A Brief History of the Transpacific Yacht Race

With 44 races starting in 1906, the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii is well into its second century as the longest of the two oldest ocean races in the world. The first race was the year of the great San Francisco earthquake, which literally altered the course of the event.

The race was inspired by King Kalakaua, the revered Hawaiian leader of the late 19th century who believed that such an event would strengthen the islands' economic and cultural ties to the mainland. But it didn't happen until Clarence MacFarlane, a Honolulu racing sailor, invited several contemporaries in San Francisco and Los Angeles to race to the Hawaiian Islands. The race was scheduled to start in the early summer of 1906, but when MacFarlane sailed his 48-foot schooner into San Francisco Bay he realized there would have to be a change of plans. The city lay in ruins following the great earthquake 27 days earlier.

But MacFarlane wasn't easily discouraged. He simply changed the starting point to Los Angeles, and except for one nostalgic return to San Francisco for the start in 1939, the race has started in Southern California ever since. The starting line is now off the bluffs of Point Fermin in San Pedro at the southern edge of the City of Los Angeles. The finish is off the Diamond Head lighthouse just east of Honolulu, establishing a distance of 2,225 nautical miles.

Fastest elapsed time (monohull): 5 days 14 hours 36 minutes 20 seconds.  Neville Crichton, Alfa Romeo, Reichel/Pugh 100, 2009.  More than 26 hours were knocked off of the old record that had been set by Hasso Plattner , Morning Glory, Reichel/Pugh maxZ86 in 2005.

Fastest elapsed time (multihull): 5 days 9 hours 18 minutes 26 seconds, Explorer (86-foot catamaran), Bruno Peyron, 1997.

Slowest elapsed time (monohull): 23 days 23 hours 55 minutes 4 seconds, Viking Childe (42-foot ketch), William Merry, 1939 (Note: race started in San Francisco; slowest ET from Los Angeles was 22 days 11 hours 36 minutes 15 seconds by Camille (Stewart 42), James and Ann Read, doublehanded, San Francisco, 2005).

Total starters (44 races): 1,700.

Largest fleet: 80 boats, 1979.

Smallest fleet: 2 boats, 1932.

Largest boat: Goodwill, 161 feet, 1953 and 1959.

Smallest boat: Vapor, 25 feet., 1999.

Oldest boats: Alsumar (70-foot Sparkman & Stephens yawl), 73 years; and Odyssey (58-foot yawl), 68 years, 2005.

Oldest full crew: Bubala (Cal 40), six crew members ages 66 to 72 (average 68.3), 2005.

Oldest doublehanded crew: Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, 70/Phillip Rowe, 70, 2007.

Youngest crew: On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), six crew members ages 17-23 (average 19.8), 2007.

CHALLENGE

Starting off Point Fermin at the southern edge of Los Angeles, the challenging race course takes competitors through a myriad of unforeseen conditions: from the cold, wet northeastern Pacific, through doldrums, enormous seas, abundant squalls and scorching heat, to the blustery tradewinds of the Molokai Channel near the finish.

After a long and grueling voyage across a lonely expanse of ocean, the racers arrive to the warm “Aloha” greeting promised by the King; honored to this day by scores of island volunteers, visitors, media and supporters.

In 2007 the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race kicked off Transpac's second century: the longest of the two oldest ocean races in the world, which were first sailed in 1906. That was the year of the great San Francisco earthquake, which literally altered the course of the former event. Clarence MacFarlane of Honolulu invited West Coast sailors to race to the Hawaiian Islands from San Francisco, but the city's devastation forced the three entries to start from Los Angeles, as the race does today. The finish is off the Diamond Head lighthouse just east of Honolulu, establishing a distance of 2,225 nautical miles.