Pyewacket sets sail again

After less than a year in Newport Harbor, the celebrated racing yacht Pyewacket may have seen the last of these waters.

Roy Disney, who donated the boat to the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship last summer, is chartering the boat to race in the 2007 Transpac race from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

To ready it for the race, Disney will pay for a renovation that will make the boat more competitive — but the modifications will leave the boat with a keel too deep to fit in Newport Harbor. Disney is chartering the boat for a combination of $500,000 and the renovations. The college still owns the boat, but may keep it in Marina del Rey, sailing school director Brad Avery said.

“It’s fantastic. I don’t think we could have written a better script,” Avery said. “Now it’s going to get a tremendous amount of work on it.”

Before competing in the Transpac, Disney will refit the keel and extend the bow sprit. The boat’s original keel, removed earlier this year, is still in storage, so it’s not a big deal to replace it, Avery said.

Pyewacket will also get a new paint job, fresh sails and new rigging and winches.

In March, Pyewacket appeared at the college’s docks in Newport Harbor, fresh off a renovation. The boat’s 18-foot keel was shortened to fit in the harbor, and additional modifications were made to power down the boat and make it easier to handle.

The OCC team that crewed Pyewacket in the Newport to Ensenada race in April won’t be accompanying the boat on the Transpac. Disney hires his own professional crew, Avery said.

Disney donated the boat to the college following the 2005 Transpac race, which was supposed to be the last for Disney and his crew aboard Pyewacket. A few months ago, Avery said the college learned that Disney wanted to rent the boat for several months to train and then compete in Disney’s 17th Transpac.

Avery said Disney will enhance the boat in ways the college couldn’t afford.

“We’ll get the boat back in just great condition,” Avery said.

Avery said the college hasn’t decided whether the boat will be kept in Marina del Ray or return to Newport Harbor. The modifications Disney will make on the boat prior to the Transpac would have to be changed for it to fit back in the harbor, Avery said.