The Last Stretch for Some

2026 PACIFIC CUP ·  SAN FRANCISCO TO KANEOHE BAY

Race Update  ·  Wednesday, July 15, 2026

The finish line is finally coming into view. At the front of the fleet, Rahan has less than 400 miles to go, the islands are starting to feel real, and the first boats are now roughly two days from Kaneohe Bay. After more than a week at sea, the leaders are into the endgame, and, remarkably, the two smallest boats in the race are still the ones showing everyone the way home.

The final miles: weather for the leaders

The good news for the front-runners is they are firmly in the trade winds now: warm air in the low-to-mid 70s and a moderate easterly breeze, mostly in the 10 to 19 knot range, with a following swell building underneath for some proper downwind surfing. The bonus, and the thing that will decide the next day or two, is that these are squally trades. 

Now, here’s the thing with squalls. Handled right, a skilled crew can take advantage of the doubled local winds to get some real speed before stepping out of the way of the squall’s path to avoid the lull that follows. Handled wrong, however, that heavy wind can rip a spinnaker to shreds or do worse. The most common downside is being caught in the several hours of still air that lurks in a squall’s wake. “Exit stage left” is the standing advice, meaning get out of the way of the squall on your left to avoid the customary path of the light air.

For Rahan and the little pack right behind, the last 100 miles or so over the next 24 to 48 hours should look much the same: solid but shifty trades, warmth, a building northeast swell to ride, and squalls to play, with the odd light patch to be avoided in their lee. It is fast, fun, tiring sailing, exactly the finish this race is famous for, and the crews that keep the boat moving through the holes will be the ones popping the Mai Tais first.

Out front, and closing in

On distance to the finish, Rahan continues to lead the entire fleet, now with a little over 350 miles left and an eye on a finish as soon as Thursday. The chase is a parade of small boats: the 27-foot Antrim ʻio is second with around 470 to run, then True Love, TC and Recidivist, with Viva not far back. That cluster is lined up to start arriving into Kaneohe Bay across Friday.

Behind them, the maxis are still eating miles in a hurry, with Zeus leading that group, but they remain 400 miles and more astern of Rahan, and time is running short to reel the little boats in. Here is the part that still makes many smile: right now the pocket rockets are not only leading on the water, they are winning on handicap too, with Rahan atop the combined ORR standings and Viva leading the PHRF fleet on corrected time. The giants started three and four days later and have the higher gear, so the corrected-time picture can still shift as they finish, but for one more morning at least, David is very much ahead of Goliath.

Words from the sailors

With Hawaii on the mind, the morning reports were part countdown, part comedy. On Rahan, Bastille Day gave way to the home stretch:

Rahan

Freedom, meanwhile, has found the express lane and could not be happier about it:

Freedom

And with the miles ticking down, the fleet's sense of humor is fully intact. Nota Bene has apparently gone off-grid:

Nota Bene

Elsewhere, ʻio reported the islands “starting to feel closer by the hour,” along with a few extra “scaly souls” (flying fish) briefly joining the crew on deck. On True Love, a night watch tried to work out how many boat lengths remained to the finish, on the honor system, no calculators, and banned from shouting “round up” in the process. Bazinga marked halfway by switching from “adventure mode” to chasing a class podium and filing an original sea shanty that ends, “when we get to Kaneohe we'll feel so satisfied.” Shark On Bluegrass taped photos of the kids over the bunk and is “so looking forward to cuddling the kiddos,” while Adrenalin, stuck in lighter air further back, begged someone to “put a quarter in the wind machine.” And Med Viking II had a mid-ocean moment, passing within a mile of Gem and Pyewacket, sharing a chat on the radio, and asking the maxis to save them some Mai Tais at the yacht club.

Shake and Bake: More like “Shake and Break?”

Shake and Bake, the Farr X2 in the Doublehanded ORR division, had to deal with a serious rudder problem. Ever watchful, Commodore Hinden noticed that their speed on the tracker had dropped to 1.2 knots. “They probably broke something and are fixing it,” was the advice from the communications team. 

Sure enough, the rudder repair they had effected a day earlier failed, leaving them literally rudderless. They switched to steering by drogue (a drag device streamed out behind the boat, shifting to one side or another steers the boat, but it’s wicked slow). 

We waited for word, and the team on board let us know what had happened. Indeed the second rudder, repaired after collision with a submerged object previously, had failed. While the shore team took a look to see who might offer assistance if needed (thank you Shaman for volunteering) the team of Jack Peurach and Bret Perry went to work adapting the two rudders, plus a spare, to function properly on the boat’s transom. We don’t have a full report, but it appears there was a fair bit of jungle metalsmithing at play.

After a good number of hours, Shake and Bake was up and running, turning in 7 and 8 knot speeds. The first rudder is holding, and the second is on its way to being installed. Good work, guys!

What’s next

Rahan should be the first boat into Kaneohe, potentially as early as Thursday, with ʻio, True Love and the rest of the little fleet close behind into Friday, and the maxis chasing hard from astern. The trades and the swell are building, the squalls are keeping everyone honest, and Elida is a watch item for later in the week. For the leaders, though, it is now simply a matter of holding on, keeping the boat moving, and counting down the miles to that first cold drink on the dock. More soon.

About this report

Weather from the Weather Routing Inc. Pacific Cup brief of July 15, 2026, covering the offshore zones the fleet now occupies, including the tropical advisory for Tropical Storm Elida. Standings and racer reports from the official 2026 Pacific Cup leaderboard and daily position reports. Positions are described relative to the San Francisco to Hawaii rhumb line rather than by coordinates. Standings are provisional; see the official Pacific Cup tracker for current results.