Transpacific Yacht Race

dpt-transpac15TextNM28GVNVTranspac advance+updateDaily Pilot SAILING: The biggest boats leave today for Hawaii in the Transpacific Yacht Race. ALOHA SEND-OFF WHAT: Transpacific Yacht Race WHERE: Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach WHEN: Today, 10 a.m.Today is the last chance for sailing enthusiasts to watch the ships disappear into the horizon on a celebrated biennial journey to Hawaii. Yachts of medium speed and size competing in the Transpacific Yacht Race departed Wednesday, and the smallest and slowest boats have been on the water since Monday.

Newport Harbor Nautical Museum leaders welcomed their newest exhibit, the elapsed-time record trophy for the Transpacific Yacht Race, to the museum Wednesday. Roy E. Disney, former vice chairman of Walt Disney Co., commissioned the trophy and attended its unveiling for the museum. “It’s been needing a permanent home for quite a while,” Disney said in a phone interview. “I think they are very specifically going to have a Transpac section in the museum. It just seemed like a really natural, logical plan.

This beautiful 60-foot yawl was designed by John G. Alden of Boston. She was built in 1950 by the Henry R. Hinkley Co. in Maine. Her dimensions were 65 feet length overall, waterline length 45 feet, 1 inch with a beam of 14 feet, 3 inches. She was powered with a Buda diesel engine. In 1955, Mai-Tai was purchased in Philadelphia by John S. Griffith, a member of Newport Harbor Yacht Club. He brought Mai-Tai to Newport Harbor, where she stayed from 1955 to 1957.

LOCAL SAILOR MAKES GOOD Newport Beach resident Graham Brant-Zawadzki was one of 15 chosen from Aug. 12 tryouts for Roy E. Disney's Morning Light crew. Brant-Zawadzki, 21, and Newport Beach resident Max Moosman, 19, were among the 30 finalists taking part in the first round of the tryout process Aug. 6 on the Long Beach outer harbor near the Queen Mary. Eventually, 11 or 12 will sail the Transpac 52 in the Transpacific Yacht Race in 2007, without coaches or advisors on board.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and First Team Real Estate announced Thursday that Roy E. Disney was named as honorary chairman of this year's First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup. The race is scheduled for June 8 through 10. The former Disney executive and nephew of Walt Disney, Roy E. Disney is not just a big name for the hospital to attach the its charity event. Disney is a fixture in the sailing world, and at the first-ever Hoag Cup in 2005 — it's now held every other year — Disney won the race's Class 1 division aboard Pyewacket, which he later donated to the Orange Coast College sailing school.

As the chief executive of the Transpacific 52 Class, former Newport Beach resident Tom Pollack traveled around the globe for the past six years to watch world-class sailors pilot the high-performance 52-foot sloops in sailing regattas across the world. The king of Spain owns a Transpac 52, as does the king of Norway. “I would notice these guys on the boats were older pros, but there were thousands of younger people on the docks,” Pollack said. “I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to find someone who would hand over the keys to a group of young people and say: Here you go.’ ” Pollack took his idea to producer Leslie DeMeuse and Roy E. Disney, sailing enthusiast and former vice chairman and head of animation for Walt Disney Co. Three years later, Pollack’s vision has been transformed into “Morning Light,” a documentary that chronicles the adventure of one of the youngest crews to ever sail in the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

Elise Gee As the rest of the country experienced the Roaring '20s, the Newport-Mesa area was roaring as well. Residents began to enjoy the luxuries that usually accompany prosperity. Costa Mesa services expanded at an exponential rate. A branch of the Bank of Balboa opened in Costa Mesa with 300 depositors. Modern conveniences -- sidewalks, gas for heating and cooking, the first electric lights, gasoline pumps, and a post office -- emerged during this decade.

As you may have heard, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum is the new home of the Transpac’s elapsed-time trophy, which was presented last Wednesday by Roy E. Disney and Andrea Favilli. The 4 ½-foot tall trophy is now on permanent loan to the museum. However, the trophy will visit Hawaii if someone breaks the elapsed-time record. Roy asked Andrea to design and create a trophy for the 1997 Transpac Race, so Andrea went to work with his wife creating this work of art. I had a good time speaking with both Roy and Andrea at the luncheon Wednesday, and while speaking with Andrea I could feel his passion for this trophy.

With Roy Disney's donation of a $7-million racing vessel, Pyewacket, Orange Coast College's School of Sailing and Seamanship officially has left the shallow end behind and is now in deep water. Not that the renowned program wasn't already pretty close or pretty well prepared to set sail for bigger adventures. In the past few years, the school has been the beneficiary, through the fundraising Orange Coast College Foundation, of several notable gifts.

Robert M. “Bob” Allan was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 8, 1920 and departed this life the way he lived it, with grace, dignity, and humor on September 11, 2009. He was 88 years old and passed at home in Capitola, California, with family at his side. Bob lived in San Marino and Newport Beach, California, later moving to Carmel for many years. He married the love of his life, Harriet “Spice” Spicer while they both attended Stanford prior to WWII. It was a love affair that lasted a lifetime: 66 years.

By Gordon Glass About 10 or 12 years ago, the city of Los Angeles allowed a private foundation to use a city-owned parking lot on San Pedro's main waterfront street to build two, 90-foot wooden schooners. A chain-link fence provided public safety while encouraging public viewing of the construction process. A construction crew of professional shipwrights and amateur volunteers worked more than two years to complete the Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson. Both ships are now sailing in the foundation's youth programs.

Robert M. “Bob” Allan was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 8, 1920 and departed this life the way he lived it, with grace, dignity, and humor on September 11, 2009. He was 88 years old and passed at home in Capitola, California, with family at his side. Bob lived in San Marino and Newport Beach, California, later moving to Carmel for many years. He married the love of his life, Harriet “Spice” Spicer while they both attended Stanford prior to WWII. It was a love affair that lasted a lifetime: 66 years.

As the chief executive of the Transpacific 52 Class, former Newport Beach resident Tom Pollack traveled around the globe for the past six years to watch world-class sailors pilot the high-performance 52-foot sloops in sailing regattas across the world. The king of Spain owns a Transpac 52, as does the king of Norway. “I would notice these guys on the boats were older pros, but there were thousands of younger people on the docks,” Pollack said. “I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to find someone who would hand over the keys to a group of young people and say: Here you go.’ ” Pollack took his idea to producer Leslie DeMeuse and Roy E. Disney, sailing enthusiast and former vice chairman and head of animation for Walt Disney Co. Three years later, Pollack’s vision has been transformed into “Morning Light,” a documentary that chronicles the adventure of one of the youngest crews to ever sail in the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

As you may have heard, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum is the new home of the Transpac’s elapsed-time trophy, which was presented last Wednesday by Roy E. Disney and Andrea Favilli. The 4 ½-foot tall trophy is now on permanent loan to the museum. However, the trophy will visit Hawaii if someone breaks the elapsed-time record. Roy asked Andrea to design and create a trophy for the 1997 Transpac Race, so Andrea went to work with his wife creating this work of art. I had a good time speaking with both Roy and Andrea at the luncheon Wednesday, and while speaking with Andrea I could feel his passion for this trophy.

Newport Harbor Nautical Museum leaders welcomed their newest exhibit, the elapsed-time record trophy for the Transpacific Yacht Race, to the museum Wednesday. Roy E. Disney, former vice chairman of Walt Disney Co., commissioned the trophy and attended its unveiling for the museum. “It’s been needing a permanent home for quite a while,” Disney said in a phone interview. “I think they are very specifically going to have a Transpac section in the museum. It just seemed like a really natural, logical plan.

Paul Loubet started his day the same way he has for much of this week. Make sure everybody is happy before, during and after the 41st annual Governor's Cup. Pay attention to details, because there are plenty in the oldest youth match race regatta in the U.S. He has 100-plus volunteers to help with everything you can imagine, from providing the out-of-town sailors and umpires with housing and meals to telling the media what to write about...

LONG BEACH — It was too bad the cannon blasting off goodbyes at the last start of the Transpacific Yacht Race couldn't be loaded with gusts of wind and rays of sunshine. The third and final start of the 2,225 nautical-mile race from San Pedro to Honolulu began with the usual fanfare, but overcast skies made for a gray day, though the sun started to peak through the clouds later in the afternoon. And with wind speeds of only three to four knots, the fastest 23 of the 74 boats in the race stalled in the water once their sails were raised Sunday for the 44th biennial race.

dpt-transpac15TextNM28GVNVTranspac advance+updateDaily Pilot SAILING: The biggest boats leave today for Hawaii in the Transpacific Yacht Race. ALOHA SEND-OFF WHAT: Transpacific Yacht Race WHERE: Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach WHEN: Today, 10 a.m.Today is the last chance for sailing enthusiasts to watch the ships disappear into the horizon on a celebrated biennial journey to Hawaii. Yachts of medium speed and size competing in the Transpacific Yacht Race departed Wednesday, and the smallest and slowest boats have been on the water since Monday.

Tyler Wolk, the youngest sailor in this year's Transpacific Yacht Race, has been keeping mum about his cooking skills. Wolk, 18, is not just a hardcore seaman. The 2007 graduate of Newport Harbor High can rustle up some pretty good grub. Wolk was on the Newport Harbor team that took first-place honors in a state cooking competition, and won second at the National ProStart Student Invitational. The students had to cook a three-course meal with no running water or electricity.

LONG BEACH — At last. It's here, the day Roy E. Disney has been waiting for since July 22, 2005, when Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory trounced his record in the Transpacific Yacht Race. OK, it's not quite here. Today marks the first day of the 44th Transpac, one of oldest and longest ocean races in the world, which runs from Los Angeles to Honolulu. However, Disney and his boat, Pyewacket, won't leave Rainbow Harbor until Sunday, when the biggest, fastest boats entered in the regatta begin their trips.