July 26, 2007 - Morning Show

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 résumé, 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 wasJeremy 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 Pyewacketsailing manager who doubled asMorning Light's head coach, said, "They practiced that."

Jesse Fielding, 20, of North Kingston, R.I., said, "Awesome trip. The team we formed over the last six months came together, and we're going to stay together."

Genny Tulloch, 22, of Houston, the only woman on the boat, said, "For me, being an ocean racer is a whole new world to me. I grew up in dinghies. It's a different language. I didn't even know what a '[spinnaker] peel' meant. Hopefully, I can be a role model to show anyone can do it."

Haines: "It's way beyond my expectations how well they did [and] how well they got along."

Disney: "It's not about how they did. It changed people's lives. They've all gone through a life- changing transition."

That's a wrap.

Quotes of the day

Mark Rudiger, navigator, Holua:“We looked to the north for some wind. After it left, we came down with the rest of the Santa Cruz boats. Our boat was fast the last 24 hours. When the wind gets up, we’re quick. It’s built tight for heavy wind, but we have a couple of huge kites for light air. It’s the whole package.”

Philippe Kahn/owner and co-skipper, Pegasus: “This is my 10th time racing to Hawaii. This was a fantastic race, absolutely beautiful. More than I hoped for. The last day the wind picked up and we made good time. [Doublehanded co-skipper] Richard [Clarke] did a fantastic job. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

Andy Tourell, skipper, Hugo Boss II: “This was a different race. Interesting days. We tried to sail our own race and dived south to play the angles. Five days into the race the wind dropped and there wasn’t anything we could do.”

Bill Durant, co-skipper, Relentless: “By the end of the third day we had no wind so we started going south. This whole race was a light air trip for us.”

On the Edge of Destiny owner Dan Doyle: "You've got these kids and the Morning Light kids, and when that film hits the theaters next year you'll have a lot of kids getting excited about sailing."

The Transpacific Yacht Club has joined with Casio Computer Co., Ltd., in a sponsorship agreement to make the company's Oceanus watch the official timekeeper of the 44th biennial race. The Oceanus is a solar-powered chronograph watch with a time signal- calibration function developed by making full use of Casio's advanced electronic technologies. News and product information: http://world.casio.com

Transpac supporters also include the Long Beach Sea Festival 2007, Gladstone's Restaurant, Ayres Hotels and L. Gaylord Sportswear.

Archived press releases: http://www.underthesunphotos.com/Press%20Releases/PR- index.htm

More information: www.transpacificyc.org

Transpac 2007 standings

In order of corrected handicap time (place in total fleet in parentheses).

All times by days:hours:minutes:seconds.

ORR rating allowances in parentheses; subtract time allowance from actual final elapsed time to determine corrected handicap time.

(positions at 6 a.m. PDT Thursday)

Hawaiian sunrise chases
Morning Light to the finish

Morning Light crew; skipper
Jeremy Wilmot at left

Samba Pa Ti skipper John Kilroy Jr.
with his Div. 2 winning crew

Holua skipper Brack Duker
(2nd r.); navigator Mark
Rudiger in black

Complete position reports

and more Transpac info

2007 photo gallery

2005 photo gallery

More Transpac info

Click to visit websites

Official timekeeper of
Transpac 2007

New for 2007!

Official Transpac apparel

2005 photo gallery

www.UnderTheSunPhotos.com

Division 1 (Started July 15)

1. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33), elapsed time 7:19:08:10; corrected time 7:14:35:37 (13th in fleet).

2. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-00:21:09:13), ET 7:01:11:56; CT 7:22:21:09 (17).

3. Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36), ET 9:15:35:32; CT 8:09:25:46 (19).

4. Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12), ET 9:16:40:48; CT 8:11:23:36 (23).

5. Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37), ET 10:02:40:39, CR 8:19:38:02 (32).

Division 2 (Started July 15)

1. Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17), ET 10:15:565:55, CT 8:11:54:38 (24).

2. Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12), 49 miles to go.

3. Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19), 34.

4. Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05), 60.

5. Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32), ET 10:16:59:05, CT 8:17:48:33 (31).

6. Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (2:06:06:45), 107.

7. DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn/Richard Clarke, Honolulu (2:00:47:54), 88.

8. Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28), 192.

9. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (2:09:31:32), 294.

Division 3(Started July 15)

1. Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33), 69.

2. It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31), 120.

3. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (2:19:54:52), 162.

4. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach (2:23:51:49), 284. 5. Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28), 250.

6. Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (3:03:56:13), 368.

7. Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (3:03:43:16), 370.

8. Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (2:22:57:25), 486.

Division 4 (Started July 12)

1. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02), ET 9:21:51:35, CT 9:13:31:33 (first in fleet).

2. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29), ET 9:22:18:03, CT 6:19:26:34 (2).

3. Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34), ET 10:18:49:23; CT 7:10:15:49 (10).

4. Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37), ET 11:16:05:33; CT 7:16:06:56 (16).

5. Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (3:22:26:21), ET 12:19:07:24, CT 8:20:41:03 (33).

6. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (4:00:24:09), ET 13:13:31:409; CT 9:11:07:31 (44).

RETIRED ---Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (3:21:37:33).

RETIRED---Delicate Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (3:20:58:21).

Division 50/52 (Started July 12)

1. Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25), ET 10:02:53:16, CT 6:22:58:21 (3).

2. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46), ET 11:02:01:10; CT 7:01:46:24 (4).

3. Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36), ET 10:20:49:36; CT 7:03:52:00 (5).

4. Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (3:20:35:39), ET 11:01:12:36; CT 7:04:36:57 (6).

5. Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42), ET 11:05:54:19; CT 7:05:41:37 (7).

6. Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38), ET 11:02:33:23; CT 7:09:09:45 (9).

7. Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (4:05:22:35), ET 11:17:40:45; CT 7:12:18:10 (12).

8. Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (3:19:43:59), ET 8:16:02:46, CT 9:00:18:47 (35).

9. Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (3:16:42:19), ET 13:04:34:32, CT 10:03:52:13 (54).

Division 5 (Started July 12)

1. Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37), ET 11:17:03:14; CT 7:04:28:37 (8).

2. Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22), ET 11:21:14:41, CT 7:10:23:19 (11).

3. On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40), ET 12:15:11:55, CT 7:15:06:15 (14).

4. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16), ET 12:07:25:55, CT 7:15:27:39 (15).

5. Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24), ET 13:13:18:53, CT 8:02:01:29 (18).

6. Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (5:02:01:10), 76.

7. DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham/Phillip Rowe, Newport Beach (4:19:58:16), 51.

8. DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr., Payson, Ariz. (4:20:59:25), 79.

9. Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (4:23:42:31), 372.

Division 6(Started July 9)

1. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (7:03:57:50), ET 15:13:39:44; CT 8:09:41:54 (20).

2. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (7:02:47:32), ET 15:12:44:58; CT 8:09:57:26 (21).

3. Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (5:21:13:46), ET 14:14:58:56; CT 8:17:14:13 (28).

4. DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller/Erik Shampain, Murrieta, Calif. (5:21:44:43), ET 15:08:50:10, CT 9:11:36:24 (45).

5. Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (5:20:14:31), ET 15:07:59:27; CT 9:11:44:56 (46).

6. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (6:03:41:56), ET 16:00:16:01, CT 9:20:34:05 (52).

7. DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller/Bob MacDonald, Point Richmond, Calif. (5:12:37:00), ET 15:19:10:39; CT 10:06:33:39 (55).

8. California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif. (7:01:16:11), 100.

9. Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif. (7:17:47:09), 221.

Aloha A (Started July 9)

1. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), ET 14:16:00:06; CT 9:01:03:51 (36).

2. Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (4:08:39:09), finished; 14:00:13:11; CT 9:05:34:02 (40).

3. French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (5:11:59:45), ET 15:03:07:31; CT 9:15:07:46 (48).

4. Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (5:06:21:29), ET 15:00:39:08, CT 9:18:17:39 (51).

5. Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif. (4:10:58:57), 146.

6. Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev. (4:22:27:48), 294.

7. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (4:23:43:58), NO REPORT.

8. Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif. (5:08:31:43), RETIRED.

Aloha B (Started July 9)

1. Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu (7:02:14:16), 116.

2. Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (8:12:05:44), 411.

3. Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (6:14:37:49), 248.

4. Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (6:12:14:02), 577.

RETIRED---Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif. (5:18:26:52).

RETIRED--Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif. (6:20:18:32).

DH-Doublehanded.

Multihull

LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (Started July 15), ET 8:13:37:12; CT 8:13:37:12.

The Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster, Pryor, Okla. (Started July 12), 120.

Complete position reports:www.transpacificyc.org

COMMODORE

Al Garnier
    (310) 600-0158
    reinrag@aol.com

ENTRIES CHAIRMAN

    Bill Lee
    (831) 476-9639
    wizard@fastisfun.com

PRESS OFFICER

    Rich Roberts
    (310) 835-2526
    Cell (310) 766-6547
    richsail@earthlink.net

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The Morning Light Project
The Morning Light Project	Last updated: 8/1/2007