Fish, Beef Stew and Whales: The Fleet’s First Days at Sea
The 2026 Pacific Cup is underway, and the boats that slipped out through the Golden Gate over the past two days are settling into the long rhythm of an ocean. We’ve had our first whale spottings too!
Tuesday’s starters head for the horizon
As the first wave settled offshore, Tuesday’s starters — the Doublehanded ORR, PHRF 1, ORR 4 and ORR 3 divisions lined up their starts. Like Monday, the starts were quite civilized, recognizing a long race ahead. No shouting!
Our starters followed the time-worn approach, crossing the line, heading for the north edge of the entrance to the bay hoping for that early wind fill, and then heading out. All fleets on the water now are heading well offshore, just a bit south of the direct course to Hawaii. This classic move is generally designed to take advantage of firmer winds to the south. We’re sure this will pay off, but the question is… for who?
As we look at the tracker, we see Charly Devennaux’ Rahan leading boat-for-boat, with Sun Dragon keeping pace. The next wave of Recidivist and Ventana look to be giving them a run for the money while they look over their shoulders at the rest of the fleet.
The Monday wave finds its ocean legs
No one has embraced offshore life more enthusiastically than the crew of DuendeTheir departure was memorable for the wrong reasons — by their own account they “almost hit Freedom, and cherries fell on the ground” leaving the dock. But once at sea, crewmember Giuseppe Lavelle spotted something trailing on a line behind the boat:
“IT WAS A FISH! However we forgot to gaff the fish so it got away. Then five minutes later IT HAPPENED AGAIN — and this time we actually caught it. Right now it’s sitting in the cockpit floor waiting to be eaten. All is well, and we want another fish.”
Nearby, SURFreported a slow but scenic trip off the line, “doing some zagging while the rest of the fleet zigged.” The crew watched whales working the water around them and, at one point, startled a flock of sea birds so badly that one of them vomited its fish dinner on takeoff — an involuntary contribution to the food chain that Duende would surely have appreciated.
Aboard the Cal 40 Viva, skipper Don Jesberg described “a nice day in the ocean so far” — eight knots of breeze, lumpy but not extreme seas, warm and cloudy, whales blowing nearby and homemade lunch sandwiches broken out on deck. The galley has since set the tone for the whole trip: Tuesday morning brought breakfast burritos, “continuing the theme from delicious chicken chile verde enchiladas last night.”
Contrary to shoreside predictions of lumpy seas and spoiled appetites, food is proving to be the fleet’s real fuel. On Freedom, the crew made it through the first night in high spirits thanks to a batch of Muriel’s homemade beef stew, heated and served through a bouncy night by the skipper’s brother, Dave. “Everyone in good spirits and still talking to each other,” the report noted, “so that is good.”
Further south, the veteran Cal 40 Green Buffalo was making the most of a breezy night, hoisting the jib top just before sunset and carrying 17 to 23 knots into the dark. Tuesday morning found her beam reaching in 15 to 20 knots and moderate seas — “enough bump on the beam to make driving a bit of a workout.” The doublehanded Bazingasummed up the same night more briefly: “all good aboard, after a bumpy one.