Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race Record Smashed
by Rich Roberts 24 Jul 2005 18:48 BST
Morning Glory Smashes Transpac Record
Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, sliding smoothly through a moonlit sea, finished the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race in moderate winds just after 2 in the morning local time Sunday to smash the record held by his nearest rival, Roy Disney'.
Although it wasn't a particularly windy Transpac, the maxZ86s proved their slippery power. The German boat's time for the 2,225 nautical miles was 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds, lopping almost a day off the record of 7:11:41:27 set by Disney's previous Pyewacket in 1999.
The new Pyewacket crossed the Diamond Head finish line almost exactly 2 ½ hours later in what was Disney's 15th and final Transpac.
Two boats actually finished ahead of the two maxZ86s---Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52, Between the Sheets, at 10:22 p.m. Saturday night and the 68-year-old yawl, Odyssey, with Cecil Rossi as skipper, 54 minutes ahead of Morning Glory---but they were Aloha A class entries that got a six-day head start on the big boats.