Who Will Be Number 1000?
The math is close, and the drama is real. Before this year’s race, 966 boats had started and finished the Pacific Cup across more than four decades. (Roughly another 120 set out over the years but turned back or finished after the time limit.) This summer, 49 boats left San Francisco Bay. One has already turned back with damage — but 48 are still charging toward Hawaii. When the next boats arrive, the all-time finish count will top 1,000 for the very first time.
| THE PACIFIC CUP, BY THE NUMBERS | |
| 1,000 | Finishers, reached this weekend — a first in race history (966 completed before this edition) |
| 49 → 48 | Boats that started this year; one turned back with damage, 48 still charging toward Hawaii |
| 2,100+ | Nautical miles from San Francisco to Oahu (about 2,400 land miles) |
| 5d 2h 41m | The outright course record, set by Manouch Moshayedi’s super-maxi Rio100 (fully crewed) |
| 7d 15h 17m | The two-person “doublehanded” record, set by Philippe Kahn in 2008 |
| 440+ | Different boat models that have finished, from 19-foot sleds to 160-foot giants |
| Since 1980 | The race has run every even-numbered year except 2020 |
Legends of the Fleet
Some designs have become Pacific Cup legends. The Santa Cruz 50 — a fast, light boat built around designer Bill Lee’s famous motto “Fast Is Fun” — has completed the crossing more than 40 times, more than any other model, averaging a blistering nine days and eighteen hours. The classic Cal 40, a 1960s design beloved by champions and cruisers alike, has finished 26 times. And the tiny Moore 24, a 24-foot “pocket rocket” that has carried two- and three-person crews all the way to Hawaii, remains one of the most cherished boats in race lore. The fleet keeps evolving, too: boats considered fast twenty years ago now rank among the slower entries, and future races may even feature “foiling” boats that rise up and fly above the water.
From Bucket Lists to Record Books
The Pacific Cup has drawn its share of sailing royalty. World-renowned navigator Stan Honey has completed the race many times, including aboard his own Cal 40, Illusion. Roy Disney raced successive generations of boats, each named Pyewacket. And the record books are jaw-dropping: in 2008, technology entrepreneur Philippe Kahn set a two-person “doublehanded” record of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds, while the outright course record — an astonishing 5 days, 2 hours, 41 minutes and 13 seconds — belongs to Manouch Moshayedi and his 100-foot super-maxi Rio100.
Yet for all its record-setters, the heart of the Pacific Cup beats with its families and amateur sailors — the crews for whom this is a “bucket-list” voyage of a lifetime. Two-person teams, first-time offshore sailors, and multi-generational families all line up beside the professionals, and all cross the same finish line to the same warm welcome. Recently for example, in 2024, Mike Mahoney took his son (Sean Mahoney- just 18 years old). Sean became a 3rd generation Mahoney to sail the race (Mike completed the race with his father in 2006). All are embraced in the camaraderie the race calls its ‘ohana — the Hawaiian word for family.