J/Teams crush Pacific Cup Race
by J/Boats 12 Aug 12:34 PDT
J/Teams crush Pacific Cup Race © Pacific Cup Race
Starting in San Francisco Bay, the 2024 Pacific Cup Race fleet dashed out to the first turning mark just offshore of that infamous pile of rocks known as the Farallon Islands, then turned left to catch the trade winds flowing from the NNE to Hawaii about 2,277nm away!
Overall, the courses for the top teams tended to dip fairly far south in search of wind early on. Once they found that favorable wind, they slowly curved around it, taking advantage of the trade winds (and squalls). Ultimately, the critical "gybe" to port, making the turn for the finish over 2,000 miles away. Others stayed to the north, likely in hopes of saving miles or seeing the Pacific High recede northward. That strategy meant leaving them closer than others to the finish with great winds. However, unfortunately, the wind stayed lighter there, leaving that wing of the fleet to fall behind.
Ocean Navigator ORR 1 Division
As J/125s have done in previous Pacific Cup races, it was Jim Nichols's J/125 VELVET HAMMER that swept all the trophies: 1st Pacific Cup, 1st ORR Overall for the Bjorn Johnson ORR Trophy, 1st ORR 1 Division.. a truly amazing performance! After 8 days 15 hrs 5 mins, they averaged over 11.7 kts boat speed for the whole race!
Svendsen's Bay Marine PHRF 3 Division
J/Crews swept the top four spots in this PHRF division with a few notable performances! Winning was a venerable "classic", Chad Stenwick's J/35 The Boss. They took home the Bobbi Toss PHRF Trophy for winning overall, plus the Pacific Cup Corinthian Trophy for the top amateur team!
Taking the silver medal was Ross Werner & Kevin Wilkinson's J/112E JUBILANT. In addition to divisional honors, they took the bronze medal for PHRF Overall, and 5th place in Pacific Cup overall!! Furthermore, they were awarded the "Fastest Family Afloat Trophy" and the "Best First Passage Trophy"!
Rounding out the podium in the bronze medal position was John Murkowski's Seattle YC team on the J/122E JOY RIDE.
Then, in what may be regarded as both the longest traveled and longest sailed award was Matt Arno's Fort Worth Boat Club team on his J/105 BLUE FLASH. They trailered their J/105 from Fort Worth, Texas, across the Rocky Mountains, to San Francisco, California! Launched her, tuned her up, then raced across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii!! For their hard-earned efforts, they took 4th place in the division!
More information at pacificcup.org