The Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac) is a biennial offshore

yacht race Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or o ...

held in odd-numbered years starting off the Pt. Fermin buoy in San Pedro, California and ending off Diamond Head in Hawaii, a distance of around . In even-numbered years the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition, inaugurated in 1974, as a development competition for national teams from the Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The tournament ceased in 2009. In 2019, a similar com ...

race starts out of San Francisco and is run by the Pacific Cup Yacht Club. Started in 1906 by Clarence W. Macfarlane and hosted by the

Los Angeles Yacht Club Los Angeles Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Pedro, Los Angeles (United States). The club is a charter member of the Southern California Yachting Association. History Los Angeles Yacht Club was founded in 1901 as South Coast Yacht Cl ...

, it is one of yachting's premier offshore races and attracts entrants from all over the world. The race is organized by the

Transpacific Yacht Club The Transpacific Yacht Club (TPYC) is responsible for organizing the world-renowned Transpacific Yacht Race ("the Transpac") from Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, ...

. The race is famous for fast downwind sailing under

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...

in the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

Notable records

*Fully Crewed Multihull Elapsed time: ''Mighty Merloe'' (ORMA 60 trimaran), 2017 of 4 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes, 30 seconds. *Fully Crewed Monohull Elapsed time: ''Comanche'', 2017 of 5 days, 1 hours, 55 minutes, 26 seconds. *Double Handed: ''Pegasus 50'', 2009, sailed by

Philippe Kahn Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952) is a French engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of four technology companies: Borland, Starfish Software, LightSurf Technologies, and Fullpower Technologies. Kahn is credited with creating the first camera ...

and Mark Christensen, set a new record of 7 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. In 1969, French sailing legend

Éric Tabarly Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly (24 July 1931 – 13 June 1998) was a French naval officer and yachtsman. He developed a passion for offshore racing very early on and won several ocean races such as the Ostar in 1964 and 1976, ending English domination ...

shadowed the race with his

Pen Duick IV ''Manureva'' (originally named ''Pen Duick IV'') was a custom-built racing trimaran famous for being the first oceangoing multihull racing sailboat, opening the path to the supremacy in speed of this kind of boat over monohulls. She won the 1972 ...

, one of the world's first

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...

s competitive in all wind conditions. He originally intended to enter the race but was unaware that multihulls were not invited. Having started with all other participants, Tabarly and his crew set an unofficial record of 8 days and 13 hours, almost a day ahead of official winner and record-setter ''Blackfin''. In 2013, the fully crewed monohull, '' Dorade'', won first overall, making it the oldest boat in the fleet to win and a 2-time winner, having won the Transpac in 1936, 77 years prior. The 2019 edition of the race, its fiftieth, saw the sinking of a yacht for the first time in its history, when the 68 foot mono-hulled sailboat Santa Cruz 70 OEX suffered

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

damage and an uncontrollable water intrusion. The crew was rescued by another racing boat. This edition also saw the greatest number of skippers dropping out of the race.

Record history

Racing Yacht Ragtime photo D Ramey Logan

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'' finished first in 1973 and again in 1975. In 1977, the yacht ''Merlin,'' designed by Bill Lee, set an elapsed time record of 8 days, 11 hours, 1 minute. This record would stand for 20 years. Ending ''Merlin's'' record, in the 1997 race a new

monohull right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unstab ...

elapsed time record of 7 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, and 27 seconds was set by

Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney Order of St. Gregory the Great, KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and his ...

's '' Pyewacket'', a Santa Cruz 70 ultralight also designed by Bill Lee. The record fell once again in 2005, with

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's ''Morning Glory'', a maxZ86 from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. ''Morning Glory'' was the scratch boat when it led a five-boat assault on the record for monohulls. She finished the race in 6 days, 16 hours, 4 minutes, and 11 seconds to win "the Barn Door" trophy, a slab of carved

koa KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded ...

wood traditionally awarded to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time. In 1995, multihulls were invited to participate for the first time, but not eligible for the Barn Door trophy.

Steve Fosset James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraft ...

set a new race record in 1995 on his 60' trimaran ''Lakota'', of 6 days 16 hours 7 minutes 16 seconds. Two years later in 1997, this record was broken by the 86' catamaran ''Explorer'' with a time of 5 days 9 hours 18 minutes 26 seconds. 2017 saw Howard Enloe and his boat the Mighty Merloe smash the record by over 25 hours making the trip in just over 4 days. Charley 2017

On July 7, 2009, ''

Alfa Romeo II ''Alfa Romeo II'' (rechristened ''Black Jack IV'') is a maxi yacht designed in 2005 by Reichel/Pugh for yachtsman Neville Crichton. First-to-finish in the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race ("the Transpac"), she also set a new elapsed-time Transpac ...

'' beat the ''Morning Glory'' record for best day's run set in the 2005 race, by sailing in 24 hours. The next two days she broke her own best-day record by sailing and . First to finish the 2009 Transpac, ''Alfa Romeo II'' set a Transpac race elapsed-time record of 5 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes, 20 seconds. This represents a new race record for monohulls; the multihull record of 5 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes, set by Bruno Peyron in the 1997 race, remains. However, because she must use "stored power" (a diesel engine) to move, ''Alfa Romeo II,'' sailing in the "unlimited" class, was not eligible for the traditional "Barn Door" trophy, but instead was the inaugural winner of a new trophy dedicated by Trisha Steele, called the "''Merlin'' Trophy". However from 2019 yachts eligible for this trophy must use manual power only In the double-handed division, ''Pegasus 50,'' sailed by

and Mark Christensen, set a new record of 7 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. They pioneered use of an

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

, with Fullpower-MotionX GPS technology.

References in popular culture

In the 1975 movie ''

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'', the character Matt Hooper, played by

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

, claims that he has "crewed three Transpacs" as a means of establishing his seamanship credentials with Quint. The 2008 documentary '' Morning Light'' is a film about the 2007 Disney-sponsored competitors in the race.

Transpac Honolulu Race Elapsed Time Record Trophy

The Transpac Honolulu Race Elapsed Time Record Trophy is awarded to the Record Holder for the fastest elapsed time by a monohull yacht in the race. The list of Los Angeles to Honolulu Record Holders is: * 1906 Lurline H.H. Sinclair 12:09:59 * 1926 Invader Don M. Lee 12:02:48:03 * 1949 Morning Star Richard S. Rheem 10:10:13:09 * 1955 Morning Star Richard S. Rheem 9:15:05:10 * 1965 Ticonderoga Robert Johnson 9:13:51:02 * 1969 Blackfin Kenneth DeMeuse 9:10:21:00 * 1971 Windward Passage Mark Johnson 9:09:06:48 * 1977 Merlin Bill Lee 8:11:01:45 * 1997 Pyewacket Roy P. Disney 7:15:24:40 * 1999 Pyewacket Roy E. Disney 7:11:41:27 * 2005 Morning Glory Hasso Plattner 6:16:04:11 * 2009 Alfa Romeo Neville Crichton 5:14:36:20 * 2017 Comanche Ken Read 5:01:55:26

Barn Door Trophy

The Barn Door Trophy is awarded each race for the Fastest Monohull Elapsed Time in the race. It was originally called the "First to Finish" Trophy. Since 2009, it has been restricted to manual power only sailing yachts. Barn Door Winners Year Boat Owner/Skipper Time * 1906 Lurline H.H. Sinclair 12:09:59 * * 1908 Lurline H.H. Sinclair 13:21:31 * 1910 Hawaii Hawaii Syndicate 14:03:23 * 1912 Lurline A.E. Davis 13:17:03 * 1923 (S.Barb.) Mariner L.A. Norris 11:14:46 * 1926 Invader Don M. Lee 12:02:48:03 * * 1928 (Balboa) Talayha L. Lippman 13:04:58:30 * 1930 Enchantress Morgan Adams 12:13:22:52 * 1932 (S.Barb.) Fayth William S. McNutt 14:14:33:00 * 1934 Vileehi H.T. Horton 13:03:42:26 * 1936 (S.Mon.) Dorade James Flood 13:07:20:04 * 1939 (S.Fran.) Contender Richard R. Loynes 14:07:50:00 * 1941 Stella Maris II Dr. A. Steele 13:21:03:55 * 1947 Chubasco W.L. Stewart Jr. 12:15:51:18 * 1949 Morning Star Richard S. Rheem 10:10:13:09 * * 1951 Morning Star Richard S. Rheem 10:16:44:33 * 1953 Goodwill R.E. Larrabee 11:02:17:24 * 1955 Morning Star Richard S. Rheem 9:15:05:10 * * 1957 Barlovento Frank Hooykaas 11:13:02:44 * 1959 Goodwill Ralph Larrabee 10:12:16:15 * 1961 Sirius II Howard F. Ahmanson 10:10:38:35 * 1963 Ticonderoga Robert Johnson 11:16:46:33 * 1965 Ticonderoga Robert Johnson 9:13:51:02 * * 1967 Stormvogel Cornelius Bruynzeel 11:14:10:56 * 1969 Blackfin Kenneth DeMeuse 9:10:21:00 * * 1971 Windward Passage Mark Johnson 9:09:06:48 * * 1973 Ragtime Ragtime Syndicate 10:14:00:40 * 1975 Ragtime White/Pasquini 9:23:54:51 * 1977 Merlin Bill Lee 8:11:01:45 * * 1979 Drifter Harry Moloschco 11:18:01:04 * 1981 Merlin Nick Frazee 8:11:02:31 * 1983 Charley Nolan K. Bushnell 9:01:53:48 * 1985 Swiftsure III Nick/Robert Frazee 10:19:21:47 * 1987 Merlin Donn Campion 8:12:00:40 * 1989 Silver Bullet John DeLaura 8:12:50:35 * 1991 Chance Robert McNulty 9:21:59:35 * 1993 Silver Bullet John DeLaura 9:09:11:17 * 1995 Cheval 95 Hal Ward 9:01:32:20 * 1997 Pyewacket Roy Pat Disney (son of Roy E. Disney) 7:15:24:40 * * 1999 Pyewacket Roy E. Disney 7:11:41:27 * * 2001 Pegasus Philippe Kahn 8:02:34:03 * 2003 Pegasus 77 Philippe Kahn 7:16:31:17 * 2005 Morning Glory Hasso Plattner 6:16:04:11* * 2007 Pyewacket Roy Pat Disney 7:19:08:10 * 2009 Alfa Romeo Neville Crichton 5:14:36:20* * 2011 Bella Mente Hap Fauth 6:19:44:28 * 2013 Wizard Dave Askew 7:7:53:46 * 2015 Rio 100 Manouch Moshayedi 7:05:34:07 * 2017 Rio 100 Manouch Moshayedi 6:17:09:09 * record

References

External links

Facebook PageOfficial Transpacific Yacht Club websiteArchived Transpacific Yacht Club website
(source for info prior to 2009) {{Offshore sailing races 2005 in sailing 2009 in sailing History of sports in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1906 Offshore sailing competitions Sailing competitions in California Sports competitions in Hawaii