PHOTOS: The Thrill of Victory

The outright multihull and monohull elapsed time records for the Transpac Race were shattered in the 49th edition of the 2225 nm dash from Los Angles to Honolulu. After these two sprinters started on July 6 off Point Fermin, Sharon Green captures their final moments as they approach the Diamond Head finish.

The first record came July 10 when HL Enloe and the crew of the ORMA 60 trimaran Mighty Merloe crossed the finish line at 17:03:30 (HST), beating all entrants with an elapsed time of 04:07:03:30, improving on the 20 year old multihull record of Bruno Peyron’s Commodore Explorer by more than a day, previously set at 05:09:18:26.

Enloe sailed this year’s Transpac with his team of Steve Calder (Main Trimmer), Jay Davis (Bowman), Artie Means (Navigator), Loïck Peyron (Helm), Franck Proffit (Helm), Will Suto (Grinder), and Jacques Vincent (Co-Skipper).

The next record to fall came July 11 when Ken Read skippered the 100-foot Comanche through the Diamond Head finish line at 11:55:26 (HST), setting a new outright monohull course record of 05:01:55:26, over half a day faster than the previous record set in 2009 by Alfa Romeo II of 05:14:36:20.

In addition to Read on Comanche was Nicholas Burridge, Richard Clarke, Justin Clougher, Julien Cressant, Shannon Falcone, Warwick Fleury, Ryan Godfrey, Kelvin Harrap, Stan Honey, Anthony Mutter, Louis Sinclair, Casey Smith, Peter van Niekerk, and John Von Schwarz.

Event details – Entry list – Tracker – Finish order – Facebook

Background: First organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club in 1906, the Transpacific Yacht Race or Transpac is an offshore sailing race from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to Diamond Head, just east of Honolulu, a distance of 2225 miles. The 2017 edition attracted 55 entrants that will have staggered starts on July 3, 5, and 6.

Start Schedule
July 3 – Division 5, 6, and 7 (17 boats)
July 5 – Division 3 and 4 (16 boats)
July 6 – Division 0, 1, 2 (22 boats)