Pegasus smashes double-handed Transpac record by two and a half days

13 July, 2009

Honolulu, HI (July 13, 2009) – The record for double-handing the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu has been broken. At 4:38:35 am HST today, Philippe Kahn and Mark “Crusty” Christensen, crossed the Diamond Head finish line in the Owen Clarke designed Open 50, Pegasus 50, in a record time of 7 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. They shaved over two and a half days off of the previous record set by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum in 2001 also with an Open 50, Etranger in the most enduring and greatest ocean race in the world covering 2,225 nautical miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Pegasus now holds both the double-handed record to Hawaii from Los Angeles and San Francisco after winning the Pacific Cup outright last year.

It seemed unusual to be taking photos of Kahn and Christensen as they backed Pegasus 50 into the slip at Waikiki Yacht Club after having spent days viewing their blog. They used their Motion X GPS application for their iPhone to get instantaneous performance feedback and to communicate to the rest of the world and share their story with AV blog postings.

“Double-handing the Open 50 to Hawaii is one of the highlights of my year,” stated Kahn, a noted technologist and the creator of the camera phone. “I love being out in the open Ocean, once we're out there, that's all that matters – we had our sights on the record and we beat it. Mark and I are a perfect team. We work together at MotionX and we race together as partners on Pegasus across the Pacific. Mark's experience as one of the greatest offshore sailors in the world is invaluable. Transpac is a navigator's race and that plays into our strength ”

As race day approached the skippers scoured the weather information, and see that the weather is shaping up nicely. The team would get a fast and windy race, just what they needed for a shot at the double-handed record. Now they are ready to set sail with equipment that includes two iPhones 3GS loaded with MotionX-GPS to navigate from start to finish and to allow them to document their journey via Philippe's blog on www.pegasus.com/log.htm, Facebook and YouTube.

For full story and photographs go to:

http://www.owenclarkedesign.com/pegasus_smashes_transpac_doublehanded_record

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