Pacific 1000 Catamaran Race : Smyth, Hill Hold Slim Lead After 1st Day

Randy Smyth of Huntington Beach and Jim Hill of San Francisco hold a slim lead over an 11-boat field after the first day of the Pacific 1000 catamaran race.

Starting at noon in Long Beach, Smyth and Hill traveled the 57-mile course to Catalina in a time of 4 hours and 37 minutes, two minutes ahead of second-place Greg Richardson of Myrtle Beach and Roy Seaman of Malibu (4:39).

Smyth won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic tornado class. After racing closely with Richardson and Seaman, Smyth and Hill finally pushed out to their lead in the last 10 miles.

George DelBianco of Madera, Calif., and Mike Checketts of Fresno were third, finishing in 4:42.05, just ahead of Larry Harteck and Eric Brinton (4:42.54).

Pacific 1000 entires are limited to 20 feet in length and 8 1/2-foot beams. The 11-day race zigzags 1,000 miles between Santa Barbara and San Diego.

John Langton of Redondo Beach and Jim Clinton capsized their boat at the start of the race and again when they were within a mile of Catalina’s shore, but they still managed to finish fifth with a time of 5:12.14.

Mike Christiensen and Joe Walker were sixth at 5:13.09 followed by Dave Renous and Dave Iwamoto (5:24.12); Dave Keller and Jack Edgehill (5:24.39); Jim Irish and Jack Suddarth (5:44.42) and Stephanie Elliott, Theresa Funaro and Diana Riggs (5:55.33).