So far? Four boats have bowed out
Gear failures, medical issues, bad luck. The remaining 49 boats, from sprightly 35-footers to ocean-stomping 88-foot sleds, are still punching westward across the big blue in 10 divisions, all chasing line honors and fastest elapsed time bragging rights.
Current division leaders:
Div 1 (Boatswain’s Locker/Yanmar): Bryon Ehrhart’s Lucky
Div 2 (Mount Gay): Thomas Akin’s Meanie
Div 3 (Whittier Trust): Dave Clark’s Grand Illusion
Div 4 (Cal Maritime): Rich Festa’s Groundhog Day
Div 5 (Cabrillo Boat Shop): Dave Moore’s Westerly
Div 6 (Garmin): Thomas Garnier’s Reinrag2
Div 7 (Suntex): Fred Courouble & Charles-Etieene Devanneaux’s Rahan
Div 8 (Pasha): Barry Clark’s Blackwing
Div 9 (Bridger Insurance): Alli Bell’s Restless
Div 10 (Multihull): Don Wilson’s Convexity2
One standout?
TP52 Meanie, crushing it in Mount Gay Division 2. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. A rogue upper-level low swirled in the subtropical ridge, punching a hole in the tradewinds and splitting the fleet. “This was in the forecast,” said weather wizard Chris Bedford. “Some boats dove south to skirt it, others tried to leapfrog it — some just plain missed the mess altogether by starting early. But once past 135°W, it was back to being a tradewind drag race.”
Fans at home are glued to Transpac Onboard, a fresh-from-the-ocean six-part video series, and tracking every gybe on the Pasha YB Tracker — where position updates are zipping in near real-time. Why the improvement? No more four-hour delay. Thanks to Starlink, and a tweak in the AIS rules, nearly every boat is pinging hourly from the deep blue. The final 200 miles? That’ll speed up to 15-minute pings. The last five miles? Practically live at five-minute intervals. Sure, it’s not the same as live AIS, but it’s close enough to light a fire under the nav table.
One man watching it all with a keen eye: Tom Garnier, skipper of Reinrag2. This is his eighth Transpac on the J/125, with three more J/125s nipping at his heels. “Rule one: be safe. Rule two: have fun. Rule three: do your best,” he said over sat-phone, sounding like a sea-sprayed monk of the Pacific. “But really — if you’re not doing your best, you’re probably not having much fun.”
And the Reinrag2 creed? “Accelerate to the finish.”
Speaking of finishes, the Nautical Cloud scoring system has added a juicy new feature: Time Sector Analysis. Five waypoints — Catalina, Halfway, 500nm to go, 100nm to go, and the Molokai Channel — are now mini finish lines, measuring how fast you cover each chunk. Green triangles mean you’re moving up. Red? You’ve got some explaining to do. Right now, Restless is riding high, followed by Rahan and Macondo.
And about Macondo — they kicked off strong. Zimmer, skippered by Samantha Gebb (third-gen Transpac sailor, first-gen boss), is hanging tough in Suntex Division 7. She’s out there with her dad crewing for her — proper family affair — using Pasha tracker data like a virtual telltale. “We were expecting a wind shift,” she said via Starlink. “So we used boats ahead to see when the header hit and plan accordingly.”
Smart stuff. And she’s not alone. The 2025 Transpac is making quiet history: over 10% of the fleet is skippered by women — and not just onboard for photos. These are full-blooded, watch-leading, kite-trimming, call-the-shots sailors.
Alli Bell (Restless) is leading by example — Rear Commodore of the Transpac YC, Comms Chair, Vice Commodore of San Diego YC, and still found time to boss the Cal 40 around the Pacific. She didn’t set out to run an all-woman fleet. “We didn’t aim to attract women skippers,” she said. “We aimed to attract sailors.”
Then there’s Heather Furey, skippering Mirage, a Santa Cruz 70. Third crossing, but this time, it feels different. “Before, I was lucky to have great mentors. Now, I feel like I own the role.” Her crew keeps teasing her: “You’re the owner, you’re not supposed to do that.” Her answer? “This is what we do. Together.”
Heather, Samantha, and Alli are also flying under the flag of “The Vixens,” a three-boat squad chasing the Storm Trysail Team Trophy. Seven other teams are in the hunt — but The Vixens are bringing the heat. “We’re cheering Samantha on live from the ocean,” said Heather. “And Alli? She’s smashing it.”
Maybe the best sign of progress came from one crew dad who told his daughter about Alli being in charge. “So… she’s the boss of you?” she asked. “Yep.” And her response? “Cool. I could do that someday.” Damn right you could.
Retirements So Far:
July 5, 1800 PDT: GoodEnergy (Reichel/Pugh 63) out with rudder-bearing issues. July 5, 2134 PDT: Rock n’ Roll (Andrews 68) retired after a crew fall — medevac via Catalina and transferred to hospital. July 6, 1545 PDT: Ragtime (Spencer 65) retired — crew evacuated 230 miles offshore with help from USCG and USAF. Patient recovered; Ragtime safely returned to port.
The ocean, as always, doesn’t play favourites — but it does reward those who read it best. And right now, the Pacific’s picking winners.