Record entry for Transpac

Rich Roberts previews July's impressive line-up

74 entries are in the virtual starting gate for the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii, now aligned as of Wednesday into nine divisions on three start dates scheduled to compress the finishes as much as is practical. The division breakdowns are below.

Handicap ratings are not yet determined, but there's little doubt that Pyewacket, Roy E. Disney's former maxZ86 that he has chartered back and rebuilt as a 94ft racer with wings, will be the scratch boat and favorite for the traditional Barn Door trophy awarded to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time.

Should the modified Pyewacket falter in its maiden race, Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 should be close behind. It's an Andrews 80 that shattered the 22-year-old record in the Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta race last spring after finishing the 2005 Transpac behind only three larger boats in 2005.

Two of those boats - Hasso Plattner's record-breaking Morning Glory and Randall Pittman's Genuine Risk - aren't competing this year, but the premier fleet will be joined by something of an unknown threat: Roger Sturgeon's new STP65 Rosebud that was built for off-wind races like Transpac but has astounded observers with its speed in two Southern California inshore buoy regattas the last month.

"We're still not quite there," tactician Kevin Miller said, "but it’s a really nice all-round boat and really simple to sail." Sturgeon's previous Rosebud, a Transpac 52, was the overall winner on corrected handicap time in 2005.

The first group to fire off from Point Fermin in San Pedro on Monday, July 9, will include 23 boats in Aloha Divisions A and B and racing Division 6, followed by 27 in Divisions 4 and 5 and a special division of nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s, plus the trimaran Minnow on Thursday, July 12.

Three days later on Sunday, July 15, the 22 biggest and fastest boats in Divisions 1, 2 and 3, plus the trimaran LoeReal, will start the 2,225-nautical mile haul to the finish line at Diamond Head. Among them will be Morning Light, Disney's team of young recruits sailing in Division 2 on the TP52 known as Pegasus when Philippe Kahn sailed it to the fastest time in the division in '05.

There were 77 entries when the window closed earlier this month, but three boats have withdrawn - Stark Raving Mad III because of a medical situation, the Hawaii-based doublehanded Addiction after encountering problems early in its delivery sail from Honolulu, and Steve Waterloo's Cal 40 Shaman after losing its mast in last week's Coastal Cup race from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. Instead, with rooms and flights already booked, Waterloo will join friends and family by air for a week in the islands.

The 74 boats equals the third largest Transpac fleet ever, alongside the number in 1981.

As in 2005, complimentary dock space will be provided in Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach for all boats, local and from out of town, to make their final preparations there. On the three start days the various divisions will depart amid public fanfare past the Queen Mary and to the starting line.

The Transpacific Yacht Club has joined with Casio Computer Co., Ltd., in a sponsorship agreement to make the company's Oceanus watch the official timekeeper of the 44th biennial race. The Oceanus is a solar-powered chronograph watch with a time signal-calibration function developed by making full use of Casio's advanced electronic technologies. Transpac supporters also include the Long Beach Sea Festival, Gladstone's Restaurant and L. Gaylord Sportswear.

Entry list:

Division 1 (Start July 15)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif.
Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach
Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach
Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif.
Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Division 1 or 2 TBD (Start July 15)
DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu

Division 2 (Start July 15)
Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif.
Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK
Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago
Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu
Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles
Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif.
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla.
Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach

Division 3 (Start July 15)
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan
Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles
It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif.
Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif.
Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan

Division 4 (Start July 12)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Delicate Balance (Custom 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif.
Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego
Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, San Diego
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore.
Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico
The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding, Salisbury Downs, Australia
Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Division 50/52 (Start July 12)
Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach
Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach
Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif.
Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach
Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif.
Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex.
Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach
Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu
Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo

Division 5 (Start July 12)
DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr., Payson, Ariz.
On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I.
Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles
Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif.
Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif.
Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco
DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach
Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif.
Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif.

Division 6 (Start July 9)
DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta, Calif.
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif.
California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif.
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif.
Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif.
Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif.
DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller, Point Richmond, Calif.

Aloha A (Start July 9)
Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev.
Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif.
Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz
French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif.
Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif.
Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif.

Aloha B (Start July 9)
Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu
Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif.
Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif.
Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif.
Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif.
Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach

DH-Doublehanded.

Multihull

LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (July 15)
Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob Webster, Pryor, Okla. (July 12