San Diegan Makes Sailing History at the Transpacific Yacht Race
Twelve and a half days into a 2,225-mile crossing of the Pacific, Alli Bell stood at the helm of her 59-year-old Cal 40 sailboat, Restless, as it surged through the Moloka‘i Channel in Hawai’i. Winds gusted near 30 knots. Waves broke behind them like moving mountains. Her crew-family and friends-laughed as the boat surfed down swell after swell.
When Restless crossed the finish line off Diamond Head on July 13, Bell etched her name in history as the first female skipper to win the Transpacific Yacht Race in its 119 years. In a vintage boat, no less. Without a professional crew. In a sport often defined by deep pockets and old networks, Bell’s win was built on community, grit, and a little luck.
“Crossing that finish line felt surreal, but the truth is we were having fun the whole way. We laughed, we sailed hard, and we never lost sight of why we were out there,” Bell says.
Transpac is one of sailing’s most storied tests of endurance. Since 1906, boats have raced the 2,200-plus miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu, chasing trade winds and dodging doldrums. The 2025 race featured 53 boats divided across nine monohull divisions and one multihull.
“It’s long enough to throw everything at you, calms, storms, trade winds,” Bell says. “ You feel like you’re earning every mile.”
Bell and her Restless crew claimed the top prize, the King Kalākaua Trophy, with a corrected time of 8 days, 12 hours, and 5 minutes. Because Transpac uses a handicap system to level the playing field between fast and slow boats, their Cal 40 didn’t have to be first to arrive in Hawai’i, they just had to post the best adjusted time. Their vintage Cal 40 outperformed modern yachts and professional crews in a field where all but four boats finished.
To Bell, though, Transpac is more than a race. “It’s the pinnacle,” she says. “Competitive, and tough, but also full of aloha spirit. It’s a community.”
Rated as the third slowest boat in the fleet, Restless was no one’s favorite on paper. But Bell wasn’t new to this race. She’d sailed Transpac four times before as crew and grew up surrounded by its stories. Her husband, Stephen Driscoll, and cousin, Graham Bell, both onboard for this crossing, also came from families steeped in Transpac tradition. Together they carried decades of collective experience, knowing the race’s challenges and rhythms like second nature. “The people on the boat were the ones I was talking about the Cal 40 with long before I owned it,” Bell says. “It just made sense.”
They prepared meticulously, but Bell credits more than hard work. “The stars aligned for us this year. The way the weather lined up for us happens maybe 1 out every 100 years,” she says.
The Pacific High set up perfectly for Restless, giving Bell and her crew the rare chance to sail optimal angles with the wind at their backs. It also meant they covered fewer miles than any of the 53 boats in the fleet, a decisive edge in a race where efficiency often beats raw speed.
But not every moment felt easy. Early in the crossing, the weather in the open Pacific was disorganized, leaving Restless dealing with shifting winds and confused seas. Nights were especially challenging with low visibility and a wild ocean beneath them. Bell stayed steady at the helm, her calm presence keeping the crew focused through hours of adjustments.
Then, four days into the race, Bell learned her husband’s uncle had passed away back home. A longtime Transpac sailor himself, he had given the crew a big hug before they left San Diego. “We felt like he was with us on the way to victory,” Bell says.
Life onboard balanced grit with moments of humor. To keep from getting stir-crazy during long stretches of open ocean, the crew turned to Instagram, posting daily videos that captured everything from sea life sightings to mid-ocean milestones. When boredom crept in, they started remixing songs. By day eight, their version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” became the absurd but unanimous favorite. Meals like Japanese curry rice and mac and cheese topped with Cheeto dust kept morale high.
Bell grew up around sailing but never had a direct path to offshore racing. Her grandparents’ boat, Westward, served as her family’s floating beach house at Catalina. In 1981, during what was thought to be Westward’s final Transpac, her family rescued sailors from a wrecked catamaran and sailed to Hawaii with twice the number of people they left with.
Years later, after spending time in St. Louis, Ann Arbor, and Boulder racing dinghies and shorter course regattas, Bell returned to San Diego. Around the same time, her family brought Westward back into racing shape for the 2013 and 2015 Transpac races, and Bell joined the crew. Those experiences reconnected her to offshore sailing and gave her a clearer vision of what she wanted next.
Still, barriers lingered. “It’s difficult for women to get offshore rides,” she says. “I just didn’t have the onramp.” In 2019, she built her own. She bought Restless, drawn to its elegant lines and storied racing pedigree. Every upgrade decision came down to two questions: Will this work at Catalina? Will this work in Transpac?
Apparently, the answer is yes.
Some have questioned why Bell didn’t race with an all-women crew. She’s unfazed. “I just want to be a sailor,” she says. “I don’t want women after me to feel like they’re doing things for other people.”
At the same time, she understands the weight of her place in history. “I hope to inspire women trying to make their way in this sport and for everyone to know you don’t need a million-dollar boat to make your mark.”
Bell credits her success to a broader network of support. Years in the sport built relationships that came through when she needed sails, gear, and advice. “It takes a village. Maybe when you do things the right way, you don’t win as many races, but when we needed help, people showed up.”
As a member and Vice Commodore of San Diego Yacht Club, Bell’s win is also a win for the city’s rich sailing tradition. Her story is not just about breaking a glass ceiling. It is about family, community, and proving that with the right captain, even small boat can still beat the giants.
The post San Diegan Makes Sailing History at the Transpacific Yacht Race appeared first on San Diego Magazine.
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