Skippers share their experience

At the conclusion of the centennial Transpac reports Rich Roberts in Hawaii

His Transpac peers listened in awe as Peter Pendleton, boat captain on Hasso Plattner's record-busting maxZ86 Morning Glory, told how despite the light winds in the Centennial Race this month, "We never had single digits...always 10 knots [of speed] or better.

"Coming into Molokai, Hasso said to Russell Coutts, 'OK, you've got 10 minutes on the helm, but if you get the [boat's] record speed you're through.' About three minutes later we hit 29 knots and Hasso said, 'OK, that's it,' and took the wheel back."

Plattner left town soon after last weekend's pre-dawn finish, so Pendleton represented the team at the Transpacific Yacht Race's annual post-race press conference for the eight class winners. Also attending were former record holder Roy Disney, who sailed his 15th and last Transpac; Urban Miyares, co-founder and crew member of Challenged America's second successful effort by sailors with disabilities on their Tripp 40 B'Quest and Lloyd Sellinger, skipper of the race's oldest crew ever on his Cal 40, Bubala.

Sellinger, 72, prodded Disney, 75, about how he had just sailed his first Transpac while Disney, only three years older, was sailing his last, with plans just to go cruising with his wife Patty. Patty stood up in the audience and said, "If [Sellinger] thinks my husband is going to stop racing every boat in every harbor we go into, he's mistaken. He'll never stop racing."

Roger Sturgeon, who sailed his Transpac 52 Rosebud to first place in Division II and overall, said, "I got so much sleep on the way that I'm afraid I'm going to wake up. The top speed I saw was 23 [knots] plus and on this boat it was very stable, not scary at all." Sturgeon also had words of wisdom for all Transpac competitors: "You don't necessarily win if you prepare, but you lose if you don't prepare."

Transpac Commodore Jerry Montgomery introduced Scott Self as skipper of "the new hot boat in ocean racing, the Hobie 33." Self, who sailed Soap Opera with Nigel Brown to an amazing first to finish and overall in Division V, plus the doublehanded sub-class, said, "We're just Texas lake sailors. Our whole program budget was $20,000, [which is] less than most of you spend for a new spinnaker. We're talking to the Hobie people about getting a fleet of Hobie 33s out to do the race [in 2007]."

Miyares, B'Quest's blind bowman, said, "By all accounts, it looked like an impossibility. Just getting to the starting line has been our success." But they were in first place in Division V after three days and finished fourth out of eight boats. "This is the Mount Everest for the disabled," Miyares said.

Disney offered farewell comments, saying, "We had some great races and some not-so-great races, but you always end up in Hawaii with the wonderful weather and hospitality. Thank you for being such good friends. I'll meet you at the dock."

Bruce Burgess, one of the Two Guys On the Edge sailing doublehanded in the Centennial Transpac, lamented that they had spent "almost four grand in new single sideband [radio] equipment [and it] didn't work." But that was only one of their problems before finishing Wednesday, second overall in Division IV. Dan Doyle explained, "the adjustable headstay failed, and during the four or five hours we spent fixing that we were heading for Mexico because we couldn't go toward Hawaii." Then late in their 12-day adventure the steering cable on their 1D35 broke: "We cut up one of the spinnaker [lines] to make a cable out of it," Doyle said.

It was the radio that aggravated them the most because it might have cost them 30 minutes in handicap time each time they failed to make a daily position report. "We had the radio apart four different times," Doyle said, "and any time one of us did that the other guy didn't sleep because somebody had to steer the boat." All of that said, Doyle added that his fifth Transpac was "absolutely the most pleasant one I've ever done. We had our problems, but you have to take them in stride and enjoy the ride."

But how about that third-degree burn ring around his left ankle? "This is what happens if you get your foot in the mainsheet when you jibe," he said.

Among the 75 starters - the second highest total in 43 Transpacs - three were still at sea Thursday. Two retired early in the race.

Camille, a Stewart 42 doublehanded by James and Ann Read of San Francisco with their dog Sweetie Pie aboard, was farthest out at 606 miles and an ETA of around noon Aug. 3. They logged only 71 miles Thursday.

Standings
(At 8 a.m. PDT Thursday in order of corrected handicap time; total handicap time allowances in parentheses by hours/minutes/seconds; actual nautical miles to go for boats still racing listed last.)

Division I (Started July 17)

1. Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00), elapsed time 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds (betters record of 7:11:41:27 by Pyewacket 3, 1999), corrected time 6:16:04:11.
2. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, (9:44:58), ET 7:03:02:57, CT 6:07:17:59.
3. Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles (0:00:00), ET 6:18:32:25, CT 6:18:32:25.
4. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35), ET 8:05:29:53, CT 6:21:08:18.
5. Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23), 6:22:02:35, CT 6:22:02:12.
5. Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07), ET 7:05:58:03, CT 6:23:06:56.
7. Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07), ET 8:07:15:12, CT 7:00:59:05.

Division II (Started July 17)

1. Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco (55:39:59), 8:16:25:04, CT 6:08:45:05.
2. Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (51:49:29), ET 8:13:14:13, CT 6:09:24:44.
3. Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle (57:52:37), ET 9:00:23:25, CT 6:14:30:48.
4. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39), ET 8:18:07:25, CT 6:14:48:46.
5. Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach (52:18:53), ET 8:20:02:07, CT 6:15:43:14.
6. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach (45:59:58), ET 8:13:49:45, CT 6:15:49:47.
7. Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37), ET 9:02:36:13, CT 6:16:57:36.
8. Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu (69:08:37), ET 9:16:10:58, CT 6:19:02:21.
9. Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle (55:23:53), ET 9:03:00:21, CT 6:19:36:28.
10. Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03), ET 8:23:26:33, CT 7:05:32:30.
11. Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15), ET 10:08:54:39, CT 7:16:47:24.
12. Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46), ET 9:09:45:26, CT 7:17:41:40.
13. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10), RETIRED.

Division III (Started July 15)

1. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09), ET 10:22:36:40, CT 7:04:21:31.
2. The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia (83:59:39), ET 10:19:10:33, CT 7:07:33:51.
3. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco (84:08:21), ET 10:23:44:53, CT 7:11:36:32.
4. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35), ET 11:06:12:59, CT 7:11:56:24.
5. Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle (90:58:29), ET 11:07:52:00, CT 7:12:53:31.
6. Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12), ET 10:23:10:44, CT 7:14:18:32.
7. Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (95:31:20), ET 11:14:07:51, CT 7:14:36:31.
8. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico (86:10:42), ET 11:11:15:53, CT 7:21:05:11.
9. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego (91:10:54), ET 11:18:12:40, CT 7:23:01:46.
10. Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17), 23 miles to go.
11. DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel/Dave Van Houten, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16), ET 12:02:55:17, CT 8:14:53:01.
12. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45), ET 11:22:30:00, CT 8:20:21:15. .
13. Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24), 237 miles to go.

Division IV (Started July 15)

1. Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05), ET 11:14:01:31, CT 6:18:30:26.
2. DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33), ET 12:05:08:17, CT 7:12:43:44.
3. Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach (119:24:28), ET 12:14:38:11, CT 7:15:13:43.
4. Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04), ET 12:17:32:58, CT 7:15:13:54.
5. Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:2:04), ET 12:17:02:10, CT 7:15:38:06.
6. Sensation (1D35), Rodney Hagebols, San Francisco. (115:11:28), ET 12:10:46:00, CT 7:16:04:32.
7. Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45), miles to go.

Division V (Started July 11)

1. DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43), ET 13:01:10:45, CT 7:03:14:02.
2. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59), ET 13:08:39:23, CT 7:13:08:24.
3. Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04), ET 13:03:58:12, CT 7:15:42:08.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego (136:41:18), ET 13:13:31:50, CT 7:20:50:32.
5. Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44), ET 13:15:35:32, CT 7:23:32:48.
6. DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Bernhard/Brian VanderZanden, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54), ET 14:10:37:34, CT 8:04:12:40.
7. Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico (133:59:14), ET 14:01:48:04. CT 8:11:48:50.
8. DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego (148:46:04), ET 15:06:02:07, CT 9:01:16:03.

Cal 40 (Started July 11)

1. Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14), ET 13:12:59:05, CT 6:15:21:51.
2. Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37), ET 14:00:13:20, CT 7:01:05:43.
3. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17), ET 13:23:22:27, CT 7:01:17:10.
4. Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35), ET 14:03:03:11, CT 7:02:49:36.
5. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27), ET 14:00:27:35, CT 7:03:34:08.
6. Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50), ET 14:02:58:57, CT 7:04:45:07.
7. Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47), ET 14:02:28:58, CT 7:05:44:11.
8. Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20), ET 14:03:19:25, CT 7:07:10:05.
9. Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55), ET 14:06:00:35, CT 7:08:58:40.
10. Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20), ET 14:09:13:09, CT 7:11:22:49.
11. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31), ET 14:11:57:10, CT 7:13:28:39.
12. Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28), ET 14:16:37:40, CT 7:19:24:12. 13. Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37), ET 15:20: 57:31, CT 8:21:05:54.
14. California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (163:20:29), RETIRED.

Aloha A (Started July 11)

1. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif., ET 12:12:22:08, CT 7:06:08:51.
2. Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach, ET 12:15:10:48, CT 7:06:17:01.
3. Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach, ET 12:16:52:51, CT 7:09:45:32.
4. Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04), ET 13:02:15:09, CT 7:03:23:05.
5. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24), ET 13:08:36:11, CT 8:02:21:47.
6. DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield/Diane Murray, San Francisco (131:54:20), 16.
7. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50), ET 14:09:02:21, CT 9:16:39:31.
8. Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25), ET 11:06:05:17, CT 7:18:38:52.

Aloha B (Started July 11)

1. So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago (147:28:54), ET 13:08:18:09, CT 7:04:49:15.
2. Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08), ET 14:14:45:54, CT 7:18:02:46.
3. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14), ET 14:01:52:48, CT 7:20:02:34.
4. Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59), ET 16:17:27:36, CT 11:01:09:37.
5. DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James and Ann Read, San Francisco (141:52:48), 606 miles to go.