The biennial Transpac Race extends on a 2225 nm course from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish line off Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii. It cuts across a big ocean, and when things go wrong, the distance from either the start or finish lines is the closest point of land. Alan Blunt shares a story of when things go wrong: In the 1971 Transpac Race, I was crewing on the Canadian registered maxi Graybeard, owned and skippered by Lol Killian from Vancouver. It was a great race, and we were battling it out with the noted big boats…