Getting Nowhere Fast, And About to Slow
Unfavorable weather conditions are severely plaguing the 56-boat Pacific Cup fleet, as is obvious from the accompanying Passage Weather forecast.
The Sunday and Monday starters that got away so quickly are now facing a huge barrier of light wind. Michael Chobotov’s Jeanneau 49 Venture continues to comfortably lead the Sunday-starting Holo Holo Cruising Division. She’s sailing at nearly twice of the speed of the trailing two boats in the division, which have apparently run out of wind. But the heavy Jeanneau is about to face a similar fate.
The Monday starters in the Alaska Airlines PHRF Division were able to cover a lot of miles in the first two days, but they’ve also hit a wall. Nothing illustrates this better than Rodney Pimentel’s Cal 40 Azure, recently the Pac Cup overall leader, and still in second place. She’s doing just 1.8 knots.
If you think that’s bad, and it’s horrible, it’s nonetheless 33% faster than the 1.2 knot speed reported by former overall and Iwi Doublehander leaders Jim Quanci and Mary Lovely on the Cal 40 Green Buffalo. They have tumbled to second in the Iwi and third overall. The Iwi Division and overall Pacific Cup lead has now been taken by Karl Robuck’s Moore 24 Snafu (based on her handicap correction), which weighs about as much as Green Buffalo‘s winches and is thus faster in zephyrs.
It was the Tuesday starters that faced the worst getaway conditions. They had precious little wind at the start, got a bit, and are about to lose most of it. PHRF Division B is currently lead by John Denny’s Hobie 33 Por Favor, which, unlike everyone else, is sailing a nearly rhumbline course. Maybe he’s seeing wind ahead that nobody else does, but to us it looks as though she’s headed to oblivion.
Dean Treadway’s Farr 36 Sweet Okole continues to lead the Weems & Plath PHRF B. She’s making 5 knots, which isn’t bad, but there isn’t much wind ahead.
California Condor is moving the fastest at 7.8 knots in the Kolea Doublehanded Division, but they are nowhere near sailing straight toward Hawaii. As a result, former Pacific Cup champs Bill and Melinda Erkelens have taken the division lead by sailing a slower but more direct path toward the finish. Well, sort of a direct path, as they started the race by sailing north of Drake’s Bay.
Thursday was not a good day to start either. Mark Dowdy’s Santa Cruz 50 Hana Ho leads the Sonnen BMW Division, but was moving at a pedestrian 5.0 knots. And without a lot of wind in their future.
The two-boat multihull fleet was hurting even more. The Division-leading Farrier 36 tri Transit of Venus was moving at 3 knots. At this rate she’ll make Hawaii by mid-August.
As for the early fortune of the Latitude 38 Big Boat Division, the weather forecast tells the gloomy story. Little if any wind until midnight on Saturday, at which time there will be a better breeze for racing to Cabo than Hawaii.
Persevere, everyone! This year’s Pacific Cup is going to be a chess match, not a drag race.
For the latest on the Pacific Cup, visit the Pac Cup website. Pay particular attention to the Yellowbrick tracker to see the weird routes boats are having to take. Be patient, as it sometimes takes forever to load.