Full Sails Ahead for Transpac 2021 from Los Angeles to Honolulu

The 51st edition of the Transpac Yacht Race, a 2,225-mile ocean competition from Los Angeles to Honolulu, is full sails ahead for July, race managers at the Transpacific Yacht Club announced.

The finish line of the race that began in 1906 by Clarence W. Macfarlane is at the buoy near the Diamond Head Lighthouse.

This yearʻs field is set with 47 entries, including two Hawaiʻi-based entries: Gib Black’s Lurline and Bob Pethick’s Bretwalda 3.

Lurline, a Tripp 47 vessel, will have a 10-person crew, representing the Kaneohe Yacht Club. Bretwalda 3 is a Rogers 46 design. It will have an 8-person crew representing the Waikīkī Yacht Club.

“It’s been an interesting planning process with everything that’s been happening this last year and a half, but the enthusiasm from the participants, sponsors and community members is high and we are excited to continue the 115-year legacy of this great race and welcome these sailors with Aloha!” said John Henry, Chairperson of the Honolulu Committee 2021 Transpac Race.

This year’s Monohull fleet is scheduled to have three start dates from the Point Fermin buoy in San Pedro, CA (Los Angelesʻ harbor), beginning with the first start set on July 13 and the second start set on July 16. The fastest rated boats will depart California on July 17.

The race is famous for fast downwind sailing under spinnaker in the trade winds.

King David Kalakaua inspired the original Transpac Yacht Race to initiate the islands’ economic and cultural ties to the mainland. His yacht, Healani, won the first Challenge Trophy on July 4, 1889.

During the years that the king was an active yachting enthusiast, it was his custom to invite the skippers and crews of the competing boats to join him at his boat house following the July 4 race. He would fill the Challenge Trophy, as it was originally named, with champagne and pass it around for all to enjoy; hence the trophy’s colloquial name—the Kalakaua Cup.

Transpac 2021’s sponsors include North Sails, Satellite PhoneStore.com, Pasha Hawaiʻi, Whittier Trust, hoag SD Boatworks, Mount Gay Rum, B&G, Circle Porsche Long Beach, Crest Insurance, Prince Waikīkī, Cal Maritime, Reyn Spooner, Yanmar, Jeff Brown Yachts/ Brabus Marine, Gaylord Sportswear, Boatswain’s Locker, Novamar Yacht Insurance, Gladstone’s Long Beach, Ocean Navigator and Lyre’s.

Organizations interested in Sponsorship or Partnership opportunities can contact Janet Kelley, Public Relations Chairperson, Honolulu Transpacific Committee, at 808-521-1160. Volunteers interested in helping out in this year’s race can contact our Chairperson of the Transpacific Yacht Club for Honolulu John Henry at ChairJohn@gmail.com. 

For more information and to track the race live each day please visit our website transpacyc.com.