Pac Cup 2010 - 21 foot Pocket Rocket and Pocket Rocket Skipper leads

by Pac Cup 2010 on 14 Jul 2010 ific Cup 2010 As the sun rose on the fleet this Bastille Day, Pocket Rocket, the tiny Mini Transat design, was the closest boat to Hawaii. Sailing with only two aboard, and starting with the Doublehanded 2 fleet on Tuesday, July 6, Emma and her Rocket have used the head start to great advantage.

The tiny boats, designed for trans-Atlantic racing, were admitted to the Pacific Cup for the first time this year. With their light weight and broad, flat underbodies, these boats are ideal for surfing along in the brisk winds and long swells that characterize a Pacific tradewinds race.

Both the light early winds and the unusually strong mid-course winds have worked in Pocket Rocket’s favor: in the light stuff, she can move when others are standing still, and in the heavy stuff, the boat surfs like mad with steady speeds of 14 knots occasionally bursting to 19, as reported by the skipper.

Allowing for differing start times and handicaps, Pocket Rocket is first in her division and tenth overall. As of 5 am, she was closest to Hawaii, though no doubt looking over her shoulder at the bigger, faster boats that started later and will attempt to overtake her in the next 24 hours. Projected finish times put her ten hours ahead of her nearest competitor in her division to finish around midnight July 17.

'For God’s sake, don’t give her any coffee,' commented one race organizer, impressed by Emma’s seemingly boundless energy.

The 25-year-old from Alameda, California has her sights set on moving to France to prepare for a 4200-mile Mini-Transat campaign, and has constructed a program of increasingly challenging races to hone her skills. With her crewman, Andy Hamilton of Santa Cruz, California, she seems to be well on her way.