Beecom wins first-ever HPR class in Transpac

Isao Mita’s 2011 Judel/Vrolijk-designed TP 52 Beecom has won the first-ever class formed to score Transpac entries under the High Performance Rating system (HPR). Nine boats from Divisions 1 and 2 agreed to have HPR certificates issued and scored for the 2013 race.

Beecom defeated runner-up Meanie, a 2008 TP 52 owned by Thomas Akin, by just one and a half hours on the water, and 22 min 17 sec in corrected time using HPR ratings. Third was Ricardo Brockman’s Reichel/Pugh 52 Vincitore from Mexico, almost an hour behind in elapsed time which corrected to a deficit of 31 min 33 sec.

“HPR was designed as a rating system to specifically rate modern high-performance, offshore-capable planing designs in a purposely transparent and type-forming way,” said Bill Lee, author of the HPR Rule and former Transpac champion. “There is a small but enthusiastic group of sailors and owners who want to design, build and race these style boats, and most of the existing rating systems don’t do a great job with this because they try to rate all boats. So HPR was developed to encourage development around features that produce high performance, but also safety and stability.”

The Transpac race to Hawaii is a perfect example of how HPR can be applied to these style boats: they have to be designs that are strong and stable enough to be capable of this kind of racing, yet still produce breathtaking performance. The rule is transparent, described on a spreadsheet, with no hidden rating factors.

“HPR was designed to rate boats around specific typeforms,” says Lee, “like the GP 26, GP 42, and TP 52. HPR boats can be built and designed at any size between 26 to 72 feet, and some natural class sizes may evolve, such as on the East Coast where there are several HPR-style boats around 40-feet. There is tremendous interest and enthusiasm for new boats like the Carkeek 40, but it will take some time to build the fleets. So our current challenge is to have some older pre-HPR designs rate competitively with the new boats.”

On the East Coast, there have already been several inshore regattas using HPR – such as Quantum Key West and Block Island Race Week – but this is the first long-distance race featuring HPR scoring and trophies to be awarded at tomorrow’s awards ceremony.

“HPR is a great idea, it provides an important framework for high-performance race boat design,” said designer Alan Andrews at an HPR meeting held yesterday among Transpac sailors, owners and designers.

The next major HPR-scored event will be in San Francisco at the Rolex Big Boat Series in September.

For complete HPR results in the 2013 Transpac, visit www.transpacyc.com.
For more information on HPR, boats designed and built to the rule, and regatta results, visit www.hprsailing.org.

Above photo, Beecom at speed in 2013 Transpac. Photo credit: Sharon Green/Ultimate Sailing