Transpac: Let the flow of the racing begin

San Pedro, CA (July 17, 2021) – The third and final day of staggered starts for the 51st Transpac Race saw the fastest boats of Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4 finally allowed on the 2225nm track from Los Angeles to Honolulu. While Artie Means provides the above image of the fading California coastline from the Botin 56 BadPak, Peter Isler shares the status from Roy Disney’s modified Volvo 70 Pyewacket 70:

We started!

The pressure of getting every little thing on the “to do” list done is gone. Whatever didn’t get done… oh well. There’s a feeling of relieve when you start and you just have to start getting in the flow racing offshore.

In navigation world that means no more high speed data… the weather models from now on will be limited to what we can get on the Satellite.

We took the pin end on starboard tack and are almost laying Catalina’s west end in 11kts of wind. The wind should slowly clock over the next 18 hours until we have the downwind sails up… The “problem of the day” as the wind clocks is trading off the faster speed that this turbo’d Volvo 70 can produce by bearing away a few degrees with the extra distance that entails.

It definitely doesn’t look like a hard reach out to the ridge where the wind comes aft enough to put up the big downwind sails. We are expecting the winds to be between 10-16 knots … plenty to get Pyewacket flying but not so much that its soaking wet on deck – which can be a common feature on this boat.

Here we go!

Event information – Race details – Entry list – Tracker – July 17 Roll Call

Forty-one teams are competing in the 51st Transpac Race which takes the fleet on a 2225 nm course from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish line off Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii.

2021 Schedule
July 13 start – Division 8
July 16 start – Division 5, 6, 7
July 17 start – Division 1, 2, 3, 4
July 30 – Honolulu Awards Ceremony