Alfa Romeo. Image copyright Rick Rosen.
by Lynn Fitzpatrick
Alfa Romeo has been averaging 16.5 knots, which is over 2 knots faster than the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpacific Yacht Race previous monohull record pace set by Morning Glory in 2005. The super maxi clipped off 431 nautical miles over the 24-hour period, breaking the Transpac 24-hour record that it established earlier in the week. Not only are Neville Crichton and his Alfa Romeo team eyeing the course record for monohulls, if they keep it up, they could squeak in under the wire and beat the multihull record. (Don't forget, Murray Spence reported pinning Alfa Romeo's needle at 35 knots during a delivery.)
Philippe Kahn and Mark "Crusty" Christensen are doing a phenomenal job setting Open 50 speed records, keeping the pedal to the metal so that they clobber the previously held double handed record - by days. Kahn and Christensen are demonstrating to all of us how easy it is to use MotionX to navigate, post their progress to the web and prance through the water faster than Michael Phelps at the US Swimming National Championships.
If you haven't been tuning into www.Pegasus.com and clicking on the videos, we hope that you are finding them directly on YouTube. This is a rare chance to feel as if you are part of small team that is really enjoying their magical ride atop the waves and under the stars from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
The Barn Door is still up for grabs. Akela remains out in the lead with Samba Pa Ti not far behind.
It couldn't be closer among the sleds. Grand Illusion and Pyewacket are just minutes apart on corrected time. Looking at ETA's OEX, Pyewacket and GI are scheduled to cross the line at Diamond Head within 10 minutes of each other. This sled race harkens back to the 1995 Transpac in which Mirage, Evolution, Orient Express and Mongoose finished within 53 minutes of each other. Mirage's finish time for the 1995 Transpac was 10:08:50:46 and she corrected to 9:14:21:02.
For the sleds, Grand Illusion's 1999 elapsed run of 8:02:52:27, which corrected to 7:08:40:10 is a worthy goal to go after. 2009 marks the resurgence of the sleds and many of the 1999 players are bounding across the Pacific 10 years later. It's a tribute to designer, Bill Lee, and all of the fun that the Santa Cruz 70 sailors had during the 1990's. They just can't get enough.
Criminal Mischief is set to pull into Ala Wai a full day ahead of her fellow competitors in Division III and was just ahead of Alfa Romeo at roll call time. Chip Megeath and his RP 45 are used to arriving in Hawaii ahead of the fleet. They've won the fast boat division in the Pacific Cup and look as if they will add a Transpac win their resume.
Bad Pak is looking good in Division IV.
Horizon doesn't quite have a horizon job on the rest of Division V, but they are nearly 20 miles in the lead.
Relentless is nearly two days, and over 150 miles, ahead of the rest of its division.
Roy's Chasch Mer is topping the other Hawaiian entries on corrected time. They are about 50 miles further from Diamond Head than Bloodhound, but the ETA for their Aloha welcome return is two days earlier than Bloodhound's.
TRANSPAC TARGETS - MULTIHULLS
Alfa Romeo, Neville Crichton's Reichel Pugh 100, is on track to set a new course record for a monohull. As the team surfs closer to Hawaii, their eye will be on the clock. Their focus on Hasso Plattner and Morning Glory's record of 6:16:04:11 may shift to two other faster elapsed times that are not touted as much as the monohull records. Those times are held by multihulls and go back to the 1995 and 1997 Transpacific Yacht Races.
In 1995, Steve Fossett and Robert D. Hanel were the first multihull owners to take the Transpacific Yacht Club up on its invitation to participate in the Transpacific Yacht Race. Fossett purchased the former Route de Rhone-winning Jeaneau 60 and worked with the Huntington Beach design and engineering firm, Morrelli & Melvin, to modify his multihull entry, Lakota. Hanel's entry was Double Bullet. Both multihulls shaved over a day off of Merlin's long established elapsed time record of 8:11:01:45. Lakota's elapsed time was 6:16:07:06 and Double Bullet's was 7:06:27:29.
The multihull contingent doubled for 1997's Transpac Race. Four entered including Bruno Peyron with Explorer, an 86-foot catamaran that broke the mythical 80-day barrier for going around the world in 1994. The multihull race pitted the 86-foot monster cat against the 60-foot Lakota trimaran.
The 1997 Transpac is the year that Roy Pat Disney skippered Roy E. Disney's turbo sled, Pyewacket, to a new elapsed time record of 7:15:24:40. In the same race, the Commodore Explorer took off two days after the sleds, overhauled and passed them. The invited multihull guest finished the race in 5:09:18:26 and claimed the new Rudy Choy Trophy for the best multihull elapsed time by averaging 17.2 knots. The much shorter Lakota also slipped in well ahead of the monohulls on elapse time also. Lokata's time was 6:00:30:46.
Lakota sailed the first half of the 2,225 miles in less than three days. Commented Pete Melvin of Morrelli & Melvin, who was on board Lakota for the 1995 and 1997 Transpacs. "We had perfect conditions for the race. The Transpac and the southern Californian coastal races are ideal races for the multihulls because the boats are so fast downwind. Ideal conditions for the sleds are ideal conditions for multihulls."
Morrelli & Melvin has designed record setting ocean-going multihulls such as Steve Fossett's PlayStation and continues to do so. Recently, they have been defining and dominating the luxury performance catamaran category. Comments Melvin on the possibility of the merits of sailing a luxury performance cat such as the 65-footers, which are being built at Westerly in Costa Mesa, CA. "The large performance cruising multihulls have more than double the living space, they are comfortable and they perform right along with the 80-foot monohulls. It would be good for everyone if the multihulls participated in the Transpac."
Transpac Race
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