Transpac Adopts New Rating Limits

Following last year’s dustup over rating limits and oddities in the Offshore Racing Rule, the Transpacific YC announced it has bumped up the limit for next year’s race to include boats up to 100 feet. By also removing the limitations on powered winches, they’ve opened the door for the world’s super maxis like Wild Oats XI, Alfa Romeo and ICAP Leopard to join the party.

"We wanted to set a limit consistent with the major ocean races in the rest of the world, and 30.48 meters (100 feet) is where it’s going," said entry chairman Bill Lee.

TPYC has also added a new multihull division provided there’s a minimum of two entries. There’s no maximum size or speed limit  for the multihulls, but they must be at least 45-ft long, so don’t plan on bringing your Seacart 30 trimaran — which is probably capable of beating all but the 60-ft-and-larger crowd on elapsed time.

So have the new limits garnered any interest from the super maxi crowd? In a statement issued by TPYC, Alfa Romeo owner Neville Crichton is quoted as saying, "I am definitely interested in participating. Just a thought: if we were to do the Transpac with several boats, it would be good to possibly come back and do the Big Boat Series afterwards in San Francisco." As much as we’re hoping that’d happen, in a recent issue of Seahorse Magazine, Crichton goes on record as saying he’s tired of having to ‘sail with the computer’ required by the canting-keel on his 98-ft Alfa Romeo and thus has a new conventionally-ballasted, 67-ft Reichel/Pugh design underway.

While it remains to be seen if the Transpac will attract the sailing world’s bling to the start in July 2009, we think it’d be fun to see Wild Oats XI, Alfa Romeo, and ICAP Leopard line up alongside Gitana XIII, Sodeb’O and Groupama 3.