News
Lucky, an 88-foot Juan K-designed yacht owned by Bryon Ehrhart, claimed the Transpac’s coveted Barn Door Trophy on Friday, July 11, as the first monohull to finish the 2025 race. Crossing the Diamond Head finish line at approximately 0723 Hawaiian time, Lucky completed the 2,225-mile course in 5 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 49 seconds—the fifth-fastest elapsed time for a Barn Door winner in race history.
For context, the five fastest elapsed times are:
2017 — Comanche — 5d 01h 55m 26s (record)
2009 — Alfa Romeo — 5d 14h 36m 20s
2011 — Alfa Romeo (ex. Investec Loyal) — 5d 14h 36m 20s (same time recorded)
2017 — Rio100 — 5d 19h 21m 14s
2025 — Lucky — 5d 21h 23m 49s
Crewed by an all-star team including navigator Stan Honey, Jerry Kirby, Brad Butterworth and Dean Phipps, Lucky’s start was the third of the pursuit-style starts (Saturday, July 5) but she quickly ticked off the miles, at times covering over 400 nm in 24 hours, roaring past all of the other 53 boats in the fleet.
“Lucky was built for offshore racing, and that’s what our program has done. We’ve been across the Atlantic a couple times, and now across the Pacific,” said Ehrhart after docking at the Aloha Tower. “The Transpacific Yacht Club puts on a great race — everything from Long Beach to Honolulu is fantastic! You don’t get leis anywhere else in the world for finishing a race, and here, you’re sailing 2,300-miles-plus and then you finally see a piece of land — and it’s Diamond Head.”
Navigator Stan Honey said of the Lucky program, “Sailing with this team, on this boat, the overall impression one has is: experienced. It’s just an extraordinary group of people, and it was a pleasure to be involved with them again.”
Following her arrival, Lucky moored at Aloha Tower due to her deep keel, while the remaining competitors continue the race to Hawai‘i. Overall honors for the King Kalakaua Trophy, awarded to the corrected-time winner, remain up for grabs as the fleet closes in on O‘ahu.