Gayle Anderson was live in Long Beach with information following the 47th Transpacific Yacht Race, or Transpac 2013, which concluded Thursday, July 25th with the Transpacific Yacht Race Ceremony at the Modern Honolulu ballroom.
Prince Quentin and Prince David Kawananakoa of Hawaii presented the King Kalakaua Cup Trophy as First Corrected Overall Yacht to Dorade, Matt Brooks’ 1929 Sparkman & Stephens-designed, 52-foot yawl, which earned the overall victory in the Transpac 2013 race.
Along with her Division 7 and 8 rivals, Dorade started the race on Monday, July 8th at 1:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time and crossed the finish at Diamond Head on Friday, July 20th at 3:23 PM Hawaii time for an elapsed time of 12 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes and 18 seconds. This is the second time that Dorade has won. The first was in 1936. Over the course of this year’s race, Dorade turned an average speed of 7.8 knots, 8.1% faster than her performance in 1936. She also hit a lifetime record speed of 15.9 knots.
Tritium Racing arrived first in Honolulu after a journey that took 5 days and 11 hours and 52 minutes to complete. Tritium Racing left Point Fermin Saturday, July 13th at 1:00 PM. The yacht reached the finish line at 9:52 p.m. Thursday, July 18th, Hawaii time.
Unexpected delays and concern for safety prevented the Tritium Racing team from breaking the race record set by Bruno Peyron in 1997 aboard Commodore Explorer, an 86-foot catamaran, which completed the race in five days, nine hours and 18 minutes. According to race teams spokesman, Andrew Cameron, the crew of Tritium Racing faced several unexpected challenges along the course including large amounts of debris left over from the tsunami in Japan in March 2011.
Organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club, Transpac is an offshore race covering a distance around 2,225 nautical miles (more than 2,500 miles long) from Point Fermin all the way to Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii Yacht Club, founded in 1901, was this year’s host.
Hawaiian King David Kalakaua came up with the idea for the race as a way to foster ties with the mainland. The Transpac started in 1906 when Clarence W. MacFarlane, a court chamberlain for the King, sailed from Los Angeles to Hawaii in the schooner La Paloma to become the first race winner. The original starting location of the race was San Francisco, but had to be moved to Los Angeles as a result of the San Francisco earthquake.
Since then, the Transpac has run in odd-numbered years. Because of World War II, the Transpac was not held in 1943 and 1945, but resumed in 1947.
Transpac is characterized as a “downwind” race due to weather patterns in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In addition, crews must endure the “Pacific High,” which consists of high pressure shifts and light winds that ensure the route to Hawaii is not a direct path.
Transpac is open to small and large boats ranging from 40 to 100 feet long, as well as amateur and professional crews. 59 plus entrants from all over the world will compete in Transpac 2013. The crews are comprised of sailors of different ages, genders and physical abilities.
These sailors competed to receive the prestigious King Kalakaua Cup Trophy awarded to the First Corrected Overall yacht, along with other trophies for the different racing categories.
Original article by Gayle Anderson posted July 26, 2013 on ktla.com found here.