Aussie yacht streets the Yanks

Neville Crichton's 30 metre Reichel Pugh-designed maxi yacht Alfa Romeo is giving the Americans a sailing lesson as it steams across the western Pacific in the historic TransPac yacht race.

After setting a new 24 hour distance record in its first day on the course, Alfa Romeo was continuing to thunder westward at 16 knots in only 11 knots of wind.

Crewmen aboard the giant sliver sloop expect it to pass most of the other yachts in the 2200 nautical mile race within the next 24 hours. Some of the smaller boats started more than five days ahead of the giant maxi.

From the time Alfa Romeo crossed the starting line off the US west coast, it looked on course to set a new elapsed time record for the race.
 
During it first 24 hours, the yacht covered 399 nautical miles, beating the 24 hour record established by the maxi yacht Morning Glory in the 2005 race.

The rules of the TransPac race, the oldest established yacht race in the US, were changed this year to enable maxi yachts such as Alfa Romeo, which uses powered winches to handle its enormous sails and which is fitted with a canting keel, to compete.

Crichton, who has taken line honours in more than 100 races in Europe in the past three years, decided to use the TransPac as the first leg of the trip home to Australia.

Alfa Romeo will face its arch rival, Bob Oatley's 30 metre maxi Wild Oats XI, in this year's Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race.