(Los Angeles, CA)- On Saturday, July 11th, the Transpacific Yacht Club
hosted the “Aloha Send-Off Party” in the band shell next to Gladstone’s
Restaurant. Then, on July 13th the first of the three starts takes
place. First off to Honolulu on the classic 2,225nm race will be
Division 7 with four J teams sailing- Yasuhide Kobayashi’s J/120 JULIAN
from Zushi Marina YC in Japan; Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San
Diego YC; the Jorgensen Brothers’ J/133 PICANTE from Los Angeles YC and
Paul Stemier’s J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC. On the same start
in Division 8 will Robert Pace’s J/46 ANDIAMO from Coronado Racing
Association. Three days later, Division 4 takes off on July 16th with three J/125s vying for offshore bragging rights with these rocketships. The trio includes Greg Slyngstad’s HAMACHI, Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE and Viggo Torbenson’s TIMESHAVER.
Thursday update: The Horses are on the Track! Under clear skies and in a light westerly breeze that is promising to build through the evening, the first 22 entries in Divisions 7 and 8 have started their 2225-mile race today in the 48th edition of the LA-Honolulu Transpac. The Transpacific YC organizes this biennial ocean-racing classic.
The
fleet starting today was a broad mix of designs; from the 1907
sail-training schooner, Martha sailed by a crew of 11 to the modern J
designs like the J/sprit boats (J/105, J/120 & J/133). All must
clear the West End of Catalina Island before heading over the horizon en
route to a finish line at Diamond Head on the island of Oahu.The weather forecast looks favorable for this fleet to get out off the coast: for tonight through Wednesday the northwest wind is forecast to be 10-20 knots with 4-8-foot seas from 60 to 150 miles off the Southern California coast. The headings the crews take will then depend on their overall strategy: stay close to the rhumb line to minimize distance, or stray south, typically to get to more breeze.
But, the navigational challenge is complicated. With the El Nino upon us this year, the patterns are not typical for the northern Pacific: warm surface waters on the coast have created many anomalies in the weather patterns, including the drought conditions experienced in California over the past year and more, and even the cold winters in the East.
Another effect of the warm water is to allow tropical cyclones to drift further north than usual, and some may affect those in the southerly routes of the Transpac course, explained forecaster Joe Sienkiewicz, Acting Director of the NOAA/NWS Ocean Prediction Center, in his weather briefing on Saturday.
While this sounds ominous, it may also be a blessing: the combination of the Lows to the south combined with a strong High to the north can compress the gradient into creating favorable conditions for fast rides to Hawaii. After all, Transpac records were broken in other El Nino years too: Merlin’s record set in 1977 and Alfa Romeo’s existing record set in the last El Nino in 2005.
All boats have GPS trackers provided by Yellowbrick, where the boat’s position, speed and heading will be continuously reported on the Yellowbrick website (with a 6 hour delay). The first official 0600 PDT position reports will need to be reported by 0700 PDT tomorrow, and about an hour later will be collated and ready for posting.
Starting July 14 there will also be the first of a daily race analysis video made by Seahorse Magazine USA editor Dobbs Davis, with the link viewable on the race website.
There will also be blogs sent from the boats posted on the race website with photos and stories available on the Transpac Facebook page. Photos from the starts, finishes and other official events from Sharon Green and her team at Ultimate Sailing will become available soon. For more Transpac Race sailing information
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