Happy 90th birthday Transpac Yacht Club
Not every yacht club is founded by a man lying down. It was, however, a man lying down on February 3, 1928 who brought forth the Transpacific Yacht Club. And that man was a serial founder: it was true in his profession of radiology, also in his field of passion, sailing, where he had already founded the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Southern California Yachting Association and Pacific Coast Yachting Association. A contemporary said of him, “Al Soiland never seemed to rest,” and that was also true. On February 3, 1928 our man was in a hospital bed recuperating from an appendix operation, and Al Soiland had to be doing…something.
What he started, these many years later now supports Transpac 50, coming up in July with a record 97 entries so far.
Almost forgotten, but now remembered as a visionary, Dr. Albert F. Soiland, MD had met a certain Clarence MacFarlane in 1906, when the instigator of the Transpacific Yacht Race sailed into Los Angeles Harbor looking for a race home to Honolulu. Well-known history tells us that MacFarlane had expected to join a race starting from San Francisco – he had sailed over to promote a race and his beloved Hawaii – but the earthquake got to San Francisco ahead of him. He arrived to find a city still smouldering, a hotter fact and a hotter topic than yacht racing, so his 48-foot schooner, La Paloma, sailed on to Los Angeles. There, the boat, her crew, and the vision of a great ocean race were quickly embraced by South Coast Yacht Club.
On March 1, 1928, at a Transpac race planning meeting chaired by Race Chairman Soiland at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, George Vibert formally moved and Joe Beek seconded the formation of Transpacific Yacht Club. Clarence Macfarlane was named the first Commodore in absentia and largely honorary, and Al Soiland, Vice Commodore.
Today they have 574 members, and make the Transpacific Yacht Race happen every two years. To some, it’s kind of a big deal, and 2019 is looking good.
by Kimball Livingston, 2019.transpacyc.com
