Fleets Approach Halfway; Fighting it Out

Eight days into the 2022 Pacific Cup, the bulk of the fleet is approaching the halfway mark. Boats continue to consolidate around  the rhumb line. Pyewacket 70, meanwhile, is now just over 800 miles from Kaneohe and beginning to line up their approach to the islands. They are expected some time on Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center has updated their guidance on the newly formed Hurricane Darby, though it shouldn’t play a major role in this race. The fleet is still struggling with inconsistent and lighter than normal breeze during this race which has turned into a historically slow year to race from San Francisco to Kaneohe. While the speeds may be lower than average, the racing is red hot however, as this Navigator’s duel has created hugely interesting tactical dilemmas and very close racing.

At the head of the fleet, Roy Pat Disney’s turbo Volvo 70 Pyewacket 70 is making over 16 knots and is looking for the right spot to throw in one single gybe and come ripping right into the islands. They are expected some time on Thursday and Race Committee, Media and Volunteers alike are preparing for their arrival into Honolulu’s Aloha Tower with the Pyewacket 70 party planned to take place at Waikiki Yacht Club. (Pyewacket 70 and a few others won’t go to Kaneohe, due to draft limitations.) They look good in their division and in the overall rankings, with all results calculations putting them in a close race with Stu Dahlgren’s Santa Cruz 70 Westerly for victory in the Alaska Airlines F Division and likely the race overall.

Alan Lubner’s R/P 55 Zvi struggled with light winds yesterday but reports a very quick night in good breeze allowing them to claw back some miles from their rivals. As they cross halfway, they are also beginning to see some south swell from the distant Hurricane Darby and are hoping to get a compression in the isobars and an increase in breeze closer to the islands.

The BMW of San Rafael Division is providing some of the most thrilling racing on course. The J/125’s and the Riptide 41 are going at it, with J World’s Santa Cruz 50 Hula Girl also making her presence known. Jason Andrews and Shawn Dougherty’s J/125 Hamachi has been dealing with technical gremlins and wind instrument issues, though the team seems to have those sorted out. If their performance in the last 24 hours is any indication, then they are certainly firing on all cylinders. With slightly lighter breeze further south of them, Hamachi is going quick and legging out on her main rivals Rufless and Velvet Hammer this morning. Michael Schoendorf’s Riptide 41 Blue was also back up to speed after a slow couple of days.

Bob Hinden’s Schumacher 46 Surprise is still looking good in Goslings Rum G Division and appears to have gybed over to port this morning, throwing in sneaky little gybes when they can to maintain depth and leverage over their rivals. The Beneteau First 45 Athena, Aerodyne 43 Freja and Andrews 43 Kahoots are not far behind in the rankings and will continue to push Surprise hard to the finish. Eric Hopper and Douglas Schenk’s J/105 Free Bowl of Soup is beginning to stretch out to a sizable lead in the Weems and Plath W Division with the Express 34 Double Espresso and the Olson 30 Concussion duking it out for second place.

The North Sails Division remains a very hotly contested division, as it has since the start with Chad Stenwick’s J/35 the Boss battling close with Andy Schwenk’s Express 37 Spindrift V and Shawn Ivie’s Express 37 Limitless. There is still a sizable split from the Boss and Spindrift V down to Limitless further south, and so Limitless will still be a boat to watch as their southerly position should give them leverage over their rivals later in the race.

Mahina DH2 still sees Christina and Justin Wolfe looking launched on their J/111 Raku, though with their southerly position and faster rating, they’ve got to keep their eyes focused on the rear view mirror as Andy Hamilton’s Donovan 30 Wolfpack and Erwan Menard’s Pogo 30 eskoriñ are also moving well and are still in contention.

Kolea DH1 remains an extremely competitive and interesting division with Bill and Melinda Erkelens on the Moore 24 Foamy still looking good down south and positioned well for later in the race. Marc Andrea Klimaschewski and David Rogers on the Dogpatch 26 Moonshine are still moving well, though are north of the rhumb line and will have to take some long gybes to port. Foamy and more southerly boats will eat into their northerly rivals as the race progresses. Bob Johnston and Dave Morris on the Alerion Express 38 Surprise! are still making investments to the south. They are certainly hoping that these constant investments will pay dividends in the closing stages.

Ocean Navigator Division still sees Rodney Pimentel and Giuseppe Lavelle’s Cal 40’s Azure and Duende moving along nicely north of rhumb line with David Herring’s Islander 36 Galatea sailing slow and low down the track below the rhumb line, and in contention to correct out.

With hurricanes moving about, boats ripping into the finish at high speed and a half dozen other exciting races drawing to a close, stay tuned to our daily race updates!

Aloha until tomorrow,

Ronnie Simpson

Pacific Cup Yacht Club