Shanakee II finishes first
in Transpacific yacht race

LOS ANGELES >> Shanakee II finished first in the 41st Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii early yesterday morning, but because of a head start on other classes it won't win the Barn Door trophy for fastest elapsed time.

That honor awaits one of the three "super sleds" -- Philippe Kahn's Pegasus, Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket and Bob McNulty's Chance -- which remained locked in a dogfight with an ETA of pre-dawn Tuesday.

Shanakee II, a 75-foot cutter-rigged performance cruiser from Newport Beach, probably won't even win its Aloha-A Division on corrected handicap time. But with great weather and plenty of fresh fish, Jim Warmington's crew wasn't complaining.

"There was a lot of eating," skipper Carson Jefferson said. "Nobody lost any weight."

Shanakee II sailed the 2,225 nautical miles from Los Angeles in 11 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes 38 seconds, crossing the finish line off Diamond Head at 1:51:38 a.m. local time. The crew was met at Ala Wai Yacht Harbor with a personal luau, as are all Transpac competitors.

The time was well off the monohull record of 7:11:41:27 set by Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket in the previous Transpac in 1999, but that record isn't in jeopardy this year. To beat it, one of the big three would have to finish around midnight tonight -- an improbable 700-mile-plus run in under two days.

Hori, Shimozaki among Callaway competitors

Ayumi Hori and Joan Shimozaki head a list of talented young local golfers who are set to vie for the top spot at the Callaway Hawaii State Junior Championship tournament tomorrow and Tuesday.

The tournament is set for The Links at Kuilima tomorrow and Turtle Bay Country Club on Tuesday. First tee times are 11:30 a.m. for tomorrow's round and 7 a.m. for Tuesday's round.

Other top junior golfers competing in four boys and girls age divisions are Casey Watabu, Grant Yasui, Koa Furtado, Matthew Ma, Merynn Ito and Leah Whiting.

For information, call the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association at 532-0559.

[WE GET LETTERS]

Miracle worker

Tinman race director Olga Caldwell is a miracle woman. With less than a month before race time, and more than a thousand entries, she changed the Tinman Triathlon from jellyfish day to a week later.

It took courage to make this change. There are numerous departments, staffs, businesses and volunteers that needed to be advised.

It took genuine care for participants, not wanting them to suffer nasty stings and -- in some cases -- shock.

Mahalo nui loa to Olga and the many volunteers and others who made this change possible.

Jan Newhart
Honolulu

(Editor's note: Because of an anticipated problem with box jellyfish on the swim course, the Tinman Triathlon at Ala Moana Beach Park has been changed from July 15 to July 22.)

Classification, now

Since 1997, I have seen the Interscholastic League of Honolulu rule changes impact my nephew's football playing opportunity. The first rule ended the junior varsity program. Then the mercy rule. Now, it's limiting the roster to 65 and possibly cutting the games to six.

How can my nephew receive playing time as he did as an intermediate player? He had 600-plus yards of rushing during that year. He is a gifted player, has speed behind him, is eager and confident, works hard at practice and deserves the right to play. It seems that every year we think he'll get playing time, another rule goes into effect and he is forced to sit out, extinguishing the fire burning within him and diminishing his spirit.

As stated by Clay Benham, ILH executive secretary: "We're dying on the vine. There must be a major change, and in our view (statewide) classification is the answer."

It is the answer. Why are we taking so long to do it?

In the meantime, our boys are not getting enough playing time for college recruitment opportunities. Football has paved the way for our local boys to obtain scholarships. Just let them play.

L. Sanchez
Honolulu

Be a loyal fan

The term "loyal'' fan should be defined. There's all this disagreement with the University of Hawaii football game being played on Friday at 4 p.m.

We have an uproar from fans who call themselves loyal and are crying for a refund. This prime-time TV slot given to UH will greatly increase the opportunity for people and the media on the mainland to view the Warriors and also assist in future recruiting. It's a win-win situation.

We don't have loyal fans in Hawaii. We have fans who want everything to be convenient. If it's convenient and the team is winning, they will come.

R. Horita
Waipahu

Hawaii's own

Benny Agbayani, Mets: The St. Louis and Hawaii Pacific alumnus flew home before his team's 3-0 win over the Yankees yesterday to be with his wife, Niela, who was about to give birth to the couple's first child. They are expecting a girl and have chosen the name Aleia.

Labor was scheduled to be induced yesterday and general manager Steve Phillips said he expected to see his left fielder back for Thursday's game at home against the Red Sox.

That closes the book on Agbayani's first half, in which he appeared in 59 of his team's 88 games but saw his average slip to .266 with only four home runs and 17 RBIs.

Agbayani is traditionally stronger in the first half of the season, hitting .282 with 22 of his 33 major-league homers before the break over his career. Hist career post-break average is .276.

Mike Fetters, Dodgers: The Iolani school product said there's nothing more to his horrific outing Friday other than he was awful. In his first game since coming off the disabled list, Fetters faced six batters, all of whom scored, and allowed a homer to Al Martin.

"That was the worst outing of my career. I faced six hitters without getting an out. That's pretty pathetic," Fetters said. "I talked to (catcher Paul) Lo Duca (yesterday) and when he went out there, I had a set of signs, and I wasn't even going with those signs. He was putting a sign out and I was throwing a different pitch. It was pretty weird for me."

[WINNERS & LOSERS]

[WINNERS]

<< June Jones: Cal Lee's recent decision to give up his post as head football coach at St. Louis leaves him with one less reason to turn Jones down for a job with the Warriors.

Joe Torre: Perhaps because the Hall of Fame vote and the selection of the next face to go onto Mt. Rushmore is out of his hands, the Yankee manager made a statement to "Me" generation players everywhere by selecting seven of his champions to the All-Star team. To Torre, loyalty and contributing to a winning effort means more than raw numbers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior kept Daytona dominance in the family, surviving the final lap to take the Pepsi 400, winning in the Winston Cup's first time on the track after it claimed his father's life.

[LOSERS]

>> Andre Agassi: After losing to Patrick Rafter on Friday, Agassi rocketed a shot toward Wendy Smith, the linesperson who earlier had ratted on him to the chair umpire for swearing. Smith deftly eluded the speeding ball, adding just another miss to Agassi's long tally on the day.

NASCAR: Driver Dave Marcis will retire after 34 years. He went the past 19 years without winning a race. He's the last of the independent drivers, the final link to the past when a man was his own pit crew and used instinct rather than MIT engineers to make him go faster.

MTV: The cable TV network -- or whatever kids watch these days -- had to have lost viewers last week as Hawaii AYSO and junior golf kept hundreds of kids busy competing in tournaments.