Fastest v the oldest

First arrivals in the centennial Transpac expected tomorrow morning reports Rich Roberts

And the first to finish is... Alaska Eagle? The Transpacific Yacht Race's long time communications vessel quietly crossed the finish line off Diamond Head early Saturday morning, less than 24 hours before higher drama was due.

According to the routing derived from the latest position reports, the Centennial Transpac's oldest and fastest boats are now expected in Sunday's pre-dawn hours: the 68-year-old Odyssey 19 minutes before Hasso Plattner's maxZ86 Morning Glory at 03:20 HST. Odyssey's Aloha A class rival Between the Sheets is due only 23 minutes later.

Odyssey is a 58ft yawl that first sailed the race in 1939. The owner is Audrey Steele Burnand, who is not on board, but the skipper is her son-in-law, Cecil Rossi. Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52 Between the Sheets won Aloha A in 2003. Those two had a six day head start on Morning Glory and the other boats in Divisions I and II and were still running in front of everybody in Saturday morning's reports with 163 and 168 miles to go, respectively.

Morning Glory was 312 miles out but sailing almost twice as fast at 13.8 knots for the race, although it lost 28 miles to its nearest rival, Roy Disney's Pyewacket, now 34 miles behind. Although winds were growing lighter, those two and three other boats were still on pace to beat the record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds set by Disney's previous Pyewacket in 1999.

Alaska Eagle, meanwhile, was at rest at the Hawaii Yacht Club after tracking the 75 boat fleet over 2,225 nautical miles from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Once a winner of the Whitbread Round the World Race, it is owned by the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship.

Grant Baldwin, the radio voice of 20 Transpacs, upon arrival sipped a Mai Tai and said it would be his last - Transpac, not Mai Tai. "This is my swan song," he said. "I've been doing this since '79, mostly on this boat. It's time for somebody whose voice isn't as scratchy and who doesn't talk back [to the racers]."

But he is still savvy enough to offer an assessment of this race: "Very light [wind], practically no [rough] seas, a few squalls. The people who got low [south] and got low early did better, like Morning Glory and Ralphie."

Ralphie is Davis Pillsbury's Cal 40 that is 58 miles ahead of the next boat in that fleet with 331 miles to go. Two former winners - Steve Calhoun's Psyche and Sally Honey's Illusion - moved up to second and third Saturday. Psyche's last Transpac was 1965 when it won overall on handicap time. Illusion won the Cal 40 class and was third overall in 2003.

Other boats also were making strong late moves. Tom Garnier's Reinrag2, the J/125 that won Division III in 2003, leapt from fourth to first overall with a 229-mile day while Jamie and Jenny Neill's Super 30 The Cone of Silence from Australia put a 246-mile day behind Friday's spectacular 255 to close on the leaders.

In the race for the King Kalakaua Trophy (first overall on handicap time) that is dominated by Division II, Philippe Kahn's newest Pegasus, a Transpac 52, answered a late challenge by Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud by stretching its lead back to about five hours with 729 miles to go. Six of the top seven Kalakaua threats are in Division II, the exception being Morning Glory in fifth.

In Division IV, the Alamitos Bay Syndicate's Tabasco is now cruising for a double triumph 61 miles and about 14 hours ahead, but Hawaii's own Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess have been driving their 1D35 Two Guys On the Edge hard enough - nearly 400 miles the last two days - to where they are now in second place, boat for boat.

Like Tabasco, Larry Hillman's Swan 48, So Far also is home free with a 117 mile lead and 306 to go in Aloha B, while James and Ann Read's 42ft Camille was just at the halfway point Saturday with an ETA of mid-day Aug. 4.


Standings
(In order of projected corrected handicap time; total handicap time allowances in parentheses by hours/minutes/seconds; actual nautical miles to go listed last.)

Division I (Started July 17)

1. Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00), 312 miles to go.
2. Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles (0:00:00), 346.
3. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach (9:44:58), 457.
4. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35), 663.
5. Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23), 383.
6. Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07), 669.
7. Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07), 491.

Division II (Started July 17)

1. Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (51:49:29), 729.
2. Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco (55:04:54), 765.
3. Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle (57:52:37), 808.
4. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39), 1,779.
5. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach (45:59:58), 744.
6. Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach (52:18:53), 789.
7. Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu (69:08:37), 904.
8. Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37), 842.
9. Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle (55:23:53), 838.
10. Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03), 837.
11. Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15), 1,014.
12. Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46), 895.
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), 724.
2. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco (84:08:21), 694.
3. Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12), 691.
4. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35), 747.
5. The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia (83:69:39), 720.
6. Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle (90:58:29), 772.
7. Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17), 808.
8. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico (86:10:42), 793.
9. Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (95:31:20), 857.
10. DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel/Dave Van Houten, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16), 810.
11. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego (91:10:54), 851.
12. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45), 811.
13. Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24), 971.

Division IV (Started July 15)

1. Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05), 825.
2. Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04), 915.
3. DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33), 886.
4. Sensation (1D35), Rodney Hagebols, San Francisco. (115:11:28), 896.
5. Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach (119:24:28), 940.
6. Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:2:04), 952.
7. Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45), 996.

Division V (Started July 11)

1. DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43), 251.
2. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59), 319.
3. Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04), 277.
4. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego (136:41:18), 344. 5. Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44) , 353.
6. DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Bernhard/Brian VanderZanden, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54), 468.
7. Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico (133:59:14), 416.
8. DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego (148:46:04), 516.

Cal 40 (Started July 11)

1. Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14), 331.
2. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17), 391.
3. Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37), 398.
4. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27), 389.
5. Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35), 407.
6. Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47), 393.
7. Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50), 418.
8. Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20), 409.
9. Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55), 428. 10. Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20), 449.
11. Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28), 477.
12. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31), 487.
13. Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37), 622.
14. California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (163:20:29), RETIRED.

Aloha A (Started July 11)

1. Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (128:53:47), 163.
2. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (126:13:17), 168.
3. Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach (129:07:19), 197.
4. Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04), 244.
5. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24), 293.
6. DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield/Diane Murray, San Francisco (131:54:20), 483.
7. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50), 427.
8. Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25), 767 (started July 15).

Aloha B (Started July 11)

1. So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago (147:28:54), 306.
2. Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08), 479.
3. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14), 417.
4. Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59), 700.
5. DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James and Ann Read, San Francisco (141:52:48), 1,135.