It was more than just the steady breeze across the 2,225-nautical-mile course that made this year’s Transpac a spirited race. And it was more than just the tenacity of intrepid sailors who waded through pandemic protocol, masked up and voyaged to Hawaii anyway. It was the ghosts of Transpacs past, carried by the team of the Farr 57 Ho’okolohe, who whispered to the winds and made the 51st Transpacific Yacht Race a truly spirited affair.
Cecil Rossi’s Ho’okolohe carried a crew of nine plus the cremated remains of five others to the finish line off the island of Oahu.
“It’s a great privilege to be asked to spread these ashes,” said Rossi, who has been sailing Transpac races since the mid-1960s. “Almost everybody we’re taking on the race postmortem has done a Transpac, and this burial at sea is a way to celebrate and remember them doing the thing they loved best: sailing.” Ho’okolohe’s impressive lineup of supernal sailors along for their
final ride included Scott Abrams, whose grandfather Clarence Macfarlane founded and raced the first Transpac in 1906, and Gary Miltimore, a sailor and marine artist famed for his stunning
yacht graphics. There was Gordo Johnson, ace sailor on Sabots and maxis alike, Kirk Elliott, who raced multiple Transpacs, and Dr. Mike Busch.
“Mike Busch was my dad,” said Chris Busch, one of Rossi’s mortal mates, along with Tom Corkett, Marshall “Duffy” Duffield, Hector Velarde, Ty Pryne, plus Fuzz Foster and his two sons, 30-year-old Fizz and 23-year-old Travis.
“My dad raised us to love sailing,” Busch said. This year while Chris sailed on Ho’okolohe, brother John Busch competed on Medicine Man and brother-in-law Benny Mitchell raced
on Pyewacket.
“Dad used to always try to meet us and get out to Diamond Head to see us finish,” Busch said.
An ancient ceremonial site for native Hawaiians, and landmark for sailors around the globe, the extinct Diamond Head volcano looms over Transpac’s finish line.
“It’s a spectacular sight and the culmination of a great race and achievement. That makes it really special to be bringing him and so many other legends with us on the race to spread their ashes there,” Busch said. “To be able to do this in memory of them is an incredible honor.”
Lifted by spirits and skill, Ho’okolohe took first in Division 8, which got underway from Los Angeles on the first of three staggered starts. Despite a four-day head start, Rossi’s team arrived five
hours after Roy P. Disney’s Pyewacket rocketed into Honolulu with a finish time of 5 days, 16 hours and 53 minutes, 20 seconds, winning the Barn Door elapsed time trophy, and setting a new 24-hour speed record of 504 nautical miles with an average of 21.1 knots.
Then came the barrage of finishers, with nearly three-quarters of the 38-boat fleet barreling in over two days. Chris Sheehan’s Pac52 Warrior Won took first overall on corrected time, while the
Olsen 40 Live Wire was Tail End Charlie, the last boat to finish. Two yachts were forced to retire—Denali3 with a broken rig at the start and Lucky with rudder issues. It was a quick race, with
most of the racers finishing two days earlier than expected.
“Transpac 2021 was everything I have been dreaming of since I was 12 years old,” said Jeff McDonald, who sailed with wife Jenn aboard Scott Campbell’s J/121 Riva. “We’re from the
Pacific Northwest and although we love racing there, the weather is miserable. The idea of going to Hawaii in T-shirts and flip flops was wonderful!”
Despite cloudy, starless nights, tricky wave patterns and seas that engulfed the boat in brine, Jenn was thrilled with the race.
“It was super fun! Surfing along, ripping at 17 to 20 knots, just hauling ass,” she said. “I am ready to do it all over again!”