News

Congratulations to four-time Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation scholarship recipient, Django Tomlinson, on winning the Mark Rudiger Celestial Navigation Trophy!

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Reposted from the Official Site of Cal Maritime Athletics:

Cal Maritime earned worldwide distinction as the only collegiate team competing in the 2025 Transpacific Yacht Race, offshore sailing's prestigious biannual 2,225-mile offshore sailing competition that commences in San Pedro, California, and ends off Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, and making history as the only back-to-back recipients of the Mark Rudiger Celestial Navigation Trophy, one of the Transpac's major individual awards, when race officials bestowed this honor to Django Tomlinson.

Tomlinson graduated from Cal Maritime in January with a degree in Marine Transportation and currently works on tugs near his home town of Kaneohe, Hawaii, as a Third Mate for Sause Bros.

This award of distinction is presented to the navigator — Tomlinson served this role aboard T/S Cal Maritime (Oaxaca) — the only collegiate crew competing against a field containing the world's top professional teams — who submits celestial navigation worksheets or evidence of traditional navigation to the finish inspectors immediately after finishing, and whose work is selected as the best by an impartial panel of judges.

The judging panel is to comprise one or more navigators, skilled in the art of celestial navigation, who have completed at least one Transpac Race, and who are selected by the Commodore of The Transpacific Yacht Club each race.  

Criteria judges use for their Mark Rudiger Celestial Navigation Trophy selection include:

Traditional Polynesian/Micronesian navigational techniques would be highly regarded. For initial reference, see David Lewis' book, "We the Navigators".
Longitude (and time) determination via Lunar Distance would be highly regarded.
Traditional celestial navigation comprising multi-LOP running fixes including sights of stars, planet(s), and moon, are more highly regarded than noon sights or other meridian transits.
Tabular reductions will be more highly regarded than computer or calculator reductions.
Accuracy of the sextant observations, as evidenced by the size of the "cocked hat" of the running fixes, will be considered.
The accuracy of the submitted work will be checked, and any errors in traditional sight correction, sight reduction, or plotting of the sights and running fix will be weighed against the submission.
The expertise and artistry exhibited by the submitted work will be favorably considered.
As this year's honoree, Tomlinson was bestowed a take-home navigator's trophy similar to those received by navigators of Transpac-winning boats but engraved as the Mark Rudiger Celestial Navigation Award.

The Mark Rudiger Celestial Navigation Trophy itself is an antique brass 1905 T. Hemsley & Son silver-vernier A-frame sextant, donated by Stan Honey.