‘This is one of the best offshore races I have done, definitely a race not to be missed’.

So said Russell Coutts after sailing the 2005 edition of the Transpacific YC’s race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, known the world over as the Transpac. This iconic ‘race to paradise’ is known well by all those who have dreamt of sailing west over the horizon to a warm, palm-fronded tropical isle. It’s no wonder the race has enjoyed and grown its universal appeal to the world’s best sailors to test themselves and their boats in this 2,225-mile ocean racing classic.

The idea of a yacht race to Hawaii started back in 1886 when King Kalakaua invited yachtsmen on the mainland to come to his 50th birthday party and to bring their boats to Hawaii to enjoy the culture’s legendary hospitality. He proposed an ocean race from San Francisco to Honolulu, for which he even offered prizes, with first place to win $US1,000… a great deal of money back then.

It took another 20 years, but this new race was finally organised for 1906 with three boats interested in starting, when the devastation of the San Francisco earthquake prompted a rapid relocation to Los Angeles. In this race another new concept was tried: time allowances, where 30 minutes per foot LOA was used for this race, based on a study of the system used in the previous year’s Emperor’s Cup race from Sandy Hook to Lizard Light, won by the now legendary schooner Atlantic.

Ever since, the Transpac has been at the forefront of encouraging fair racing among fast, seaworthy yachts, with the new trends developed to win this race being exported to the rest of the offshore yachting world. In 1977, for example, Jim Kilroy’s S&S 78ft ketch Kialoa was routinely winning races around the world, and had an early lead in that year’s Transpac, when she was passed once the wind went aft by Bill Lee’s Merlin, a new breed of Ultra Light Displacement Boat (ULDB) that would dominate the Transpac for another two decades until the next generation of fast offshore boats were developed: the TP 52s, a class developed by and for the Transpac.

The stellar performance of these boats is also now well known, a testament to the ideas first generated in this race for what has gone on to become one of the world’s most exciting classes of offshore race yachts.

Top: TP 52 Beecom close to the finish line at Diamond Head
Above: 1936 and 2013 overall winner Dorade Inset: the winning crew of Dorade

The Transpac itself has evolved to embrace other new trends and technologies in design, such as water ballast, canting keels and the like, all of which have contributed to shortening the course records down to the current mark of 5d 14h 36m 20s set in 2009 by Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo. Multihulls are also embraced by the Transpac, which is fitting since their history after all started in Polynesian culture.

But these elite first-to-finish contenders, whether they are eligible for the legendary Barn Door Trophy in not having stored energy, or the Merlin Trophy if they do, are only a small part of the long history of the Transpac story: hundreds of sailors do this race on boats of many sizes and types, all for the fun, the adventure and the lifelong camaraderie that comes from being on a sailboat at sea for up to two weeks – and sometimes more.

They come for the classic course that skirts the southern edges of the North Pacific High, starting in the cool, foggy waters of coastal California, then becoming gradually warmer and sunnier as the wind goes from beating to reaching to running, to finally end in a spectacular few days of spinnaker running to the finish line off Oahu’s Diamond Head, just east of the regatta’s shoreside venue at Waikiki. Here the exhausted but elated sailors return to terra firma to reconnect with their loved ones, receive their traditional Hawaiian leis, and enjoy a warm Aloha welcome party held for every finisher, regardless of the time of day or night and their position in the race.

Come and experience the Transpac and find out why so many have also said this is ‘definitely a race not to be missed’.

Click here for more information on Transpac 2015»

C-Designs complete the power and hydraulic systems upgrade of J/Class K-7 Velsheda

During the extensive 2013-14 winter refit of the J/Class Velsheda in Palma, Majorca, the Southampton-based yacht systems manufacturers C-Designs completed a major upgrade to her electrical power and hydraulic systems. C-Designs were tasked by the owner’s team to evaluate the yacht’s existing hydraulic system and to look at ways to increase the speed and power of the deck winches while also reducing weight wherever possible.

C-Designs’ solution increased the available hydraulic flow by some 300 per cent and reduced the weight from the existing power and hydraulic system by 3,000kg. These significant improvements enabled all the required functions, during even the heaviest racing manoeuvre, to operate to maximal performance, helping to gain an advantage around the racecourse. Of further benefit was the weight saving which allowed Velsheda to take more weight in her keel to improve righting moment.

Managing director Nick McGarry gave his take on a relatively novel system: ‘Velsheda’s problem was not unique. Talk of hydraulic systems slowing down and the demand for more flow and line speed seems to be commonplace today, especially among large yachts with professional race crews. C-Designs have been considering this for some time and honing our solutions to find answers that really work. Our latest hydraulic system design breaks the mould of conventional designs by utilising high-voltage DC lithium-ion phosphate battery banks, powering a high-voltage DC hydraulic power pack; this allows us to pack four times the power into the same footprint as a conventional 24-volt system. And there is more to come; we believe we can further develop our ideas on the back of this success.’

Top: Velsheda earlier this season at the Superyacht Cup in Palma. C-Designs have provided onboard support at each training session and regatta since the winter refit to gain feedback from the race crew with the aim to further optimise the system as well as gaining valuable data for future projects.

Above: Velsheda’s 72 volt hydraulic power pack

C-Designs supplied a complete repower package that included specification, design and manufacture of PLC control and electrical systems, 72-volt 160kW hydraulic power pack and the specification and supply of 1,200 Ah 72V LiPo battery banks, inverters, chargers and associated power supplies. Furthermore, proportional hydraulic valves, winch motors and variable displacement pumps were included in the upgrade package.

Velsheda recently finished Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, her last regatta for the 2014 season, giving the systems a full workout with great success. Skipper Barnaby Henshaw-Depledge commented, ‘We made the decision to go with the C-Designs solution because it was unique. All the other proposals we saw offered more of the same and we knew we needed a step change to really get to the heart of our issue, which was lack of flow, especially during manoeuvres. As on so many other big yachts the power systems simply run out of steam during periods of high demand, which by definition is always at some of the most critical times during a race. We are delighted with the outcome – the system is fulfilling its promise and we now have all the power to the winches we could wish for.’

Over the past 15 years C-Designs have built a reputation for innovative solutions and designs, having been involved in many prestigious projects with both pure-bred racers and superyacht cruisers. Some of their designs are also now finding their way into the high-end sail cruising markets.

From their Southampton design office in the UK C-Designs combine their three primary specialities, providing integrated solutions in both new build and upgraded systems covering:

• mechanical design – automated anchor launching, retractable propeller mechanisms, door and bearing systems
• hydraulic systems – both electrically and diesel powered, with a new PTO sandwich gearbox, due to be unveiled at the Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) this November
• electrical systems – high-voltage DC lithium-ion and AC solutions with PLC integration including 3-phase and paralleled generators

C-Designs pride themselves on delivering tailored solutions to performance-driven customers, made possible by their in-house expertise. These are capable of providing innovative concepts and designs, prototypes and manufacturing services in collaboration with market leaders worldwide.

Click here for more information on C-Designs»

DOBBS DAVIS takes a sneak preview of the World Yacht Racing Forum 2014

The sport of racing sailboats encompasses numerous elements, from the commercial to the Corinthian, from inshore combat to offshore adventures, from the fast and furious to the deliberate and tactical. Sustaining a sport so rich in diversity are creative and energetic individuals who share the same passion the sailors have in seeing the game grow and evolve with emerging developments in advanced boat design, innovative race formats, applications in high technology and new media paradigms.

Now in its seventh year, the World Yacht Racing Forum is the only international sailing conference designed to attract these individuals who have significant influence on the sport in all its genres to come together to share their ideas. The event format combines short presentations made by key leaders in their fields, followed by moderated round-table discussions where all delegates can have their voices heard among peers to discuss the issues facing the sport and to share best practice.

Another important feature of the WYRF is the numerous breaks made between sessions where the ideas expressed get a chance to take root in face-to-face networking and future business opportunities.

No other conference can offer these features where ideas can transform into action so quickly.

This year’s edition, held over 10-11 December at Barcelona’s Hesperia Tower Hotel, will have a Grow the Sport theme, where subjects debated will all touch on this topic of growth and sustainability for the whole sport, not just those handful of elite events that are always in the headlines. These subjects include the growth potential for yacht racing in new and emerging markets, the importance of good class management, the varied and evolving role media can play, what sponsors expect at non-elite regattas, how to engage and broaden a spectator fan base, the fast-changing world of shorthanded offshore racing, and much more.

And with a new America’s Cup cycle underway, we will examine its influence on the theme of growth and diversity in the game.

During the first day of the WYRF the technical sessions of the Yacht Racing Design and Technology Symposium will be held concurrently, with such topics as the influence and importance R&D has on modern design, an update on the most recent technical elements to the VO65s now flying around the planet, what the latest design features are in the growing superyacht fleet, what we may (or may not) see in the new designs for AC35, and a discussion on what new boats will look like in 2035: will they be affordable, carbon-neutral and yet still offer high performance?

YRDTS delegates will then join the forum’s last session of roundtable discussions on a variety of topics that can affect the future of the sport and how it’s played. Following this will be the WYRF drinks reception hosted by the FNOB.

Delegates to the WYRF and YRDTS will also have an opportunity to vote for their favourite yachting photographs in the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image competition. Two prizes will be awarded: the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image, chosen by an international jury, and the Public Award, decided by the number of popular votes on the website and the participants at the WYRF. More details are found at www.yachtracingimage.com.

Just as in years past, this event will once again have a worldclass speaker line-up of leaders in industry, governance, event organisation, the media and the sailors themselves to address these and other important topics. This is the only opportunity to have in one place the most influential people in the sport.

The World Yacht Racing Forum 2014 will take place ahead of the start of the Barcelona World Race, with the support of event partner Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB). It will therefore be a perfect opportunity to visit the boats involved in this race, and to meet its sailors.

Barcelona is an easy-to-reach and cost-effective venue, the capital and largest city of Catalonia and Spain's second-largest city. Join us in Barcelona to play your part in helping shape the future of yacht racing… register now!

Seahorse readers receive a special 10% discount on the total delegate price; email us today on with your Discount Code AY2038SH10.

For information on partnership opportunities please contact Informa Sports Group on +971 4407 2442 or .

Click here for more information on the World Yacht Racing Forum»

TP52 class management maestro Rob Weiland just took on a new brief…

Seahorse: The end of yet another season…

Rob Weiland: Yes, it is amazing to look back on 45 years of sailing and being involved with boats in all kind of ways. From the steel ketch that I learned to sail on to the machines that seem so normal today has been quite an evolution. One can only wonder how boats will look 50 years from now.

From the TP52 point of view we have now achieved the full extent of the rule modification that the class members and I set out to achieve in early 2008. Step by step we modified the IMS-inspired 2007 TP52 to the racer that we will see in 2015. Cleaner than clean, both on-deck and inside, and even more ‘fast is fun’ instead of following rating idiosyncrasies as when the class first started. Using modern technology and modern materials without becoming a floating experiment instead of a reliable racer, leaving room to play in design and construction without making that the primary goal. Racing comes first.

SH: It has been good to see the older TPs able to track the modifications and compete with newer boats over the years. Will that still be the case in 2015?

RW: I feel it will, but there comes an end to life at the top… also for boats. There is a cut-off from the money point of view once it becomes more attractive to buy a more recent model than to spend yet more on keeping an existing boat functioning.

You also have to appreciate that it requires the co-operation of the owners of the new boats to make the older boats competitive, in the sense that they permit the older ones to modify outside the TP52 box rule. Actually, that worked better than any of us foresaw. Especially making the boats lighter was greeted with scepticism, in the sense that the hull shapes are not the optimum for a given displacement, but one tends to forget there are many roads to Rome, many ways to speed up a boat.

For sure, it gets more difficult from 2015, as the new boats touch what now look like some genuine boundaries in key components such as displacement, draft and sail area. I guess the reality will be that we will see very few boats from 2009 or before joining in the class racing from 2015. Which means there will be about 18 boats worldwide that fit the TP52 class racing bill. I hope this number grows to about 25 within around two years from now. Then the pool of boats will be big enough to sustain at least half that number to race each other on a regular basis.

SH: And now you are also joining the newly founded Maxi 72 Class as its class manager…

RW: For my sins, I am. The Mini Maxi owners feel it is time to firm up their identity and get more control over their racing by founding a class association. Then you need a manager. Why not me? Easy decision, a lot of work. The decision to start a class is marked by changing the name from Mini Maxi to Maxi 72.

The International Maxi Association (IMA) more and more seems to become an umbrella organisation for all kinds of maxi racing and as such, in my opinion, has a solid future. The fragmented maxi sailing world needs a meeting point as well as direction and streamlining. The Wally Class, J/Class and now the Maxi 72 Class. Superyachts having specific rules and racing. I like to stress that the owners of the 72s strongly support remaining under the IMA umbrella as IMA members as well as Maxi 72 members. It is an important signal to send out. The maxi world is amazingly versatile. From Mini Maxi cruiser-racers to superyachts, it exhibits a wide variety in racing ambitions and requirements. It is easy to see the potential for successful cooperation as well as for a fragmented mess. IMA secretary general Andrew McIrvine has his work cut out, that’s for sure.

SH: It puts you back in the area of sailing that you escaped with the TP52 class: handicap racing, rating and measuring issues… and owner-driver rules?

RW: Every advantage has its disadvantage, a famous Dutch ‘philosopher’, our soccer hero Johan Cruyff, is known to have said. I spend most of my sailing life trying to understand rating rules, trying to be cleverer than the rule authorities and all that. And here I am, on the gamekeeper’s side.

Sure, it can be a silly game. If you dive into the politics behind it, it is silly. But if you look at the resulting boats there is not much silly about those. The Maxi 72s are simply gorgeous. Powerful is an understatement and the level of detail is mouthwatering if you are as mad as I am about putting together efficient racing machines.

Make no mistake, this is deep-pocket racing, so only for the happy few. But it is not showboating. It is real racing, requiring a deep knowledge of our sport in all its facets, a small army of super-fit sailors who enjoy operating as a team, plus solid planning… so proper management.

I think the Maxi 72 Class is a good move, it will lead to growth in the number of 72s in the years to come. And it will lead to the 72s being in demand, so a secondhand market. I hope it will also lead to the boats racing each other more regularly, so bigger starts of 72s at more events than we see now.

It is entertaining – and also instructive – when looking at this aerial shot of the Judel-Vrolijk 72 Robertissima planing downwind in Sardinia to reflect on older similar shots of those giant IOR Maxis ploughing up the ocean in the same venue around 25 years ago

Their choice of boat, a pure one-off, already shows that these are not owners who will easily accept going in the same direction all the time. Some prefer to race offshore, like the Fastnet, Bermuda Race or Sydney-Hobart. Some prefer windwardleeward racing and are perfectly happy to race just in the Med. Between Voiles de St Tropez and the Sydney-Hobart there are a lot of options; it will be interesting to see how the class develops.

For sure, a versatile boat is needed, able to race inshore and offshore. We agreed on the class bylaws recently, the constitution. Next step is the class rule. It won’t be that different from what is in place already but it is efficient to have a rule that is dedicated to just the 72s instead of to all maxis, and it is necessary to put dots on a few ‘i’s.

The main thing, apart from the venue scheduling, is to uphold the rules in a pleasant but firm way. For that you have to be there when the boats race and be in touch with what goes on. As for the venues, one venue is sacred: the annual Maxi 72 Worlds in Porto Cervo. That is where all Maxi 72s meet and where the best owner-driver is crowned world champion. This year we saw a well-deserved win by Andy Soriano and the Alegre team.

SH: So where does all of this racing take you in 2015?

RW: I hope my girlfriend does not read Seahorse, it is going to be a tour de force. The Maxi 72s race three events in the US and Caribbean: Key West Race Week, RORC Caribbean 600 and Voiles de St Barth. The first outing of the new TPs will be at Palma Vela, followed by the first 52 Super Series venue in Valencia third week of May. Fourth week of May we have five Maxi 72s at Menorca Maxi and some of these go from there to join the Giraglia.

The Super Series June venue is the Week of the Straits in Porto Cervo, followed by venue three in July: the TP52 Worlds in Puerto Portals. Four Maxi 72s will join the UK triple of RYS Bicentennial, Cowes Week and Fastnet, which has in the middle of it Super Series venue four… Copa del Rey. By then we are in August and gearing up for the early September Maxi 72 Worlds in Porto Cervo, where I hope to see eight 72s at the start! The final Super Series venue is Cascais. Then more or less four months at home in the office before the 2016 season knocks on the door…

SH: And how many boats in 2016?

RW: You are pushing it, Andrew… I’ll go for 15 TP52s racing a season that I hope covers both sides of the Atlantic and, slightly more of a gamble, 10 Maxi 72s in Sept - ember 2016 at the Porto Cervo Maxi 72 Worlds. That would make this class manager happy. By then if I look at the larger picture I also hope to see the positive consequences of the streamlining of racing calendars and rating systems, as well as applying some fresh logic to the ‘positioning’ of the various racing classes, creating enough confidence for more owners to build new and join what is on the racing menu.

Sounds funny maybe, with apparently so many events on that menu, but it is still hard to put together a good calendar based upon the key criteria of good sailing conditions, an interesting mix of racecourses, good race management and ample highlevel competition. Pretty soon you have to travel a lot, or race the same venues each year, which is not perfect either.

In that sense it would be nice to see a few more truly international high-level competition events, either new or revived. Yes, the Admiral’s Cup, for instance. But to a modern format. Nobody is going to spend three weeks at one venue any more, not even with sun and wind guaranteed. Today we live in the fast lane…

Rob Weiland was talking to the editor