A steady stream of finishers from all divisions has been arriving at Kaneohe Yacht Club since Sunday’s late afternoon update.
There were two Sunday night finishers. Cruiser Koh-Ring, Wolfgang Hausen’s Tayana 48 DS crossed the finish line at dusk. Husband-wife team, Bill and Melinda Erkelens, arrived before midnight looking neat in trim in their Aloha shirts after many days double-handing their Donovan 30, Wolfpack, in the ‘Iwi Division. Provisional results show them winning their division, but not repeating their overall win of 1994.
Pre-dawn Monday morning saw incredibly tight competition as the three Cal 40s in the race, who have been horse racing across the Pacific, finished within a 46 minute time period. California Girl, skippered by Victoria Lessley, crossed the finish line first at 4:01 HST. Azure, skippered by Rodney Pimentel, and Green Buffalo, double-handed by Mary Lovely and Jim Quanci finished three minutes apart a short time later with Azure in the lead. Green Buffalo is racing in the ‘Iwi Double-handed Division; the two other Cal 40’s are in the Alaska Airlines Division, but they all compete for the coveted Cal 40 one-design trophy.
The first of the two Moore 24’s in the race, Snafu, double-handed by Karl Robrock with Giles Combrisson, also finished before sunrise. Unofficial results show them winning not only their division but also overall PHRF – but we won’t know for sure until all the boats have finished. Another ‘Iwi division boat, Blade Runner, the first of the four Santa Cruz 27’s competing, skippered by Ward Naviaux with Andy Schwenk, arrived at the unofficial time of 08:06 HST. The current standings show them second in division and second in PHRF overall
A steady stream of finishers followed: Por Favor, a Hobie 33 skippered by John Denny and the first boat in the Matson division to finish, arrived within the hour (and are projected to win the division). Free Bowl of Soup, the J/105 from Portland, OR skippered by Eric Hopper and the first boat in the Weems & Plath Division, finished next, followed by Aero, skippered by Joe Wells and the second of two Hobie 33’s to finish this morning. War Pony, Mark Howe’s Farr 36 that he’s double-handing with Shana Bagley finished at the unofficial time of 10:27:29 HST.
Charles Devanneaux’s Thirsty, a Beneteau First 20, a double-handing with Fred Courouble, arrived just after noon. Thirsty is racing for the ALS Association, and has named their voyage “Sailing for ALS” to honor the memory of a friend and boat partner who died of what is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A “Sailing for ALS Aloha Reception” event to be held at Kaneohe Yacht Club will be held Tuesday, July 22 at noon.
Peter Schoenburg’s Cal 29, Back Bay, racing in the Alaska Airlines Division, joined the finishers at 13:13 HST. Delicate Balance, Douglas Storkovich’s, Andrews 56 Custom, racing in the Sonnen BMW division crossed the finish line just before dusk.
As we write this update, three additional boats have finished: Shearwater -- whose blogs have told a great story of a couple double-handing with limited heavy-air experience; Coyote -- we're looking forward to their drone footage; Tiki Blue -- a subject of Coyote's drone recon, and Encore.
Kudos to Valis, Paul Elliot’s Pacific Seacraft 44, and Cayenne, Michael Morazadeh’s Passport 40. This morning Valis diverted to transfer four gallon of fuel and their emergency rudder to Sweet Okole, Dean Treadways’s Farr 36, that lost her rudder yesterday. Sweet Okole is now underway toward the finish. Tiburon, the rudderless Santa Cruz 37 that Cayenne aided several days ago is making good progress toward Kaneohe, and all is well on board. They are looking forward to their arrival!