Pac Cup: Half home, half still going

A milestone morning in the 2026 Pacific Cup: about half the fleet is now safely tied up in Kaneohe Bay, leis on and Mai Tais in hand, while the other half is still out on the water, racing hard for the finish. Roughly two dozen boats have crossed the line, from Rahan and the little-boat heroes to the entire maxi fleet, and another two dozen are strung out across the final stretch to Hawaii. Here is how the boats still at sea are getting on, division by division.

The finishers now include the whole front of the race: Rahan first across, the pocket rockets ʻio, TC, True Love and Recidivist, the doublehanders Wolfpack, Sun Dragon and Turbo Camper, and the big-boat pack led home by Zeus, Pyewacket, Vitesse, Gem and Merlin.

The provisional corrected-time headlines so far are terrific: Ragtime, the classic Spencer 65, has taken the ORR 1 maxi division on handicap and sits atop the overall ORR standings, while TC leads ORR 3, Dorado leads ORR 4 and Viva leads PHRF 2. Nothing is official until the fleet is complete and protests resolved, but the story of the little boats is holding up beautifully. See the photo gallery Standings, updated every 15 minutes, are here.

The next boats to the line should be Ventana and Flashgirl, both within a dozen miles of Kaneohe as of this report and due in at any hour, with Surf, Freedom and Shark On Bluegrass all inside 100 miles behind them.

Here is the state of play in each class still being contested:

PHRF 1 (Naos Yachts): the whole division is still out, and it owns the tightest finish on the water. Gary Troxel’s Ventana is first to the line with under 10 miles to run, but Marco Misbach’s Flashgirl leads the division on corrected time just behind her. Jack Vetter’s Nota Bene is next, around 150 miles out, with Dark Horse, Aquavit and Med Viking II still better than 300 miles from home.

ORR 2 (UK Sailmakers): the last division to start is also entirely still racing, and it has the freshest scrap left in the fleet. Kimo Winterbottom’s Andrews 56 Halawa leads and is closest at just under 200 miles to go, but may have just handed the lead to Cazan by half an hour! Oaxaca, Maritimo 160 and Adrenalin are locked in a tight battle bunched around 330 to 355 miles out. Free Bowl of Soup trails after a big dip south to find better breeze and a time-consuming re-start after a shroud failed.

Doublehanded PHRF (Holokai): all three are still on the course, led by Nicholas Stevenson’s X-332 Surf, now inside 100 miles and closing fast. Akumu and Bazinga (annoyed by failed autopilot) follow further back, around 250 and 375 miles out respectively, still chasing hard for the class places.

ORR 4 (Goslings Rum): the top three are already in, with Lightspeed taking the division on corrected ahead of Dorado and Recidivist. Still racing are The Kodiak Express, closest at about 165 miles, then Penelope near 215, and Stargazer and Chinook a good deal further back around 315 and 350 miles.

Doublehanded ORR (Bobbi Tosse): Rahan long ago wrapped up the division and the whole event. Others still at sea are Barton Hackworth’s Shaman, closest at about 120 miles, David Garman’s Such Fast near 175, and Jack Peurach’s Shake and Bake around 225 miles out, the last of these still sailing gamely on after its rudder dramas earlier in the week.

ORR 3 (Weems & Plath): JJ Hoag’s Hobie 33 TC has the division locked up on corrected and nearly the entire class is home. Only Shark On Bluegrass is still out, about 78 miles from the finish and closing tonight.

PHRF 2 (Bridger Marine): Don Jesberg’s Cal 40 Viva has the division win in hand and the class is almost all ashore. Freedom is the lone boat still at sea, around 78 miles out and pushing for the barn.

ORR 1 (Pasha Hawaii): every maxi is docked, and Tina Roberts’ Ragtime is the standout, beating the bigger, faster Pyewacket, Zeus, Vitesse, Merlin and Gem on corrected time. Only the Advanced 80 Apsaras is still racing in this division, around 355 miles from Kaneohe.

What would sports be without referees? There are three protests pending which could affect standings. Two of them, Dorado vs Recidivist and Shark on Bluegrass vs Flashgirl, involve situations where boats are alleged to have failed to give way when required. ‘io has a request for redress pending regarding her rating. Hearings should be held July 21.

Conditions are holding up well for the boats still on the course. Out in the band roughly 150 to 300 miles from the finish, where the ORR 2 pack and most of the trailers are sailing, the trades are moderate-to-fresh out of the northeast and east, generally 10 to 20 knots with higher gusts in the squalls, warm in the low 70s, with a building northeast-to-southeast swell to surf on. That is fast, fun downwind sailing, and the forecast has the trades easing only modestly over the next couple of days, so the pace should stay up for the finishers.

Stargazer had a few choice words: “The sea was angry with us last night. Like an old man trying to return soup to a deli. After two broaches to windward in the span of an hour and squally looking night, we decided the boat (and the people) needed a rest, so no spinnaker last night. The dawn is bringing more squalls and confused seas but renewed energy. We’re excited to get the kite back up and looking forward crushing some miles today!”

Closer to Hawaii the picture softens. As boats approach the islands the breeze veers more toward the east and southeast and tends lighter near the ridge axis and in the wind shadows of the islands, so the final run into Kaneohe can turn shifty and squally, the classic tricky Pac Cup finish where a lead can shrink or grow in the last few miles. Expect warm low-to-mid 70s air and isolated to scattered showers and squalls right to the line.

The Kaneohe finish line is about to get busy. With Ventana and Flashgirl due imminently and a steady stream of boats inside 200 miles behind them, expect finishers around the clock over the next few days, with the ORR 2 pack and the last of the trailers arriving later in the week. Congratulations to everyone already in, and fair winds to those still counting down the miles. More as the fleet completes.

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Source: Event media