First finishers for 2023 Transpac Race

(July 6, 2023) – At 02:48 Hawaii Standard Time, Justin Shaffer’s MOD70 Orion crossed the finish line at Diamond Head as the first finisher in the 2023 Transpac Race.

Their elapsed time of 4 days 17 hours 48 minutes fell short of breaking the multihull course record of 04:06:32 set by H.L. Enloe’s ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe in 2017, as the Orion team was not helped by the light winds encountered while exiting the California coast after their July 1 start.

However, among both multihulls and monohulls, this is nonetheless the sixth fastest elapsed time in the entire history of the race, first sailed in 1906.

The Orion crew of six had Paul Allen, Hogan Beatie, Morgan Larson, Cam Lewis, Matt Noble and Justin Shaffer. – Full report

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