Pacific Cup Wrap-Up, Smiles, Tears and Cheers

by Media Pro Int'l on 6 Aug 2008 The sixty boats and hundreds of sailors that made the fifteenth biennial Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii are preparing their returns to their home port: some loaded with trophies, all loaded with memories. Some groups have already been overheard planning their 2010 races.

Raindrop Rules the Roost. Portland's Joby Easton and Bill Huseby collected the lion's share of trophies for their performance on Raindrop, a double-handed Cascade 36. Their accomplishment was especially sweet as it reprises their effort on Huseby's boat in 1988. Raindrop corrected out to first overall, winning the Pacific Cup, as well as first in her division. The pair was awarded the Navigators Trophy in view of overcoming a very challenging light-air start, and also won the Latitude 38 performance trophy, awarded for the most statistically significant victory over their division.

Pegasus Sets Record. Philippe Kahn and Richard Clarke, sailing ultra-fast Pegasus, an Open 50, sailed with the most challenging rating based on expected performance. Pegasus' performance did not disappoint. The duo claimed the 'Fastest Passage' trophy and set a new record for a double-handed Pacific Cup passage with a stunning time of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes, 50. The prior record, long held by master navigator Stan Honey and Paul Simonsen in 1992, was a bit over 8 days, 20 hours.

Neptune's Daughter. A third doublehanded entry also caught the attention of the Pacific Cup Fleet. Neptune's Daughter, a Crealock 34 was sailed by Ed and Erlinda Polkenhorn in honor of Erlinda's 60th birthday. As happens to several boats each race, they experienced a slow race, having chosen a course through very light winds. When the couple finally, after the awards ceremony and during the party at Kaneohe Yacht Club, pulled into the dock, a sizeable portion of the fleet swarmed the breakwater to cheer them with maitais and a spirited rendering of 'Happy Birthday to You.'

Divisional Trophies. While overall trophy awards may be influenced heavily by starting day, the competition in a division, among similarly-rated boats starting together, tends to be the most balanced. Eight divisions of around eight boats each started in 2008, with first through third awarded in each.

Plus Sixteen (Paul Disario) and Giant Slayer (David Garman / Debra Lowell) took second and third respectively in Doublehanded 1 following Raindrop's first place.

Criminal Mischief bested the 'big boats' division F under Chip Megeath, with Velos and Holua taking second and third.

In the hotly-contested division E, it was Sabrina, followed by Recidivist and the Cayard family's Hula Girl. With barely over an hour separating first place from third place after 2070 miles, this division, dominated much of the time by Hula Girl, provided much excitement.

Sleeping Dragon took first in division and second overall, with RYC's Sapphire in second and E.T. in third. Todd Hedin overcame the 'defection' of boat designer Jim Antrim (who opted to sail on the Antrim 40 XL) and wife Liz Bayliss, as well as four spinnaker pole breakages, to snag his third place clock.

Bullet (Mike Mahoney) took the bullet in division C, followed by Sweet Okole (Dean Treadway) and Bequia (Dennis Ronk). In Division B, it was Checkered Past in first, skippered by parapalegic first-timer Chris Gibbs. Music (John McCartney) took second, and Cirrus, skippered by Hawaii resident Bill Myers collected third.

Division A, the slowest crewed division, was anchored by four venerable Cal 40's. And it was four venerable Cal 40's that took first through fourth: Shaman (Steve Waterloo), Green Buffalo (Jim Quanci and Mary Lovely),and Azure (Encinal YC's Rodney Pimentel, organizer of the Coastal Cup race) took first through third, respectively.

Double-handed 2 saw Bar-Ba-Loot followed by Alternate Reality and Moore Havoc as the winners.

Special Trophies. As previously reported, Encinal Yacht Club's team of Azure, Music, and Shaman took the Storm Trysail Club team trophy. Sapphire collected the crystal for the Blue Water Sailing Magazine best family performance. Checkered Past took the prize for best first passage, as none of the crew had ever done a Pacific race before!

Oceanaire, sailing on behalf of the Bright Smile Foundation benefiting victims of domestic violence, was honored as 'Best Prepared' yacht on the recommendation of the Chief Inspector, Skip Ely.

2008: The Year of the Blog. As mid-ocean internet access became less and less expensive, many racers took advantage of modern technology to post blog entries and pictures from the race. Collected at http://www.pacificcup.org/racerblogs.html, the blogs informed and amused on-shore spectators, giving an insight into daily life on the race course. Racers shared daily observations about weather, race tactics, truly frightening ocurrences, and the simply silly events that make up the magic of the 'Fun Race to Hawaii.'

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