Plattner on course for victory

Rich Roberts reports on the final throws of the centennial Transpac

With less than two days to sail in his 15th and final Transpacific Yacht Race Friday, Roy Disney was cherishing the moments Friday.

His fourth Pyewacket, a maxZ86, will probably beat the record he set with his third Pyewacket in 1999, but it would be a bittersweet achievement. A maxZ86 clone of his own, Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, will likely own the new record.

Friday morning's daily position reports showed that Pyewacket had gained three miles on the German boat with the day's best run of 365 miles but still trailed by 63 miles with 702 to go. The next boat, Randall Pittman's Dubois 90 Genuine Risk was another 24 miles back.

Later in the day, Disney, speaking by satellite phone, said, "We've got 612 miles to go now. We're doing okay, going along at 20 knots in a nice breeze, but there's not a lot of options when we're sort of sailing down into a funnel toward the finish."

All Pyewacket can do is follow Morning Glory through the windy channel between the islands of Molokai on the left and Oahu on the right before heading up toward Diamond Head.

But the prospect of finishing second hadn't diminished the other reasons why Disney has sailed Transpacs since 1975. "It's lovely out here in the trades," he said, "and we'll always be nostalgic about that. Last night we had a full moon and I was out on deck at 4am just taking it all in, the reflections on the water and the beautiful sky."

Disney also noted that Morning Glory had consolidated its lead "when they went north of us yesterday. I would have done the same thing."

Morning Glory, averaging 13.8 knots for the 2,225-nautical mile race, was now projected to finish at 3:18am HST (6:18am PDT) Sunday morning. Pyewacket, averaging 13.2, was due in at 9:58am HST.

Odyssey, the 68-year-old yawl that leads the 34 boats that started six days earlier with 348 miles to go, was now looking at 5:03 a.m. PST.

Philippe Kahn's Hawaii-based Pegasus isn't home free yet in Division II as two other Transpac 52s Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud and Fred Detwiler's Trader closed in just past the halfway point in their race. Pegasus was 17 miles in front of both boats, but Rosebud took over the chase for the King Kalakaua Trophy for best corrected handicap time.

Rosebud, Pegasus and Trader are now 1-2-3 in that order, followed by Morning Glory. Bob Lane's Andrews 61 Medicine Man was two miles behind Pegasus but owes 6 to 9 hours to the TP 52s. Rosebud was positioned behind but to leeward of Pegasus with a stronger sailing angle.

In Division III, Tim Beatty's Stealth Chicken continued to set the pace, but Bob and Rob Barton's Cipango held its two-hour edge on handicap time.

The Alamitos Bay Syndicate's chartered 1D35 Tabasco ran 209 miles to build its leads on all counts in Division IV, but the Division V scrap between Cliff Thompson's Super Gnat and Scott Self and Nigel Brown's doublehanded Soap Opera turned again when the Texans jumped from seven miles behind to 15 miles in front and increased their handicap lead to almost 12 hours. Also in that class, Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess' 1D35 Two Guys On the Edge started to smell home with a 193-mile day that boosted it from sixth to third.

"What a night," reported Dan Doyle, Two Guys On the Edge. "So much for tying to get a little sleep. The wind was everywhere, 6 to 17 knots in the blink of the eye, 50° wind shifts with no velocity change. Bruce and I were up all night chasing the wind. This morning the wind settled down and the boat is now loving it - 16 knots true from 021°. The big asymmetric is up and we are doing 9s and 10s on track for Honolulu. We paid a price to get south and have been working hard to stay on track to Honolulu. Tabasco was farther south yesterday and worked up in front of us and to just north of us last night. They are sailing very well and will be hard to catch."

Davis Pillsbury's Ralphie maintained its 50 mile lead among the Cal 40s, Odyssey held its 24 mile margin over Between the Sheets in Aloha A, and Larry Hillman's Swan 48 So Far was 106 miles and 19 hours out of sight in Aloha B.


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), 639 miles to go.
2. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach (9:44:58), 741.
3. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35), 937.
4. Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles (0:00:00), 702.
5. Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23), 726.
6. Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07), 959.
7. Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07), 793.

Division II (Started July 17)

1. Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco (55:04:54), 1,023.
2. Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (51:49:29), 1,006.
3. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39), 1,023.
4. Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle (57:52:37), 1,059.
5. Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach (52:18:53), 1,033.
6. Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu (69:08:37), 1,128.
7. Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach (45:59:58), 1,008.
8. Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle (55:23:53), 1,069.
9. Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37), 1,087.
10. Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03), 1,097.
11. Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46), 1,124.
12. Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15), 1,236.
13. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10), RETIRED.

Division III (Started July 15)

1. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco (84:08:21), 910.
2. Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12), 903.
3. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35), 951.
4. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09), 952.
5. Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17), 995.
6. Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle (90:58:29), 991.
7. The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia (83:69:39), 962.
8. Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico (86:10:42), 986.
9. DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel/Dave Van Houten, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16), 1,007.
10. Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego (91:10:54), 1,071. 11. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45), 1,023.
12. Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24), 1,140.
13. Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (95:31:20), NO REPORT.

Division IV (Started July 15)

1. Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05), 1,007.
2. Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04), 1,089.
3. DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33), 1,088.
4. Sensation (1D35), Rodney Hagebols, San Francisco. (115:11:28), 1,095.
5. Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:24:04), 1,129.
6.l Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach (119:24:28), 1,126.
7. Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45), 1,181.

Division V (Started July 11)

1. DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43), 444.
2. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59), 488.
3. Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04), 494.
4. Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44) , 509.
5. B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego (136:41:18), 526.
6. DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Bernhard/Brian VanderZanden, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54), 627.
7. Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico (133:59:14), 580.
8. DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego (148:46:04), 672.

Cal 40 (Started July 11)

1. Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14), 489.
2. Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47), 539.
3. Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35), 557.
4. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17), 549.
5. Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37), 555.
6. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27), 545.
7. Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20), 563.
8. Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50) , 581.
9. Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55), 588. 10. Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20), 610.
11. Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28), 642.
12. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31), 654.
13. Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37), 762.
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), 348.
2. Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach (129:07:19), 381. 3. 3. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (126:13:17), 372.
4. Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04), 421.
5. Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24), 473.
6. DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield/Diane Murray, San Francisco (131:54:20), 648.
7. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50), 576.
8. Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25), 967 (started July 15).

Aloha B (Started July 11)

1. So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago (147:28:54), 475.
2. Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08), 643.
3. Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14), 581.
4. Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59), 831.
5. DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James and Ann Read, San Francisco (141:52:48), 1,246.

DH---Doublehanded.