Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race - Day 11
by Rich Roberts 22 Jul 2005 07:41 BST
A Glorious Sunday Morning Finish? Could Be
It's far from over, but the possibility arose Thursday that the oldest boat in the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii could finish within minutes of the fastest boat Sunday.
After numbers were crunched from the daily morning position reports, the 68-year-old yawl Odyssey---currently nearest to the finish at 529 nautical miles---was projected to finish at 6:20 a.m. HST Sunday, only 13 minutes ahead of Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, currently 995 miles out but averaging 13.5 knots to Odyssey's 7.2---and stretching its lead over Roy Disney's Pyewacket from two to 71 miles Thursday.
Odyssey leads all 34 boats that started the 2,225-mile race July 11, four days ahead of 20 Division III and IV boats and six days ahead of Morning Glory and 19 other Division I and II boats.
It was also learned Thursday that Odyssey skipper Cecil Rossi plans to scatter the ashes of his former sailing partner, Lorenzo "Plazi" Miller, at the finish line. Miller, who died in February, was skipper and Rossi a crew member on Mir, which won Transpac immortality in 1969 by sailing backwards across the finish line after its mast broke at the end of the race.
Miller's daughter, Lisa Miller of Newport Beach, said, "You talk to people and they still say that was an amazing thing. His ashes are on Odyssey, and they're going to scatter him at Diamond Head, just where the mast broke on the Mir. My dad and Cecil used to sail together a lot. For Cecil, it was a big deal to race one final time with my dad."
Other former Mir crew members on Odyssey are Kirk and Skip Elliott, along with Scott Abrams, grandson of Transpac founder Clarence MacFarlane, and Gregory and Isaac Gillette.
With Morning Glory in the mix, it could be a dramatic sunrise show off Diamond Head Sunday, but a lot could change in the next few days.
The Commanders Weather forecast indicated better wind south, less to the north, with lighter winds closer to Hawaii.
While Morning Glory sailed a steady course toward the finish, Pyewacket---now 29 miles south of its German rival--- appeared to be deviating day by day. In fact, Thursday's positions placed it six miles behind the other primary rival, Genuine Risk, although Randall Pittman's 90-footer was in a disadvantageous position to the north.
One seasoned analyst, preferring to be anonymous said, "Morning Glory is sailing a consistent course down the track in more breeze. Pyewacket has been sailing more of a zigzag course north and south. Genuine Risk has gone from 20 miles south of Morning Glory to 69 miles north. You'd want to be where Pye is, rather than Genuine Risk."
Meanwhile, Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, slightly smaller than those boats, logged a 321-mile day---second only to Morning Glory's 339---to move into second place on projected corrected handicap time in Division 1. Pyewacket and Genuine Risk were fifth and sixth, but all four were still on pace to beat the Transpac record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds set by Disney's former Pyewacket in 1999.
They would have to finish before 12:41:27 a.m. PDT Monday morning or 9:47:21 p.m. Sunday night Hawaiian time.