Transpac 2025 Racers Arrive in Hawaii with Big Stories and Bigger Smiles
The Transpac a 2,225-nautical-mile race from Los Angeles’s Point Fermin to Honolulu is one of sailing’s most celebrated offshore challenges. With pursuit-style starts, the biennial race ensures a steady stream of finishers over several days. As of press time, 46 boats had finished, with 2 more expected in the coming week. Four boats retired from the race.
The event’s most coveted line honors belong to the fastest monohull finisher, who earns the Barn Door Trophy. This year, Bryon Ehrhart’s 88-foot maxi Lucky, a Juan Kouyoumdjian design, claimed the honor. Lucky finished Friday, July 11, 2025 at 7:23 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, completing the course in 5 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes, and 49 seconds — the fifth-fastest time in race history.
For context, the five fastest elapsed times are:
- 2017 — Comanche — 5d 01h 55m 26s (record)
- 2009 — Alfa Romeo — 5d 14h 36m 20s
- 2011 — Alfa Romeo (ex. Investec Loyal) — 5d 14h 36m 20s (same time recorded)
- 2017 — Rio100 — 5d 19h 21m 14s
- 2025 — Lucky — 5d 21h 23m 49s
Charging across the finish at 24 knots under full mainsail and triple headsails, Ehrhart’s crew of 17 delivered a flawless performance despite lighter tradewinds and a light-air patch early in the race.
“I don’t think I’ve ever finished a race going 24 knots,” Ehrhart said. “The Moloka’i Channel is famous for a reason. It’s your last challenge, and you better meet it.”
Ehrhart’s win was especially sweet after his 2021 Transpac attempt, when Lucky lost its rudder near the finish and had to be towed in.
“This was five and a half days of glorious sailing, and we got to finish,” he said. “The epic thing for me was coming back four years after losing our rudder 30 miles out and meeting that challenge.”
Although Lucky was the first in, they did not place in the Top Five overall after time was corrected. That distinct honor went to Alli Bell and her crew on her Cal 40 Restless. Bell, who took a winch handle to the notion that winning the Transpacific Yacht Race was a men’s only club, became the first woman skipper to win the race in its 119-year history. Restless crossed the race’s finish line with an estimated corrected finish time of 8 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes, and 49 seconds. Provisionally, this is the fastest time among the 53 boats, competing in 10 divisions, that began this year’s 2,225-nautical-mile race in Los Angeles.*
Fred Courouble and Charles Devanneaux, co-skippers of Rahan, the race’s only doublehanded entry, arrived a few hours after Lucky aboard their Beneteau First 36 although they left a lot earlier. They had an elapsed time of 10d 09:55:14, 5 days longer than the 88’ maxi but corrected time placed them in a very respectable 4th place overall, and they won in their class-Suntex Division 7.
“When you have a crew, you do your job and sleep,” Courouble said at the dock. “Doublehanded, you don’t sleep much. You start to hallucinate.”
About 400 miles from the finish, Rahan‘s spinnaker wrapped around the forestay, creating what Courouble called “a beautiful salami.” Even so, the duo kept pushing, fighting their closest rival, Picosa, to the line.
Fireworks from Hilton Hawaiian Village punctuated their final night as they crossed the finish.
Picosa, a J/111 sailed by Doug and Jack Jorgensen, finished about nine hours behind. The father-son team faced battery problems and squall-ridden night watches but played it safe on the final day to secure their result placing 2nd in their division.
“We knew we were solidly in second behind Rahan, so we just wanted to sail conservatively and not break anything,” Jack Jorgensen said.
Seattle-based J/111 Lodos, skippered by Tolga Cezik and Rade Trimceski, finished Saturday morning as Waikiki surfers caught waves nearby.
“We pushed hard our last night,” said Jennifer Hoag, trimmer and bow person. “We hoisted our biggest kite and white-knuckled through a 30-knot squall, but it was the right call. We put a lot of distance on the boats behind.”
Hoag also shared a personal highlight: sailing with her father, John, and watching dolphins play off the bow at sunset.
Don Wilson’s Gunboat 68 Catamaran Convexity2 arrived 1st in the Cat division with its high-powered crew that included sailors from The Ocean Race.
Ava Wilson, Don’s daughter and one of the drivers, described the experience as “absolutely awesome.”
“We had some solid bow stuff early this morning, and at one point, we lost hydraulics at 12:30 a.m.,” she said. “Everyone stayed calm, and we figured it out.”
For Wilson, the magic moments outweighed the challenges.
“My best watch was last night,” she said. “Seeing the sunset turn into stars and then the full moon, with 15 to 20 knots of breeze — it was incredible.”
All finishers were greeted with leis and ice-cold mai tais in pineapples, a nod to Transpac’s Aloha spirit and the ultimate celebration after a long Pacific crossing.
Final race results can be found at https://transpacyc.com/race-info/2025-race-info
Top Five Transpac Provisional Results
- RESTLESS
USA7717
F-TCF0.6802
Finished 13 Jul 2025 22:23:16
Elapsed 12d 12:03:16
Corrected 08d 12:05:49 - PIED PIPER
USA97510
F-TCF1.0311
Finished 13 Jul 2025 17:10:08
Elapsed 08d 07:10:08
Corrected 08d 13:21:47 - FAST EXIT II
USA51007
F-TCF1.1205
Finished 13 Jul 2025 01:39:39
Elapsed 07d 15:39:39
Corrected 08d 13:47:31 - RAHAN
USA3637
F-TCF0.8235
Finished 11 Jul 2025 20:15:14
Elapsed 10d 09:55:14
Corrected 08d 13:48:34 - PYEWACKET
USA678
F-TCF1.0239
Finished 13 Jul 2025 19:43:37
Elapsed 08d 09:43:37
Corrected 08d 14:32:54
* (Editor’s Note: the title “provisional winner” applies to Bell and Restless until all boats that are still competing in the race have crossed the finish line, and until all times have been ratified by race officials. Results will be finalized later this week.)
Pictures courtesy of Transpac and Ultimatesailing.com. For additional Race Day photos, visit Ultimatesailing.com
About Transpac
The Transpacific Yacht Race, or “Transpac,” is one of the world’s most enduring long-distance sailing contests, spanning 2,225 nautical miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu — far longer than the 635-mile Bermuda Race, its East Coast counterpart. While a race to Hawaii was first proposed by King David Kalakaua in 1886, it wasn’t realized until 1906, when Clarence Macfarlane and Harry Sinclair organized the inaugural event after the San Francisco earthquake forced a change in plans. The first race began on June 11, 1906, with three yachts competing; Lurline won after 12 days, 9 hours, and 59 minutes at sea. Held biennially since its inception, Transpac has built a rich and colorful history over more than 50 editions.
