VOLUME 459 September 2015 WE GO WHERE THE WIND BLOWS TRANSPAC RECAP — As we went to press last month with our Interim Transpac report, the results were not fi nalized, as some boats had not yet fi nished. So we'll revisit that memorable Los Angeles-to-Honolulu race here, including repeatedly by tropical storms, most of highlights of each division. the fl eet sailed well north of rhumbline to stay in pressure — highly atypical in a Transpac race — and directly through When Honolulu yachtsman Clar- — California's greatest contribution to the Great Pacifi c Garbage Patch and its ence MacFarlane sailed his 48-ft schoo- international yachting — attracting both minefi eld of horrors. Like sailing through ner La Paloma into San Francisco Bay boats and sailors of the highest caliber. a post-apocalyptic wasteland of human in May 1906, he was shocked to fi nd a For 2015, the most impressive and ruin and rubbish, arguably the biggest storyline of this year's race became that of a changing climate and man-made trash in the water. With a confi rmed Super El Niño oc- currence that has warmed the Pacifi c Ocean (not to mention the entire planet) to higher levels in 2015 than at any point in recorded history, and a debris fi eld that saw many boats employ full-time spotters on the bow, the 48th edition of Transpac had the same element of uncharted adventure as the fi rst. The dangers didn't end when the race did, however, as a pumping south swell closed out the entrance to the Ala Wai Harbor, forcing several boats to motor TRANSPAC YC TRANSPAC around for hours in the dark after their The fast boats had extra excitement at the start highly anticipated fl eet of racing hard- fi nish and enter in daylight hours after of the 2015 Transpac in L.A.: unseasonal rain, ware ever assembled on the West Coast the swell peaked! thunder and lightning. gathered in Long Beach to compete in the The weather lottery of Transpac's city that was in ruins after being ravaged 48th edition of the race. So every exist- five-day, three-start by a great earthquake. With his hand system was in full ef- forced by natural disaster, MacFarlane fect in 2015 and held and the other competitors in the fi rst "Hurricane Dolores didn't plenty of surprises. Transpacifi c Yacht Race moved the start The starters on Mon- to Los Angeles to save the race. Setting affect us much, but day, July 13, bashed off into seemingly uncharted waters in Enrique made it a bad away from the coast the original race to Hawaii, the fi rst boat in robust conditions reached the fi nish line in 12 days and idea to go south." and stayed in consis- 10 hours — an impressive feat even by tent pressure to move today's standards. ing course record fell under threat, with down the racecourse Today, 109 years later, the event has maxi-trimaran Lending Club 2 entered very efficiently from evolved into one of the most famous and alongside a trio of 100-footers including the get-go. prestigious ocean races on the planet both canting- and fi xed-keel boats. In "Hurricane Dolores all, Transpac 2015 saw a healthy fl eet of didn't affect us much, Christy Politowski greets 'Bolt's helmsman 60 starters and 55 fi nishers, with boats but Enrique made it a Greg Helias and watch captain Alex Steele upon ranging in size from the race's minimum bad idea to go south," their arrival in Honolulu. of 30 feet all the way said Bill Guilfoyle of to the aforemen- Marjorie. "In light of tioned super-maxis. both of those storms, Just as in 1906, a key navigational de- however, Mother cision was to just do Nature flipped the nothing and go west. script and reminded There was a lot of us all who's in charge nail biting going on," when humans com- added the Division- pete in nature's do- 8-winning navigator. main. In an homage With her generous to the great quake, waterline length, Tra- the premier fl eet of cy Obert's 59-ft ketch starters left in un- Marjorie contested for precedented condi- the lead before be- tions: rain and light- ing passed by Harry ning off Los Angeles Zanville's Santa Cruz Celerity JEREMY LEONARD / TRANSPAC YC JEREMY LEONARD / TRANSPAC in July. Driven north 37 and Paul Page 76 • Latitude 38 • September, 2015 MOTHER NATURE WRITES THE SCRIPT fl oundering in light breeze and a big south swell in the wake of a tropical Stemler's J/44 Patriot, both sailing in depression for the better part of two Division 7. When running downwind days before getting going again. The in the trades, the smaller, lighter southerly boats looked good early, Tim Kernan-designed racer/cruiser but that changed in a hurry with the Celerity reveled in the conditions northerly boats emerging into pres- and navigated perfectly to call the sure fi rst and making gains in what Diamond Head layline from 500 miles would become a recurring theme for out. After a Transpac debut four years the race. Despite some fantastic rac- earlier that was hampered by gear ing in Divisions 4, 5 and 6, none of the failure, Zanville's modest 37-footer Thursday starters were ever a factor has become the smallest boat that we in the overall standings. can recall ever being fi rst over the line / WWW.ULTIMATESAILING.COM CROWFOOT BETSY The fi nal group, which started on in a Transpac. First over the line, fi rst Saturday, July 18, had an entirely Monday fi nisher and fi rst in Division different and bizarre set of conditions. 7, Celerity had also taken over the top "This was not your father's Trans- of the leaderboard and was forced to pac." says top Bay Area sailor Will play the inevitable waiting game that Paxton. "We left L.A. in a thunder- would ensue. storm with lightning and a spinnaker One thing that Harry Zanville and set in heavy rain, going downwind in his crew knew is that they wouldn't be 10-15 knots from the east. It was a beaten by one of the boats that started Young staysail trimmer Mary d’Arcy calls the really wild start. Boats were going above Transpac fi nish from the bow sprit of the Port on Thursday, July 16. Despite leaving islands and below islands in a full-on Townsend, WA-based 84-ft schooner 'Martha'. just a day after maxi-trimaran Lending storm like you never see here. It was Club 2 unexpectedly dropped out of the out of Long Beach and past Catalina totally unexpected," added the Quan- Transpac to independently challenge the in ideal conditions, the race's second tum Sails representative, who sailed on outright L.A.-Honolulu record, Trans- group of starters soon found themselves eventual winner Grand Illusion. pac's Thursday starters got the short Bob Oatley's Queensland, Australia-based 100-ft Reichel/Pugh 'Wild Oats XI' at the start. SoCal end of the proverbial stick. After sailing sailor Roy Pat Disney (Walt's great-nephew) chartered the boat for Transpac. DOUG GIFFORD / WWW.ULTIMATESAILING.COM TRANSPAC RECAP — With this victory, the legendary Santa Cruz 70 owned by James Mc- Dowell has become the fi rst boat in sent a healthy premier fl eet for the the modern era to win the Transpac race. With a trio of TP52s and four overall three times (1999, 2011 and wildly different mini-maxis vying for 2015), helping to earn a most un- honors, there was a lot to play for. likely double of fi rst to fi nish and fi rst Dealing with the same challenging overall for the legendary Santa Cruz weather conditions as the other fl eets Yachts brand. that started on Saturday, yet doing so in a fl eet of boats that ranged from 52 Division 1 to 77 feet in length, is not for the faint Despite sailing in conditions that of heart. SHARON GREEN / WWW.ULTIMATESAILING.COM would eventually allow the Saturday North Sails rep and Moth sailor starters to claim a clean sweep of Zack Maxam describes the navi- the podium, none of the headline- gational challenges faced on board grabbing maxi-multihulls could even the TP52 Bolt (ex-Rosebud): "I'm no come close to record pace in Trans- weather expert, but I know that the pac 2015. With a combination of soft shortest distance between two points breeze in the middle of the course and is a straight line and crossing well a greatly prolonged northerly route to above and below rhumbline better be Hawaii dictated by two depressions worth it... maybe it wasn't, but it was to the south, the 48th Transpac held worth a shot!" her records close to the chest — Alfa Bolt got her swerve under the Romeo II, Bella Mente and Commodore watchful eye of Pyewacket regular Explorer will remain in the record Christopher 'Lew' Lewis and split the books for at least two more years. distance with sistership Patches and Slingshot out of Southern Cali- most of the mini-maxis to the north, fornia in easterlies on the top of a and another TP52, Destroyer, to the depression before negotiating a very south. Bolt claimed a resounding vic- complex and constantly evolving smor- Paul Stemler's Newport Beach-based J/44 'Pa- tory in Division 2 and the bottom rung triot' at the start. gasbord of pressure, all three 100-footers of the overall podium in the 60-boat opted to play the north hard, with Aus- Rio100's boat captain Keith Kilpatrick Transpac fl eet.