Latest News

North Sails (sponsor)

Ultimate Sailing's Sharon Green signing a photo book for North Sails Sales Rep Bill Herrschaft from the Long Beach Loft, at the North Sails tent during pre-race festivities at Rainbow Harbor.

Mayhem Retires from Race

Race Committee received notice Friday morning that Hobie 33 Mayhem is retiring from the race due to a broken rudder, returning to port. No assistance required at this time.

Hobie 33 ALOHA Retires, Returning to San Diego

Race Committee has received a communication from Hobie 33 Aloha Thursday evening that they are retiring from the race and returning to San Diego. Crew are well on board, retirement is due to rudder post failure. 

Cal 40 Nalu V Retires From Race: Returning to Port

The Race Committee received word from Cal 40 NALU V that they are retiring from the race. Message received was: "Difficulties keeping bilge dry, pumps keeping ahead but reason for water ingress unknown, returning to port."

And they’re off! First wave heads west in Transpac 50

On a classic So Cal summer day with the sun burning through the morning haze to help along a building seabreeze, the first wave of 33 monohulls and 2 multihulls set off for Hawaii today in the 50th edition of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpac. Race organizers from the Transpacific YC started the multihulls first, followed 30 minutes later by the large group of monohulls, who ranged in size from 33 to 67 feet in length. 

The 67-footer is one of Transpac's classic entries, the 1939 S&S yawl Chubasco, campaigned this race by a syndicate from Long Beach YC led by Tom Akin, Doug Baker, John Carpenter and Will Durant, who signed on an all-star pro-am crew for this race. Despite her age and grandeur, Chubasco was mixing it up among boat types many generations her junior, and was very much in the fray at a crowded pin end of the start line.

Aloha Race Blog

Cass here. The bad news is that I will be the one doing most of the daily email updates but the good news is that the whole crew has some fun ideas to keep all you following our race entertained, although I'm pretty sure most of these ideas are just to give us something to do while we're out here.

Elliott just asked me who I was emailing and I told him obviously our fan club. He's currently off watch and laying in his bunk. I'm not sure which is pinker, his crew shirt or his face. Yes, 5 1/2 hours in and he is already burned.

Comanche and the Cooney Family Preparing for the 2019 Transpac Race

With the allure of Transpac 50 being felt both near and far, it was only fitting that Comanche, the fastest monohull on earth and current monohull course record holder, would come up from Australia to help headline what is a record setting fleet. 100 feet long and extremely powered up, Comanche is a beast of a boat that when unleashed across more than 2,000 miles of open water is capable of eating up miles en masse, as witnessed by her 2017 Transpac course record-setting run of 5 days 1 hour and 55 minutes. Changing owners since 2017, the boat is now owned by Jim Cooney and family, many of which will be sailing as crew on the one-off VPLP designed supermaxi. While the owners may have changed, the focus has remained the same, and that is to be the fastest monohull entered and to have a shot at her own course record.

An interview with Dobbs Davis about the 50th edition of the Transpacific Race

Hawaii. Mere mention of this beautiful island chain amongst serious offshore sailors immediately sparks conversation of the world-famous Transpacific Race, which starts on the waters off of Los Angeles and finishes off of Honolulu’s Diamond Head formation, yielding a racetrack of some 2,225 nautical miles. Transpac, as the race is affectionately known, is organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club and now raced biennially (odd-numbered years following WWII) and has a proud and rich history hailing back to 1906.

More importantly for anyone who loves sailing fast under spinnaker, Transpac also has a long track record of serving-up fantastic conditions, once teams crack off their sheets and aim their bows for what can only be described as one of the planet’s prettiest destinations.

Not surprisingly, the race has long attracted some of the world’s fastest boats. To help give some perspective on how much the race—and sailing—have evolved since Transpac’s inaugural event, skipper H.H. Sinclair won the 1906 Transpac with a time of 12 days, nine hours and 59 seconds aboard Lurline, his 86-foot schooner. Flash-forward 99 years and skipper Ken Read, sailing aboard Comanche, the all-conquering, VPLP-designed 100-foot super maxi, sailed this same patch of brine in just five days, one hour, 55 minutes and 26 seconds.

I checked in with Dobbs Davis, media manager for the 50th edition of the Transpacific Race, which is set to kick off on July 10, via email, to learn more about this classic West Coast distance race.

Can you describe the race’s culture to an outsider?

The culture of this race is not unfamiliar to any West Coast offshore sailor who is used to starting in cold places and heading towards the warmth: laid back but serious when it’s needed, with competent and able seamanship, and ready for the long miles.