Disney seeks top spot in Transpac

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. The smaller boats leave today and Thursday to participate in the race that’s run biennially in odd-numbered years since it began in 1906.

Disney, a member of the Newport Harbor yacht club, retired from competitive sailing in 2005. The former vice chairman of the Walt Distney Co. (nephew of Walt and son of co-founder Ray Disney) set the Transpac record in 1999, covering 2,225 nautical miles in 7 days, 11 hours.

But Disney’s back in the race again this year, after Plattner finished in 6 days, 16 hours in 2005, and he’s armed with a faster, longer boat.

Pyewacket has been extended eight feet to 94 feet, but it’s still not the longest vessel to sail the Transpac. Goodwill, which sailed in 1953 and 1959, was 161 feet long. The ship also has a new mast, daggerboards, refurbished hydraulics, and a new rudder, all added in the name of speed.

“What Mr. Disney wanted was to have the fastest boat possible for the race, and that’s why he made those changes,” said Robbie Haines, Pyewacket’s 53-year-old sailing master. This is Haines’ 13th Transpac voyage. The section of the boat spanning the bow to the mast is entirely new, and was built in New Zealand and shipped to Newport Beach, where it was attached to the other end of Pyewacket.

The crew just took the newly-lengthened ship out for an inaugural sail two weeks ago.

“It’s been fine. The boat’s worked perfectly,” Haines said. “Everything’s worked well, and Roy is very happy.”

Haines, who won an Olympic gold medal for sailing in 1984, has been sailing with Disney for 15 years. He’s also a coach for Morning Light, the other boat Disney owns. The college-age crew of Morning Light is the youngest ever to attempt to sail the Transpac, and the story of their journey is being recorded in a documentary. Morning Light, a smaller 52-foot sloop, will depart Sunday.

The 15-person crew of Morning Light isn’t the only crew of distinction that’s competed in the Transpac. There have been all-woman crews and in 1997, a crew of men with HIV and AIDS made the trek. In 2003 and 2005, a team of disabled sailors representing Challenged America of San Diego raced as well.

“It’s so much fun to be out there with all your friends, however many are on the crew, and to be most of the time, by yourself,” Haines said. “You usually don’t see other boats on the crossing. You’re just out in the middle of the Pacific, and when you are halfway between Honolulu and L.A., you are farther from any point of land than anywhere in the world. So when you’re halfway, you’re a long way from land.”

The romance of being in the middle of the ocean with their friends is what keeps many sailors in the Transpac well into their 70s. Disney is 77.

“The camaraderie, and the whole experience is something people don’t forget,” Haines said.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or [email protected].