Raindrop Takes Pac Cup Lead

The lighter-air trend that began over the weekend has continued to affect the Pacific Cup fleet. Joby Easton and Bill Huseby aboard the Cascade 36 Raindrop have moved from third to first overall and in Doublehanded 1, and have kept that spot for two days now. In Doublehanded 2, Andrew Hamilton and Sarah Deeds have made the most of their bold move south, and from their spot as the second southernmost boat, the pair are staying out in front of Darrel and Duane Jensen on the Express 27 Alternate Reality. In Divsion A, the margins have increased slightly between the top five boats with Steve Waterloo’s Cal 40 Shaman resolutely holding onto the lead by a three and a half hour margin. However, only three hours separates the next four boats, and this is one is far from over.

Elsewhere, Michael Maloney’s Express 37 Bullet has broken its 1500-mile match race with Dean Treadway’s Farr 36 Sweet Okole, and taken a six and a half hour lead in Division C while moving up to third overall. Dean Daniels’ Hobie 33 Sleeping Dragon is still hanging on to the Division D lead and second overall but faces increasing pressure from behind, as Dave Rasmussen’s Synergy 1000 Sapphire has been steadily closing. Paul Cayard’s Hula Girl although still leading Division E, has slipped to sixth overall and remains farther to the north than most boats. And in Division F, all the carbon fiber and nomex in the world is having trouble keeping up with Kjeld Hestehave’s Tanton 73 Velos.

At this point, even the southernmost boats still have some breathing room on port board — but not much. A 20-degree righty could spell disaster for them as they approach the islands. This race has been phenomenal to watch and should be so right up until the finish. To be honest we’re glad we have a reason to call it work — because we’re finding it hard to resist checking the tracker at every update.

As always, you can follow the race at www.pacificcup.org.