Latest News

July 3rd Morning Update

The July 3rd Daily Standings as of 0600 PDT for Transpac 09 have the Spanish crew aboard Charisma leading the charge to Hawaii. Charisma is 1,734 nautical miles from Hawaii and over 150 miles ahead of her nearest competitor in Division VII, Between the Sheets, a Jeanneau 50. The doublehanded sailors aboard Relentless continue to set the pace in Division 6. They have stretched their lead to 10 miles over the Canadian boat, Narrow Escape.

Picture Perfect Division 3, 4 & 5 Send-off and Start

Thursday’s Aloha Send-off from Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach was picture perfect. Tachyon III, Kanzunori Komatu’s Santa Cruz 52, with members of the Japanese Olympic Sailing Team on board, led the parade out of the basin. Like each of the 18 Transpac 09 race boats that followed, Tachyon III was escorted out of Rainbow Harbor’s entrance by paddlers from the Kahakai Canoe Club. Free Range Chicken, Bruce Anderson’s deluxe Perry 59, was the final Transpac race boat to leave the pier. As she streamed away from the dock, the crew showered their escorts with fresh fuschia-colored leis. Long Beach added more pageantry to the send-off by having Navy seals sky dive from a blimp and splash down in between the end of the pier and the Queen Mary.

Navigators, Honey and Girls

History surrounds the Transpacific Yacht Race and everywhere you turn at Transpac Pier at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, you run into living legends. Christopher Branning confided, “We are 15 of the luckiest people in the world. Being part of the Morning Light crew has opened up opportunities."

Branning, a strong dinghy sailor who recently graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, was one of 15 trained by Transpac legends before he sailed the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpac Race in 2007 on Morning Light. Recently, Branning showed up at Club Transpac like a pro. He melted into the crowd and before he knew it, he was in a clutch of world-renowned navigators. 

July 2nd Morning Update

Transpac 09 Division 6 & 7 boats have been heading SSW since their start on Monday, June 29th. Their three-day head start over the next group of 19 larger boats has only given them a 150 to 250 mile advantage. The Division 6 & 7 boats have been pointed in a SSW direction and coasting along at a top speed of less than 7 knots. Charisma, Alejandro Perez Calzada's Sparkman & Stephens 57 continues to be the most northerly and westerly of the fleet. Charisma has not yet dipped below 30º N and is approaching 123º. Transpac 09's only Spanish entry is sailing along at approximately 6.5 knots and is over 30 nautical miles ahead of her closest Division 7 competitor, Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 50, Between the Sheets. 

Feast or Famine on Transpac 09 Boats

Boats in Divisions 3, 4 & 5 start their Transpac 09 race tomorrow. Before they head out for the most enduring and greatest ocean race in the world they have a lot of decisions to make. Crews from each of the 19 boats are looking toward their navigators to determine what route they are going to take initially, so that they can decide which sails to take and which to leave behind. While the navigators work through their strategy, the rest of the crews are out purchasing odds and ends and loading food onto their boats for the passage.