The Horizon crew celebrates their third consecutive Transpacific Yacht Race victory. Courtesy photo
By Steve Breazeale
For the third consecutive time Jack Taylor and his crew, sailing aboard the Horizon, won the coveted Transpacific Yacht Race, which starts in Los Angeles and finishes in Honolulu.
The race is held every two years and Taylor and his crew have won every installment of it dating back to 2009. On July 22 the eight men aboard Horizon passed Diamond Head, Hawaii at 9:30 a.m. with escort helicopters guiding them in. They finished the race in 11 days.
It’s an accomplishment that Taylor, a member of the Dana Point Yacht Club, has not seen occur at the Transpacific race.
“To win one is a feat in itself. To win two is really, really difficult and to win three with the class of competition in the race is really incredible,” Taylor said.
This year’s race was a bit different from others, according to Taylor. Usually, boats steer to the south to catch the trade winds that are historically present in the area. But this year, due to much calmer conditions, Horizon decided to take a more direct line to Hawaii and maintain a steady pace. It was a strategy that their top competitor, Bodacious IV, did not follow. Bodacious IV headed south to ride the winds but in the end, it was Horizon that came out on top.