Two apparent division winners crossed the finish line of the Transpacific Yacht Race yesterday, completing a 2,225-mile crossing, Los Angeles to Honolulu. Only a handful of boats remain on the course from two starts, on July 4 and July 8.

Eric Gray's Morris 46, Gracie, a July 4 starter, crossed the Diamond Head finish line just past noon in an elapsed time of 338:00:13, a 14-day crossing. Gracie was the third finisher in the Aloha Division, where she has led the corrected time standings for a large part of the race.

Jack Taylor's SC50, Horizon, a July 8 starter, arrived mid-afternoon in an elapsed time of 244:59:56, a 10-day crossing. Horizon, a division winner in Transpac 2009 and Pacific Cup 2010, has led six SC50s for most of the race, boat-for-boat and on corrected time. Results do not become official until all the boats are off the course. Other boats in the SC50 fleet have reported problems, but all are continuing on their own to Honolulu. Roy's Chasch Mer reported unspecified issues, Hula Girl has undefined rudder problems, and Deception, running second on corrected time and third boat-for-boat behind Allure, offers the following  . . .

Deception report via navigator Peter Shumar:

"I had just been relieved from watch and was down at the nav station when at 4:15 this morning there was a sudden CRACK! Followed by lots of metallic reverberation in the shrouds. The mast was still up, but something was clearly wrong.

"Bill, MVS and myself sprung up on deck. I thought that either the leward shrouds were gone or the boom was broken, but they were both OK. Moving forward, it was clear that our forestay was missing. It was still attached to the deck, so we were able to fish it out of the water and secure it to the deck for repair in Honolulu.

"Rushing forward, we used our spare halyard as a temporary forestay and added to that our baby stay and chicken stays. Usually this is a race ender, but with the mast secured, we decided to keep sailing for the finish. And sail we did. Fast. One of our fan club told us that according to the yellow brick race tracker, we didn't lose any speed.

"Today I had a chance to go up the mast and survey the damage at the masthead crane. Everything is fine, we're just missing the pin for the forestay and we don't have a spare. After 45 minutes dangling 60 ft in the air with a spinnaker and main up, going 8-14 knots, we had rigged two spare halyards to serve as temporary forestays and free up our jib halyard for the staysail, and our spare halyard in case we need to peel in the upcoming channel."

Just before sundown, PK Edwards' Catalina 42, Wind Dancer, tied up on Transpac Row, with its carbon main and very-senior skipper, and the crew, we can report, made with alacrity for the party tent. Here's Wind Dancer:

Wind Dancer touches down on Transpa Row. Photo:Kimball Livingston

We'll be back on Tuesday with race comments from Gracie's Eric Gray and Horizon's Jon Shampain and whatever else pops up.

Kimball Livingston