In an age of satellite phones, Internet tracking and high-tech yachts, Dan Doyle believes the heart of the Transpacific Yacht Race continues to be the romance of sailing across the largest ocean on earth, surrounded by stars, sunrises, dolphins and whales.

Doyle's two teenage sons from Kailua are leading the youngest crew to ever sail the 101-year-old race and he's happy to answer questions from landlubbers here and on the Mainland about the allure of the 2,559-mile race known as the "Transpac."

"For the average person who lives in Waikele, they're interested in the adventure because there are so few adventures left like it," Doyle said. "When you're 50 percent of the way across the Pacific Ocean, you are farther away from land than any place on Earth.

"There's just something about being out at night gazing at stars uncontaminated by the Earth. The peace is infectious."

The first of the fleet of 73 yachts that started the race in Los Angeles, beginning July 9, is scheduled to arrive late tomorrow or Sunday at "F" Dock in the Ala Wai Harbor.

This, the 44th running of the Transpac, will be the latest incarnation of an unfulfilled dream of King David Kalakaua to connect Hawai'i to the rest of the world through a sailboat race on his 50th birthday in 1897.

It wasn't until 1906 that Clarence Macfarlane, a Honolulu businessman and yachtsman, launched the race that has continued despite interruptions from two world wars.

Each year, each yacht — whether it arrives at 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon — is met by at least a handful of the 500 local volunteer greeters armed with food, drinks and lei for each crew member and for each boat.

High-profile yachts such as Pyewacket, owned by Walt Disney's nephew, 77-year-old Roy E. Disney, will be greeted by hundreds of people, said Susan Jacqueline Esse, chairwoman of the Transpac Yacht Club Honolulu Committee.

"Perfect strangers greet these boats with mai tais, hula girls and food, no matter what time of day it is," Esse said. "In the past, I've picked a name out of the hat and agreed to greet them. That's the aloha spirit."

STORM GAMBLE FAILS

There won't be any speed records set this year.

Weak winds out of California got the race off to a slow start as navigators picked northern, southern and the more traditional direct — or "rhumb line" — routes looking for the best wind to O'ahu.

In the past couple of days, about a dozen yachts headed south to try to get a boost from then-Hurricane Cosme.

The gamble failed.

Cliff Cisco, a director and treasurer of the Transpac Yacht Club Honolulu Committee, looked over the latest race data at the club's headquarters yesterday and saw that perennial entrant Rosebud was among the boats that "dived way south" to hitch a ride with Cosme.

Rosebud and the others never caught up to the hurricane and only ended up losing more ground to Pyewacket, which continued to lead the race yesterday.

Pyewacket more or less followed the rhumb line to cover 336 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 16.1 mph, Cisco said. Over the same period, Rosebud sailed only 134 miles at an average speed of 5.75 mph before turning north again, Cisco said.

If the expected foul weather reaches O'ahu at the same time as the fastest yachts this weekend, Cisco said, "they'll just get wet. There won't be any benefit. It'll just be normal trade winds."

Organizers insist that each Transpac is about more than just racing and belies its reputation as a hobby for the rich.

"It's a very common misconception that races like these are sailed by people of means," said Doyle, who is part owner of a real estate investment firm. "The reality is most of the people that are racing are everyday people like you and me. We have jobs and families and we're not independently wealthy. Sure, there's the odd person with a lot of money who has a big boat. For most of us, if I were flipping burgers at McDonald's, I'd still be sailing."

'IT STAYS WITH YOU'

For every millionaire yacht owner, there are even more boats crewed by fathers, mothers and their children, Doyle said. Other boats in the past have been filled with crew members with disabilities and those with AIDS, who held fundraisers to finance their Transpac experience.

This year, the ages of the crew members range from an average of 19.8 years for Doyle's boat, On the Edge of Destiny, to two 70-year-olds sailing "two handed."

Even for those with no chance of winning, Cisco said, the experience of crossing the Pacific is about "being out on the ocean a long way from land and being self-sufficient, taking care of yourself and your crew, everybody focused on one thing, making the boat go fast. It's a very intimidating experience you don't forget. It stays with you and becomes part of your life forever."

This year, Doyle won't have the pleasure of making the trip.

But he knows how his sons, Sean, 19, and Justin, 18, are going to feel when they reach land.

"When you finally get on shore," Doyle said, "you almost get a hangover from the noise and the hustle and bustle. You really long to get back on the boat."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.