Vintage Cal 40s Rule the (Transpacific) Waves

Yes, we know “vintage Cal 40s” is redundant. The Lapworth-designed monohull sloop was built from 1963 through 1971. Jensen Marine built 108 of them, according to Sailboatdata.com. Now, 62 years later, Cal 40s have won both the Transpac and the Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race overall in the same year. 

Cal 40 Takes Transpac Overall

While results are still provisional, it appears that Alli Bell has made history as the first female skipper to win the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu overall. She did it aboard her San Diego-based Cal 40 Restless. As the press release put it, “The (fiber)glass ceiling endured for 119 years.” Her closest competitor was Jack Jennings’ Reichel Pugh 68 Pied Piper, which corrected out one hour and 15 minutes back. 

Bell and her Restless crew will receive the King Kalakaua Trophy for fastest corrected time. They are also the winners of Bridger Insurance Division 9. Alli’s crew consisted of her cousin and navigator Graham Bell; her husband, Stephen Driscoll; and friends Eric Heim and Greg Reynolds.

Since our Monday report of class winners, there’s been one more class win. In Cal Maritime Division 4, Oliver Ernest’s J/145 Aimant de Fille crossed the line to claim corrected-time victory over Rich Festa’s Rogers 46 Groundhog Day by just two hours after about 279 hours of racing. As we write this on Wednesday morning, one boat, Stacy Sinclair’s Kelly Peterson 46 Rhiannon, has 127 miles to go until the finish. 

The final awards and closing ceremony are coming up this Saturday, July 19, at Kaneohe Yacht Club. But the Andrews 50 It’s OK is already heading north on her way back to the mainland. Follow the tracker at https://yb.tl/transpac2025.

See much more about the Transpac elsewhere in ‘Lectronic Latitude and at https://transpacyc.com.

Meanwhile, in the Singlehanded Transpacific Race

The Cal 40 has long proven to be a successful design for winning the Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race overall. Jim Quanci’s Green Buffalo has won it twice, including the last edition in 2023. Stan Honey’s Illusion set the monohull record in 1994 and still holds the corrected-time record. This year, Michael Polkabla’s Monterey-based hull #4, Solstice, was first to finish and first overall. Solstice had placed second to Green Buffalo in 2023. The other Cal 40 in the race, Chris Case’s Richmond-based Fugu, suffered a wishboned boom, which he then lashed down. But he finished under jib only with speed that surprised those of us waiting on shore.

The 10-boat SHTP wrapped up on Saturday with an awards party hosted by the kids (plus a few adults and a cat) of the Kauai Sailing Association in Nawiliwili. Nine entries had finished the race within four days of one another on July 4-7. (It had started on June 22 from San Francisco.)

One of the entries, Christopher Rusin’s Westsail 32 InnFall, headed straight for Honolulu instead of crossing the finish line off the north shore of Kauai. He has now left port to continue with his main goal of circumnavigating the Pacific High. 

We recorded an interview with the Polkablas while visiting with them in Hanalei. We’ll upload that to Good Jibes in the near future. Host Ryan Foland interviewed Alli Bell in 2023; you can listen to that episode here. We’ll have much more on both transpacific races in the August issue of Latitude 38.

Some of the SHTP boats have departed Kauai for deliveries to the West Coast. You can track their progress on Jibeset TV. See results at www.jibeset.net/JACKY000.php?RG=T004121816.