Lady Bleu II first to finish
Advertiser Staff
For most of a day, at least, Roger Kuske could bask in the glow of being No. 1.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The plumbing and appliance business owner from San Diego sailed his Lady Bleu II across the Diamond Head finish line at midday yesterday to capture first-to-finish honors of the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race.
Roger and Brenda Kuske's Lady Bleu II was the first to cross the finish line off Diamond Head in the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles.
Lady Bleu II, a Dynamique 62, left Los Angeles July 1 as part of the Aloha A class fleet in the 2,225-nautical mile race.
It had a five-day head start on Pegasus 77 and other high-speed, high-tech boats.
Pegasus 77 was expected to arrive at dawn today with a chance to become the fourth boat in Transpac history to sweep honors for fastest elapsed time, first in class and first overall in corrected handicap time.
But, for now, Lady Bleu II will be parked in the No. 1 spot on Transpac Row at the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.
"We're happy with that," Kuske said.
Said navigator Barry Ault: "We are looking forward to greeting everybody else in the (54-boat) fleet."
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Generally, the Aloha boats are either older or more heavily laden with creature comforts than the single-purpose boats in the racing divisions. Lady Bleu II, for example, has three staterooms, three bathrooms, a TV and a large refrigerator. It weighs 30 tons, about equal to the combined weight of the fleet's two Division I boats — Pegasus 77 and Pyewacket.
Roger Kuske's Lady Bleu II had a five-day head start on Pegasus 77 and other high-speed, high-tech boats.
"It's a very comfortable boat," said Brenda Kuske, who greeted her husband at the finish. "We did have a washer-dryer, but we took it out for more refrigeration."
Comfort aside, Ault said: "We sailed the boat hard all the time, 24 hours a day."
A few other Aloha entries were projected to beat Pegasus 77 to the finish line, but Pegasus owner Philippe Kahn of Los Angeles will collect his second consecutive Barn Door award for the fastest elapsed time, although missing Pyewacket's race record of 7 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, 27 seconds.
"Our projections show that we will be crossing the finish line around (5 a.m.)," Kahn reported on his Web site, "or maybe a little earlier, before daybreak. (The wind is) lighter but we are pushing really hard."
So hard that Pegasus 77 set a one-day mileage record — covering 356 miles in the 24 hours leading to yesterday's morning roll call. Pegasus was 74 miles ahead of Pyewacket after breaking the record of 353 miles by Doug Baker's Andrews 70 Magnitude in 1999.
Press officer Rich Roberts provided information for this report.
