History

Browse the list of facts and stories from across the century+ of Transpac Race history.

Elapsed time race records are achieved through a unique combination of circumstances: the limitations on the size and style of boats competing in the race, the steady improvement of yacht design and technology, the skill and efficiency of the crew and the navigator, and of course one of the most important factors of all: the weather.

On any given year of this race on the designated start date, it is the North Pacific weather patterns that will dictate whether or not a race record could be threatened by the first-to-finish contenders entered in the race. These patterns must be in precise alignment to deliver consistent (not necessarily strong) winds over a course track that also minimizes the actual distance raced from Point Fermin to Diamond Head.

With modern technology in weather analysis, boat speed prediction and routing software, the tools are better than ever to deliver more records should these factors line up in future races.

And its important to note the difference between race records and course records: the latter is often faster because a team may await for weeks at any favorable time of year to have the precise alignment of weather needed to have a go at a record run.

In 2017 for the 49^th edition of the Transpacific YC’s biennial 2225-mile race from LA to Honolulu, “normal” weather conditions returned to the North Pacific course area after the previous two races having been affected by unusual patterns associated with El Nino. The compression of the three start dates into four days rather than six was also meant to minimize the impact of the fleet possibly racing in different conditions and thus introducing a possible bias on overall corrected time trophies such as the King Kalakaua Trophy.

Unlike the previous two races, this year’s race had all classes starting in the typical Transpac wind pattern: a westerly sea breeze to the West End of Catalina, followed by increasing breezes offshore and staying more or less at 15-20 knots the entire race. The fastest boats generally sailed in more breeze in proportion to the others since the breeze dropped slightly on the course after the first finishers in Divisions 1 and 3, hence their top finishes in the overall results.

Occasionally the Transpacific Yacht Club’s race from Los Angeles to Honolulu has its odd-year biennial schedule coincide with the Pacific Ocean’s cycle of unusual weather called El Nino. Those that live in or around the Pacific know exactly what this means: the normal and predictable pattern of weather goes haywire for a year or two, a consequence of equatorial current reversals and the havoc this wreaks on weather patterns.