(Los Angeles, CA)- Mere mention of the beautiful island chain of Hawaii amongst serious offshore sailors immediately sparks conversation of the world-famous Transpacific Race, which starts on the waters off of Los Angeles and finishes off of Honolulu’s Diamond Head formation, yielding a racetrack of some 2,225 nautical miles. Transpac, as the race is affectionately known, is organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club and now raced biennially (odd-numbered years) and has a proud and rich history hailing back to 1906.More importantly, for anyone who loves sailing fast under spinnaker, Transpac also has a long track record of serving-up fantastic conditions, once teams crack off their sheets and aim their bows for what can only be described as one of the planet’s prettiest destinations.
Not surprisingly, the race has long attracted some of the world’s fastest boats. To help give some perspective on how much the race (and sailing) have evolved since Transpac’s inaugural event, skipper H.H. Sinclair won the 1906 Transpac with a time of 12+ days. Flash-forward 99 years and VPLP-designed 100 foot super maxi COMANCHE flew across the same course in just 5+ days.
What’s the best-case and worst-case scenarios for this year’s race in terms of weather?
According to Dobbs Davis, “for Transpac 50 we should be close to being “normal”. In other words, the East Pacific sea surface temperatures are not high. So, with no obvious strong El Nino pattern in place this year the North Pacific High looks fairly stable and able to deliver the usual pressure in the usual directions.”
The thirteen-boat Division 3, one of the largest and certainly most competitive in the event, has a quartet of J/125s participating. Those teams include Zach Anderson & Chris Kramer’s VELVET HAMMER from San Francisco, CA; Mark Surber’s SNOOPY from Coronado YC in San Diego, CA; Tom Garnier’s REINRAG 2 from Los Angeles YC; and Shawn Dougherty & Jason Andrews’ HAMACHI from Corinthian YC Seattle in Seattle, WA. Taking them all on will be Roger Gatewood’s world-traveling J/145 KATARA from Davis Island YC in St Petersburg, FL (she was last seen racing in the Caribbean this past winter).The eleven-boat Division 6 has an eclectic mix of boats. In the mix is Scott Grealish’s new J/121 BLUE FLASH from Willamette Sailing Club in Portland, Oregon. To date, BLUE FLASH successfully sailed the Cabo San Lucas Race and the Ensenada Race as their “training missions” to work through sail combinations and speed techniques offshore.
The seven-boat Division 7 has Paul Stemler’s classic J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC in Newport Beach, CA. Then, in Division 8, David Gorney’s J/105 NO COMPROMISE from Anacapa YC is up against a trio of Hobie 33s and a “modded” Farr 36.
Track the J/Teams and cheer them on as they spend from 8 to 10 days sending it across the Pacific Ocean in warm, windy trade winds! For more Transpac 50th sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.
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