Pyewacket ahead

But Morning Glory dives south in centennial Transpac reports Rich Roberts

As freshly baked chocolate chip cookies became one boat's saving grace for "wimpy trade winds" in the middle of the 43rd Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii, the big boats that started Sunday were cooking.

Roy Disney's Pyewacket averaged 12.4 knots over the first 19 hours before Monday morning's position reports - the same speed a previous Pyewacket made when it set the current record in 1999 - while Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory and Randall Pittman's Genuine Risk clocked 12.3 and 12.1 knots, respectively.

Pyewacket had sailed 270 nautical miles, the same as Genuine Risk, to rank in first place, 1,989 nautical miles from Diamond Head. Morning Glory had sailed 276 miles but was 1,991 miles out because it took a sharp dip 12 miles south of Pyewacket, which was holding a moderate northerly course, with Genuine Risk halfway in between.

Transpac competitors often drop south to avoid the dreaded 'Pacific high' zone of light wind that usually haunts the rhumb (direct) line of 2,225 miles, hoping to sail farther but faster.

Stan Honey is calling the navigational shots for Pyewacket, Peter Isler for Morning Glory and Mark Rudiger for Genuine Risk. Honey and Rudiger have won several Transpac navigator awards between them, while Isler collaborated with Nick White to develop the software for Expedition, a navigation and performance racing program. But their approaches to this Transpac on such high-performance boats that, like ice boats or land sailors in effect create their own wind, won't necessarily be the same.

Rudiger said it might even be possible to break the world record for distance sailed by a monohull over 24 hours: 530.19 n.m. by MoviStar, a Volvo 70, in April. "That's an average of 22 knots," Rudiger said. "It's unlikely in Transpac but possible. We'd need 20-25 [knots of wind] off the beam or a bit aft, and the more aft it goes the more wind we'd need." Transpac's 24-hour record is 356 miles by Pegasus 77 in 2003.

Rudiger also expected these boats to approach squalls differently, rather than avoiding them for fear of falling into the vacuum behind them. "Instead of ducking squalls for fear of being trapped, with this boat we can see a squall and say, 'Let's go for it,' " he said.

Genuine Risk's navigation station, designed by Rudiger, may be the most sophisticated on any racing boat. But watch captain Ken Read cautions overplaying it. "The tendency is to over-analyze rather than just sailing the boat," Read said.

Squalls would be welcome in the middle of the race right now. Grant Baldwin reported from the communications vessel Alaska Eagle that "weather continues to be dismal with the leaders reporting wimpy trade winds in the 10 to 12-knot range. Still no sun."

A crew member on Mark Schrader's Cal 40 e-mailed: "A week into the race, one thing is abundantly clear. The Cal 40 race record of around 12 1/2 days is safe for another couple of years. [But] the more dire the weather, the better the creations emanating from skipper and cook Mark Schrader’s galley: hot pancakes, hearty stews and, in an amazing performance on last night’s watch, warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. We stay hopeful that the trades will soon fill in and the great sailing we came here for still awaits. I mean, the weather guys can’t always be wrong. Can they?"

Skipper Norm Dawley of Pursuit, a Custom 48 from Maryland that started Friday, wrote: "This has been the easiest first few days of any Transpac I remember since 1967. It has been just cold, not cold and wet and windy. Tonight most of the crew is going without long johns and 3 or 4 layers over them, just fleece and foul weather gear, so it is getting warmer already. We might even get to see the sun tomorrow."

John MacLaurin's Davidson 52, Pendragon IV, and Paul Edwards' Catalina 42, Wind Dancer became the second and third boats to retire today.

Pendragon IV, which started Sunday, reported that it had a problem with its rod rigging. The mast was still up, but the boat might return to San Diego if it had trouble sailing upwind to its home port in Marina del Rey.

Wind Dancer, an Aloha B boat, lost its steering and was proceeding to Hawaii on auto-pilot, which is allowed only for doublehanded boats.

Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess on Two Guys In the Edge lost two hours but escaped disaster. "As the sun came up [last Saturday morning] the rig looked very wobbly," Doyle wrote. "On inspection the head strop that holds the headstay to the bow had failed and stretched about 40%. We turned to run with the wind, took a halyard forward as a temporary headstay and spent two hours rigging a new head strop. Once repaired, we turned back toward Hawaii."

The boat closet to Hawaii was Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52 Between the Sheets just past halfway at 1,096 miles. The 58ft yawl Odyssey was 10 miles behind. Both boats are in Aloha A, which started July 11. Between the Sheets won the class in 2003

Standings:

Division I (Started July 17)

1. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35), 2,036 miles to go.
2. Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles (0:00:00), 1,989.
3. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach (9:44:58), 2,011.
4. Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07), 2,045.
5. Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00), 1,991.
6. Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23), 1,995.
7. Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07), 2,009.

Division II (Started July 17)

1. Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu (69:08:37), 2,057.
2. Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37), 2,049.
3. Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle (57:52:37), 2,051.
4. Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco (55:04:54), 2,049.
5. Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle (55:23:53), 2,052.
6. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10), 2,066.
7. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39), 2,049.
8. Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (51:49:29), 2,049.
9. Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach (52:18:53), 2,054.
10. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach (45:59:58), 2,051.
11. Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46), 2,053.
12. Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03), 2,056.
13. Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15), 2,085.

Division III (Started July 15)

1. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego (91:10:54), 1,729. 2. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35), 1,735.
3. Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12), 1,729.
4. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco (84:08:21), 1,743.
5. Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17), 1,761.
6. Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle (90:58:29), 1,778.
7. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09), 1,777.
8. Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (95:31:20), 1,790.
9. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico (86:10:42), 1,779.
10. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45), 1,769.
11. DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel/Dave Van Houten, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16), 1,797.
12. Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24), 1,829.
13. The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia (83:69:39), 1,824.

Division IV (Started July 15)

1. Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach (119:24:28), 1,771.
2. Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04), 1,814.
3. . Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:24:04), 1,817.
4. Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45), 1,828.
5. Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05), 1,817.
6. DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33), 1,825.
7. Sensation (1D35), Rodney Hagebols, San Francisco. (115:11:28), 1,839.

Division V (Started July 11)

1. .DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43), 1,157.
2. Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04), 1,149.
3. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego (136:41:18), 1,178.
4. Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44) , 1,179.
5. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59), 1,199.
6. DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Bernhard/Brian VanderZanden, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54), 1,231.
7. DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego (148:46:04), 1,237.
8. Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico (133:59:14), 1,229.

Cal 40 (Started July 11)

1. Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14), 1,171.
2. Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35), 1,218.
3. Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47), 1,210.
4. Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20), 1,210.
5. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27), 1,224.
6. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17), 1,234.
7. Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37), 1,239.
8. Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50) , 1,240. 9. Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20), 1,251.
10. Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28), 1,256.
11. Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55), 1,259.
12. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31), 1,274.
13. Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37), 1,359. 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. (126:13:17), 1,096.
2. Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (128:53:47), 1,106.
3. Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach (129:07:19), 1,121.
4. Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04), 1,144.
5. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24), 1,190.
6. DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield/Diane Murray, San Francisco (131:54:20), 1,253.
6. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50), 1,195.
8. Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25), 1,751 (started July 15).

Aloha B (Started July 11)

1. So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago. (147:28:54), 1,151.
2. Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08), 1,285.
3. Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59), 1,382.
4. DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James and Ann Read, San Francisco (141:52:48), 1,604 (started July 12).
5. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14), RETIRED.

DH---Doublehanded.