HistoryThe 29th Transpac Race was a race of new records both glad and sad. The glad part was the new records that were set and the sad part was the record number of dismastings, all of which occurred on a single night.
Sixty-nine fine, highly competitive yachts started the race off Point Fermin on July 2. Thanks to Grant Baldwin, our race Committee Chairman, who made this all possible. More records were broken than in any previous Transpac Race: Bill Lee’s MERLIN set a new elapsed-time record of 8 days 11 hrs. 1 min. 45 sec. Harry Moloschco's DRIFTER, Mark Johnson’s WINDWARD PASSAGE, Jim Kilroy’s KIALOA , and Bill White and Bill Pasquini’s RAGTIME all beat the old record of 9 days 9 hrs. 6 min. 48 sec. set by WINDWARD PASSAGE in 1971. A record of which we were not particularly proud was the fact that five yachts broke their masts in a single night on July 9th, namely: Larry Brugin’s NAlU IV, Bill Nickerson’s NIMBLE, Chick Leson’s INCREDIBLE, Richard Daniels’ CONCUBINE and MISTRESS III, sailed by a team from UCI under the direction of Robert Koll. According to our best information, a new record for a single day’s run of 306 miles was set by MERLIN.
According to our computer-nut and statistician, Tom Wilder, the boats went about 5% faster than usual, and this was made possible by consistent winds from start to finish. Except for the one night, the winds were not particularly excessive, according to most of the skippers but there was no time when the boats slowed down at all.
Our new handicap rule worked well in view of the fact that many of the boats finished within minutes, and even seconds, of each other on corrected time, and in several cases the difference between being in the money and out was a matter of seconds. We should all give a bow to George Griffith and his technical committee for coming up with a handicap rule that truly made it possible for like boats to race against each other on what I believe to be, in all or most cases, a very fair and equitable basis.
A look at the official results shows it was easy to see who the logical money winners were, with KIALOA in Division 1 and MERLIN in Division 2, taking home the majority of the hardware. The International Cup for First Foreign Yacht on corrected time was won by Hector Valarde, with BlUE STREAK, sailing for the Waikiki Yacht Club of Peru; the Harold Dillingham Memorial Trophy for the First Hawaiian Yacht on corrected time was won by Peter Arapoff, with L'ALLEGRO, sailing for the Hawaii Yacht Club. On one particular day within a 24-hour period, some 26 boats finished and several finished almost simultaneously. This happened to be a day when an unusual surf was running, which would come in sets of 8 to 10 waves that would crest right across the entrance to Ali Wai, so there were periods of time when the boats would be held out until the surf would calm down and the groups would come in together, which compounded the mooring problems. In spite of this, everything went like clockwork.
The Awards Dinner at the Ilikai, arranged and supervised by Connie smales and her crew, was outstanding as usual, with the complete race in profile on the walls, from the start at Point Fermin to the finish off Diamond Head. There were small buoys on each table and a big one flashing in the swimming pool. This dinner was attended by 1,587 people, some of whom became a bit overly enthusiastic. But in spite of that, all went extremely well, thanks to Connie’s organization.
Dale Mogle, our General Chairman in Honolulu, and his wife, Jo, who was in charge of the information center, worked around the clock doing an outstanding job. Dale Mogle met every boat that came in, assisting and tying it up and welcoming the crews to Hawaii.
There were just too many dedicated people who did outstanding jobs to be able to name them all, so all I can do is to say to one and all who contributed, a sincere “thanks” from the officers, directors and members of Transpac.