{"id":82320,"date":"2025-07-17T11:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=82320"},"modified":"2025-07-17T11:42:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:42:34","slug":"transpacs-trophy-haul-marks-a-pivotal-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/racing\/transpacs-trophy-haul-marks-a-pivotal-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Transpac’s Trophy Haul Marks A Pivotal Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Crewmembers of Bryon Ehrhart’s Lucky (at left), winners of the 2025 Barn Door Trophy.<\/span>\n Stephen Cloutier<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Following the historic corrected-time win of Alli Bell\u2019s team on the Cal 40 Restless<\/em><\/a>, the Transpacific Yacht Race celebrated its first Trophy Ceremony for the 2025 edition of this biennial ocean race on Tuesday, July 15, at Waikiki Yacht Club, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The night\u2019s celebration\u2014the first of three ceremonies\u2014welcomed an exuberant crowd of sailors, friends and family to honor the winners of four of the race\u2019s 10 divisions, plus several other trophies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Holthus and crew aboard the Botin 56 BadPak <\/em>claimed top honors in the Boatswain\u2019s Locker\/Yanmar Division 1; John Raymont and his Fast Exit II<\/em> team, racing aboard his Ker 52, won Mount Gay Division 2; Jack Jennings led the Reichel\/Pugh 68 Pied Piper<\/em> and crew to first place in Whittier Trust Division 3; and owner Don Wilson and his team aboard the Gunboat 68 Convexity2<\/em> were the fastest cat in the two-boat smithREgroup Multihull Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryon Ehrhart and his talented team aboard Lucky<\/em>, his 88-foot Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed maxi, etched their names in history and on the prestigious Barn Door Trophy, for the fastest elapsed time of any monohull [Eds note: after finishing, Lucky was assessed a 9-hour elapsed-time penalty for several race and measurement infractions regarding their sail inventory and the use of an undeclared outrigger<\/em>), while Raymont and his Fast Exit II<\/em> team earned the Merlin Trophy for the quickest passage to Hawaii aboard a conventional monohull (read: with fixed ballast and manual winches).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
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\n The crew of John Raymont\u2019s Fast Exit II<\/i>, winners of the Merlin Trophy, posing with TPYC Commodore Bill Guilfoyle, far right, and Merlin\u2019s designer, Bill Lee, far left. <\/span>\n David Livingston<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Earning recognition in front of many of sailing\u2019s biggest names gathered in Waikiki Yacht Club\u2019s lovely open-air dining room is an accomplishment few sailors will achieve. For many, it represents the culmination of sailing careers that stretch back decades, if not generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Generational Passing of the Transpac Torch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Enter 20-year-old Kelly Holthus, a rising junior at Tulane University, who just completed his fifth Transpac Race aboard his father\u2019s BadPak<\/em>. The younger Holthus first raced to Hawaii as a 12-year-old in 2017, and while he said he understood how the sails worked during his nascent night watches, the finer points of trim were above his greenhorn pay grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No longer: these days, he runs the bow aboard the powerful offshore steed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a night-and-day difference,\u201d said Kelly Holthus in a post-racing interview, of his learning curve, which he actively accelerates at every opportunity. \u201cNow I\u2019m a full, contributing part of the team,\u201d he said, describing making eye contact with BadPak\u2019s drivers before shimmying forward on the bowsprit, sometimes hundreds of miles from terra firma. \u201cYou\u2019re in the middle of the ocean going 15, 17 knots in five to 10-foot waves,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m up there, and I\u2019m comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Young, who just graduated from Dartmouth before completing her second Transpac aboard Vitesse<\/em>, Tom Furlong\u2019s Reichel\/Pugh 52, is another example of this historic race\u2019s generational momentum and the dedication to one\u2019s craft that\u2019s required to earn this coveted spot aboard a fast ride in this prestigious event. Young may be Furlong\u2019s niece, but there\u2019s zero chance she would be trimming kite if she hadn\u2019t earned her own All-American bona fides on Dartmouth\u2019s sailing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Boatswain\u2019s Locker\/Yanmar Division 1 winners, Tom Holthus’ BadPak, at the start of the race.<\/span>\n Sharon Green\/Ultimate Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cOur Vitesse team was clear before we left the dock that everyone would be up on the deck for all sail changes, kite changes, jibe,\u201d said Young, describing one of Vitesse\u2019s smartest calls. \u201cThat was a really strong decision and made our team better because it\u2019s a lot safer to have everyone up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink Changing the Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Young, who was aboard Vitesse<\/em> in the windy 2021 Transpac, said a 2025 crux involved wending their way around a persistent light-air patch that defined the race for many teams. \u201cThe toughest part of the race was just understanding the weather system, understanding how far south we had to go, and striking a balance between distance and weather systems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This same decision vexed far more experienced navigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem with going so far south is that it\u2019s a whole lot of extra distance,\u201d said Peter Isler, a two-time America\u2019s Cup winner and 2025 navigator aboard Pyewacket<\/em>, Roy Disney\u2019s star-studded Andrews 70. \u201cYou sail a lot of extra distance, but you\u2019re trying to balance extra distance versus windspeed and boatspeed,\u201d Isler continued, noting that while Pyewacket<\/em> plunged south this year to escape the worst of what Disney termed \u201cthe Pacific Pothole,\u201d he\u2019s voyaged closer to the equator on previous Transpacs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Pyewacket at the start; they finished second in Whittier Trust Division 3. <\/span>\n Sharon Green\/Ultimate Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t a new one for me,\u201d Isler said, noting that the team ultimately sailed about 2,350 nautical miles on the race\u2019s 2,225-nautical-mile rhumbline. What\u2019s new are the tools for route divination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStarlink opens up the satellite imagery game\u2014being able to read the clouds and trying to infer from above what\u2019s happening down below,\u201d he said, referring to the fast and cost-effective satellite-communication kit that all but one boat in the fleet carried this year. While Isler, a past holder of Transpac\u2019s outright course record, reported that he wouldn\u2019t have looked at different weather models prior to Starlink, the system affords the ability to study high-resolution satellite imagery of coming clouds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat can be a game-changer if you understand how to put your weather knowledge together and how to read it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fast Run Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

GRIB files and satellite imagery aside, spectacular downwind sailing has always been Transpac\u2019s biggest magnet. \u201cThe last five hours of the race were super exciting,\u201d said Keahi Ho, who just completed his fifth Transpac aboard Merlin<\/em>, Chip Merlin\u2019s Bill Lee-designed 68-footer, describing driving the sled for the team\u2019s fast final miles under clear, moonlit skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But fast-and-furious sailing isn\u2019t without hazards. \u201cThe boat was going as fast as it possibly could,\u201d Ho continued, noting that the team was sometimes tickling 28 knots of boatspeed. \u201cWe stuffed the bow super deep\u2014we thought the whole boat was going to go end-over-end, but somehow it came back up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ho first crossed the Pacific at age five with his dad; now 51, life\u2019s ephemeral nature was front of mind when considering this race. A firefighter in Lahaina, on nearby Maui, Ho lost his house and boat to the tragic 2023 fire that ravaged his hometown while he was working to save other people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Merlin making for Diamond Head and the finish of the 2025 Transpac Race.<\/span>\n Sharon Green\/Ultimate Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cI thought about maybe not going this year, but I\u2019m glad I did,\u201d Ho said in a post-race interview, noting the importance of taking advantage of life\u2019s great opportunities. \u201cAfter the fire, we\u2019ve been super grateful for all the things we get to do\u2014it reminds us how precious life is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schooled At Sea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-three-year-old Max Roth, who grew up in Honolulu and recently graduated from Cal Maritime, echoed Ho\u2019s sentiments of gratitude, but for different reasons. Roth sailed his first Transpac in 2023 as a crewmember aboard the Andrews 77, Cal Maritime<\/em>, but this year he returned to his home state as skipper of T\/S Cal Maritime-Oaxaca<\/em>, a Santa Cruz 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a lot more rewarding because I got to be the skipper for a group of my friends,\u201d he said, noting that his crew consisted of Cal Maritime students and recent alumni, including five Transpac first-timers. His race, he said, was made possible by Cal Maritime and the school\u2019s donation program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel the pressure of being the skipper as much as I thought I would,\u201d Roth said in a post-race interview, noting that he surrounded himself with offshore competence. \u201cMy navigator and my other watch captain are very experienced, and I was able to rely on them. It didn\u2019t weigh on me that I had to be up every hour to make sure the boat sailed well or safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n The kids of T\/S Cal Maritime-Oaxaca, crossing the finish line off Diamond Head.<\/span>\n Stephen Cloutier\/Ultimate Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

While Roth leveraged well-timed jokes and Welch\u2019s Fruit Snacks (a crew favorite) to conjure cockpit levity during the race\u2019s inevitable low-tide moments, he described watching the team\u2019s younger members grow and mature, both as sailors and people, during the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of the best experiences I\u2019ve had in my life,\u201d Roth said of skippering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Transpac race runs deep in Roth\u2019s world: His father, Michael Roth, is the race\u2019s chief judge (\u201cWe\u2019re doing our best not to see him,\u201d joked Max), and the race concludes on the waters where he learned to sail. \u201cI came home to family and friends that I grew up sailing with,\u201d he said, noting that his Laser was patiently sitting on Waikiki Yacht Club\u2019s docks. \u201cThey were all there\u2014I got to see my coach of 14 years at the dock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for future Transpacs, Holthus, Roth and Young were clear that their journeys across the Pacific have just begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy ultimate goal is to be able to run a program of my own,\u201d said Holthus, who has spent his second decade studiously absorbing the wealth of sailing knowledge aboard BadPak<\/em> and the other programs with which he\u2019s involved. \u201cI\u2019ll have a lot of work to do before that, but every time I go out there, I\u2019m learning from people, and I\u2019m one step closer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With more than 2,000 miles of Pacific Ocean in their wakes, division winners of the 2025 Transpacific Yacht Race collect their hardware and share their experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":82318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"David Schmidt","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[250,1027],"class_list":["post-82320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-offshore-racing","tag-transpac-race"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}