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Sighting the Transpac Finish

Photographers covering the Transpac Race to Honolulu often capture a scene that includes a finishing boat, a red buoy, and, in the distance and looking remarkably small, a lighthouse perched on a low ridge below the looming peak of Diamond Head.

Naos at the finish
Walter Cooper shot this fabulous finish photo for Ultimate Sailing. Charles Devanneaux’s foil-assisted Figaro 3 A Fond le Girafon is about to line up with R’2′ and the Diamond Head Light, the white tower barely discernible in the gap between the buoy and the yellow spinnaker.
© 2019 Walter Cooper / http://ultimatesailing.com

Louis Kruk, in Honolulu during the arrival of the Transpac fleet this month, checked out the means by which finishes are recorded.

Diamond Head Light
A sighting tube is barely visible on the walkway to the right of the open door below the light.
© 2019 Louis Kruk
Sighting tube
The tube is fixed in a rigid position according to a bearing. The buoy moves with the wind and current, within the view.
© 2019 Louis Kruk
through the tube
The buoy as seen through the finish line sighting tube high atop the Diamond Head Lighthouse. A boat finishes when any portion of the sails or vessel enters into the sight of the tube.
© 2019 Louis Kruk

All boats finished the 50th Transpac between July 17 and July 24. Celebrations have been ongoing, Hawaii and Waikiki yacht clubs have hosted official parties, and the Transpac YC will dish out copious trophies and prizes tonight at the Hawaii Convention Center, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. HST. We’ll have a boatload of coverage of the historic race in the August and September issues of Latitude 38.

Sailing

3 Comments

  1. Jack Peters 5 years ago

    Simply superb LOUIS ?

  2. Charlotte Kruk 5 years ago

    Louis KRUK…..you da MAN! I love your creative photographic solutions to telling the story. You foster access such that even an “outsider” to the sport might understand some of the complexities of spotting the winner.

  3. Carole Bolduc 5 years ago

    Louis
    No doubt a superb photograher!
    Love yiu
    Carol

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