Transpacific Race : Merlin Cuts Pyewacket’s Lead to Seven Miles With 447 to Go

Roy Disney’s 70-foot sloop, Pyewacket, out of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, was still leading in the 2,225-mile Los Angeles-to-Honolulu race Thursday, but her crew was looking over their shoulders.

Only seven miles astern was the 67-foot Merlin.

Pyewacket’s 24-hour run was 242 miles, placing her 447 miles from the Transpacific race’s finish off Diamond Head. Merlin was 454 miles out.

Three other Class A boats were tied with 455 miles to go, Drumbeat, Blondie and Citius.

Average winds throughout the 54-boat fleet were estimated at 20 knots, with four- to six-foot seas. With continued good winds and no mishaps, six boats could beat the elapsed-time record of about 8 days 11 hours, held by Merlin, if they finish by midnight tonight.

The Class B Santa Cruz 50, Racy II, skippered by Lucian Taylor of the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, was still holding the overall corrected time lead.

Barring a dramatic increase in wind velocity in the final stages of the Multihull Transpac race, Rudy Choy’s 62-foot catamaran, Aikane X-5, will be denied an elapsed-time record for the crossing.

At 8 a.m. Thursday, Aikane was 230 miles from Honolulu and sailing in an 8- to 10-knot breeze. Choy’s estimated arrival was 4 a.m. PDT today, about 6 1/2 hours slower than the record of 7 days 7 hours 30 minutes. Choy said a crack in Aikane’s winged mast had been repaired with a splint.

Steve Shidler’s 48-foot Wind Warrior was 290 miles from Honolulu.