Transpac Race : Winterhawk Takes Lead; Saga Second
Hal Day sailed the 68-foot Winterhawk into an early lead Thursday as the 65 yachts in the 2,225-mile Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu ran into light winds five miles off Catalina Island after a 1 p.m. start off Pt. Fermin.
At about 6 p.m., Day, of Newport Beach, was the first to round the west end of Catalina.
Doug Baker of Long Beach moved Saga into second place, followed by Ragtime, skippered by Dick Deaver of Los Angeles.
Two catamarans competing in the multihull Transpac ran out of wind in midchannel, about 10 miles from Catalina, and were overtaken by the monohull fleet.
The catamarans are Wind Warrior, skippered by Randy Smyth of Huntington Beach and Aikane, sailed by Rudy Choy of Honolulu.
The 67-foot sloop Merlin set the Transpac record in 1977 with a time of 8 days 11 hours.
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