LONG BEACH, Calif.---A few of the 30 finalists for Roy E. Disney's Morning Light documentary film project have said they’d never been to the West Coast until now.

Welcome to the Pacific Ocean, boys and girls. After two days of rudimentary sailing behind the breakwater in outer Long Beach Harbor, they went outside Wednesday for a series of races around a short windward- leeward course in 15 knots of sea breeze and 3 to 4 feet of chop--- more like what half of them will see when they become the youngest crew to sail the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii next summer.

"I'm loving it," said Steve Manson of Baltimore. "The weather's great here. Baltimore's too hot."

The racing was somewhat disorderly at first, managing four strange Catalina 37s in challenging conditions. At first a subtle current made it confusing to lay the windward mark---a harbor entrance marker buoy that serves as a residence for local sea lions---and spinnakers flew out of control at times, but by the end of the afternoon the boat handling was more clean and crisp.

But the four selection committee coaches assigned to each boat had a final surprise on the way back toward the harbor. On a radio cue from sailing manager Robbie Haines, each one jumped overboard. It was a live man- overboard drill that all executed satisfactorily.

Sailing will continue through Thursday and the 15 selections will be made Friday. Meanwhile, mornings have been occupied by three-hour "team building exercise" sessions at the headquarters Hyatt Hotel with Bill Applebaum, actor, writer and filmographer who is measuring the candidates' comfort levels interacting with one another as well as with cameras and microphones in their daily lives.

The sessions started with the 30 finalists seated informally on the floor and rising individually to present their thoughts about participating in the program and offering personal insights as a way of getting acquainted. They come from diverse backgrounds across the country, plus Antigua, the Philippines and Australia. Five are females. They are getting to know one another well.

One finalist was overheard to say, "To take all this energy and put it on one boat, sailing to the Hawaiian Islands, is going to be an awesome experience."

Robbie Kane, 21, of Fairfield, Conn. aroused laughter from his peers when he said, "Just sailing with people my age is great. I've sailed with people 10 to 15 years older---and that's really old."

Manson, who rose from Baltimore's inner city, had never flown on an airplane. Kane flew from the East Coast with Andrés Soriano, who said, "We got to know each other pretty well. Our plane was delayed, which caused us to miss a connection, and our luggage was lost, so all we had to wear was the clothes we had on and the sailing uniforms they gave us here."

Soriano, 20, attends school in New York but is a native of the Philippines. "I had no idea what to expect," he said. "It's exceeded anything I would have expected."

Jeremy Wilmot, a native of Australia who attends Georgetown University in Wilmot wired for sound by Sharon Frye Washington D.C., comes from a family of world-class sailors. His father is Jamie Wilmot. As part of the production, Wilmot was wired for sound at the helm one day.

"Half the time I forget," he said. "There might be some interesting tapes."

Manson said he has become accustomed to the cameras that are always trained on them. 

"The more they’re there the more you get used to it," he said.

But as the day of decision by the selection committee approaches, it's difficult to ignore that.

"People ask me, 'How are you going to feel Friday?' " Manson said. "I say if I don't make it I've had a great time. If I make it, I'm going to keep on having a good time."

Although the 30 are, in a sense, competing for 15 positions, Applebaum told the group, "The best thing you can do is to listen to what the other people are saying . . . and to do your best to make the other person look good. That way you'll all do a better job."

In one exercise, half the group was blindfolded and the other half were appointed as guides, rotating frequently during a half-hour tour of the hotel and grounds, often with creative and humorous twists. Then they switched roles.

The apparent lesson: trust your teammates and take care of your teammates, whoever they are. There will be no cliques on this tour.

Parker Shinn, 19, of San Diego said, "I've been racing mostly dinghies all my life. I thought big boat sailing was boring, and jobs were divided among everybody. Then I saw this opportunity to sail a Transpac race across the Pacific and thought this would be a good opportunity to broaden my abilities."

Selection committee members are Stan Honey of Palo Alto, who recently navigated ABN AMRO 1 to its Volvo Ocean Race victory; Carol Buchan, Seattle, a world and national champion in various classes; Scott Ikle, sailing coach at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, as well as the 2003 U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year in sailing; and Andrew Campbell, San Diego, a four-time all- American and College Sailor of the Year at Georgetown University.

Finalists for the selection trials (in alphabetical order):

  

  

More information: www.pacifichighproductions.com/

  

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