Interesting twists and turns have developed in the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race which started from Los Angeles between 9-15 July.

Just as Roger Sturgeon’s new STP 65 Rosebud appeared to be lining up on Roy E. Disney’s Pyewacket with a 297-nautical mile 24-hour run down south a day earlier, dying wind slowed it to only 167 miles before Wednesday’s 0800 roll call.

Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus 101 was another classic example of how quickly it can change. His doublehanded Open 50, rated as the sixth fastest boat in the fleet, led Tuesday with a run of 299 miles in the south but Wednesday made only 146 miles – one less than Bill Myers’ Cirrus, a 34-year-old Standfast 40 leading the Aloha B division with Lindsey Austin, 22, as skipper and four other women as crew.

Kahn chatting about how he copes with the interesting conditions, commented: “I get Richard [Clarke] to practice singlehanded sailing. I dived off the boat and went for a magical swim. What a treat. But if you try it, make sure that you time it right with the puffs, else it is a long swim to Honolulu.”

The south was still good for Cirrus and a few others. Tom Garnier’s Reinrag2, a J/125 in Division 4 that at one time was the farthest boat south of all, tied into breeze that swept it 232 miles – second only for the day to Mag 80’s 237 and Fred Detwiler’s 233 on the TP 52 Trader – and into first place overall on corrected handicap time for the entire fleet.

Pyewacket veered north to get in front of Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80, which fell in 23 miles behind as they continued south-west directly toward Oahu in a 12-knot nor’easter they hoped was a weak beginning of the trade winds.

But unless the winds increase dramatically, Pyewacket’s hopes of reclaiming the elapsed time record of 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds set by Morning Glory two years ago are slim.

Disney, who decided not to sail on the boat the day before last Sunday’s start, commented from Waikiki: “It’s not over yet, but they need to get going. A couple of 400-mile days would help.”

Positions at 0800 on 18/7/07

Division 1 (Started July 15)

1. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33), 1,599 miles to go.
2. Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12), 1,675.
3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-00:21:09:13), 1,576.
4. Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36), 1,703.
5. Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37), 1,740.

Division 2 (Started July 15)

1. Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19), 1,742.
2. Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17), 1,742.
3. Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05), 1,790.
4. Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (2:06:06:45), 1,819.
5. Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28), 1,833. .
6. DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn/Richard Clarke, Honolulu (2:00:47:54), 1,829.
7. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (2:09:31:32), 1,890.
Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12), NO REPORT.
Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32), NO REPORT.

Division 3 (Started July 15)

1. Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33), 1,788.
2. It’s OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31), 1,817.
3. Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (3:03:56:13), 1,855. 4. 4. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (2:19:54:52), 1,851.
5. Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28), 1,854. 6. Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (3:03:43:16), 1,865.
7. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach (2:23:51:49), 1,863.
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (2:22:57:25), NO REPORT.

Division 4 (Started July 12)

1. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02), 1,189. 2. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29), 1,173.
3. Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34), 1,186.
4. Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37), 1,255.
5. Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (3:22:26:21), 1,415.
6. Delicate Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (3:20:58:21), 1,456.
7. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (4:00:24:09), 1,498.
8. Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (3:21:37:33), NO REPORT.

Division 50/52 (Started July 12)

1. Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25), 1,129.
2. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46), 1,229.
3. Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42), 1,234. 4. Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (3:20:35:39), 1,232.
5. Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38), 1,228.
6. Stags’ Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (4:05:22:35), 1,274.
7. Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36), 1,246.
8. Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (3:19:43:59), 1,436.
9. Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (3:16:42:19), NO REPORT.

Division 5 (Started July 12)

1. Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22), 1,256. 2. Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37), 1,261.
3. On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40), 1,304.
4. Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24), 1,371.
5. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16), 1,336.
6. DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham/Phillip Rowe, Newport Beach (4:19:58:16), 1,352.
7. DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr., Payson, Ariz. (4:20:59:25), 1,394.
8. Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (5:02:01:10), 1,417.
9. Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (4:23:42:31), 1,575.

Division 6 (Started July 9)

1. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (7:02:47:32), 1,189.
2. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (7:03:57:50), 1,201.
3. Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (5:21:13:46), 1,168.
4. Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (5:20:14:31), 1,215.
5. DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller/Erik Shampain, Murrieta, Calif. (5:21:44:43), 1,243.
6. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (6:03:41:56), 1,285.
7. California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif. (7:01:16:11), 1,325.
8. Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif. (7:17:47:09), 1,372.
9. DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller/Bob MacDonald, Point Richmond, Calif. (5:12:37:00), 1,284.

Aloha A (Started July 9)

1. Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (4:08:39:09), 1,068.
2. French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (5:11:59:45), 1,152.
3. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), 1,155.
4. Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (5:06:21:29), 1,150.
5. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (4:23:43:58), 1,358.
6. Ho’okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif. (4:10:58:57), 1,485.
7. Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev. (4:22:27:48), 1,515.
8. Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif. (5:08:31:43), 1,555.

Aloha B (Started July 9)

1. Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu (7:02:14:16), 1,287.
2. Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (8:12:05:44), 1,412.
3. Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (6:14:37:49), 1,361.
4. Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (6:12:14:02), 1,544.
RETIRED—Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif. (5:18:26:52).
RETIRED–Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif. (6:20:18:32).

Multihull

The Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster, Pryor, Okla. (started July 12), 1,451.
LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (started July 15), NO REPORT.