2007 Transpac Yacht Race News

07/20/07 9:00 PM Pacific - Weather Update
The fleet will be facing east winds 15 to 25 kt and seas 8 to 11 ft tomorrow as they close in on the Islands. Saturday [7/21/07]night through sunday night the winds will be from the east at 15 to 20 kt. with seas 7 to 10 ft becoming 6 to 9 ft sunday night. The extended forcast, monday through wednesday calls for east winds 10 to 20 kt. seas 5 to 8 ft. Stayed tuned for any future updates as they become avaialable.

07/19/07 9:00 PM Pacific - Light breeze is in the air! Four boats have retired; 1) Lucky Dog 2) Delicate Balance 3) Gaviota 4) Ginny. Pyewacket will struggle to break the record in these conditions but there is still a chnace as Alaska Eagle the communications boat is out ahead an reports 22 knot winds.

07/15/07 9:00 AM Pacific Time WEATHER UPDATE!! - Today the wind will be variable 10 kt or less, becoming w 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 2 ft or less, with swells 2 to 3 ft at 7 seconds. Some patchy fog in the morning. Sounds like a great day to start a sail race!!!!

07/14/07 11:00 PM Pacific - One of the big excitments is the return of Pyewacket, modified to recapture the record. Mag 80 will try to keep up and strategy could be the game!

07/14/07 6:00 PM Pacific - Well the really fast bats are getting ready to to start. All are axious to see the big boats take off. The weather sunday southeast wind 10 kt or less becoming westerly 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 2 ft or less with swells 2 to 3 ft at 8 seconds There will be patchy fog in the morning. Sunday night west winds 10 kt in the evening to become variable 10 kt or less. Please stay tuned for any updates as they are available and be ready for the Sunday Starts! The Starts for Sunday are as follows:

Division I (Starts July 15) - Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-21 hours, 9 minutes, 13 seconds) Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33) Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36) Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12) Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37)

Division II (Starts July 15) - Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32) DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn/Richard Clarke, Honolulu (2:00:47:54) Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17) Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28) Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19) Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (2:06:06:45) Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05) Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12) Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (2:09:31:32)

Division III (Starts July 15) - Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33) It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31) Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28) Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (2:19:54:52) Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (2:22:57:25) Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach 2:23:51:49) Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (3:03:43:16) Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (3:03:56:13)

Multihull - LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (July 15)

07/12/07 12:00 PM Pacific - Today are the Thursday starts and will include not only Transpac's youngest crew ever---five sailors aboard On the Edge of Destiny averaging 19.8 years, as noted earlier, but the race's oldest crew ever, if doublehanded crews count. Michael Abraham, skipper of the J/133 Tango, is 70, and navigator Philip Rowe's 70th birthday is Thursday. The Newport Beach duo also sailed the race in 2001 and swore they'd never do it again. The starts today are:

Division 4 (Starts July 12) - Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34) Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29) Delicate Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (3:20:58:21) Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (3:21:37:33) The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding, Salisbury Downs, Australia (3:21:57:52) Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02) Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (3:22:26:21) Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37) Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (4:00:24:09)

Division 50/52 (Starts July 12) - Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25) Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (3:16:42:19) Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38) Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36) Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (3:19:43:59) Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (3:20:35:39) Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42) Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46) Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (4:05:22:35)

Division 5 (Starts July 12) - Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37) Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22) Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16) DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach (4:19:58:16) DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr., Payson, Ariz. (4:20:59:25) Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (4:23:42:31) On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40) Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (5:02:01:10) Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24)

Multihull - Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob Webster, Pryor, Okla. (July 12)

07/10/07 12:00 PM Pacific - The starts all got off yesterday and anticipation grows for the next start this Thursday 7/12/07. The Divisions set to start Thursday are Division 4, Div 50/52, Division 5 and one of the Mutihulls. Please keep returning to the FIS Tracking Race site for position reports, weather and news update as they come available.

07/9/07 8:00 PM Pacific - Please enjoy picture from Day one of the 11th Transpacific Sail Race and stay tuned for news and weather updates as they become available

07/9/07 4:00 PM Pacific - There was a BANG!!! and the Aloha A & B along witht he Division 6 boats were underway for the 11th Transpacific Race! It is a beautiful day for a sail race to start. The next starts will be on Thursday July 12th. Be sure to stayed tuned for more updates and track the boats all the way to Hawaii!!!

07/8/07 3:00 PM Pacific - WEATHER UPDATE!!! The weather forecast across the channel is for variable headwinds of 10 knots or less with relatively smooth two-foot seas; Down the course, south of the dreaded "Pacific High" zone of feeble breeze, there have been pockets of light air where the trade winds normally sweep the boats all the way to the islands. But that could change before the first starters get there.

07/8/07 2:30 PM Pacific - Transpacific Yacht Race will send the first 23 of 74 boats off the starting line Monday in the event's 44th run to Hawaii. Following a festive, cannon-blasting departure from Long Beach's Rainbow Harbor from 10 to 11 a.m., nine Division 6 racers will join 14 competitors in the Aloha A and B divisions for the 1 o'clock gun off Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. Before the start, several boats will stage a flowery tribute to Wendy Siegal, a successful competitor and promoter of recent Transpacs who was found drowned Thursday near her Cal 40 boat, Willow Wind, in Long Beach. Other starts are scheduled Thursday for 27 larger, faster-rated boats and Sunday for the 22 largest and fastest boats, including Roy E. Disney's powered-up Pyewacket and his Morning Light team of young sailors on a smaller Transpac 52. Individual multihull boats will join the starts on Thursday and Sunday. The start line will be set approximately square to the west end of Santa Catalina Island 22 miles off the coast, the only required passing mark of the 2,225-nautical mile race.

07/8/07 11:00 AM Pacific - The updated weather/wind forecast for the Long Beach CA area for Monday July 9, 2007 is calling for variable, 10 kt or less becoming westerly at 10 kts and wind waves of 2 ft or less and Temps will reach a high of 74 degrees. As evening approaches winds will become variable once again at less then 10 kts and there will be patches of fog with lows around 65 degrees. Be sure to stay tuned for further weather/news updates with more pictures and race updates along with tracking the progress of the boats progress!

07/7/07 5:00 PM Pacific - At this time the Monday weather forecast for the first starts of the 2007 TransPac calls for variable winds of 10 kt or less and wind waves of 2ft or less with patchy fog early that will burn off as temperatures rise. As Monday late afternoon approaches winds will come form the west at 10 kts and the evening will bring a chance of thunderstorms. Please stay tuned for further weather and race updates along with tracking the progress of the boats progress!

07/7/07 2:00 PM Pacific - Roy Disney's 'new', Pyewacket will try to beat Ariadne, a 73-foot cruising yacht, as well as the Catalina 36 - Lady Liberty. With most sailing enthusiasts proclaiming Lady Liberty the boat to beat, we are all in store for an exciting couple of weeks. Be sure to stay tuned to the FIS Tracking WebSite for news & weather updates and of course track all the boats in this Crown Jewel of US sail racing!