Race Archives

It was clear as early as 10 months prior to the 50^th Transpac held in July 2019 that this was going to be an immensely popular race – by September 2018 there were already 50 entries on the roster, which went to over 80 in December, and this peaked at one time to 108 boats by early-Spring 2019, a figure that would have shattered the previous participation record of 80 entries set in 1979.

Yet even with 73 monohulls and 6 multihulls crossing the finish at Diamond Head, with 9 yachts retiring, this was an impressive record turnout for this 2225-mile biennial ocean racing classic. Teams from 7 nations were represented at the starts, with the fleet broken into 12 racing divisions ranging in size from two entries (Multihull Class 0A) to fifteen (Monohull Class 1).

Extended cut capturing Hamachi's magical ride across the Pacific Ocean and taking first overall in the 50th edition of Transpac. They captured this video to compete in an new Transpac award class for best race video produced on the water. After Hamachi sailed into first place half way through the race, all thoughts of producing a video disappeared. Enjoy this cut of extended clips, b-roll and out-takes that attempt to capture the sights and sounds of being on a 41ft (12.5 meter) racing boat ripping across an ocean.

My name is Justin Edelman and I am a filmmaker who grew up sailing. I never imagined I would get the opportunity to combine these two passions when I went to school for film. The typical route for most filmmakers is to move to LA or NYC where you slowly work your way up; I didn’t go the typical route. Over the years I have worked on weddings, corporate films, documentaries, web-series and short narratives, but always looked for ways to share stories from the sailing world.

‘I did 20 transatlantic crossings and races by 2000 and then I waited until 2016 to do the 21st and now 2019 for a first Transpac. I will not be waiting so long again. There is something magical about the rhythm of the ocean race that is lost in the frenzy of a Fastnet.’ Gordon Kay enjoyed his first race to Hawaii.

In the end it was all about the finish. After three days’ racing neck and neck with the Botín 65 Caro the last few hours saw us come from behind to cross the finish line just 39 seconds in front. Boat speed in the low 20s, an A2 far beyond its design wind range with a widening hole from a previous repair, and a diminishing amount of track to run all made for an exhilarating final push that none of us will forget.

In those conditions we were always going to be faster, but fast enough to edge in front before the finish line? That was the tricky bit. We had crossed swords with Caro a few times over the years, notably in the 2016 Middle Sea Race – that time we ran out of runway as we caught her at the finish. We tried on several more occasions but until we passed Diamond Head in July we had not finished in front of her on the water. The tale of the tape is 46ft versus 65ft – Caro sporting a deep-draft lifting keel versus the canting keel and DSS of Maverick.

On Monday, July 22^nd, we were less than 200 miles from the finish.  At around midday, and looking at a midday finish on Tuesday, I heard the words that I have come to hate “I have no helm”!  Debbie and I were just starting to repair the A2 (again) as it had come apart the evening before after we had flown it most of the day.  The repair that we did before worked so well that it came apart at a different spot! I am still of the opinion that we weakened the fabric by dragging it across the rough spreader tip at the upper spreader and then it was a weak spot looking for a chance to fail. 

"Aaaalloooh-haaah!" This greeting repeated in unison by the crowd of over 600 attendees is how Transpacific Yacht Club Commodore Tom Hogan commenced the Awards Ceremony to the 50th edition of the LA - Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race on Friday night. For the next two hours this audience was entertained by local Hawaiian dancers, photo and video images of the race, a few stories to provide context, and an awards ceremony emceed by Chuck Hawley where dozens of beautiful and historic trophies were presented to winners in numerous categories of multihull and monohull divisions in the race.

With 10 divisions of monohulls and 2 divisions of multihulls, and awards given to the winners, runners-up and in the larger classes third-place finishers as well, there were lots of leis and trophies distributed in this ceremony. Here is a summary of each:

The Cal 40's are an important part of Transpac history, and this year had an impressive turnout of 6 boats. Unfortunately one had to turn back, so they missed the fight into the finish between the top three. The Eddy family's Callisto emerged from that fight on top, while Rodney Pimentel's Azure and Don Jesberg's Vivamargin for second and third, respectively, was only 2 1/2 minutes in corrected time after 12 days of racing.

photo courtesy of David Livingston

If there was one seriously competitive division in the 2019 Transpac, the Santa Cruz 50/52 fleet would take the nod, hands down, 11 boats strong at the start.

The boats vintage ranges from 1980 to 2001, with Dave MacEwen’s Lucky Duck being the newest, a 2001 model and Michael Moradzadeh’s Oaxaca being the eldest, emerging from the coop in 1980. While the 52’s are longer on the deck by near 3 feet, the waterline for both is right at 46.5’ for stock models. The 52’s made their debut in 1992, offering a tad more comfort and luxury than their earlier counterparts. They weigh more and have more sail area but the ORR rating is very similar across the board, and most every boat has seen some modification of one sort or another, yet they all live within the confines of class rules after near 4 decades.

With Jason Seibert's Schock 40 Gamble making it across the finish line this morning after a long passage of almost 11 days, the Transpacific Yacht Club can declare all boats have finished this year's 50th edition to the LA-Honolulu Race. The final tally of boats completing the course successfully is 81, with 678 sailors aboard. Nine yachts retired from this year's race: seven returned to the mainland, one continued to Hawaii, and one sank at sea.

Nearly without exception, all were glad they came, with plenty of tales of adventure and challenge running the gamut of topics common to ocean racing: high speeds and low speeds, gourmet cooking to freeze dried mush, perfect moonlit nights to scary squalls, freezing cold to baking in the sun with no relief. For some the trip was without incident, while others ran into one problem after another and the trip was spent troubleshooting these to get them to Hawaii in one piece.

Transpac 2019 is in the books! The Flyingfiche II crossed the finish line just after 8 p.m. local time Sunday. We placed fourth of 11 in our very competitive division, and 12th of 84 finishers overall.

This is the second Transpac that we've completed on this boat, and everyone has been asking the obvious question: How did 2019 compare to 2017?

The conditions in 2017 were much milder, and from what I understand, this year's conditions were much more typical—more wind, bigger waves, tougher squalls. The shift in degree of conditions results in a change in the kind of sailing on these boats. When the wind and waves lined up—like when we were coming down Molokai Channel, especially—we weren't sailing in the way we do in the coastal waters of Southern California. It was a surfing session on a 50-foot board that has a spinnaker attached to help drop in. We were able to get into this mode much more often this year, and it enabled us to finish the race faster by an entire day. The difference in top speeds was huge—17.5 knots last time compared to 24.5 this year. The Santa Cruz 50 was designed for this race, and that was much more apparent to me this year. 

By sunset on Monday, only a handful of yachts were still at sea heading towards the finish in the 50th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race, organized by the Transpacific YC. This day was overcast and almost dreary compared to the bright tropical sunshine of all the other finish days, and with the final stretch after many days at sea many teams were more than ready to cross the finish at Diamond Head. 

A source of fatigue and frustration for many was the unusual sea state produced by cross-swells, making the smaller and slower boats in particular difficult to sail efficiently. One team sent a message saying "On land, I will miss thrashing about the boat, getting vibrant bruises that connect to form geographic regions all over my body." Kidding aside, for some this was also the source of damage that had serious effects on their race. 

FULL RESULTS

FIRST TO FINISH: ARGO, MOD 70, Jason Caroll
BARN DOOR TROPHY (First monohull): COMANCHE, Verdier/VPLP 100, Jim Cooney & Samantha Grant
MERLIN TROPHY: RIO100, Bakewell/White 100, Manouch Moshayedi
STORM TRYSAIL TEAM TROPHY: TBD (Naughty Blue Tequila leader as of 7/22/19)
1st OVERALL ORR: HAMACHI, J/125, Shawn Doughery & Jason Andrews

1st DIV 0: ARGO, MOD70, Jason Caroll
1st DIV 0A: TBD
1st DIV 1: BADPAK, Pac52, Tom Holthus
1st DIV 2: TAXI DANCER, RP70, Yabsley / Compton
1st DIV 3: HAMACHI, J/125, Shawn Doughery & Jason Andrews
1st DIV 4: OAXACA, Santa Cruz 50, Michael Moradzadeh
1st DIV 5: GOOD CALL, Nautor's Swan 60, Tom Barker
1st DIv 6: BLUEFLASH, J/121, Scott Grealish
1st DIV 7: CHUBASCO, S&S Yawl, Akin / Baker / Carpenter / Durant
1st DIV 8: SWEET OKOLE, Farr 36, Dean Treadway
1st DIV 9: FREE, Swan 461, Christian Doegl
1st DIV 10: CALLISTO, Cal 40, Eddy Family

Mother nature put on quite a display over the past 24 hr.  We finally saw an amazing sunset.  The clouds glowed orange sorbet, soft pink and mauve.

I think this was her apology for the recurring cloud bursts over the course of the day.  We would go from bone dry to soaked to the bone in 10 minutes.  At least it was warm rain.

At one point, there was a rainbow that made a complete circle around the sun.  So much amazing beauty out here.  Overnight the Milky came out in all of her glory complete with shooting stars; several bright enough to have a tail.  They would last for seconds before they burned out.

Mostly favorable weather conditions for this race and the staggered start paradigm has created for the 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race what was intended: a flood of both fast and slow entries converging together on the finish in Hawaii. Some 70% of the 82 entries that will finish in this year's edition have or will have finished between Saturday Noon and Monday Noon, a remarkable high density flood of racers arriving happy, tired, thirsty and wholly satisfied with this year's race. 

TPYC race officials say 75% of the entries in this year's anniversary edition are newcomers to the race, but there are a lot of familiar faces on the arrival docks and Aloha parties being held at Waikiki and Hawaii Yacht Clubs. All of them, even among the Division 1 and Division 2 teams deprived of course records and corrected time victories due to their first night of light air, have said this year's race for them was the best in memory. 

With roughly 100 NM to go, we have a nearly cloudless sky and 17-20 knot tradewinds sending us to the turn at Molokai, then the final stretch to the Diamond Head Buoy. The evening sky last night after sunset was resplendent in its Indigo accents punctuated by the Milky Way and so many stars with brilliant Mars and Venus showing.  The energy on board is peaking as the fleet converges and gains are made in the last run to the finish!    The 4-on / 4-off watch schedule was suspended this morning by the Skipper as we prepare for the approaching classic experience of storied winds and waves of the Molokai Channel.  Families and friends can still watch the live Yellow Brick (200NMS version) presentation of this last leg while preparing the perfect Mai Tai and donning a fresh Island Lei.  

The boat is remarkably clean, from the perspective of an offshore racer - family & friends should probably delay entry until the sailors do their thing; the food has been really good - only one freeze dried meal of Mac and Beans Chili with the prior night's Sabatinos sausage leftovers added for flavor.  We have eaten all the water, carbs and proteins needed for this final 100 NM showdown.  We have also caught up on sleep and we greatly anticipate these final 10 hours as the fleet sorts out who is where and execute the critical gybes required at the optimal moment off the wall at Molokai.  Some will make it, some might not.  The high winds and vertical short period high wave chop are so focused within the narrow passage between these Islands that anything can happen to affect the final outcome.

To all who followed or were involved in Katara's journey across the Pacific,

We are official members of the double digits club! Just moments ago we cross the 100nm line from the Diamond Head light finish line. We are making excellent way at 12-14kts in a pleasant 18-20kts of breeze. We've got a heck of a ride ahead of us down the Molokai Channel and it should be all the more sporty for having to do it in the dark.

We are projecting a finish sometime near 0600 HST, or approximately 9.5 hours from now.

With the conditions on the race course remaining perfect, the first of a large wave of finishers has started to cross the finish line at Diamond Head in the 50th edition of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race. Since Merlin Trophy-winner Rio100 finished last night, four more boats have finished: Phil Turner and Duncan Hines's R/P 66 Alive from Australia, Bob Pethwick's Rogers 46 Bretwalda 3, Daniel Gribble's Tripp 56 Brigadoon, and the local Hawaii-based team onCecil and Alyson Rossi's Farr 57 Ho'okolohe. Tom Holthus's Pac 52 BadPak is fast approaching to be next to finish at sunset.

The crowd at Waikiki YC was so full of friends and family to greet Ho'okolohe, the berthing dock threatened to collapse. Buoyed by their spectacular finish at Diamond Head and finishing in their own home waters, the crew described their trip in glowing terms like "champagne sailing", "best trip yet", and "this boat has never gone so fast."

Brigadoon beat Ho'okolohe to the finish line by an hour and 40 minutes, but trailed in corrected time scoring by about 14 minutes. However, currently Brigadoon is the sole finisher in the Corinthian division, where a trophy will be awarded to the team composed of all-amateur sailors who finishes with the best corrected time.

Please check these photo galleries for updated shots of your favorite teams crossing the finish line, arriving at the dock, donning the leis and tasting the mai tais in full Aloha fashion.

Race Finishers

Dockside Arrivals

A key part of life onboard Merlin is routine, however as the race progresses some routines have strengthened and some have fallen by the wayside. There are no more complaints about cold weather it is now complaints about the lack of fans down below. Various project completed during the week have strengthen bonds and broaden skill sets. A repaired A2 spinnaker took many watches and hours of labor from the crew to fix after it blew out.

Only 24 hours out from Hawaii, it will be an intense time overnight as we push hard to gain precious miles on handicap before we say Aloha.

Some excitement on Amazing Grace last night when the afterguy foot block failed and broke free from the deck. Fortunately no one injured. Was able to douse kite, jibe, and set new kite, sailing at a slightly less favorable jibe angle, but still heading toward Hawaii. Get those Mai Tais ready, we're thirsty!

With a finish time of 19:34:25 HST today, Manouch Moshayedi's Bakewell-White 100 RIO100 has become the fastest monohull without powered performance systems to finish the 50th edition of the biennial 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race. In so doing she has won the Merlin Trophy, which this year was re-defined from its original criteria of being awarded to the fastest monohull of any configuration in the race.

RIO100 is the first boat in the history of Transpac to have won both the Merlin and Barn Door Trophies. Asked how he felt about this, Manouch said "It feels fantastic, I'm going to go down the list of trophies, one by one!"

Two years ago in their Barn Door Trophy win, RIO100 was not at full speed for the latter portion of the race having hit debris that broke one of their two rudders. Quick work by the crew capped the hole in the hull at the rudder bearing and the team sailed on for their elapsed time win. This time the only debris hit was a long hawse line from a fishing boat that they believe slowed them "for about one and a half - two hours" while they removed it from the keel. But all in all Manouch felt this was a "cleaner" race, and their elapsed time of 6 days 9 hours 8 minutes 26 seconds is the fastest yet for a non-canting Monohull.

With the new open criteria established for the Transpac Barn Door Trophy for the 2019 race, the Comanche team gathered on Friday to receive the trophy awarded to the first monohull to finish the race. Specifically, the 2019 Notice of Race removed any restrictions on use of moveable ballast or non-manual power to define those eligible to receive this classic trophy, while boats that are first-to-finish contenders may not have a length greater than 100 feet overall (30.48 meters). This criteria is similar to that used in numerous other ocean races around the world, including the Sydney-Hobart, Fastnet, Middle Sea and other races.

From 2009 - 2017 those monohull entries that used moveable ballast or non-manual power were eligible to race, but the first boat to finish with these systems on board was not eligible to win this trophy, and instead were contenders for the Merlin Trophy.

Under the previous rule, Manouch Moshayedi's Rio100 won both the 2015 and 2017 Barn Door Trophy.

Tough night and day but in the end very satisfying. The squalls last night were brutal. Too much for our limited suite of spinnakers so we decided to hoist the big genoa and pole it out. Except that the furling foil split and the sail got caught between foil sections. Eventually fixed after some magnificent work by David Sawdon and especially Jeff up the foil on a halyard using a grinder… don’t ask any more. Everyone and thing intact, sail hoisted and furled ready for this evenings squall party. While all this was going on the hydraulic ram that functions as the boom vang let go with a loud bang and a spray of oil on the deck. Again sorted this time using good old fashion string and purchases, well dynex and purchases anyway! So we power on, doing the best we can.

The big attraction of Transpac is the downwind sailing for days and days. Big swells,sunshine and big spinnakers in strong tradewinds.  At least that's the theory.  It does not always work out that way.  For example of the seven Transpac races and five Pac cup races that I've done so far, only two Transpacs and two Pac Cups were truly windy. That said, we still often get great days and nights of spinnaker sailing at speeds that make grown men and women squeal like little children.  It also means that the race attracts a wide and varied assortment of yachts prepared by their owners and crews to perform at full potential 24/7 for the whole race, pushing as hard as they can whenever they can. It is a race of "run what you brung" . Take Fast Exit. We have a kitchenette, small bathroom, some cabins with bunks and a saloon with convertible settee/bunks. A sort of Sprinter van with a really big engine, in the form a tall Carbon Fiber mast, big mainsail and big spinnakers.  Now, also in our class are boats akin to a large sport station wagon.  Think Cadillac CTS-V or Mercedes AMG, decent size with a stupidly big engine.  You could sleep in it, but would you really want to? And, so we race, in handicap style.  They have to beat us to Hawaii by a certain amount of time to win. Get to the wind first, be in the right lane and put up the biggest kite you can.  Sheet in, hold on and drive.  Shooting down big rollers with spray flying about all over the place, half the time in daylight half the time at night.  If you're lucky, like this year you get a full moon, if not, it's pitch black.  No matter what, you don't back off. Ever. Days two and three the Turbo Camper team pulled off 24 hour runs of 278 and 288 miles.  Pretty good for a fully powered up Turbo Camper.

Hello friends and family from, well, somewhere in the Pacific. We just wrapped up day 6 of the 2019 Transpac aboard the SC52 Westerly. Another wonderful day of sailing.

Yesterday was marked by crossing the halfway point on the race from California to Hawaii. Out here, it is said, you are farther from any dry land than you can get anywhere else on the planet. It is more that 1000 miles in any direction until you reach terra firma. And even though we know there are a lot of boats out here – we see all 90 of the racers on the position reports – the ocean still feels like a very big place and sightings of other boats are uncommon… although that is starting to change as the three different fleets begin to compress.

After the same slow start that plagued all Saturday starters this year in the 50th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpac, Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant's VPLP 100 Comanche still managed to sneak out of the light air, get into the offshore breeze, and sail on to be first to finish in Honolulu at 21:14:05 Hawaii time. For being the first monohull to cross the finish line at Diamond Head, the Comanche team will win the coveted First to Finish carved slab of Hawaiian Koa wood known as the Barn Door Trophy. From 2009-2017 this award was given only to yachts with no powered systems, but was re-dedicated this year for monohull yachts of all sizes and types.

After Jason Carroll's Argo crossed the finish line at Diamond Head last night 20:52:32 local time, only 29 minutes later Peter Cunningham's PowerPlaycrossed the line, followed 6.5 hours later by Giovanni Soldini's Maserati, ending the rivalry between all three MOD 70 trimarans in the 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race. For over four days these teams battled with each other, one (Maserati) limping for a while due to impact damage after the first day of the race, but never giving up.

"Crossing the finish line was a great moment for us," Carroll told local TV news teams. "It was 4 1/2 days of anticipation to find out if we were going to beat out the competition and it came down to a pretty close race in the end, so this was a great celebration."

At 3.56 51” on July 18th local time (13.56 51” UTC, 15.56 51” Italian time) Maserati Multi 70 crossed the finish line of the 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac) off Diamond Head, Honolulu, Hawaii. Giovanni Soldini and his Team arrived with an elapsed time of 4 days, 18 hours, 26 minutes and 51 seconds.

The American MOD 70 Argo crossed first the finish line, at 20.50 32” on July 17th local time (on July 18th at 6.50 32” UTC and 8.50 32” Italian time), with an elapsed time of 4 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes and 32 seconds. The English trimaran PowerPlay followed shortly after, at 21.21 50” local time (July 18th 7.21 50” UTC and 9.21 50” Italian time), concluding the race with an elapsed time of 4 days, 11 hours, 51 minutes and 50 seconds. The multihull record, set in 2017 by ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe, of 4 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds, remains undefeated.

Team Hamachi is laying down the gauntlet-time to do the serious business of racing.... to win it all. Jason's (last) report:
Latest (last?) post:

Transpac is a race within a race within a race. There are four J/125s, an above average collection, who are competing with each other to be the fastest J/125 on the west coast. Each boat has donated to a prize for the first across the line. This was our main focus going into Transpac, as its been a friendly rivalry and a great chance to meet other J/125 owners. All four J/125's are racing within Division 3, which is highly competitive and comprised of 13 boats. It's a great honor to win your class at Transpac, especially in a class this competitive. Finally, there is an overall winner based on corrected time for all 92 boats.

Partly Dark with Periods of light developing at sunrise, Winds 16-18Knts at 083 degs, seas 2-6', Bar Press 1024 mlbs

Breeze was full on yesterday seeing 34knts at the top end. Quester set another speed record of 17.2 knts. Its like seeing an RV pass you on the highway going 140 mph. Sure they can go that fast but should it? Breakfast update, the Maple Pecan scones were outstanding.

After a frustrating day of sail issues, lines wrapped on rudders, etc. We finally fixed everything including the leach line on the kite and have made great progress at night. We have lowered the main to third reef which has shifted the center of effort forward and reduced the blanking effect on the kite. The crew seems to be having a much easier time on the helm with the COF shifted. This is probably not the best VMG for this boat, but given the steadier helm, we will probably do better overall. 

Surf and turf Wednesdays made up for all the issues. 

P.S. We just saw Medicine Man pass by. Looking sharp.

After a slow initial start on Saturday, Jason Carroll and his team of Chad Corning, Thierry Fouchier, Anderson Reggio, Alister Richardson, Brian Thompson, Westy Barlow were able to push their MOD 70 trimaran Argo into the lead among two other rival MOD 70's in this year's 50th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpac. 

After several hours into the race and having to fight to get out of a wind hole on the first night, the team found the strong offshore breeze first to take a lead never seriously challenged during the entire race, playing a brilliant tactical game to also deftly stay ahead of their competition on the final approach to the finish.

Which was needed: Peter Cunningham's team on PowerPlay, a sistership MOD 70, finished just 29 minutes astern after 2225 miles of racing. 

Argo's official finish time was 20:50:32 HST on Wednesday, July 17th, for an elapsed time of 4 days 11 hours 20 min 32 sec ...a remarkable time considering their first day's slow start and only 5 hours behind the record pace set in 2017 by the ORMA 60Mighty Merloe of 4 days 6 hours 32 minutes 30 sec.

This translates to an average speed down the course of 20.7 knots.

Aloha!

Tea time was interrupted last evening when the brain trust on board opted for multiple sail changes as we worked into the NW winds. The brits onboard were not happy. One of the Americans threw the rest of the tea over the side.

Amazing to get out of the hole yesterday evening. Gutted to get sucked in but thats how it goes a. Last race we had nuc'in winds this one nada for the start.  One extreme to another... drifting backwards at 1kt to 30kts reaching in flat water and full moon. What a great section of the race! A little damp but the boat loves being lent on hard. 

Now into glamour champagne sailing downwind with genak and staysail at 18-23kts. The full moon surfing downwind is superb! Spirits are high, water is warm and showers on deck about to commence:)

Thanks to our shore crew arthur for the amazing fresh cooked grub, its giing down a absolute treat.

Friends of Snoopy!

Day two of TransPac!  Before I get started, many people have asked why we renamed the boat Snoopy.  Two reasons, really. Because she was originally Snoopy, and who in their right mind would sail to Hawaii on a re-named boat!

Being the second TransPac start, we got under way yesterday with classes 3-5 hitting the course.  After a good start, wind went left and one of our sister-ships, Velvet Hammer burned us off forcing us to go right early.  This turned out to pay as we were the first J125 to Catalina.  After Catalina, the synoptic winds slowly took over and we picked a slightly southerly compared to most of our other competitors.  With our killer J1/jib-top conversion sail, we set off into the building breeze and washing-machine conditions.  Not much fun, but after a long night of upper teens/low 20's and waves coming from six different directions we got to where we wanted to be this morning...just South and bow forward on our northerly competitors. We will see if this pays off mid-next week, but for now we are sailing in strong breeze, with fast sails and a nice line to enter the trades.  Fingers crossed!

Last night in the Pacific was spectacular. The wind was blowing us towards Hawaii with enough pressure to allow Reinrag2 to surf from 12 to about 20 kts on the smallish 2 to 4 foot seas. The air was in the low 70s, chilly with wind on wet clothes, but pleasant to my New England accustomed senses. Oh, and the moon was full and shining down on all, the white foam of breaking waves, the sparkle of the spray from the bow, and the ghostly white of the spinnaker curl in trim. 

At about 2 AM PDT, a small crowd gathered at the docks of Windward Yacht Center to await the arrival of a 68-foot sailboat with 19 people aboard. This was 10 more than the 9 they left with from Long Beach back on Saturday at the third start of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpacrace. Roy Disney's Andrews 68 Pyewacket left Long Beach hungry for victory in their attempt to earn corrected time honors but circumstances intervened on Sunday night.

As I like to say on ocean voyages like this, "It is all good, except for the bad parts." This 50th Transpac race of 2,225 nautical miles from LA to Honolulu is no exception.

After a good 24hr run yesterday of 271nm and a great pasta and meatball dinner, we got to enjoy a drizzly night of moisture and moonlight. But, this mornings sunrise was accompanied by the palette of a  double rainbow. Fantastic. Shout out to Romeo Villareal and SESSIONS CATERING! Brigadoon out

As a brand with strong ties to both Southern California and Hawaii, we’re honored to sponsor such an incredible event that connects the two locales we consider home. For the 2019 Transpacific shirt, our creative director Doug Burkman and in-house artist Vivian Flores worked hand in hand with Commodore Tom Hogan to create an original print that depicts boats that have participated in different races over the years as well the 50th anniversary logo. See the process below to see how the shirt went from sketch to final product.

On the 50th edition of the Transpacific YC's 2225-mile race from LA to Honolulu, at 0200 Pacific Daylight Time this morning the YB tracking system had activated an emergency signal from John Sangmeister's Santa Cruz 70 OEX, followed one hour later by a message from Roy Disney's Andrews 68 Pyewacketcontacting the Transpacific YC's race headquarters that they had picked up the crew of OEX and all were safe.

Every day in every way things gets better and better... that may be the best way to sum up sailing in Transpac. You pay a price before getting to sail 24/7 downwind through blue water. In our case that price was a forced diet for all and a cleanse for some but last night things starting getting better. After agonizing about when to make sail changes and whether putting up a kite would cause us to lose the leverage we paid dearly for the night before (by staying north of the fleet) we split the baby, threw up our super reachy kite and sailed lower and faster for most of the afternoon. At the point we started seeing a few boats coming our way we decided to head back to a higher angle put up the blast reacher and started debating when we should put the kite back up.

Seas lumpy 5-6’. 7/8 overcast. Wind 310-320@17-20kt. Baro 1020mb. Great start. Sun, smiles, fair winds. Cleared Catalina however and the cocktails got stowed pretty quickly. Hard, wet, queasy reaching all night and for what appears to be the next couple of days as well. The cabin of a Hobie 33 in these conditions looks as you would expect it to look. Still some dry spots but you need to be strategic. No one much felt like eating the pancake breakfast with fresh strawberries and maple syrup that I packed us back in LA! Maybe because it was discovered in the bilge under a sailbag. Right, time for a sail change. Till tomorrow.

Patience paid off, blast reaching since we broke into the synoptic breeze feeling good as we charge along the route. Had some fun with the Navy life firing demonstration yesterday. Had to commence negotiations with them at 0800hrs on the 14th as the commanded us to deviate from our 230 degree course to due south 180 degrees for 35 nautical miles. Once we explained to them what we were up to, and noted another 20 boats were following a similar line they agreed to allow us to steer 200 degrees... a great result given the alternative... Hope everyone is having a great race, next 24-48 hrs tweaking the slot will be interesting. All the best. Mike Team Maverick

At 0200 PDT Monday morning, the YB race tracking system activated an emergency signal from Santa Cruz 70 OEX, and one hour later Pyewacket contacted us that they had picked up the crew of OEX and all were safe.

We understand from the email communications that the trouble experienced by OEX and cause to abandon ship was due to water ingress due to damage to their rudder post. At this stage we’re not certain about the cause of that damage.

There are no reports of injuries, and all 9 crewmembers from OEX and 10 on Pyewacket are about 200 miles out and are proceeding back to port at about 10-11 knots of speed, so we would expect both crews safely back ashore in less than 24 hours.

Whittier Trust’s relationship to the Transpac dates back to 1923 when Max Whittier entered his 107’ yawl, Poinsettia in the race. Just as the racing yachts in the Transpac have evolved over time, so too has Whittier Trust. Since our early beginnings serving the Whittier family, we are now the largest family office on the West Coast serving clients from Southern California to Seattle. We are proud to sponsor this great race and to honor the legacy of all past competitors.

Yesterday at noon, we decided to go for an early asymmetric setting. Of course, we had been a little optimistic, but after rearranging and added a reef in the main the course was not too bad. Well, looking only at where we were pointing, it was bad - Marquesas, but on the other hand, we haven`t been there, but we had also a plan of not sailing in to a light wind area just in front of us. Our boat speed increased by 2 to 3 knots, so that justifies pointing off the course with a quite some degrees. Will be interesting to see how it all will turn out!

The Bretwalda team had a great start and trip to the west end of Catalina.  Good call crossed us just before we cleared the point at the west end without  having to tack from the start. Many in our fleet tacked up right after the start and that became lost distance to us.  Once we cleared the end of the island it was light for a few hours then we got into the breeze.  It became very choppy and with winds in the 20's it was sloppy and the boat was on it's side making the general task of eating, dressing or any other life skills extremely difficult.

With the breeze shifted far left in overcast skies due to a strong Catalina Eddy, the final wave of 24 monohulls and 4 multihulls in a record fleet of 90 yachts are now headed off the coast in the 50th edition of Transpacific Yacht Race, a biennial race to Honolulu organized by the Transpacific YC. These are the largest and fastest boats in the fleet, and their starts were an impressive display of masterful big-boat sail handling, seamanship and tactics as they charged the line on port tack with a variety of headsail types suitable to the close reaching angle sailed to clear the West End of Catalina, the only mark of the course in this 2225-mile race.

Live Wire, Olson 40, has retired with mast/rigging issues. All crew are safe and returning to California.

Mike Sudo's Macondo has retired from the 2019 Transpac due to rudder failure. They reported to be safe, and making good headway towards Los Angeles.

"Macondo now heels hard to starboard and our worlds feel a bit upside down. The potential for catastrophic rudder failure crept from the shadows last night forcing our crew to make the heavy hearted decision to turn back. To head home. To abandon 2+ years of daydreams and planning. You never truly learn what you or your crew are made of in fair winds and seas, you learn about your crew in the dark of night, when shit hits the fan and the stakes are high -- that's when the masks are removed and you know the makings of a man. Words cannot express the admiration I have for this team and their fortitude. Not for a moment did they shrink to the multitude of challenges -- they rose."

Due to a problem with rudder bearings, Tom Camp's Santa Cruz 50 has retired from the race, and is returning to California.

Yesterday the clock struck noon and Macondarella's journey to the ball begun. 

But this isn't just any ball. This is no glass slipper, polite society, champagne waltz kinda shindig. 
No, this is Maconadrella's foray outside her comfort zone, loos'd of limits and imaginary lines--this is her epic journey to finally get lei'd. We'll be chronicling her journey and of her faithful crew in regular posts, dependant upon sea state and vomit threat level.

It was a great weekend at Transpac Race Village! We saw a lot of our friends, fixed an electric winch, and sorted out our odds and ends and spare parts bins! Today we are on site at Transpac Pier and we’re happy to be joined by Sam Vineyard from Marlow Ropes! He will be here today and tomorrow at our booth. We were also joined on the pier by North Sails who have set up a great looking lounge just across from us!

In gray but clearing skies and a light building seabreeze, the second wave of monohull entries has left the start line set by race managers from the Transpacific YC here at Point Fermin to head towards a finish line awaiting them at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2225 miles away in this year's 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race.

Today 13 yachts in Division 3, 11 in Division 4 and 3 in Division 5 set off for their first mark of the course, the West End of Catalina Island, before heading southwest on tracks determined by their navigators to be the right balance between greater wind speed to the south versus shorter distance to the north. Weather forecasts for the coming days suggest tracks that should sag south, but not quite as far south as the first wave was advised when they left on Wednesday afternoon. Wind angles and pressures look good for the next few days for this group.

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.

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.

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. 

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

The world-famous sailing yacht Merlin is set to embark on the 50th running of the classic Transpacific Race from California to Hawaii on July 13. Merlin set an elapsed time record in 1977 that stood for two decades. The boat has been recently refit and is ready for launch out of Southern California in hopes of continuing the yacht’s winning legacy.

The newly refit Merlin will be on display at the Long Beach Yacht Club on Thursday, July 11, from 6-9 p.m. for a Transpac send off party. The Merlin Yacht Racing crew is honored to host designer and builder Bill Lee as well as naval architect Alan Andrews and boat builder Dennis Choate, both of whom were instrumental in Merlin’s most recent refit. Friends, supporters and competitors are invited to join in the festivities and can RSVP to merlinyachtracing@gmail.com or by calling Kate at (813)-229-1000, EXT. 212.

We had such a great time at the Transpac Aloha send off party this weekend! It was a pleasure to display our BRABUS Shadow 500 along with a couple of beautiful BRABUS SUVs from BRABUS Marine. The Shadow 500 will be a VIP spectator boat for each of the starts the race starts this week. We are happy to sponsor the 50th Anniversary of the Transpac Race and wish all the racers good luck!

Transpac is more than just another offshore sailboat race to Craig Chamberlain, Novamar's President.

Not only has he and many of Novamar's staff members been active sailors for most of their lives, dating back from their college dinghy years up to currently competing in inshore and offshore big boat regattas, but Craig and his wife Julie did their first Transpac together back in 1981. They later introduced their three kids to the sailing lifestyle by racing and cruising up and down the coast of Mexico as far south as Zihuatanejo.

Craig therefore feels there is a natural and organic fit between Novamar and Transpac and is proud to be the Official Presenting Sponsor of the Transpac 50 Virtual Regatta that is available for registration now at http://click.virtualregatta.com/?li=4959. This online simulation game replicates sailing the 2225-mile course from the start in Los Angeles to the finish line at Diamond Head buoy in Honolulu. The race is sailed virtually on a Figaro II, the 33-foot Marc Lombard design that was used throughout the world of oceanic double handed sailing from its introduction in 2003 to now, only recently being replaced by the Figaro 3.

Come and enjoy the 3rd Annual Transpac Porsche Celebration at Gladstone’s Long Beach on the Pine Ave Pier. In honor of Transpac 50, classics Porsches from the past and present will be on display. Circle Porsche is hosting Porsche Palooza and you’re invited to this free event! 

Pine Ave Pier
330 S Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802
Sunday, July 7th from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

At the Skipper and Navigator Meeting in Long Beach on Saturday July 6th, Stephanie Betz from the Tahiti side of the 2020 Transpac Tahiti Race will be making a presentation on this other iconic race organized by the Transpacific YC.

Held irregularly every few years since 1928, this race is unique in linking North and South hemispheres in one ocean, a 3571-mile port-tack high-speed reach from one tradewinds belt to another, with the equitorial doldrums in between.

And lying in wait at the finish is the real prize: the legendary tropical paradise in French Polynesia that has lured so many for so many years.

Experienced offshore sailors are often sailmakers (but not always vice versa), and our friends from North Sails have been kind to share some Transpac memories from among some of the most experienced members of their team. Gary Weisman, Robbie Haines and Fuzz Foster have not only been active and involved as sailors in this race for decades, their contributions and insights have also helped to continued to make this a great race.

Check out their stories >

In addition to recognizing performance in elapsed and corrected time, this year’s 50^th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Club’s biennial yacht race from LA to Honolulu is also offering three new trophies to award to eligible teams. Of the nearly 100 entries ready to start in a few weeks, already the interest has been keen to register for these new awards.

Interested in being a part of Transpac history?

Pro filmmaker and offshore sailor Justin Edelman of Nobleman Sailing Media is looking for a crew berth on an entry in this year’s Transpac. His goal is to take photos and videos to create a complete story of this race: from preparation to sailing onboard to finishing in Hawaii. The story will follow the people, the boat, and the history of the race from a visual perspective not before explored with the Transpac.

The Transpac racers are coming! They’re scheduled to start arriving on July 17. Ninety-six yachts and their crews are committed to race (as of 6/8/19), and the Honolulu Transpac Committee wants to share its warm aloha. To do so, your help is very much needed.

So get involved, join the fun, and help welcome the sailors to our shore. Simply go to 2019.transpacyc.com/volunteers, read the support descriptions, and email one of the chairs. It’s that easy!

From the classic Point Fermin start, to the thrilling finish off Diamond Head: Ultimate Sailing provides you a complete downloadable gallery of over 100 professional quality, high resolution photographs! Make prints, novelties, greeting cards, slide shows; upload to personal web pages and social networking sites; share with family and friends! No need to select: you get them ALL!

Contact sail@ultimatesailing.com for pricing and ordering.

The 2019 ORR Rulebook is available and includes technical changes, plus restrictions on the setting and sheeting of headsails to leeward. By Dan Nowlan, ORA Rulebooks Manager.

While most of the rule changes in the 2019 Offshore Racing Rule (“ORR Rule Book”) are technical clarifications and improvements (and are described at the end of this article), ORR recently has received queries asking if it is legal under the 2019 ORR to use a whisker pole, reaching strut or other spar with a headsail to leeward (see photo).

Rule 10.05 covers “Restrictions on Setting and Sheeting of Headsails” and the legal use of whisker poles, spinnaker poles, etc. For 2019, a clarification has been made to 10.05 f). The intent of ORR Rule 10.05 f) is to not allow spars or outriggers to be used in this way. Careful review of that rule combined with the current edition of the Racing Rules of Sailing indicates a clarification is needed. The clarification is stated below and is effective immediately. Changes are underlined.

Virtual Regatta is the most popular online sailing game. Sail the most popular races online and skipper your own boat all around the world in the most famous sailing races: the Volvo Ocean Race, the Vendée Globe, Transat Jacques Vabre, Fastnet Race, Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Route du Rhum, and the Transpac Race!

With the Transpac Official Game, you’ll race against hundreds of thousands of rivals in real time.

Transpacific Yacht Club was proud to host a Race Tactics & Strategy seminar at Newport Harbor Yacht Club last weekend, presented by Stan Honey. We have a recording of the seminar in 4 parts posted to YouTube for those of you who were unable to attend.

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Paul Stemler's J/44, Patriot, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpac Honolulu Race Elapsed Time Record Trophy (aka The Clock Trophy) was reset to the monohull race record set in the 2017 Transpac Race by Jim Clark’s 100-foot COMANCHE in a ceremony at Newport Harbor Yacht Club on Saturday, May 11th. The last time this clock was set was in 2009 by Neville Crichton’s R/P 90 ALFA ROMEO at a time of 5 days 14 hours 36 min 20 sec.

The new time on this beautiful trophy designed by Andrea Favilli and donated by Roy Disney is 5 days 1 hour 55 min 26 sec.

The Transpacific Yacht Club is pleased to announce that its record 100-boat fleet entered in the 2019 Transpac is now split into 12 divisions for this year's 50th edition of this biennial ocean race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. These groups will be racing against each other for perpetual trophies and take-home prizes within their divisions, as well as for historic overall awards.

Boats racing in Divisions 6, 7, 8, 9, the Cal 40's and the Multihulls in Class 0A - 41 boats in all - will cross the start line at Point Fermin in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 10th. Two days later on Friday July 12th the 28 boats in Divisions 3, 5 and the Santa Cruz 50/52's will start, and the following day on Saturday July 13th the 28 remaining monohull entries in Divisions 1 and 2, along with the 3 Multihull class 0 entries, will head towards the finish line 2225 miles away at Diamond Head in Honolulu.

At the May 11th Transpac Race Strategies Seminar, Pete Hogan provided some nutrition tips and specific foods to help racers stay strong during the long distance race. Check out the full presentation + food lists prepared by Pete.

Whittier Trust's relationship to the LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race dates back to 1923 when racing resumed following World War I. Six boats were entered and Poinsettia, the scratch boat, was perhaps the most colorful. This big 107-foot yawl was built in Germany before the war for the German Crown Prince, Frederick. She was a pure racing machine, designed for Kiel Canal competition and she had never been defeated. Poinsettia carried 5,941 square feet of sail with an enormous main that was a real brute to hoist.

Stan Honey won the 2010 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award for his role in routing the 103-foot trimaran GROUPAMA around the world to set a new course record of just over 48 days. Prior to this he helped get the Volvo 70 ABN AMRO around the world to win the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. Closer to home in the Pacific he has also been the navigator for teams that have set seven course records and eleven first-to-finishes in 22 Transpacs and Pacific Cups, and was overall Pacific Cup winner with wife Sally Honey on their Cal 40 in 1996.

For decades, the Mount Gay Rum Red Cap has been a distinguishable item for any sailor. Now we want to see yours, for prizes! Thanks to Mount Gay Rum and in honor of #Transpac50, we are reminiscing over the years gone by and want you to share in the fun.

To enter, share a photo to our timeline and tag it with #Transpac50 & Mount Gay Rum (make sure the Privacy settings are set to Public). Anyone can compete, you may enter as many photos as you like. Just be sure to tag them by May 10!

There will be 4 categories for judging. The winning photo for each will receive a gift package from Mount Gay Rum. Winners will be announced mid-May.

The categories are:
- Oldest Mount Gay Cap
- Most Mount Gay Cap in a photo
- Best Location (Bonus points for sailing location!)
- Freestyle (Get creative!)

For official rules: https://buff.ly/2viVYZQ

SAN DIEGO, CA - When racing offshore, sailors have to be prepared for anything and everything, and when the ocean tosses up a new challenge, it's what you have done to prepare that will be essential. 

So on Thursday, May 16th from 6 - 9 PM North Sails San Diego will host an Offshore Performance Seminar, featuring two-time Volvo-race skipper Charlie Enright and veteran offshore and America's Cup navigator Peter Isler. 

The 16th edition of this 3570-mile ocean race has already attracted five entries, including 1930 classic 53-foot ketch DORADE

LOS ANGELES, CA - Even though still over a year away, excitement is building for the 16th edition of the Transpac Tahiti Race 2020 starting on 28 May 2020. Already five entries representing a broad range of boat types have signed on to compete in the 3570-mile voyage from Los Angeles to Papeete, first sailed in 1925.

With this strong initial interest, organizers from the Transpacific Yacht Club have issued a Notice of Race that invites seaworthy Monohulls of any length over 30 feet and offshore Multihulls of any size to apply for an invitation to compete. The Notice of Race is posted on the Yacht Scoring website and Pre-Registration is open.

The Board of the Transpacific Yacht Club, organizers of this year’s 2225-mile Transpac 50 race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, has accepted an offer from the Storm Trysail Club to award a new trophy: the Storm Trysail Club Trophy.

This new trophy is designed to promote camaraderie among offshore sailors from the same club, region, or other affiliation, and will be awarded to the 3-boat team which compiles the best score, as determined by using the total of each team member's percentage placement in its respective class.

The Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii is one of the oldest and most prestigious ocean races in the World, first raced in 1906 and held biennially nearly every year since. Besides the long length, downwind tradewinds sailing, and iconic finish in paradise, this year’s 50th Transpac makes this race even more special. No wonder the entries are already up to over 100 yachts, with many overseas teams signed on to participate as well.

Sevenstar is the logistics partner of choice for the global transports of these members of the Transpac fleet, and will be providing tailored solutions from Australia, the USA, Europe and the Caribbean.

The CA Offshore Race Week - Spinnaker Cup, Coastal Cup, SoCal 300 – is adding another course that will energize and excite the fastest boats in the Transpac fleet: the CA 500. Run concurrently with the SoCal 300, this race will offer an extended race course that will give challenging oceanic conditions to fast monohulls over 45 feet in length with Transpac ratings over 1.06 and multihulls with Transpac ratings over 1.40 – a perfect training race for Transpac.

In a record year of interest, it's perhaps fitting that the 100th entry to the 50th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Club'sbiennial 2225-mile Transpac race from LA to Honolulu is at 55 years old one of the oldest in the race yet also one of the most innovative in the last half-century of yacht design.

Chris Welsh's Spencer 65RAGTIME will be making her 17th race to Hawaii in July, more than any other yacht in the history of this race. Welsh has been an owner of RAGTIME since 2004, and since then has raced three Transpacs (2005, '07, '09), one race to Tahiti (2008) and the Sydney-Hobart Race (2008). "It's been ten years since we last sailed to Hawaii," said Welsh, "so we're looking forward to having some fun again."

The Transpacific Yacht Club and Archipelagoes Tahiti are pleased to announce their plans to organize the 16th edition of the Transpac Tahiti Race in late May 2020. This is one of the world's longest classic ocean races, a 3570-mile voyage from Los Angeles to Papeete first sailed in 1925, with a small but influential group of boats and sailors counted among its alumni. Only 72 entries have raced to Tahiti in its entire history, with the last edition held 7 years ago in 2012.

Yet now the interest is strong, with over 40 guests attending a press announcement this evening at Los Angeles Yacht Club.

Registration is open for the Transpac Race seminar presented by Peter Isler, 2x America's Cup Winner and Transpac Race Winner, along with special guests Artie Means and Chris Bedford. 

Saturday April 6 at Los Angeles Yacht Club
1:00 PM Check-in, Seminar 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM

$175 / person
$60 for additional crew from same Transpac race boat
$25 late fee for tickets purchased day-of the seminar

Limited Space! Wait list will start after 60 are registered.

February 3rd, 1928: the birth of a visionary idea in offshore yachting

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - Not every yacht club is founded by a man lying down. It was, however, a man lying down on February 3, 1928 who brought forth the Transpacific Yacht Club. We might add that the man was a serial founder. It was true in his profession of radiology, also in his field of passion, sailing, where he had already founded the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Southern California Yachting Association and Pacific Coast Yachting Association. A contemporary said of him, "Al Soiland never seemed to rest," and that was also true. On February 3, 1928 our man was in a hospital bed recuperating from an appendix operation, and Al Soiland had to be doing... something.

What he started, these many years later, now supports Transpac 50, coming up in July with a record 97 entries so far.

We are very pleased to have Pasha, Hawaii sponsor the upcoming 50th Transpac Race. Pasha has been a longtime sponsor for us and does an excellent job of safely returning participating boats to the mainland. Michael Pasha has been personally involved in making the process as convenient and straightforward as possible. If you are considering shipping your boat home from Hawaii, I recommend you contact Pasha early to reserve your spot. Please see the following information from Pasha, Hawaii.

Pasha Shipping Information >>

Tom Hogan
Commodore
Transpacific Yacht Club

Reyn Spooner is proud to offer a specially designed 2019 Transpac Race Spooner Kloth shirts. The pullover and button up shirts are available NOW for ordering through Reyn Spooner. Overnight free shipping is available for orders received by Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm – for Monday Christmas Eve arrival.

Los Angeles, California – Race managers at the Transpacific Yacht Club are pleased to announce that next July’s 50^th biennial edition of the 2225-mile Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu has set a new record of 82 entries to date. The previous record was 80 entries 40 years ago in the 1979 edition of this classic ocean race first sailed in 1906.

“We knew this 50^th edition would be popular, and we’re really pleased to see this exceptional interest in the race,” said TPYC Commodore Tom Hogan. “There have never before been so many teams entered so early in the cycle. This really helps our planning because we have high standards for giving everyone who participates the very best in Aloha hospitality when they finish.”

Crew Safety Training - What do you need and where can you get it?

What do I need?

The Transpac Race Notice of Race (8.1.3) requires that “at least 30% of a yacht’s crew including the watch captains shall have attended a US Sailing Sanctioned International Offshore Safety at Sea with Hands-on Training Course or its equivalent.” And 8.14 requires “An additional 30% of the crew shall have attended a US Sailing Sanctioned Offshore Safety at Sea Course or completed the US Sailing International Offshore Safety at Sea Online Supplemental Course.”

Transpacific Yacht Club is proud to partner with the Prince Waikiki Luxury Hotel. The hotel is located in the Ala Wai Marina, with convenient access for all boats docked there after the race, and a 5 minute walk to the yacht clubs and the Race Headquarters. Special rates for Transpac Race teams and families are available now. Make reservations through our custom reservation link to secure these rates.

RESERVATIONS LINK

PRINCE WAIKIKI
100 Holomaoana Street, Honolulu, HI 96815
844-207-9998

$299 per night, plus taxes | Ocean Front Harbor
$339 per night, plus taxes | Ocean Front

If you're over 40 and know anything about sailing, you probably know exactly who Bill Lee is. The image is clear: bushy brown hair escaping a Gilligan-style bucket hat, oversized glasses and a wrinkled flower-print button-down shirt. We (I'm 43) can also picture the rundown, wood-and-tin chicken coop ataop a dusty hill four miles from Santa Cruz Bay in California, where for 20 years Lee plied his trade as a boatbuilder.

A six-pack was the price of admission to the shop where Lee struck out and started a movement. Call them ULDBs (ultra-light displacement boats) or "sleds", they were super-skinny boats that dominated West Coast ocean racing for decades. The epitome of the type, Merlin, was Lee's personal 68-footer aboard which he set a new Transpacific Race record in 1977 that held for 20 years. His mantra: "Fast is Fun!"

One of the qualifications for the 2019 Transpac Race (see Transpac Race NOR 8.1.1) is the completion of a passage or race of 150nm+, prior to two days before a yacht's Transpac Race start. Yachts launched after 1 January 2019 shall complete this requirement by 12 June 2019.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club invites Transpac Race entrants and those considering racing to Hawaii in 2019 to join them for the biennial NHYC Cabo Race, March 15-21, 2019, a rhumbline 800nm race from Newport Harbor to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Register by October 31st and save $100 off the entry fee.

Unlike most buoy race regattas, classic ocean races  attract a wide variety of entries. Skippers bring that wide variety because their “hardware” (boats) may be different, but the “software” (people) are the same in their desire to enjoy the experience, challenge themselves, and build camaraderie and rapport among friends and crew mates.

50th race "BIG".  L. Gaylord Sportswear has geared up "BIG" also.  We have a special 50th design and many new items. Our website is up and running, check it out. We can personalize all shirts with your boat name.  We also have many new Hawaiian fabric swatches to pick from for your team aloha shirts.  If you are not close to our shop in Newport Beach we can take pictures
and email them to you.  We just need your colors.  It is not too early to think about your team uniforms.  Don't forget your support team they will be waiting on the dock for you. We can dress them too.  Let us help you look sharp which will help you go fast.  

In the build up to what could be one of the most popular Transpac races in its 112-year history, organizers from the Transpacific Yacht Club have just received their 50^th entry to next year’s 50^th running of this 2225-mile classic biennial ocean race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Never before has there been this many entries this far in advance to the first start planned for July 10, 2019.

“This has been a long term dream of mine to do this race, and I’m thrilled to have this opportunity,” said Peter Salusbury from Vancouver, who has entered his Paul Bieker-designed Longboard, a Riptide 35 Mk II built by Jim Betts in 2012. “This race is what this boat was designed to do, so we are really looking forward to this!”

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Manouch Moshayedi's Bakewell White 100, Rio100, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Viggo Torbensen's J/125, Timeshaver, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Daniel Gribble's Tripp 56, Brigadoon, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Bob Pethick's Rogers 46, Bretwalda3, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Tom Holthus' Pac52, BadPak, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Rodney Pimentel's Cal 40, Azure, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Roy Disney's Andrews 70, Pyewacket, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Chip Merlin's Bill Lee Custom, Merlin, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Roman Guerra's Volvo70, Kosatka, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Kyle Vanderspek's Hobie 33, aptly named Aloha, to the 2019 Transpac Race.

First start to the 50th edition is July 10, 2019, and already 24 entries are signed up to compete in this ocean racing classic

LOS ANGELES, CA - Exactly one year from this week, dozens of entries will start Transpac 50, the 50th edition of the Los Angeles-Honolulu ocean racing classic. Already there are 24 entries, the strongest early turnout in the 113-year history of the race.

"We knew the 50th would be popular, and we are preparing many special features to commemorate this race," said Transpacific Yacht Club Commodore Tom Hogan, "but we had no idea the interest would be so strong so fast. Not only are there many return entries who still find this race attractive, but also newcomers who want to test themselves and their crews on a long 2,225 mile race to paradise."

In 1886 Hawaii’s King Kalākaua invited the yachtsmen of the US mainland to race across the Pacific to his island paradise. Forty-nine times now the race has been run, and approaching Transpac 50, in 2019, it’s international. Among the world’s great ocean races there are not many that start and end among palm trees. There are also not many long enough to inspire the spirit of adventure of an ocean crossing in newcomers and veterans alike.

Even fewer races have the cultural heritage of an event started by royalty over a century ago, enriched by the participation of thousands of sailors since. Across the generations of California’s sailors Transpac is a tradition and a bond. For the internationals who drop in it’s a test as meaningful as any, but with sweeter rewards as the race goes on, and the sea grows bluer and the skies grow warmer.

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Louis Hoffer's Tripp Ocean Maxi Ketch, Atalanta, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Mark Ashmore's Cal 40, Nalu V, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Patrick & Keith Broughton's S&S 73, Kialoa 2, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Bob Lane's Andrews 63, Medicine Man, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Michael Quester's Oyster 56, Quester, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Dave MacEwen's Santa Cruz 52, Lucky Duck, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Jim Bailey's TP52, Destroyer, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes John Sangmeister's Santa Cruz 70, OEX, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes John Miller's Beneteau 46, Tropic Thunder, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Christian Doegl's Swan 461, Free, to the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

The Transpacific Yacht Club welcomes Dwight Rowe's Olson 40, Buena Vista, the first entry in the 2019 Transpac Race. Aloha!

On July 2, 2017, Circle Porsche hosted the very first Porsche Palooza in Long Beach, partnering with Transpac, Gladstone’s Long Beach, and regional vintage Porsche clubs to put on an exciting event aboard Pine Street Pier. Transpacific Yacht Club is proud to welcome back Circle Porsche, Saturday, June 9, 2018, for Porsche Heritage Day, celebrating 70 years of producing legendary sports cars.  This exciting public event will feature dozens of new and vintage Porsches, live music, good food and great weather.

Poster design by Leslie Johnson, photos by Sharon Green/Ultimate Sailing.

Los Angeles, California: The Notice of Race for Transpac 50 is now published and entries are open. With the first of at least three separate starts scheduled for July 10, 2019, this will be the 50^th edition of the crossing from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Point Fermin to Diamond Head, 2,225 miles.

Transpac 50 will feature separate divisions for monohulls and multihulls, also an “Aloha Class” of boats that are heavier and more traditional than the contemporary downwind flyers designed for this classic course. It’s the preponderance of downwind sailing, with the water growing bluer day by day, and the air growing warmer, that define the magic of the Transpac race.

Aarhus, Denmark – At the Yacht Racing Forum held this year in Aarhus, Denmark, the inaugural Mirabaud Sailing Video Awards were announced, and Chris Love Production’s highlight video “The Fleet is Away” from the 2017 Transpac Race won the Public Award category. With a theme similar to “Optimism,” the overall award-winning video from Cocoon Production in Switzerland, Love’s Transpac Race video highlighted the future of offshore sailing in the inspiration it brings to youth who want to take on the adventures being enjoyed now by adults.

Out of 44 videos submitted by professional videographers and producers, The Fleet is Away received the highest score of 8.22 based on a 1-10 scale in online voting, receiving 1307 votes.

This video and others in the Mirabaud contest can be seen at this link: www.sailingvideoaward.com/videos-pros/transpac-2017-the-fleet-is-away.html.

The Transpacific Yacht Club decision opens eligibility to a wider array of first-to-finish contenders and is consistent with similar limits used by other races around the world - now IMOCA 60's, Volvo 70's, canting maxi's and even foiling boats are invited to race for this classic Transpac race trophy.