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Morning Light meets
the fleet in First Team
Regatta
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May
25, 2007
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. —Morning Light, Roy E. Disney's team of
young sailors that has captured mainstream attention for the sport,
will be among some of the biggest and fastest boats of the last 20
years lining up for the second biennial First Team Real Estate
Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup June 8-10.
The rare spectacle of ocean racers competing right off the beach in a
fleet ranging from high tech to historic also will include the
pacesetting, record- breaking Magnitude 80 and a handful of hardy
Santa Cruz 70s harking back to their West Coast glory days. There
are currently 15 entries, all by invitation.
Morning Light is the Transpac 52 to be sailed in this summer's
Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii by a crew ages 18 to 23. The
project will be chronicled as a documentary film produced by Disney
and Leslie DeMeuse, scheduled for release in theaters next year.
Sailing Pyewacket, Disney narrowly won Class 1 of the inaugural
First Team Regatta in 2005. He will not compete this year but will
serve as honorary chairman while modifications for Transpac are
completed on Pyewacket.
Morning Light's skipper is Jeremy Wilmot, a 21-year-old Australian
who was one of 538 applicants for the program and was recently
chosen by his 15 teammates to lead them.
"This is definitely our first serious competition," Wilmot said. "It will
be a good chance to check our boat speed against other boats in
our class, how our crew handling is around the course and to see if
we can put it all together."
The crew also includes Graham Brant-Zawadzki, 22, a Stanford
University graduate and a Newport Beach resident.
The sailors spent four months this year training in Hawaii on its
Transpac 52, formerly Pegasus when owned by Philippe Kahn and
was the fastest finisher in Division 2 of the 2005 Transpac. The
overall winner on handicap time that year was Rosebud, an older
TP52 sailed by Roger Sturgeon of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who had
placed second in Class 2 of the inaugural First Team Regatta two
months earlier.
Sturgeon returns to both events this year with a new bigger and
faster STP 65, also named Rosebud.
The confluence of the events led to the newly established ORR West
Coast Champion Perpetual Trophy that will be awarded to the boat
with the best combined results for the Newport to Cabo Race last
March, the First Team Regatta and the 2007 Transpac.
Inshore racing has not been Morning Light's primary objective.
Wilmot said, "We haven't focused on racing around the buoys, but
with two days training we should get on the ball and get the boat
going. I'm just excited to be racing against other TP52s."
Only 11 members of the team will sail on Morning Light in the
Transpac, but all 15 will be on board for the First Team Regatta.
The tight racing format also will be a change of pace for Doug
Baker's Magnitude 80. Although competitive in 2005, the Andrews 80
is better known for recent wins in the Marina del Rey to Puerto
Vallarta Race when it shattered the 22-year-old record by 31 hours
and last month's Newport to Ensenada race when it led a wind-
starved fleet across the finish line, proving its strength at both ends
of the weather scale.
The current entry list also includes four Santa Cruz 70s in what may
be the closest boat-for-boat racing, plus the wooden West Coast
icon Ragtime, preparing for its record 14th Transpac.
The collaborative effort among First Team Real Estate, Hoag
Hospital Foundation, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and Balboa Yacht
Club will benefit Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute, which realized
$261,000 net proceeds from the 2005 regatta.
Entries are by invitation and are limited to fast monohull yachts of 50
feet and longer, with exceptions for smaller boats with comparable
speed ratings.
Races will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday's races
will provide sponsors and their guests an opportunity to experience
the action in a relaxed, yet competitive format. Races on Saturday
and Sunday will likely be pure windward- leeward courses with more
limited sponsor participation.
As the facilitating yacht clubs, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and
Balboa Yacht Club will provide on-the-water race management. First
Team Real Estate is the title sponsor. Other sponsors include
Accretive, Bank of America, Countrywide, Warmington Homes,
Wells Fargo Bank, Mellon Bank and MKA Capital. West Marine is
also a supporter.
More information: www.firstteamregatta.com
About Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian (www.hoaghospital.org) is a
511- bed, not-for-profit, acute care hospital located in Newport
Beach, Calif. Fully accredited by the Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and designated
as a Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
(ANCC), Hoag offers a comprehensive mix of health care services,
including Centers of Excellence in cancer, heart and vascular,
neurosciences, orthopedics and women’s health services. A recent
study released by HealthGrades placed Hoag among the top 5% of
hospitals in the nation and a recipient of the 2007 Distinguished
Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. National Research
Corporation has endorsed Hoag as Orange County’s most preferred
hospital for the past 10 consecutive years. And for an unprecedented
11 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as the
county’s best hospital in a local newspaper survey.
About First Team Real Estate
As the number one independent in California, First Team Real Estate
is one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the
country. According to the last National Real Estate and Relocation
Magazine Power Broker Report, First Team is the #11 independent
real estate company in the nation for overall sales. Founded in 1976
with five agents in one office, First Team is now home to over 2,000
sales associates and over 300 employees in 38 offices across the
region.
General Media Contact
Rachel Quizon, Hoag Hospital (949) 764-1478
(310) 835-2526
cell (310) 766-6547
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2007 entries to date
(Divisions to be determined)
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Chayah (1D48), Oscar Krinsky/Chris
Redman, Long Beach
Grand Illusion (SC 70), Patrick
O'Brien/Ed McDowell, Redondo Beach,
Calif.
Holua (SC 70), Brack Duker, Marina
del Rey, Calif.
It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordos
Sailing, Balboa, Calif.
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug
Baker, Long Beach
Morning Light (Transpac 52),
Jeremy Wilmot, Waikiki, H.I.
Peligroso (Kernan 68), Mike
Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach
Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh,
Honolulu, H.I.
Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon,
Hyannis, Mass.
Skylark (SC 70), Doug Ayres,
Newport Beach, Calif.
Stark Raving Mad III (Reichel/Pugh
66), Oyster Bay, N.Y.
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler,
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Valkyrie (DK 46), Andy and Camille
Rasdal, San Diego
Vicki (Andrews 68), Al and Vicki
Schultz, Long Beach
Westerly (SC 70), Tim and Tom
Hogan, Newport Beach, Calif.
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TRANSPAC RACE STATUS
