LONG BEACH, Calif.---With more than
100 years of
its history firmly in place, the Transpacific Yacht Race
will send the first 23 of 74 boats off the starting line
Monday in the event's 44th run to Hawaii.
Following a festive, cannon-blasting departure from Long
Beach's Rainbow Harbor--- now the race's mainland
home port- --from 10 to 11 a.m., nine Division 6 racers
will join 14 competitors in the Aloha A and B divisions
for the 1 o'clock gun off Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.
Before the start, several boats will stage a flowery tribute
to Wendy Siegal, a successful competitor and promoter
of recent Transpacs who was found drowned Thursday
near her Cal 40 boat, Willow Wind, in Long Beach.
Both venues are open to the public. At Rainbow Harbor,
surrounded by the Aquarium of the Pacific and Shoreline
Village's cafes and shops, visitors will see the 11
Transpac historical monuments---one for each decade---
that have been planted in concrete in front of Gladstone's
Restaurant and were dedicated in ceremonies Saturday
night. At Point Fermin Park in San Pedro spectators will
have a direct elevated view of the starting line from the
tree- shaded area.
Other starts are scheduled Thursday for 27 larger, faster-
rated boats and Sunday for the 22 largest and fastest
boats, including Roy E. Disney's powered-up Pyewacket
and his Morning Light team of young sailors on a smaller
Transpac 52. Individual multihull boats will join the starts
on Thursday and Sunday.
The start line will be set approximately square to the west
end of Santa Catalina Island 22 miles off the coast, the
only required passing mark of the 2,225- nautical mile
race.
The weather forecast across the channel is for variable
headwinds of 10 knots or less with relatively smooth two-
foot seas---not as lively as competitors would like but
more than they've seen for some agonizing starts in other
years. Down the course, south of the dreaded "Pacific
High" zone of feeble breeze, there have been pockets of
light air where the trade winds normally sweep the boats
all the way to the islands. But that could change before
the first starters get there.
Although Siegal's efforts generated turnouts of 10 Cal
40s in 2003 and 14 in 2005, there are only three this
year when she did not plan to race. One of them is
Psyche, which stunned race followers when Don
Salisbury sailed it to first place overall on handicap time
when the Cal 40s made their Transpac debut in 1965.
Now its owner is Steve Calhoun of Palos Verdes
Estates, Calif., who placed third in 2005 behind two
boats that are not competing this time.
Calhoun said Siegal's death "puts a different emphasis on
the race. We're doing it in her memory [because] she did
so much to revitalize the class. We owe a lot to her.
When Transpac needed a shot in the arm, she was there.
She was selfless in the work she did which, quite frankly,
added to the value of the boat.
"It's also worth noting that a lot of people don't think they
can do this race because they don't have a certain
amount of money. Wendy was able to compete
successfully on a limited budget, which was an inspiration
for everybody regardless of what kind of boat they sail."
One of those so directly inspired by Siegal was Don
Grind of Placerville, Calif., who is sailing another Cal 40,
Far Far.
"She is why I started looking for a Cal 40," Grind said.
"Wendy found our boat, guided us through the first two
years to prepare it for [the 2005 race], and this year she
found us some used sails that we bought that are in great
condition. Wendy was the den mother of the Cal 40
class."
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.
Editors: If you are publishing excerpts of this release, you
may link to
http://www.underthesunphotos.com/transpac2007.htmfor
the complete version.
Archived press releases:
http://www.underthesunphotos.com/Press%20Releases/PR-
index.htm
More information:www.transpacificyc.org
Transpac 2007 division assignments
(Ratings in seconds-per-mile for handicap distance of 2,300 n.m.)
Division 1 (Starts
July 15)
Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney,
Burbank, Calif. (--
33.110)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker,
Long Beach, Calif. (7.110)
Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. (44.690)
Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale
Williams, Long Beach
(45.840)
Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long
Beach (48.590)
Division 2 (Starts July 15)
Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (73.840)
DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn,
Honolulu (76.380)
Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy
Jr., Los Angeles (81.451)
Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago
(83.647)
Morning Light (Transpac
52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (83.669)
Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy
Hogan, Newport Beach
(84.698)
Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport
Beach, Calif. (85.424)
Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena,
Calif. (88.988)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano
Beach, Fla. (90.040)
Division 3(Starts
July 15)
Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
(96.458)
It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing,
Glendora, Calif. (97.709)
Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los
Angeles (103.786)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin,
Encino, Calif. (106.301)
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano,
Osaka, Japan (111.063)
Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport
Beach (112.482)
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase,
Nagoya, Japan (118.520)
Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach
(118.858)
Division 4 (Starts July 12)
Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty,
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (126.093)
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob &Rob Barton,
Santa Rosa, Calif. (139.082)
Delicate Balance (Custom 56), DBB Transpac
LLC, San Rafael, Calif.
(145.522)
The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry
Golding, Salisbury
Downs, Australia (147.075)
Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona,
San Diego (147.818)
Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego
(148.545)
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville,
Ore. (149.653)
Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann,
Acapulco, Mexico
(150.225)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds,
Newport Beach (150.891)
Division 50/52 (Starts July 12)
Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif.
(118.837)
Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick
Brizendine, Long Beach
(138.843)
Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner,
Newport Beach (139.921)
Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka,
Tokyo (142.372)
Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark,
Newport Beach (143.582)
Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings,
Corpus Christi, Tex. (144.930)
Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan,
Long Beach(150.592)
Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana
Point, Calif. (150.646)
Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa
Cruz 50), Gib Black,
Honolulu (158.676)
Division 5 (Starts July 12)
Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif.
(166.816)
Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro,
Calif. (167.253)
Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland,
Los Angeles (175.259)
DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport
Beach (180.729)
DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman
Jr., Payson, Ariz. (183.115)
Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris
Gilmore, Carlsbad,
Calif. (187.370)
On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle,
Kailua, H.I. (187.974)
Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco
(190.987)
Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott,
Los Altos, Calif. (202.367)
Division 6 (Starts July 9)
DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller, Point Richmond, Calif. (207.574)
Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7),
Timothy Ballard, Sausalito,
Calif. (219.509)
Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San
Diego (221.055)
DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta,
Calif. (221.862)
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown,
Santa Ana, Calif. (231.181)
California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty
Lessley, Novato, Calif. (264.944)
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville,
Calif. (267.327)
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes
Estates, Calif. (269.161)
Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae,
Calif. (290.795)
Aloha A (Starts
July 9)
Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (163.804)
Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil
Rossi, Novato, Calif. (167.451)
Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis,
Las Vegas, Nev. (185.421)
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho,
Tucson, Ariz. (187.408)
Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul,
Calif. (197.778)
Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson,
La Jolla, Calif. (201.175)
French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels,
Alamo, Calif. (206.602)
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross
Pearlman, Marina del Rey
(206.076)
Aloha B (Starts
July 9)
Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif.
(216.701)
Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales,
Dana Point, Calif. (244.540)
Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena,
Calif. (248.291)
Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler,
Newport Beach (257.179)
Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers,
Honolulu (266.459)
Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner,
Calabasas, Calif. (319.454)
DH-Doublehanded.
Multihull
LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe,
El Paso, Tex. (July 15)
|
|
Long Beach Mayor
Bob Foster assisted
Transpac Commodore Al
Garnier in dedication
ceremonies
The 11 Transpac historical monuments
are firmly
in place
Cecil Rossi, preparing to
start his 13th Transpac
Monday, checks weather
charts with daughter Kristen
and crewman Mike Stewart
|
TRANSPAC RACE STATUS
