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Swazik to Receive Pac Cup Trophy Tonight

By Andy Turpin | August 3, 2012 | Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii |
“Everybody say, ‘Mai Tai’!” Sebastien de Halleux and the crew of Swazik will be honored guests tonight at the Kaneohe YC. Pictured left to right (not counting kids) are Carlos Badell, Seadon Wijsen, de Halleux, Graham Anand, Peter Leib, Hogan Beatie, Campbell Rivers, and Alexis van de Wyer.

© 2012 Pacific Cup

The happiest man in Hawaii today may well be Sebastian de Halleux, as he is slated to receive the Pac Cup trophy tonight for best overall performance in the biennial San Francisco-to-Hawaii race.

Halleux’ boat, Swazik, a Swan 45, finished the 2,070-mile passage in 8 days, 22 hours, correcting out to first in Division E and in fleet, with Kevin Welch’s Perry 66 Icon taking line honors for which she’ll be receive the Fastest Passage award at tonight’s closing ceremonies at Oahu’s Kaneohe YC.

Although the Swan 45 Swazik didn’t lead the fleet out the Golden Gate – or to the finish line, she corrected out to take division and fleet honors.

latitude/Andy
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Also sharing the limelight this evening for Division E (the fastest boats) honors will be Mark Dowdy, whose Santa Cruz 50 Hana Ho corrected out to second in that hotly contested division, with Jay Spaulding’s SC 52 Medusa taking third.

With her big genoa stretched tight as a hotel bedsheet, Hana Ho was lookin’ good as she blasted west along the Marin headlands last month.

latitude/Andy
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC

According to a Pac Cup release this morning, "The original front-runner, Double Trouble, ran a great race and was widely expected to sail home with top honors. However, the boat was given a time penalty for accessing certain forbidden tracker information during the race, and fell to a lower ranking."

Elsewhere one of the closest finish line rivalries was in Division D, where Dave Rasmussen’s Synergy 1000 Sapphire claimed division honors by just 46 minutes ahead of Tony English’s Antrim 27 E.T.

Do real men drink cocktails with umbrella’s on top? Apparently so, as it’s no easy undertaking to race 2,070 miles doublehanded. The Naos crew celebrates shortly after their finish.

© 2012 Pacific Cup

Within the two doublehanded divisions, Charles Devanneaux’s Beneteau First 30.8 Naos 30 won DH1, followed by Rowena Carlson and Robb Walker’s Cal 40 Nozomi.

For decades Pac Cup photographers have been pondering the question: “Why is it that division winners always seem to arrive at night?” The Moonshine crew wear smiles of victory.

© Pacific Cup

Dylan Benjamin’s Dogpatch 26 Moonshine took first in DH2, with Mike Reed’s Express 27 Magic taking second. See the website for complete results, and be sure to check out our Pac Cup recap feature in the September edition of Latitude 38.

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