacket Leads but Record out of Reach

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Yesterday's rock stars are today's washouts in a Transpacific Yacht Race full of baffling twists and turns en route to Hawaii.

Just as Roger Sturgeon's new STP 65 Rosebud appeared to be lining up on Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket with a 297-nautical mile 24-hour run down south a day earlier, dying wind slowed it to only 167 miles before Wednesday's 8 a.m. roll call.

Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 101 was another classic example of how quickly it can change. His doublehanded Open 50, rated as the sixth fastest boat in the fleet, led Tuesday with a run of 299 miles in the south but Wednesday made only 146 miles---one less than Bill Myers' Cirrus, a 34-year-old Standfast 40 leading the Aloha B division with Lindsey Austin, 22, as skipper and four other women as crew.

The south was still good for Cirrus and a few others. Tom Garnier's Reinrag2, a J/125 in Division 4 that at one time was the farthest boat south of all, tied into breeze that swept it 232 miles---second only for the day to Mag 80's 237 and Fred Detwiler's 233 on the TP 52 Trader ---and into first place overall on corrected handicap time for the entire fleet.

"It is truly weird," Disney said.

And how did Kahn, the creator of the cell phone, deal with being becalmed?

"I get Richard [Clarke] to practice singlehanded sailing," Kahn wrote. "I dove off the boat and went for a magical swim. What a treat. But if you try it, make sure that you time it right with the puffs, else it is a long swim to Honolulu."

At about the same time, Pyewacket veered north to get in front of Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, which fell in 23 miles behind as they continued southwest directly toward Oahu in a 12-knot nor'easter they hoped was a weak beginning of the trade winds.

But unless the winds increase dramatically, Pyewacket's hopes of reclaiming the elapsed time record of 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds set by Morning Glory two years ago are slim.

Disney, who decided not to sail on the boat the day before last Sunday's start, said from Waikiki, "It's not over yet, but they need to get going. A couple of 400-mile days would help."

Good news for Disney was Morning Light's climb to first place in Division 2 in a head-to-head fight with John Kilroy Jr.'s Samba Pa Ti, another Transpac 52 descending from the north.

Minutes before departing Long Beach for the start line last Sunday, Morning Light skipper Jeremy Wilmot reflected on the past year's selections and intense training, with a word for the project's patron, Disney.

"We're very ready," Wilmot said. "I'm just eager to get started. We hope we can make him proud."

Seventy-three boats started the race and Ginny, Chris Calkins and Norm Reynolds' Calkins 50 in Aloha B, became the second to drop out Wednesday, following Gaviota earlier. The report was that Ginny "got stuck in a bad high [pressure area], couldn't get out of out [and was] headed for San Diego."

Flagship's tracking program---introduced to Transpac for this 44th race---also ran into difficulties. The transponders it placed on all the boats were going dead after about five days, meaning that all of the earlier starters were not transmitting their periodic positions to satellites, and the big boats that started last were feared to follow suit.

Transpac has returned to its old system of an 8 a.m. PDT daily radio roll call to the boats for position reports.

Tom Garnier's brother, Transpac Commodore Al Garnier, said, "It's unfortunate. The Pacific satellite coverage is more complex than other places, but we haven't yet heard an explanation of the problem from anyone at Flagship."

Kahn seemed to be taking it all in stride when he wrote: "The wind vanished. Gone. For several hours we were becalmed, making sail changes, climbing the mast, seeking the puffs. And now the wind is back. Light, but it is back. Richard is a fantastic light air sailor and his superior skills are infinitely precious. It’s going to be tricky getting out of this light spot and within the next 48 hours into the trades. That’s a busy night ahead with a lot of concentration and focus."

Meanwhile, special prizes have been offered to winners by Gladstone's Restaurant, the hub of the Transpac's mainland home port at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach. A spokesman said, "In keeping with the spirit and tradition of the Clark Cooke House in Newport, R.I., Gladstone's Long Beach announced that each crew member of this year's Transpac overall winner will receive a Gladstone's Long Beach Gold Card. The named owner of this card will be entitled to a lifetime cocktail at Gladstone's Long Beach. Additionally, if the elapsed time record is broken, the record-breaking crew will also receive a Gladstone's Gold Card."

Windquest, Vytis, and Gamera Win the Mac

There are four overall winners for the 2007 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac representing top honors in each of the four divisions: Chicago - Mackinac Trophy Division, Mackinac Cup Division, Multihull Division, and new this year, the Cruising Division. There are also 17 "first in section" winners.

Overall winner of the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division, is Windquest, a MaxZ86 owned by Doug DeVos of Grand Rapids, Mich. The also receive honors as the first monohull to finish and First Place in Section 1.

First Place in the Mackinac Cup Division is Vytis, a J105 owned by Tomas and Gytis Petkus of Chicago, Ill. Vytis was also first in the J105 Section.

First Place in the Multihull Division is Gamera. This is the second year in a row Gamera won the multihull race. Gamera is owned by Matt Scharl of Chicago, Ill.

And finally in the Cruising Division, Mist, owned by Daniel Koules of Glenview, Ill., is currently in first place. However, at the time of this release, the fleet is still finishing the race and it is possible that a boat may still correct over the current top standings. There are still about 30 boats who are still making their way to the finish.

Rosebud has Pyewacket in its Sights

LONG BEACH, Calif. ---Rosebud and the radically modified Pyewacket---essentially, two new, fast but unknown quantities sailing their first ocean races---appeared to be lining up for a Barn Door showdown on their third days at sea in the 44th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Tuesday.

Morning roll call positions and Flagship tracking showed Rosebud, Roger Sturgeon's STP 65 from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., had ended its dive into the deep south in quest of favorable breeze and turned west toward the islands as Pyewacket, about 200 miles to the north, continued its steady slide directly down the middle of the course, trailed by several other big boats.

The latter include two vintage ULDB 70 "sleds" showing their old form. Brack Duker's Holua from Pasadena, Calif. and Bill McKinley's Denali from Grosse Point, Mich., lead Divisions 2 and 3, respectively, boat for boat as well as on corrected handicap time.

At mid-day, Pyewacket, although 29 feet longer than Rosebud with a much taller 130-foot mast, was making 9.2 knots, only six-tenths of a knot faster than Rosebud, suggesting that Rosebud was sailing in better breeze---and Rosebud had logged a race high of 297 nautical miles to Pyewacket's 246 in the previous 24 hours. Also, Rosebud could enjoy a stronger sailing angle when it meets the following trade winds in the next day or so.

As for the threat of Tropical Storm Cosme from waters off Mexico, the National Weather Service said Tuesday that "the initial intensity has been conservatively lowered to 40 knots . . . and the official track forecast brings Cosme near or over the Hawaiian islands in 4-5 days. The official intensity forecast maintains Cosme as a weak tropical storm through four days."

Bill Lee, the entries chairman and design "wizard" of

Transpac, explained the genesis of Rosebud, the only STP 65 built so far: "After Transpac’s success with the Transpac 52, thoughts arose for doing the same type of box rule for a 65-footer. The Storm Trysail Club on the East Coast beat Transpac to it and offered an ST 65. When no boats were started, Alan Andrews and Bill Tripp had a conversation and suggested a cooperative effort, the result being an STP 65 (Stormtrysail-Transpac 65).

"Transpac had a few requirements which were blended with the original boat to yield the new STP 65. Transpac wanted a faster boat with less regard to rating, so the STP 65 is slightly lighter and has slightly more sail area than the ST 65. Deep draft is fast, but because California harbors are shallow, Transpac also needed a draft of about 10 feet for harbor access. The solution: a lift keel with 16 feet of draft in the down position.

"With lots of ballast and the deep draft, the STP 65 is very stiff. She can be sailed hotter with the spinnaker set. This permitted using a fixed bowsprit instead of a conventional spinnaker pole which greatly simplified the boat. Like the TP 52, there are no runners."

Other boats that started earlier and ventured north to get above a zone of light winds were feeling the pain. Jorge Morales' Mysteré, a Swan 42 from Dana Point, Calif., messaged: "Sailboats are not exactly Formula 1 cars and if you get stuck, you’re stuck. We are stuck. Unfortunately, we’ve found ourselves in a large hole and have invested all last night and all day today to shift to a more southerly route. We are doing everything possible (i.e., read patience) to work ourselves south to the stronger winds."

At the same time, for Simon Garland's Peregrine, a Hobie 33 from San Diego that started in Division 6 on July 9 and went south, life was good---although it didn't feel that good at first.

"We are the most southerly and least westerly boat, putting us dead last," Garland wrote a few days ago. "Navigator Jeff [Westbrook] mimes hanging himself, then mimes shooting himself in the head as a coup de grace. But Andy [Hamilton] reminds everyone that things are exactly as we planned. Our boat needs brisk wind abaft the beam to perform its best. By heading south, we are staying in those breezes, and it shows. We've gone twice as far as the boats that struck out due west. We hope that our south move will pay off as we get to the strong trade winds quicker."

Tuesday only one boat---Frank Easterbrook's Ladd 73 Ariadne in Aloha A---was closer to Diamond Head than Peregrine, 1,295 nautical miles to 1,300.

Garland wrote late Monday: "We are beginning to see signs of the developing trade winds. The boats in the later starting groups, having the benefit of better initial breezes, are roaring up our tails, but we are still fighting hard within our division, against the cannily sailed Brilliant and the tough Cal 40s Far Far and Psyche, who are shooting around behind us to the south. Last night we drank our last two cans of Tecate, the excuse being if we didn't drink them now, they wouldn't be cold anymore."

There are several races within the race: four Transpac 52s in Division 2, three Cal 40s in Division 6, nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s in their own division and five sleds from the genre that waged the Barn Door battles in the late 80s and early 90s. Holua is followed by Doug Ayres' Skylark and Tim and Tom Hogan's Westerly in Division 2. McKinley's Denali and Chris Slagerman's Cheetah are in Division 3. Denali is a Nelson/Marek 70, Cheetah a Peterson 70 and the other three Santa Cruz 70s.

McKinley, a Great Lakes sailor from Grosse Point, Mich., reported from Denali early Tuesday: "We ran into our much predicted frontal boundary and slowed right down. Now we have to fight our way through it to the better pressure on the other side. Some of the boats that started on Sunday went deep south, the more traditional route. This is going to add hundreds of miles to their race. Others like ourselves have opted for the shortest route and are heading on a basic rhumb line course to minimize the miles sailed. This is going to be a real horse race and one that isn't going to be decided until later this week when it will become apparent which was the best choice. Beautiful clear skies and fair winds last evening. The stars were awesome. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they will be aligned for Team Denali and we can bring back a victory to Michigan."

McKinley bought the boat---formerly Hal Ward's first Cheval, not the 1995 Barn Door winner---in 1988 and renamed it for the Alaskan National Park where North America's highest mountain is located: his namesake Mt. McKinley.

"We're climbing a different kind of mountain here," McKinley said before the start. "When I bought the boat the plan was to sail a few other races---Newport-Bermuda, Montego Bay [in the Atlantic] and finish off with Transpac, the ultimate goal. All of the crew is from Michigan and has no professionals. We're doing what we talked about doing as kids."

But later McKinley also wrote: "Crew abuse reached a fever pitch and the owner has been relegated to washing the crew's underwear."

Westerly's Hogan brothers are from Newport Beach. Seven of the 11 crew are Hogan family members of two generations---a high for this race and perhaps all Transpacs. The group includes Tim Hogan's daughter Casey and sons Patrick, Scott and Matthew and Tom's son Jack. Their resumes include national championships and college all-American honors. Also on board are past Transpac Commodore L.J. Edgcomb and his son Grant.

"All of our 'kids' are in their 20s or 30s," Tim Hogan said. "They've been busy raising their families and doing other things, and we figured this would be a good time to do it."

Tim Hogan is the longtime president of the California International Sailing Association (CISA), which promotes and supports youth sailing, and last year became head of the Interscholastic Sailing Association for high school sailing in the U.S.

Westerly, the former Mongoose, was a successful campaigner in the sleds' heyday. The Hogans bought it from Dennis Conner, who owned it for about a year. The family has tuned up by doing the Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas race and a couple of inshore regattas.

The only significant change they made was to accommodate Hogan's daughter Casey, an experienced sailor who has been director of the CISA Advanced Racing Clinic.

"We placed a curtain across the head for her," Hogan said.

The fleet officially numbers 73, dropping from 74 when The Secret failed to start in Division 4.

Slowest Mac In Years

It's the Tuesday morning of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, normally the day when the preparations for this afternoon's awards ceremony are made, and over half the fleet is still on the water. Only 108 boats have finished, and 19 have retired. There are still 172 boats on the lake, and they are trying to catch any puff of breeze they can.

This is by far both the fastest and slowest Mac in years. The strong breeze and small craft advisory at the start of the race on Saturday, July 14 was in no way an indication of what was to come, proving the unpredictability of Lake Michigan. The boats flew across the start line with their colorful spinnakers flying in the strong winds. Some boats report going over 25 knots. And then the wind died.

"This is the slowest race in all the years I have been racing since 1962," Island Goat and past Race Committee Chairman Lloyd Karzen, explained. The Island Goats Sailing Society is a group of sai lors who have completed the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac at least 25 times.

Only two sections have all the boats finished, Section 1 and Section 2, which are the bigger boats in the fleet. In this situation, after one boat in the section finishes, the rest of the fleet has 24 hours to cross the line between Round Island and Windermere Point. Not one boat from the Cruising Division, Section 8, Section 9, or Section T-10 have finished. The awards ceremony will be short today, as we can only report a few section winners. Due to the handicap system, it is impossible to announce any overall winners until the majority of the boats finish.

So we wait. The winds are between 5-10 knots by noon, increasing to 6-11 knots around 5:00 p.m. We'll see how many sailors make the annual post race party, held this afternoon.

How many boats are left??

At 11:00 am Michigan Time, here is a extremely basic summary of who is left.

There were 298 boats registered.
Sixteen have notified the race committee as retired.
Total number finished - 110.
Number potentially remaining on course - 172

It is time for me to head home and less then 1/2 half of the fleet has finished.

Best wishes to all who remain waiting.

Padawan2 - Beneteau 37.6

Padawan2, Beneteau 37.6, won their division this morning, finishing at approx 6:00am race time. If they pass inspection and have no protests, it will be a lock.

They are the first Beneteau 37.6 to finish out of a one design fleet that started with 18 entries.

Padawan2 - The first Beneteau 36.7 to reach the island.

One boat at a time. . . .

The song remains the same. Slow, slow, slow.

A few fortunate entries from Sections 4, 5, 6 & 7 have finished since midnight.

We have not yet seen any finishes from Section 8, Section 9, T10 or the new Cruising division.

Race tracking tells us that the greatest volume of those boats are lying in wait between Beaver Island and Grey's Reef. There are also others that have turned the corner, but have still not made the bridge.

What does it mean? It means the CYC race committee still has a lot of boats on the race course. With the wind at the Island nearly flat and the bouy at North Manitou showing 4.6 kts, it may be a very long day.

Report from the Island - 2300 Island Time

Patience is a virtue. Having enough supplies on board to prevent mutiny on a MacRace that runs longer than hoped is supurb planning.

As stated in previous reports the GL70's and Section 1 competitors are all finished or accounted for.

Where do the rest stand?
Multihulls - all accounted for - with the exception of Big Storm.
Section 2 - 13 of the 18 entries have arrived.
Section 3 is coming along with 8 of 20 registered boats.

Winners have made it in for two of the J Classes.
The J120 Perserverance from Marquette Michigan finished at 9:16 pm race time. 40 minutes before the second place Elusive.
In J105 Zeitgeist crossed the finish line at 20:59:30 - 55.5 hours after their start.

The water between the bridge and the finish line is on the way to becoming a parking lot. The Sydney 38 Spirit Walker called from the bridge at approximately 8:45 PM race time, and as of this writing at 10:10 PM they had not yet traversed the 5 mile stretch.

Monday Late-Day Report - CYC

Fleet Updates

All results are preliminary

Section One Windquest arrives first and far ahead of the fleet, they should take Section One honors in addition to the Royono Trophy for first to finish. Second and third place are yet to be determined with protests pending on Wooton and Equation . 9 boats are in of the 15 boat fleet.

GL70’s Nitemare, skippered by Tom Neill corrects over Evolution in the Great Lakes 70 class for the Section Win. This is the second consecutive year Nitemare has won in the section. All 10 boats in the fleet are in.

Multihulls Cheekee Monkee was the first Multihull to finish. Nice Pair had a man-overboard in the middle of the race, but the skipper and crew executed a text book man-overboard rescue and all is well. 'We actually performed a man-overboard drill the morning we left for the race,' said skipper of Nice Pair Bruce Geffen of Ann Arbor, Mich. 'He [the crewmember] went over in about 15 knots and it took us about 12 minutes to get him back onboard.' The crew and skipper are fine. Of the 9 boat fleet, 4 have finished and 1 boat, Moxie, has retired.

Section 2 18 boat fleet, 2 have finished; the Natalie J, a Nelson Marek 46 skippered by Phillip O’Niel III of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and Fine Line, a Nelson Marek 46 as well, skippered by Rich Montplaishir of Park Ridge, Ill.

J105 Mac Race Chairman Bob Smith, skipper of New World, called in at 11:45 CDT on Monday around Fox Island moving at a frustrating .93 knots. 'The lake looks like a mirror. We’re getting a great tan and we just paid homage to wind gods, in hopes we will stop bobbing around here.'

Section 6 At 5:17 p.m. Don Glassell aboard LA Woman called. 'We are under chute right now going along in the Manitous. We can see Big Meanie behind us, a multihull ahead and a bunch of T-10’s. We have enough food for another day, so I think we’ll make it.'

Cruising Fleet Four boats of the 18 cruisers in this new division have retired. Four boats have called in at the 45th parallel although the rest of the cruisers with GPS appear to be entering the Manitous right behind them.

Among the rest of the boats (the majority of the fleet) we have several call-ins at the 45th, but that is still about 100 miles away from the finish. It’s going to be a busy night!

The GL70's fleet has arrived.

With the first boat arriving shortly after 1:00 pm, and the last in the division clocking less then two hours later, the GL 70's fleet was pretty close for spending so much of the race going far less than optimum speed.

Preliminary results show Nitemare as the section winner, repeating their 2006 win with owner Tom Neill.

It's about Time (ChiMac)

Thank goodness the wind picked up. The first 70's should be in view on the other side of the Mackinac bridge very soon (if they aren't already).

Judging by time and velocity they should start finishing in an hour - hour & half.

Most of the J fleets have logged their 45th crossing times as well as many Beneteaus. Section one has all checked in (with the exception of Wooton) and all of Section 2. So the fun shall begin, en masse, while the sun still shines.

16 Hours Later and Only One More Boat

After Windquest flew in under spinnaker to beautiful conditions on Mackinac Island last night at 7:00 p.m. CDT, the Chicago Yacht Club flag that was flying high in the wind outside the finish tent dropped still. At the time of this release only one other boat has finished. Equation,skipered by Bill Alcott of St. Clair Shores, Mich. crossed the finish at 10:16 a.m. CDT with an elapsed time of 44 hours 06 minutes and 05 seconds - 15 hours, 21 minutes and 22 seconds later. Windquest maintained a corrected time over Equation solidifying the Devos' as the first place winner in Section One. As to the outcome of the other Divisional winners, we have to wait.

Greg Freeman, crew aboard Salsa, reported to be around Fox Island, south of Gray's Reef at 9:41 a.m. CDT. "We crossed the Manitous about 3:00 a.m. this morning and are progressing slowly. It's been extremely light."

Salsa is one of many boats hanging out in the last leg of the race in extremely light air. It was reported last night around 10:00 p.m. that a mass of 180 boats in the fleet were congregated around the 45th parallel, which is the traditional call-in point for skippers to gauge their location. The 45th is right through the Manitou passage and still approximately 95 statute miles (82 nautical) from the finish.

It looks like a crazy finish is inevitable with a log-jam of boats finishing at the same time, likely late this afternoon and into the night. Principal Race Officer Janet Crabb commented, 'it is very difficult for the race committee to score busy finishes in the dark. We have spot lights that will operate after dusk to see the sail numbers as the boats cross the finish. It's going to be a long night'

In a slow race like this food and water provisions become a concern for the crews, when boats are so far from the finish in light air. Four more boats have retired since last night, Trinity, Jugband, Never Enough, and SoChail; Juband and Never Enough are part of the new Cruising Division.

The winds are currently at 4-7 knots and will increase slightly this afternoon and evening.

Withdrawals & Protests

Keep track of this entry for updates on boats that have dropped out of the race as well as info on boats with a PP on the CYC scratch sheets.

Dropouts - all times are "Race Time" (Chicago)
Never Enough - Catalina 36 Tall Rig - cruising - 8:22 am -
Trinity - J105 - 9:05 am - Weather
Siochail - C&C 35 - Section 9 - 9:18 am - Weather
First Light - Jeanneau 45 - Section 5 - 9:43 am - weather
Windquest - C&C 38 - Section 8 - 9:44 am - weather
JugBand - Jeanneau 45 - Cruising - 9:54 am - weather

The CYC Race Committee filed protests against the follow vessels:
Big Meanie
Blow 'em to Smithereens
Equation

Equation Finishes

A second boat has crossed the finishline at Mackinac Island. Equation, owned by Bill Alcott, has completed the 333 mile journey.

Equation at Bridge

10:05 Michigan Time

I have just received confirmation from St Ignace that Equation is passing the Mackinac Bridge with their spinnaker up. Now it is a game of wait and see as to how long it takes them to traverse the 5 miles to the finish line.

There is more breeze on the island than there was an hour ago. So the outlook is getting better.

Images from the Island - Not Much Happening Here

As of this morning there is not much action on the island.

Docks at Mackinac - 7/16/07 - 6:00 AM race time

Windquest waiting on a sea of glass.

The Chi-Mac Race Commitee area. Note flags are a wee bit limp this morning.

Info from the Shoreline? (Chi-Mac)

Do any shorebound boat watchers have info on the fleet?

Where are you, what do you see?

I would love to post a list of updates from the race course.

I am especially interested if anyone has seen the boat that crossed the 45th parellel after Windquest - Equation - recently?

Send comments (or questions) to info@chicagomackinac.com

ChicagoMackinac.com
Your Independent, Unofficial Source for Chicago to Mackinac Race Information

Mackinac Island, no more boats - yet.

A very slow night at Mackinac. Early morning staffers coming in whining about being scheduled when there is nobody here. The breakfast spots are opening up without their usual line up of starving racers at the door. It is nearly 7:00 AM race time, and there is not a hint of boat on the horizon under the bridge.

Windquest is floating on a sea of glass, every passing minute increasing their odds of being overall winner. There are dark lines on the water in the straights - but if it is a small puff, or just the current, is hard to tell from shore. The air is still, the leaders of the fleet are estimated at about 50 miles away. If they are truly moving under 5 knots - their long night will turn into an extended morning.

Potential Long Night for Mac Racers

The weather bouy off North Manitou reports breeze holding steady from the SE at 4 to 5 knots. Not exactly the perfect forecast to make the island by sunrise. The forecast calls for an increase to 8-10 knots overnight, clocking around from the West. We shall see.

All of the GL70's fleet has reported crossing the 45th parallel and the wait begins.
Section 1 boats are begining to reach that imaginary line in the water, and some multihulls as well.

Equation has a chance to get here in short order, but right now it is looking like Windquest will be the only participant to make it to the island for last call Sunday in 2007. I am sure the 70's fleet is planning to make it here for breakfast!!

No breeze, No Disney for Transpac's Final Start

LONG BEACH, Calif.---It was as if Roy E. Disney's 11th-hour decision to step off Pyewacket sucked the air right out of the final start of the 44th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Sunday.

A few hours after his news flashed around the docks at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, the fleet met balmy southeast zephyrs of only 3 to 4 knots off the Point Fermin start line in San Pedro that left the high-powered racers gasping for air. With what little wind there was coming from 170 on the compass and the west end of Santa Catalina Island to the right at 215, all 23 boats quickly tacked to port after the gun.

That tactical move also allowed them to avoid a flock of spectator power boats that had intruded well inside the starboard tack course, apparently unaware that sailboats don't sail directly upwind.

Disney, unfortunately, won't be sailing at all in what would have been his 16th Transpac.

"I just decided to let the younger guys do it," Disney, 77, said Sunday morning, "and I'm making a movie, anyway."

The reference was not only to his regular crew---plus, for this race, New Zealand America's Cup skipper Dean Barker---on the powered-up Pyewacket but his team of young sailors ages 18 to 23 sailing the Transpac 52 Morning Light, a documentary movie tale in the making of dedicated youth at work.

"It's been on my mind for several days," Disney said, expressing concern about trying to follow Morning Light's progress and sail Pyewacket at the same time. "I've been apprehensive about it, and when you're worried maybe it's not the smart thing to do."

A Pyewacket spokesperson indicated that Disney's son Roy Pat Disney is now co-skipper with Disney's longtime boat manager, Gregg Hedrick.

"It's very sad," said the younger Disney, who also filled in for his dad 10 years ago when Roy E. broke a leg before the race and that earlier Pyewacket broke Merlin's 20-year-old record.

"With these kids he has a lot on his mind. He was just going to feel too isolated."

Meanwhile, Roy Pat said with a smile, "This makes me the senior with 17 [Transpacs]."

Disney will fly to Hawaii Tuesday to await the arrival of both boats.

Sunday's starters also included Pyewacket's strongest threat, Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, and Philippe Kahn sailing his new Pegasus 101 doublehanded with Richard Clarke. Mag 80 enjoyed a better start to windward of Pyewacket, which soon slid out from underneath and was gone, light as it was.

Pegasus 101, an Open 50 that prefers big breeze, struggled in the rear.

Sunday morning's position reports also were grim news for the boats already at sea following their starts Monday and Thursday. Saturday's upbeat reports of 24-hour runs up to 250 nautical miles at speeds up to 11 knots slipped a bit to 236 tops by Jack Taylor's Horizon, a Santa Cruz 50 from Dana Point, Calif. that averaged 9.8 knots for the day.

Devos' Windquest First to Finish

Windquest has crossed the finish line. (First to cross)

Finished: Sunday 18:54:43
Elapsed: Sunday 28:44:43
Corrected: 43:31:13

Here is a picture as she entered the Manitou Passage earlier today.
(More complete story below picture.)

The 86' boat arrived Sunday with an elapsed time of 28:44:43

At 6:54 p.m. CDT, Windquest, owned by Doug DeVos of Grand Rapids, Michigan crossed the finish between Round Island Lighthouse and Windermere Point Sunday, July 15th. The Max Z86, the largest boat in the fleet of racers in the 99th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, was the first to finish the Mac for the second year in a row.

'We put up the kite at the Manitous and flew under the bridge to the finish,' skipper Tom Geisler said. This is Geisler's 22nd Chicago Mac, and owner Doug Devos' 27th. Doug's son Dalton, 15, was on board for the second year in a row and this time his brother Dick DeVos joined the crew with his son Ryan, 14. Dalton and Ryan are the youngest crew on board. The DeVos family are co-founders of Amway in Grand Rapids, Mich.

'This was one of the most pleasant Mac races in some years,' Geisler said after happily taking a bottle of Mount Gay Rum at the Main tent. Windquest had an extremely fast start with wind dying down 4 hours later. 'We got some rain, a small squall for only 20 minutes,' crewmember Patrick McMath recounted.

Windquest's elapsed time is 28 hours, 44 minutes and 43 seconds. Fast, but not quite fast enough to beat the speed record set in 2002 of 23 hours, 30 minutes, and 34 seconds by Roy Disney's Pyewacket. We'll have to wait until 2008, the 100th running of the world's longest annual freshwater sailing race to see if the record can be broken.

Windquest will still have to wait to see if they drove the boat to their handicap to correct over the other boats in Section 1 for the overall win. Equation, skippered by Bill Alcott of Bayview Yacht Club was the next boat to call in at the 45th parallel at 5:46 pm, although at the time of this release, the wind has died completely. It is reported that the Coast Guard is sitting with 180 boats in the fleet near the 45th parallel who are all dead in the water. That's the beauty of weather on Lake Michigan. It is still truly anybody's race.

Barker joins Pye for Last Transpac Start Sunday

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Roy E. Disney's powered-up Pyewacket, with America's Cup skipper Dean Barker on board, will be among the final 23 of 74 boats in the 44th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race that head for Hawaii Sunday. They'll receive a boisterous sendoff from Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach at 10 a.m., followed by their start eight miles west off Point Fermin in San Pedro at 1 p.m.

Both events are public ceremonies. Each boat's crew will be introduced and saluted with an "Aloha!" cannon blast as it departs from Transpac's mainland home port in Long Beach. The start may be viewed from Point Fermin Park where a concert is scheduled to start at noon.

Smaller boats started the 2,225 nautical miles Monday and Thursday and struggled early on with light and erratic winds that appeared to be settling into a stable pattern, as forecast, as the biggest and fastest boats join the chase.

But even Pyewacket navigator Stan Honey, who charted ABN AMRO's victorious course around the world in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race and has excelled in several Transpacs, sees a challenge.

"The tricky part for all starters is that it's going to be real light in the middle of the race," Honey said. "It's pretty unusual for the middle of July. There's more wind to the north and south. Most boats will choose to go south."

Most boats aren't Pyewacket, which will be at sailing's leading edge in its maiden race. Disney "retired" from racing after his 15th Transpac in 2005 when Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory from Germany beat him by 2 1/2 hours and his race record by 19 1/2 hours (now 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds).

Disney then donated his boat, a maxZ86, to the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship, but the defeat gnawed at him for about three months until, now 77, he decided to charter the boat back from the school and pump enough improvements into it to virtually ensure getting the record back, no matter what the wind.

Pyewacket is now eight feet longer at 94 feet and has a new 130-foot mast 30 feet taller than the old one, plus humungous port and starboard dagger boards longer than surfboards that project from the cabin top when not in use, and the real eye catchers: three-foot-wide wings at the stern to stack unused sails and crew members for ballast stability.

Barker drove New Zealand's America's Cup boats in 2003 and in the recent 5-2 loss to Switzerland's Alinghi in Valencia. The wings must remind him of the 130-foot boat---still on display at the Auckland waterfront---the Kiwis used to challenge Dennis Conner for the Cup at San Diego in 1988.

Disney will be among 21 crew members on Pyewacket, but his thoughts also will be with Morning Light, a team of sailors ages 18 to 23 he recruited and trained to sail a smaller Transpac 52 in a project being filmed for a documentary scheduled for release in theaters next spring. Rick Deppe will be on board Morning Light as a cameraman but not as a member of the crew. The producers have charted Steve Fossett's 125-foot power catamaran Cheyenne---formerly PlayStation when it set numerous sailing records---as an escort boat for production purposes only.

Eleven of the final 15 sailors, including skipper Jeremy Wilmot of Australia, will be on the boat. One of the four alternates, Steve Manson of Baltimore, has joined the Pyewacket crew; the other three will continue to Hawaii in supporting roles.

Robbie Haines, who serves the dual rule of sailing manager for Pyewacket and head coach for Morning Light, doesn't think he and Disney will be distracted by the other boat's presence in the race.

"I'm not worried about them getting there," Haines said. "There are going to be other boats with professionals, but after the people like Stan [Honey], [Volvo winner] Mike Sanderson and Jerry Kirby that we've had working with them for four months in Hawaii I think there's never been a team better organized or better trained to sail offshore than these 15 kids."

Pyewacket's closest threat for the Barn Door---the huge slab of carved koa wood awarded to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time---appears to be Magnitude 80 from Long Beach. Earlier this year Doug Baker's boat blew away the 22-year-old record in the Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta Race by 31 hours, and in the 2005 Transpac was among five boats to break Disney's 1999 record.

The turbocharged Pyewacket is rated more than a day faster than Magnitude 80 but Baker said, "Anything can happen, especially the way the weather is this year."

The problem is whether to follow Pyewacket and concede to a faster boat or pick another course hoping for better breeze.

"Maybe we will go the other way," Baker said, "but they have an awfully good [navigator] on their boat. Do we think we're smarter than Stan Honey? If all goes well, we'd just like to beat them [on] corrected [handicap time]"---which Mag 80 did in 2005.

Every boat in the race competes for the prestigious Governor of Hawaii Trophy for first place overall on handicap time, rewarding the crew that sailed its boat, whatever size, design or age, nearest to its speed potential. Morning Light has a shot at that. It was called Pegasus when Philippe Kahn sailed it to second place overall behind Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud, also a TP52, in 2005.

This time Kahn, who also won the Barn Door in 2001 and 2003, is sailing doublehanded with Richard Clarke on his new Pegasus 101, a fast Open 50 design, chasing the Transpac doublehanded record of 10 days 4 hours 4 minutes 14 seconds set by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum in 2001.

Sturgeon, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., now has a new STP65 also called Rosebud that rates third fastest in the fleet, just ahead of two Long Beach boats---Mike Campbell and Dale Williams' Peligroso and Bob Lane's Medicine Man in Division 1.

As Transpac enters its second century, this race also features the youngest and oldest crews and the oldest boat ever to compete. Skipper Sean Doyle, 19, of Hawaii leads a crew of five aboard On the Edge of Destiny averaging 19.8 years (Morning Light averages 21.09). Mike Abraham and Phillip Rowe of Newport Beach are both 70 and sailing Tango.

Alsumar, a Sparkman & Stephens 70 built in 1934, was restored and is being sailed by brothers Bill and Ted Davis of Las Vegas. All of the above boats started this past week.

One, Jim Partridge's Cal 2-46 from Pasadena, dropped its sails the second day because of light winds and started to motor toward Hawaii but now, according to the Flagship satellite tracking system, appears headed back to California.

Saturday morning's positiojn reports indicated that the boats that started Thursday avoided the doldrum-like conditions that trapped Monday's starters. Doug Grant's Tower, a Lidgard 45 from San Pedro, logged the best day of 265 miles at 11 knots average speed to leap from seventh to first in Division 5.

Windquest reaches the Manitous

Windquest is traversing the Manitou Passage as I type, 11:30 race time. They are on port tack with the Spinnaker flying and moving along at a pretty good clip. Check back for updates as they are available. Pictures wil be posted as soon as I have the technology.

If you - or anybody you know - is watching the fleet from shore - Please Share!!! info@chicagomackinac.com Any information you supply will be posted on this site. It's a beautiful day for a sailboat race!!

And they're off. . . . .

Today the 2007 Race to Mackinac started. Carrying with it dreams, hopes, ambitions, and plenty of prayers to the wind gods. Flagship tracking shows the big boats with transponders winding their way up to the rhumbline, passing through the bulk of the fleet. Where does that leave the boats without transponders? That is anyone's guess. Be sure to check back for updates and available CYC press releases.

If you have any particular questions or suggestions for future coverage, feel free to write info@chicagomackinac.com.

chicagomackinac.com
Your Independent, Unofficial source of Chicago Mackinac Race information.

ChiMac Online Tracking Information Now Active

LIVE --- Online tracking of race progress is now active.

See the tracking at:
http://trackinfo.fistracking.com/Mac2007/VersionDetectionA.htm

Recent Chicago Mackinac Media Coverage

NBC 5 Chicago: Race Watch

NBC 5: GPS Lets Fan track the Mac

CBS 2 Chicago: Boaters Shove Off For Race To Mackinac, 333 Mile Race Takes Most Teams 40 To 60 Hours

ABC 7 Chicago: Tracking contestants in the 2007 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac

Chicago Tribune: Windiest Mac start in years; front could ignite t-storms

Chicago Public Radio

Chicago Sun Times: She's yachting's leading lady Sailing her 31st Mac race, even-keeled Baxter is beacon for other women

WBBM 780: Mackinac Race Captains Getting Ready To Set Sail

Chi-Mac -- The Race Has Started

Winds were right for a fast start to the world's longest annual freshwater sailing race. Keep watching www.chicagomackinac.com for more information and updates.

The 99th Running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac started today, with the first start starting at 9:30 am. The new Cruising Division kicked off the race as the first section to begin the 333 mile course to Mackinac Island, Mich. 'The Mac,' world's longest annual freshwater sailing race, brings hundreds of talented and experienced sailors to the waters of Lake Michigan every year.

The official count is 298 boats participating. This morning, winds are out of the south-southwest blowing at about 15 knots, which is perfect for a spinnaker start, something we haven't seen in a few years. This will make for a fast start. However, thunderstorms are possible later today, which always makes for an interesting challenge on Lake Michigan.

As for the 'favorites' in this year's race, the section line-up makes for some hotly contested racing. Among the One Desi gn sections, the Beneteau 36.7 is one of the fastest growing One Design sections in Mac, with 19 boats this year. Lou Sandoval and team aboard Karma are back to defend their section win in '06. Chicago Yacht Club veteran Warren Levins, 2nd place in '06, is looking to knock Karma from their perch, but that's not going to be easy because for 2007, Bob Foley and his crew on Tried and True have left their handicap section and now moved to race One Design. Or will the winner be the talented crew of Split Decision , with a combined total of over 175 previous Mackinac Races. The owner, Mark Norris, is racing his twenty-eighth Mac and is the son of Anne Juell, the first woman to race twenty-five Mackinac races and become the first woman member of the Island Goat Sailing Society.

Of course ten 70' boats dancing at the starting line Saturday afternoon will be a site to see. Bill Martin and his crew on Stripes decided to go after his brethren in the Great Lakes 70 class, while past record holder Pied Piper now skippered by son Jack Jennings will be on the line against his father and winning skipper of Piper, Dick Jennings now on Blow em' to Smithereens. Will the Jennings family hosting two boats do battle under the wire and cross the line side by side so they are even for Thanksgiving bragging rights, or will Tom Neill on Nitemare repeat his 2006 section win?

As the largest One Design section of this year's Mac as they have been for many years, the T-10 fleet is alive and well in Chicago and around the Great Lakes. Among the 26 boat fleet, all top five winners in last year's race are returning to defend or improve their standings. Led by Temerity, Cheap Thrill, Wild Norwegian, Yellow Mellow and Rainbows End, the T-10 section start at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday looks to be a challenge. Many really good sailors drive these boats to their handicap, and given the right conditions, have the chance at division level recognition. Can Tim Snyder drive Cheap Thrill to repeat his 2005 performance for first in Section, or will past Mac Chair Rick Lillie on Waterworks rain on his parade. There are lots of transponders on these boats, tune in and watch the fun.

Among the handicap sections, Section 9 is the smaller handicapped boats, ranging in size from 29' to 39'. Kutty's Ark owned by George Morrissey Joe McGinnis were overall winners in 2005. Mystery based in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada will see her 4th Chicago Mac Race with previous finishes of 3rd in 2004 and 4th in class in 2005. Boat designs in this section read like a 'who's who' of boat design manufacturers: C&C, J-boats, S2, Catalina. Pearson, Tartan, Ericson, Beateau, and Saber, just to name a few. Will Mother Nature turn the 2007 Mac into a small boat race? And will Section 9 be on the top? Only time will tell.

In the 22 boat Section 6, the fist place honors is open for grabs. Smokuum, Two the overall Mac winner last year, is not returning to defend her section. One of the larger sections, Section 6 has 50% of the fleet traveling to participate in the Chicago Mac. Tall Grass , a newly introduced Beneteau 10R, a 33 ft boat, is running up against Retriever , an Alden 52. The beauty of the handicap system.

Bounder returns to defend the Section 4 title, however in '07 due to the mix of entries, last year's Geronimo has moved to Section 5 and last year's Overall Winner Eagle , owned by Chicago father and son Jerry and Shawn O'Neill, moves down from Section 3. This section is sure to be sailed tight with many Sydney 36, 38, Mumm 36s and others of very similar handicap. We're sure they will be watching each other very closely as they make their way up the Rhumb Line.

Finally, we have Section 1, the big boat section for handicaps. From the shortest in length a Shock 40 Lightning of the Polish Yachting Association to DeVos and his 86' Windquest, the largest boat in this year's Mac, this section represents a collection of some of the hottest boats on the Great Lakes. Is this the year Windquest , first to finish last year, beats Roy Disney's elapsed time record of 23:30:34 set in 2002? Can Lindy Thomas on Goblin fake them all out at Gray's Reef and correct over them all for first in section. From Farr's to Nelson Marek's to custom boats. These are your true racing machines, crewed by some of the thoroughbreds of current boat racing.

To catch the start of racing today, come out to Navy Pier to watch the magnificent and colorful Parade of Boats at 10:30 a.m. There will be giveaways, which will include race t-shirts, bite lights and fudge from the island of Mackinac, Mich. Also, Island Goats, or sailors who have c ompeted in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac at least 25 times, will be mingling with the crowd to recount stories about sailing the wild and unpredictable Lake Michigan.

It's a beautiful sight to see when the yachts promenade with their bright ceremonial flags before attempting to win the 333-mile, adventurous race from Chicago to Mackinac Island. Torresen Marine's www.chicagomackinac.com will have staff at the race finish to provide you with updates and insight.

Double Barn Door Winner to Doublehanded Racer

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Six of the 74 owner/skippers in this 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii picked their crews from a short list---a very short list. They're racing with only one other guy on the boat to trim sails, help set spinnakers, operate the radio, make sandwiches, clean any fish they might catch and take over completely when you desperately need a nap.

It's not necessarily that they can't afford to pay or provide for a full crew; most just prefer it that way.

Philippe Kahn, the software entrepreneur who created the camera phone, has raced other Transpacs with, as one once said, some of the best crews money can buy. His other Pegasus boats won the Barn Door trophy for fastest elapsed time in 2001 and 2003, but he is doing this one doublehanded on an Open 50, Pegasus 101, with Richard Clarke, a Canadian member of Kahn's Pegasus Racing syndicate. They'll start Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT with the other biggest and fastest off Point Fermin in San Pedro.

Most of the remaining starters may be viewed up close at Rainbow Harbor, now Transpac's mainland home port. One of the premier local entries---Bob Lane's Medicine Man---will drop in early Sunday morning to participate in the spirited sendoff ceremonies at 10 a.m. Sunday.

"This is going to be a fun adventure," Kahn said, with some trepidation.

Five other doublehanders are already at sea after the first two starts Monday and Thursday, and one team---Tim Fuller and Erik Shampain on Brilliant from Murrietta, Calif.---was leading Division 6 on the fifth day out. Another---septuagenarians Mike Abraham and Phillip Rowe on Tango from Newport Beach---were in fourth place in Division 5, perhaps buoyed by a crowd singing a happy 70th birthday to Rowe on their way out of Rainbow Harbor Thursday.

The other doublehanders are Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr. on Narrow Escape in Division 5, Steen Moller and Bob MacDonald on X-Dream in Division 6 and tuba playing siblings Bob and Mike Webster on their catamaran The Minnow.

In Friday morning's position reports Brilliant was as close to Honolulu as anybody, tied with Ho'okolohe at 1,919 nautical miles to go, with Cesar de Saracho's Enchilado---both in Aloha A---only one mile behind. However, the early positions were still too tricky to project final finishing positions with much certainty; boats to the south generally trailed in the standings but were sailing faster and could be gaining leverage for their eventual turns toward the islands when---if?---they find the trade winds.

For example, the boats that logged the most miles over the 24 hours preceding Friday's morning roll call tended to be low in the standings. Chip McGeath's Santa Cruz 52 Kokopelli 2 had the best day of any boat with 180 miles at 10.6 knots, but Cirrus, Traveler and Lady Liberty ranked last in Aloha B, despite sailing much farther than the leaders.

This will be Kahn's 10th race across the Pacific, so he knows the drill well.

"I think the weather systems may be more complex than they have ever been," he said. "The [fastest] track today goes right through the [Pacific] High. Some routes even want you to go north, while others want you to sail minimum distance. Usually, that option leads to challenging light conditions."

That's what Kahn and Clarke must deal with in their quest for Transpac's doublehanded record: 10 days 4 hours 4 minutes 19 seconds by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum, also on an Open 50, Etranger, in 2001. Open 50s, with canting keels and huge dagger boards projecting from their cabin tops when not employed, are often sailed singlehanded, but even with two crew they're a handful.

"This has truly turned into a personal Everest," Kahn said. "Doublehanded is very intense because you want to push all the time, as opposed to singlehanded when you naturally throttle down. Literally, I'm a big guy for training to get up that mast, but we're doing it. Heck, I even have to go up the mast for rig checks. So it’s the full package. I'd never spent much time up the mast before.

"For now we are a bit slower than the polars [speed projections] that we were told by the designer. These boats love to reach and you can’t be afraid of sailing extra miles. Yet doublehanded, you really can’t sail the same ways as a crew. When we sail with five we just whip jibes and tacks. With just two it’s a totally different story. Jibing is a major move that needs to be planned 30 minutes in advance and carefully executed. Over 28 knots it’s a real challenge."

Clarke is a world-class Finn sailor so he's used to sailing shorthanded.

"We figure we'll lose 30 miles overall to the fully crewed boats just doing tacks, jibes and sail changes," he said.

Horn Blowing and Barging: A Wild 2nd Start

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Splashing and crashing, charging and barging and the oompah of a tuba wafting on a brisk breeze under sunny skies set the tone for a rambunctious second start to the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Thursday.

With 12 knots of fresh wind gusting to 14, Adrenalin was pumping. That's the name of David Clark's Santa Cruz 50 from Newport Beach that protested Sean Doyle's 1D35, On the Edge of Destiny, with Transpac's youngest crew ever. The pre-start protest---possibly for barging---will be sorted out after the two boats reach Waikiki in a couple of weeks or less, but a fair guess is that Destiny tried to squeeze in from behind the committee boat without right of way---"barging" in sailboat racing terminology.

If so, Destiny wasn't the only one. Although the line was set square to a due-west wind, presenting a cleaner shot from the pin end to the west end of Santa Catalina Island to the left, most boats chose to start at the committee boat end of the line.

"It looked like the whole fleet was coming right at us," said a race committee member. "There was tremendous barging going on."

Several boats did 360-degree turns, apparently not for penalties but because they couldn't find room to get through the gridlock of what looked like West Los Angeles' 405 freeway at rush hour.

One collision was heard amid the chaos, but it probably wasn't between Adrenalin and Destiny.

Two boats started late. Richard Mainland's Ross 40, Paddy Wagon, blew out its mainsail before the start and returned to port to replace it, while James and Chris Gilmore's Columbia 30, Uncontrollable Urge, had an engine problem. They restarted together an hour late.

The tuba? The Minnow, a Catana 52 catamaran sailed doublehanded by brothers Mike and Bob Webster of Pryor, Okla., is one of only two multihulls in the race. It was named for the boat in Gilligan's Island, which says something about the offbeat attitude of its owners, who are new to sailing and consider racing as just a more enjoyable way to cruise the world, whether the wind blows or not.

"We don't worry about that," Mike Webster said. "The wind blows when it blows."

The Minnow was started alone 10 minutes after the monohulls, with Mike puffing heartily on his horn as they crossed the line. Bob would have made it a duet, but somebody had to steer.

Mike said, "We got [the tubas] a few years ago to play on top of Mt. Harvard in Colorado"---and for the starts of great ocean races.

This is their first, although they sailed their first cat across the Atlantic to France last year to buy this one, which they sailed back across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

The other multihull---H.L. Enloe's Jeanneau 60 trimaran, LoeReal, from El Paso, Tex.---will start Sunday 10 minutes after the Division 1, 2 and 3 boats, including marquee competitors Pyewacket, Magnitude 80, Rosebud and Morning Light.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Monday's 23 starters found some encouraging wind after a depressing couple of days and were making up to 7 knots. Although they gained less distance southwest toward Hawaii, boats that went south, led by Simon Garland's Hobie 33, Peregrine, in Division 6 and Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52, Between the Sheets, in Aloha A, appeared to have gained leverage on the others as they continued south while rivals lifted west more directly toward their destination.

Who made the best calls will become clearer in the next few days.

Two Youngest Teams ever to Sail Transpac

While the vanguard starters in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii groped their way through light winds on Day 2 Tuesday, those awaiting their turns in Rainbow Harbor were sizing up one another.

Roy E. Disney's powered-up Pyewacket and his Morning Light team's Transpac 52 are literally in the center of attention, moored pointy bow to winged stern alongside Pine Avenue Pier. They'll both start Sunday with the fastest-rated boats, three days after Divisions 4 and 5 and the Santa Cruz 50s and 52s.

The 15 Morning Light sailors were selected from 538 applicants with a deliberate accent on youth and diversity and the ultimate goal of creating a documentary film scheduled for theater release next year. They'll be introduced Wednesday night at a dinner in Club Transpac benefiting Partners of Parks and the Long Beach Yacht Club Sailing Foundation. Tickets may still be available at (562) 495-2472. Club Transpac is a tented compound adjacent to Gladstone's Restaurant in Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach.

Although spanning the ages of 18 to 23, Morning Light won't be the youngest team ever to sail Transpac. After this race that distinction will probably belong to five young men from Hawaii and Southern California who will start the race Thursday on a smaller 1D35 once called Two Guys On the Edge when Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess sailed it doublehanded in previous Transpacs. Now it's called On the Edge of Destiny.

The skipper will be Sean Doyle, 19, Dan's eldest son, with his other son Justin as navigator. Roscoe Fowler, 20, of Honolulu also will be on the crew, with Cameron Biehl, 19, of San Diego and Ted White, 23, of Santa Barbara, as watch captains. Average age: 19.8 years, about a year younger than Morning Light.

"All five of us applied for the Disney thing," Sean Doyle said, "but I was planning on doing the race before that, maybe chartering my dad's old boat from the guy who bought it."

Instead, Dan Doyle turned the boat over to the kids to serve on the Hawaii volunteer committee. But the primary aim wasn't to out-youth Morning Light, Sean Doyle said.

"It was like, I'm not gonna go sail the race with a bunch of 30-year-olds when these are all my friends. I know a couple of the people on the [Morning Light] boat and Cameron knows a couple, too. We're not trying to beat them—or maybe we are," he added with a smile and a shrug.

So how does a teenager feel leading such a young team on one of the world's great ocean races? Well, he and his brother did last year's Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Kaneohe on Oahu with their dad, and he says he isn't intimidated.

"Not at all. People think it’s a big deal, but I've been sailing in gnarly winds all my life. It's way more fun for me. I hope it blows 50 knots."

Sean Doyle thinks their effort may set an inspiring example for other young sailors, as the Morning Light project already has.

Last month the Morning Light team spent time with 200 youth sailors from the Reno area and Northern California at a Sierra Nevada Community Sailing youth sailing program. Director Rog Jones wrote later:

"One of the kids who spent the day with the crew has been a bit of a problem. His really amazing epiphany occurred when he was on the way home with his parents. They told me he was unusually quiet and introspective until he said, 'Dad and Mom, I learned something today. I want to be like these guys. I know I've been a hard kid to raise and that I've caused you a lot of trouble. But I'm going to change. These guys really had to go through a lot to get where they are with sailing. I want to be like them and I'm going to shape up, starting right now. I want to apologize for all the misery I've caused and I promise from here on out, you'll see a different kid. I love you, Mom and Dad.' "

Jones said, "Reportedly, he's never said anything like that before. I've been around him for the past 10 days, and it's true, he has actually changed. And changed for the best. Two of the Morning Light crew promised him they'd be there to answer his e-mails and to help him deal with some of the things that seem to eat him up. They told him to get in touch when he needs to talk to somebody. If you've saved even one kid, you've changed the world."

Meanwhile, out to sea, the early starters were showing tactical separation in light winds of 8 to 10 knots, some diving south, led by Frank Easterbrook's Ariadne, a Ladd 73 that is the fastest rated boat in the group, and others bearing west with Steve Brown's Brown Sugar, an Express 37, leading Steen Moller and Robert MacDonald's doublehanded X-Dream and Alyson and Cecil Rossi's Ho'okolohe, a Farr 58, by only a mile.

Michael Lawler's Traveler, an Aloha B competitor, returned to port a few hours after Monday's start when crew member Scott Schubert suffered a badly lacerated finger. Schubert received eight stitches and rejoined the team, which restarted at 6:50 p.m., almost six hours after the official start.

23 Transpac Harbingers Sail into Uncertainty

LONG BEACH, Calif.---OK so far, the first 23 starters in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race must have been thinking as they sailed off into uncertainty, escorted by dolphins in a balmy 7-knot westerly breeze under sunny skies Monday, but what lay ahead for the next 2,225 nautical miles to Hawaii was anyone's guess.

The forerunning fleets included nine Division 6 racers and 14 Aloha A and B division boats. Divisions 4 and 5 and nine vintage Santa Cruz 50 and 52s start Thursday, followed by Divisions 1, 2 and 3 Sunday, all starting off Point Fermin in nearby San Pedro after sendoff ceremonies at Rainbow Harbor, Transpac's mainland home port in Long Beach.

Weather experts have been talking about unsettled conditions a day or two out. At Sunday's skippers meeting Kurt Holland of the Marine Weather Institute at Orange Coast College briefed the sailors about "a popcorn array of little baby highs" south of the dreaded zone of dead air known as the Pacific High where all fear to go, plus a worrisome weather cell off Mexico to the south.

Summing up prospects for this race, Holland said, "I've heard the word 'drifter' from a couple of people. But it's looking a lot better---for next week."

Before the start, a dozen boats circled for a flowery tribute to Wendy Siegal, the former Aloha class winner and Cal 40 class "den mother" who was found drowned near her boat in Long Beach four days earlier.

The start was orderly but unusually close and competitive for these classes. With the wind coming from the west at 260 degrees, giving them a starboard tack heading of 220, it appeared they would clear the west end of Santa Catalina Island---the only mark of the course---22 miles out without having to tack.

For a few the weather outlook may not make much difference. Frank Easterbrook's Ariadne in Aloha A, a Ladd 73 from Newport Beach and the fastest-rated boat starting Monday, will enjoy its six-day head start on Roy E. Disney's powerhouse Pyewacket as long as it can, as well as the comforts of a luxurious cushioned cockpit and cabin.

Brothers Bill and Ted Davis of Las Vegas are taking what may be the oldest boat ever to sail the race, their beloved 73-year-old Sparkman & Stephens 70-foot yawl, Alsumar, offshore for the first time, with veteran Craig Davis as skipper and navigator.

"We found it in San Diego in 1992 in dry dock, just a hull," Bill Stevens said, "and since we're contractors we thought it would be an easy deal rebuilding it."

Alsumar's first owner was Dudley Sharp, a U.S. Secretary of the Interior. During World War II it was used to scout for German submarines off the East Coast. The Davis brothers labored over the mahogany hull, teak decks and hardwood interior for countless hours with steady reverse cash flow, but they have no regrets about bypassing more modern options like ready-to-sail fiberglass. They just installed state-of-the-art GPS navigation gear and other technology that was unimaginable when the boat was built.

"We just like old wooden boats," Davis said. "The bygone era is special, [even if] it's a continuous thing. You never stop working on them."

Basilica at the Top, BT nearly on Her Side

In 15-18 knots of wind Basilica, skippered by Robert Greenhalgh dazzled her competitors winning five out of the six races held today and firmly winning the iShares Cup, Marseille, taking her tally to two events out of the four event Extreme 40 Sailing Series. While the entire fleet chose to reef their mains for the first race, Basilica struck out on her own, hoisted a full sail and carved a trail to victory stepping onto the podium ahead of Groupama and Holmatro. BT had an adventure of her own executing a glamorous nose-dive resulting in a near capsize.

The British boat crewed by Peter Greenhalgh, Justin Slattery and James Grant started nearly every race in front and never looked back, leading around the windward mark and extending until the finish, racking up 153 points. "We were looking forward to a bit of breeze and knew that with some strong winds we could lay on the smack down," comments Peter Greenhalgh one of two trimmers on Basilica. "All of the sailing we've done in the past, like 18-foot skiff sailing, has prepared us for high-power, full-on, intense racing which is what we had today. We have a good team, we've had more practice and we're physically fit. We won 10 out of 15 races at the event, highlighting our strength in the stronger conditions. Cowes is the next event and we have the advantage of home water and will try to make it three iShares Cups in a row."

Basilica Boat Captain James Grant came off the water looking to quench the taste of victory, "We're looking forward to drinking the Mumm Champagne ," he said.

After leading on day one, Franck Cammas' Groupama, who put in a one-off appearance in Marseille, were suppressed into second overall and finished the event with 131 points and pleased with their performance. Cammas is enthused by the Extreme 40 class. "The passion put behind these boats is what drove us to take part in the iShares Cup, Marseille. We wanted to take a close look at the Extreme 40 and the stopover in Marseille was a great opportunity for us to do this. The entire Groupama team are delighted with our experience. It was a great test and adventure to race on these demanding, high-performing boats with no experience, against teams from other nations, with a constant breeze. These three days have given us a lingering taste of what the iShares Cup is all about, without a doubt we will be back to have another go in 2008!"

Shuffling up a place on the final day was Dutch team Holmatro.
Crewmember Greg Homann hit the pontoon smiling. "We ha d a fantastic day sailing. In these boats it's about getting your team co-ordination right and our crew work come together today. We had a reef in our main for most of the day but the results show that having a reefed sail is not necessarily a hindrance and that nailing your crew work and positioning your boat well is what counts. On a day like today, with a lot of wind it's about instinct, survival and how you work the boat." The team conclude the event with 126 points.

BT, the former Offshore Challenges Sailing Team, may have finished in fourth but had memorable day sailing. Skipper Nick Moloney relived the moment their boat performed a handstand for the crowd. "We came round the windward mark and Groupama came down on us so we had to swerve up out of the way and then quickly bear away again. On the bear away the bow got caught in a wave, we got the bow stuck in and started into a nosedive with the back of the boat kicking up out of the water. It all happened quite slowly. I had one arm around the hull hanging on and was watching Johnny slowly climbing up the now vertical trampoline towards me. When the boat settled back down again we all had a laugh had a bit of a cheer and then it was gennaker on and back in the race."

Crewmember David Carr and former America's Cup sailor had no complaints about their day of racing. "With a sailing day like that you have so much fun you just forget about the results. We're miffed not to finish third but we had such a good time that it doesn't really matter. It was definitely the best day of the event."

Tommy Hilfiger, heavy-hitters at the iShares Cup, Munich, suffered from a disappointing series in Marseille finishing the event in fifth overall. Crewmember and Olympic coach Jonathon Farrar explained what might be going wrong for the American team. "We have suffered this event. We had to piece together a temporary team and were lacking practice. Upwind we had boat-speed issues and couldn 't hold our lanes. Downwind we put in moves that felt good but upwind we struggled and lost places. We haven't had good luck here, but we're not sailing at our best either."

Team SLAM/ ABN AMRO held their own in the professional fleet. Crewed by amateur sailors with a shore crew of wives and babies this team loved every second of the event including their second place finish in race 14. "We are really happy with our second place finish, losing out to only Basilica," Heinrik Boje commented. "We struggled with our kite when we were leading the race and with Basilica behind us we knew that we would have to put the kite up. We don't have the force that some of these other teams have. We are not as strong. The racing was excellent today and we are having a great time on the circuit."

Finished in last place was the Swedish team, Volvo Ocean Race who struggled through the regatta with little Extreme 40 experience and endless sail troubles. The team were on hand to experience the power of the class for which skipper Goran Marstrom's company supplies the masts and booms.

The iShares Cup circuit continues in three weeks time stopping in Cowes from the 3-5 August at the start of Skandia Cowes Week with the added attraction of exhibition sailing from 7-9 August.

American Sailor McKee to Join Estrella Damm

Top American sailor, Jonathan McKee, today has been confirmed as co-skipper to Spanish skipper, Guillermo Altadill, for the IMOCA 60 Estrella Damm campaign. The duo will be gunning for a podium finish in this winter's double-handed, non-stop Barcelona World Race starting 11th November. The two sailors have never raced together before but their combined experience is set to make them a competitive force. Both seemingly easy going on the outside, this apparent affability masks their intense competitive nature.

Based in Seattle, USA, Jonathan is a natural sailor and his skills were quickly snapped up by the America's Cup, which saw him race with the One World Challenge in 2003 and recently Luna Rossa in 2007, who saw off the might of BMW Oracle in the semi-finals. A Yale graduate in architecture, Jonathan started his sailing career as a designer and went on to become an Olympic champion winning a Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in the Flying Dutchman Class; then at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, McKee bought home a Bronze Medal the 49er dinghy class. Jonathan is also a World Champion in the Flying Dutchman, 49er, Melges 24 and Tasar class. In the offshore racing world, he has experienced racing an IMOCA Open 60 onboard Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher in the 2001 EDS Atlantic Challenge and to victory with Jonny Malbon onboard Artemis in last year's RORC Round Britain & Ireland Race. Jonathan amazed the sailing world in 2003 when he undertook his first Mini Transat race: taking a tiny 21-foot boat across the Atlantic on his own in this super competitive race. Jonathan took an early lead that he held all the way across the Atlantic and was on the home straight when his mast broke, shattering his chances of becoming the first 'rookie' to win the Mini Transat.

Aged 48 and a father of two young children, Jonathan will be training with Guillermo within two weeks and they are aiming to qualify for the Barcelona World Race as soon as possible: “I am really excited to be joining the Estrella Damm Sailing Team. This is a fantastic opportunity to compete amongst one of the most competitive IMOCA 60 fleets in history and I am really looking forward to sailing with Guillermo in this unique adventure. We do have a lot of work ahead to learn how to sail together and how to sail the boat to her full potential. The aim is to first and foremost finish the race in order to give ourselves the best chances for a good result. I am also really excited to take part in my first round the world race with Spain's most experienced sailor in circumnavigations - a good decision, I think! This will be an experience of a lifetime and I can't wait to get started,” commented Jonathan.

Guillermo Altadill, who will be racing in his seventh circumnavigation of his career, commented: “I'm really delighted that Jonathan accepted our invitation to compete in the Barcelona World Race with me onboard Estrella Damm. He is a great sailor and we both have Olympic background as well as grand prix and offshore racing. I believe that together we can learn fast about IMOCA Open 60s as Jonathan already has some previous experience on Kingfisher, and that we can become a great team.”

Transpac's Wendy Siegal: 1952 – 2007

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Wendy Siegal, a schoolteacher as well as a strong competitor and influential force in the success of the Transpacific Yacht Race in recent years, was found drowned Thursday near her Cal 40, Willow Wind, in the Alamitos Bay Marina.

Her death came four days before the first boats, including three of her beloved Cal 40s, were to start the 2007 race off Point Fermin in San Pedro. Now a driving member of the Transpacific Yacht Club Board of Directors, she was not planning to compete, having taken over the responsibility of managing the mass of trophies the race distributes.

Complete details were not immediately available, but Long Beach police said there were no signs of foul play. Apparently, Siegal had been alone working on her boat and had been in the water a considerable length of time before her body was discovered at 3:50 p.m. floating in an empty slip on the next gangway over.

Siegal, 55, was originally from Detroit and later lived in Seattle and San Diego. She taught sixth grade at Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson.

In the 2001 Transpac Siegal, feisty but friendly by nature, was skipper and Harrison navigator when they and four other crew members won the Aloha class---only the second woman skipper since Sally Blair Ames in 1959 to win a class of the race.

So she could prepare to sail the race, Siegal had taken leave of teaching and worked part-time at a department store. She said afterward, "I’m not a rich sailor. I sell clothes at Nordstrom’s. I quit my job to do this race. I don’t know if I’ll get it back. But this is the ultimate."

That success inspired her to throw herself into recruiting nine other Cal 40 owners for their "40th anniversary" in the 2003 Transpac, harkening back to their glory days when they dominated the race in the 1960s---the first time in 42 races that Transpac had designated a special class for boats of a single design. She rounded up a total of 14 in 2005.

Siegal's contributions to Transpac are noted in the highlights of this decade inscribed on one of the 11 historic monuments scheduled to be dedicated Saturday evening, 6 p.m., at Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach.

Siegal had surgery last March to remove a brain tumor and seemed to be progressing well, even returning to teach through the end of the spring semester.

Harrison said, "So many of our friends I've talked to have said that she changed their lives significantly. They wouldn't have done things without her encouragement. The people in the Cal 40s are saying that. Then I realized how I had changed. I'm a different person for knowing her."

At 12:30 Monday, before the smallest boats including three Cal 40s take the first of the race's three starts at 1 p.m., Siegal's friends---including some sailing Cal 40s---plan to scatter flowers over the starting area in her memory.

Transpac Commodore Al Garnier said, "With her energy and enthusiasm, Wendy represented what Transpac was about. She loved racing her Cal 40 and worked hard to get others to do it, and she carried that spirit over to her work on the board of directors. We'll all miss her."

Services are pending in Detroit, where Wendy's family resides.

About 50 of the 74 entries were expected to be moored in Rainbow Harbor's Transpac Village by the weekend, awaiting their starts on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, July 15.

On the three start days the public will watch the race boats depart amid cannon-firing fanfare past the Queen Mary and to the starting line off Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.

Pyewacket will Chase Unlikely Rivals in Transpac

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Handicap ratings for the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii are out, and the fastest monohull ever to sail the race faces an intriguing set of scenarios.

Can Pyewacket beat Ariadne, a 73-foot cruising yacht? Can Pyewacket beat Lady Liberty, a Catalina 36?

About 50 of the 74 entries are expected to be moored in Rainbow Harbor's Transpac Village in downtown Long Beach by the weekend, awaiting their starts from Point Fermin in nearby San Pedro on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, July 15.

The schedule of events starts Saturday evening, July 7, at 6 p.m. with opening ceremonies and the dedication of 11 monuments along the Transpac Walk of Fame. The 5 1/2-foot-tall monuments present highlights and photos of each decade of the race since its inception in 1906.

Back to the future, based on computations from the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) system administered by US Sailing, Roy E. Disney's radically modified 94-foot Pyewacket-with-wings is almost a day faster than it was in 2005 when it finished only 2.5 hours behind the record time of 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds by Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory.

But Transpac is more than a race for the Barn Door for fastest elapsed time by a monohull. Those with no hope for that compete for the King Kalakaua Trophy for first place overall on corrected handicap time. Pyewacket owes the slowest-rated boat---John Wallner's Lady Liberty, a Catalina 36 from Calabasas, Calif.---9.4 days in time, and Lady Liberty will have a six-day head start when it sails off the line at Point Fermin next Monday at 1 p.m.

So, in normal conditions, whatever those are, if Lady Liberty should finish in about 15 days and Pyewacket has to make up more time than it needs to sail the race, who will correct out ahead?

"Wow!" Wallner said. "I'm already there. I figured if we're the slowest boat, we're the ones to beat. No one cares if they lose to Pyewacket, but no one wants to lose to us."

Disney, pondering the prospect, asked, "So we probably don’t count on winning overall? It might be close. We just have to pick everybody off before we get there."

There are several other threats for the King Kalakaua Trophy, including Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, Roger Sturgeon's new STP65, Rosebud; nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s in their own division, two-time Barn Door winner Philippe Kahn sailing an Open 50 doublehanded, and Disney's Morning Light team of young sailors on Kahn's former Transpac 52 that was second overall by 40 minutes to Sturgeon's TP52 Rosebud in 2005.

Further, there is Ariadne, Frank Easterbrook's 73-foot cruiser from Newport Beach in the Aloha A class that is the fastest-rated boat starting Monday. In this case, Pyewacket owes 5.24 days to a boat with a six-day head start. Officially, it doesn't count for any trophy, but which crew will slap hands for reaching Diamond Head first?

Easterbook said, "It could be very interesting. It means a lot. My team is pumped!"

Disney said, "It sounds like the time machine has come into this."

In 2005, Pyewacket and Morning Glory were both maxZ86s rated as the "scratch" boats with zero ratings. That baseline---based on a handicap distance of 2,300 nautical miles and not the actual distance of 2,225---is still in place, but now at minus–33.110 seconds per mile, which converts to 21.15 hours faster over the course, Pyewacket appears to be out of reach in the ratings.

The next fastest-rated boat, Magnitude 80, is rated at 7.110, or 25.7 hours back.

That doesn't necessarily mean the race for a record or the Barn Door is a slam dunk. Remember how a funny little wooden boat from New Zealand named Ragtime came out of nowhere to stun grandiose Windward Passage in 1973? And how only an inspired and hasty jury rig saved Cheval's Barn Door victory when it lost half its mast on the last day in '93?