With staggered starts on July 15, 17, and 18, 64 teams entered the biennial 2070 nm race from San Francisco, California to Kaneohe, Hawaii. Here’s an update on July 22, 2024:
Day one of the 2024 Pacific Cup was off to a slow start due to a lull in the coastal winds, leaving first competitors to start with virtually no wind for the first 24 hours. This group included four divisions and 32 boats: Double Handed 1 (7 boats), Double Handed 2 (9 boats), PHRF 1 (9 boats) and PHRF 2 (7 boats).
The second day of starts had 26 more boats on their way to Hawaii. These were the faster PHRF divisions: PHRF 3 (10 boats), PHRF 4 (9 boats), as well as the ORR 1 (5 boats), and the Multihull division (2 boats). This group had clear skies with 10-15 knots of wind from the usual westerly direction – right through the gate.
For the third and final day of starts, the wind showed up in its usual San Francisco fashion in the high teens to low 20 knot range. The only class to start this day would be the ORR 2 division, consisting of six boats. By this point, the usual coastal flow of northwesterly wind filled back in, giving this last round of starts a quick exit out the gate and offshore.
The attrition bug has hit five boats:
• Rum Tum Tugger, Mahina Double Handed Division 1, started with the first group but decided to retire shortly after departing, and had safely returned to their homeport of Richmond Yacht Club two days later.
• On July 17th, Keaka crew reported, “We are experiencing rudder issues and out of an abundance of caution, will be retiring. No other health or safety concerns at this time. Our current intentions are to head to Southern California for repairs.” They have tied up safely in Ventura.
• Late on the night of July 17th, Imagine reported mechanical issues. They wrote, “Imagine lost steering due to a failure in the pedestal.” Using their autopilot and emergency rudder to steer, they tied up safely in Santa Cruz to effect repairs.
• In the early hours of the morning on July 18th, Pendragon started their turn back to port, reporting steering issues, as well as issues with their Starlink. They made it safely into port in Monterey late in the afternoon on July 18th and are now on the way back to San Francisco.
• After starting on July 18th with the final group of starts, Rapid Transit retired after a collision with a shark, damaging the port rudder mounting on the transom. They were able to safely make it back to San Francisco.
Several boats have demonstrated skillful problem-solving: Möve’s tiller came off and was lashed back on, and Translated 9 after regularly checking their rigging, successfully reran a new spinnaker halyard using a tagline.
Team Chinook reported that on July 21st it was an all-hands-on-deck project day. They discovered “mysterious and wet corners of [their] floating home and worked on making it less wet. [The crew] hacksawed a piece of aluminum, drilled many holes, employed five different types of tape, rewired, and monitored water levels in various locations.”
Overall the fleet is steadily making their way to Kaneohe in now near-classic wind conditions. All three starting groups have caught up to one another for the most part, and remain fairly tightly grouped. Boats frequently reported sightings of one another, and as ‘The Fugitive’ put it, boats are often “within burrito-throwing distance.”
That said, with what appears to be fairly even wind appearing now across most of the race course, the competitors may have the ability to pick from a wider variety of courses: go to the rhumb line, or strategically pick some other position and heading for the time being.
Event information – Tracker – Facebook
Start date:
July 15: Doublehanded 1 & 2, and PHRF 1 & 2 divisions
July 17: Multihull boats, PHRF 3 and 4, and ORR 1
July 18: ORR 2
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/07/22/classic-conditions-welcome-pacific-cup/
