Youngest Crew Ever to Sail Transpac

Friday, October 27 @ 12:27:52 PDT by pyeditorial 

Morning Light, a real-life adventure feature film currently in pre-production, will feature “the youngest crew ever to sail Transpac” in next year’s 44th Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, starting July 15. The crew will be comprised of 15 young sailors—narrowed down from 538—representing various backgrounds and places around North America.

Age was the biggest factor in selecting the team. The aim of the film’s executive producer Roy E. Disney, formerly of the Walt Disney Company, was to assemble a crew younger than that of Jon Adron’s victorious Cal 40, Argonaut, which raced in the 1969 Transpac. The crew of seven young men were an average age of 22.57, and two were 17 years old at the time. When the race begins, the average age of Morning Light crew will be 21.2 years old.

In addition to being the youngest, the team may also be the most diverse crew ever to sail Transpac. Hailing from all over the U.S. and Australia, the crew includes two females and is purported to represent a wide spectrum of backgrounds. Sailing team manager Robbie Haines, an Olympic gold medalist and veteran ocean racer, said, “We’re looking for diversity, a crew totally inclusive concerning race and gender.”

Thirty prospective crew participated in the selection trials in August, and though they weren’t selected for the final team, Vancouver’s own John Romanko, 19, and Felipe Lopez, 18, of Friday Harbor, Wash. were finalists. Those who qualified will train for four months on the Transpac 52 Morning Light in Hawaii beginning in January. The documentary-style film is set for release in 2008 by Walt Disney Pictures. For more information and updates, visit www.pacifichighproductions.com. —Hilary Henegar