Improving conditions for Transpac Race

(July 4, 2023) – While the Independence Day holiday in the USA offers grilled meats, libations, and fireworks with family and friends, the 52 teams with 455 sailors aboard on the Transpac racecourse are focused on the finish line in Hawaii.

The sun is coming out from behind the clouds during the day, the moon is bright at night and the sailing angles are starting to turn from reaching to running for most of the fleet.

Steve Rossi on Cecil and Alyson Rossi’s Farr 57 Ho’okolohe reported “Right after roll call yesterday, the A3 went up and the mood boosted on the boat. We saw [an albatross] for the first time yesterday and again this morning on dawn patrol. It’s always great to see these majestic yet solitary birds.

“Last night’s full moon was spectacular, making short appearances through the break in the clouds, so bright at times we almost needed sunglasses. The sun today has finally brought out that crystal clear blue diamond Pacific Ocean water.

“We’re reaching deeper into our sail locker, and were finally able to pull out the bigger A2 spinnaker- a much more manageable kite than the A3 we had up for the last 24 hours, which was a chore to keep under control in the confused wind conditions.”

The break in the clouds also allowed cadets aboard the Andrews 77 T/S Cal Maritime to break out the sextant and practice their celestial navigation skills, part of their training at the Academy.

Those who have been at sea for a week since their start on June 27 in Division 7 and 8 are all but one within 1000 miles of the finish at Diamond Head in Oahu, Larry Goshorn’s Catalina 445 Imagine Too still being a few miles short of the halfway point in this race of 2225 miles.

Some have chosen to be a little north of rhumb line to stay in what appears to be slightly stronger pressure while the leaders of this pack – sistership Dehler 46s Wings skippered by Ian Edwards and Greg Dorn’s Favonius – are less than 10 miles apart and are barreling downwind at 9-10 knots, glued to the rhumbline.

Without a strong incentive to dive south for more breeze, the second group of starters in Division 4, 5, and 6 have opted for different tracks that are, mostly, north of the rhumb line with some (like the J/125s) as much as 150 miles north.

However, the tracker shows there is already the first gybe to port in the fleet: this morning Steve Sellinger’s Santa Cruz 52 Triumph gybe to the southwest back towards the middle of the course.

We don’t know if they got a lifted breeze they simply could not refuse, or they wanted to break from following their class leader Westerly 52, a sistership SC 52 owned by Dave Moore, about 50 miles ahead and leading in the corrected time standings. With 1118 miles to go Triumph looked poised to cross Chris Messano and Bill Durant’s Santa Cruz 50 Deception, which is the lead SC 50 in their class.

Like many others on the course, Triumph has reported sighting debris and trash on the course, even 1000 miles from the closest land. “Hit trash several times, backed down twice. Just missed a small island of rope trash,” they claimed in this morning’s daily position report. This has been a persistent and growing issue in the North Pacific, even over 10 years after the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in 2011 brought untold tons of debris into this region of the planet.

With the exception of the two MOD70 trimarans in the multihull division and two fast monohulls that broke from the pack early, the group that still seems to be lagging a little behind is the final starters in Division 1, 2, and Division 3. They are just not quite far enough west yet to get the stronger winds now enjoyed by the earlier starters.

Event details – Entry list – Tracker – July 4 Roll Call

From the inaugural race in 1906, the biennial Transpac Race in 2023 is the 52nd edition with 57 entrants to take on the 2225 nm course from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

Staggered Starts
June 27 – Division 7, 8
June 29 – Division 4, 5, 6
July 1 – Division 1, 2, 3, 9

Source: TYC