New breeds of smaller boats will be running with special motivation in the 41st Transpacific Yacht Race in 2001: Their own versions of the traditional Barn Door.

Trophies will be awarded to those first to finish, boat for boat, inclasses being defined to a new Transpac 40/50 Rule by a committee of prominent designers and handicappers.

The suggestion and gift of a first-to-finish trophy for 50-footers camefrom Transpac campaigner Don Clothier of Hawaii, who sailed Tower, aLidgard 45, to second place in Division 4 in 1999. The Transpac board of directors has taken Clothier's suggestion one step farther with a 40-footclass, as well.

The Barn Door — so-called for its size and shape as a 3' x 4 1/2',3-inch-thick plaque hand-carved from native Hawaiian koa wood — is one of the more unusual and most coveted trophies in sailing. Officially called the Transpacific Yacht Club Perpetual Trophy, it has been awarded since 1949 to the fastest monohull in the biennial 2,225-nautical mile race from Los Angeles to Honolulu and has been claimed by some of the legendary competitors of the sport.

But competition for the Barn Door, because of its prominence and tradition, has been exclusively among large ultralight displacement boats (ULDBs) inrecent years and has often overshadowed the rest of the race — thus, this move to increase recognition for the sailing skills and technological advances among entries of all sizes.

TPYC Commodore Sandy Martin said, "It is intended that the yachts eligible for these trophies be fast but practical, and that they be exciting enough for the professional sailor and manageable enough for amateur sailors. While the system will likely type-form the yachts, their primary focus will be on the downwind course to Hawaii. It is Transpac Yacht Club's intention that qualifying yachts will be suitable for other races as well."

The committee for the Transpac 40/50 Rule includes Bill Lee, Alan Andrewsand Jim Pugh, all of whom have designed Barn Door winners, along with Dan Nowlan, Offshore Director of US Sailing, and Jerry Montgomery, 2001 Transpac handicapper and entries chairman. Montgomery was skipper of Ralphie, the Santa Cruz 52 that was the overall winner on corrected time in 1997.

The rule, prepared by Lee in its initial draft, lists some basic guidelines, including:

Maximum length for 40-footers, 40.00 feet; maximum length for50-footers, 50.00 feet. Grandfather of length for existing yachts: 40-footers, 43.00 feet; 50-footers, 53.00 feet.

Minimum displacement for 40-footers, 10,000 pounds; minimum displacementfor 50-footers, 16,000 pounds.

Maximum of one keel and one rudder.

Water ballast located within the hull and deck structure is allowed.

Configuration may be masthead, fractional or masthead/fractional. Code 0jibs are allowed.

Maximum spinnaker pole length for 40-footers, 18 feet; maximum spinnakerpole length for 50-footers, 22.5 feet.

Lee, whose sleek Merlin revolutionized Transpac in 1977 with a record thatstood for 20 years, called the current draft rule "a framework to startwith."

"The numbers are quite arbitrary," Lee said. "The first round of numbers I wrote for the committee may be arbitrary. But by the time it goes to the public, the numbers will be fine-tuned to generate the best possible yacht for the purpose.

"One way to look at it would be to think of what the best one-design yacht would be for average sailors to race to Hawaii, [say] a giant Melges 24+/-, then lock those dimensions and allow the balance of the design to vary within the box... I think we are looking for the yacht the most people will buy, not the most radical yacht. Because of the grandfather, it is not necessary to select dimensions which embrace existing yachts, but rather it is possible to think on a clean sheet of paper and select dimensions which will yield the best possible new yacht for the objectives."

Martin said, "A great deal of latitude will be allowed in hull shape, foilshape, deck layout, rig configuration and other items. Yachts must meet the ORC requirements and stringent stability requirements. In many respects these yachts will be defined by a system similar to that used for the Whitbread (now Volvo) 60s, although they will most likely be lighter boats for the length. The measurement system is very much intended to be a simple development rule as opposed to a handicap rule."

While competing for first-to-finish trophies, Transpac 40s and 50s also will qualify for the race's traditional handicap classes.

Rich Roberts is the publicity chair for the Transpac, contact him at (310) 835-2526, [email protected]

Event site: www.transpacificyc.org