Wild start for second Transpac group

The second group of boats headed to sea for the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race got off to a wild start yesterday off Long Beach, Calif., with one collision and a protest filed even before the start of the race.

The protest filed by David Clark's Adrenaline against On the Edge of Destiny, owned by Kailua's Sean Doyle, will be reviewed after the boats arrive in Honolulu. According to reports from Transpac 2007, the protest was possibly due to "barging" or trying to squeeze in from behind the committee boat.

With boats crowding toward one end of the starting line, the scene was described as "gridlock" with several boats making 360-degree turns when they couldn't find room maneuver.

The 23 boats that started on Monday finally found some breezes after light winds the previous two days.

The final group of 22 boats in the top three divisions set sail tomorrow.