Celerity first to finish yacht race

It took the boat Celerity a dozen days to sail from Long Beach, Calif., to Diamond Head as skipper Harry Zanville and crew crossed the finish line near Waikiki to be the first to finish at the 48th annual Transpac Yacht Race around 5 a.m. Friday.

The Celerity, which is a 2009 Santa Cruz 37, was the first of 51 sailboats launched in three staggered starts from Point Fermin near Long Beach to reach the Aloha Dock of the Hawaii Yacht Club as family and friends celebrated the fast trip. The 2015 Transpac race committee expected four more boats to arrive later Friday evening. They are Roy Disney’s Wild Oats, Ragamuffin, Patriot and Marjorie. (Track the race here: http://yb.tl/transpac2015) It’s possible one of these boats will actually win the race.

Four boats entered from Hawaii should arrive some time this weekend, including the CaZan, skippered by Scott Bradley, Grand Illusion, skippered by James McDowell, Second Wind, skippered by John Chamberlain and Dean Fargo, and Crescent III, skippered by Akimitsu Hirai. This year’s race began on July 13 with the later boats battling still or light air. The first event began under the watch of King David Kalakaua. His yacht, Healani, won the first Challenge Trophy on July 4, 1889.