Roy E. Disney helped OCC set sail

His retirement from sailing marked the opening of a new opportunity for Orange Coast College students.

When Roy E. Disney handed over his 86-foot yacht, the Pyewacket, as a donation to OCC’s Sailing and Seamanship program in April 2006, he gave new sailors a chance to raise their skill level, others a shot at the most complex boat around, and some an opportunity they’d never have again.

“There’s just many, many techniques to sailing a big powerful boat like that correctly,” said Brad Avery, director of OCC’s marine programs. “It can take a very good amateur sailor and really increase their skill levels. For people who don’t know that much, it just gives them the thrill of a lifetime.”

OCC had the boat for about 2 1/2 years. In that time, Disney gave the program an endowment paying for Pyewacket’s maintenance and a team to help maneuver it, Avery said. Disney had no illusions that the state-of-the-art yacht would be there forever, Avery said. That’s why the endowment lasted only a couple of years.

Disney died at a local hospital of stomach cancer Wednesday. He was 79.

Pyewacket was the college’s largest, fastest boat ever donated.

“People were just amazed,” Avery said.

School officials said Disney donated the boat after his final Transpacific Yacht Race ending in Honolulu.

The $7-million boat was first launched by Disney in 2004. In 2005, he and his crew won the Class 1 division of the Hoag Cup.

The legendary vessel also earned its share of awards with students.

Avery said his team won the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race and has competed in races from Catalina to San Diego. Students have to go through tryouts before getting to work aboard the Pyewacket, he said.

“It’s a very high-tech racing machine. Sort of like the Formula 1 of racing boats or a dragster,” Avery said. “It’s all carbon-fiber and very lightweight.”

“People still today, they say that was a highlight of their sailing experience. That was the kind of thing Roy was hoping to see the boat do.”

The Pyewacket was sold to a Hong Kong businessman in May 2008 for more than $1 million, school officials said.