Now the Street Fight Starts
Point Richmond, Ca, Tuesday morning, July 8, 2014 – With the fun-loving Cruising Division departing for Hawaii on Sunday, on Monday the Pacific Cup Race’s focus moved to the sailors determined to go fast and win.
Monday’s first start, the Alaska Airlines Division, includes a range of boats at the high end of the ratings, many of them solid vintage race or racer/cruiser designs. Compared to the boats in some of the other divisions, these boats may look very comfortable, but all are serious racers.
Rodney Pimentel’s Cal 40, Azure, lead the division out under the Golden Gate Bridge, followed by Victoria Lessley’s California Girl. Watching California Girl heel to starboard as she beat out of San Francisco Bay was a real treat – the entire port side of the hull below the waterline is painted with an American flag graphic. The other side of the hull has the Canadian maple leaf, and the rudder is decorated with the New Zealand fern leaf. Victoria and husband Tim own a boatyard in Portland and these symbols represent their crew. They are sailing this race in memory of Tim’s mother, Betty Lessley who skippered California Girl in the Pacific Cup six times and died recently – and for her, a Betty Boop is painted on the Cal 40’s stern.
Two skippers in this division, Paul Elliott on VALIS, a Pacific Seacraft 44, and Michael Moradzadeh on Cayenne, a Passport 40, are engaged in a special duel since Michael crewed on Paul’s boat in last two Pacific Cups. Both skippers are long-term participants in and supporters of the race, and Cayenne andVALIS are also the two official race communication boats this year.
Other boats in this division now on their way to Hawaii include: Peter Schoenburg’s Back Bay, a Cal 39; David Nichols’ Blue Mist, a Pearson Vanguard 32; Alex Samodurov’s Europa, a New York 36; and Val Clayton’s Gypsy Lady, a Cal 34.
The ‘Iwi Double-handed division also departed Monday. Explaining this division's name, Steve Chamberlin, Pacific Cup Commodore, says “The 'iwi (or i'iwi) is a land bird whose red plumage was prized for the cloaks of Hawai'ian royalty. The 'iwi commonly lays just two eggs in its nest. We’ve named our smaller double-handed division (also with two in the nest) for this much-liked bird and hope the name will bring them luck.”
The ‘Iwi Division has two displacement boats: Scott Schwatz’s Lil Angel, a Newport 30, with Michael Day; and Jim Quanci and Mary Lovely’s, Green Buffalo. With Jim and Mary’s combined twenty-two Hawaii races,Green Buffalo, the third Cal 40 departing today (but the only one being double-handed), is a strong contender if the other boats in the division, six ultra-lights, can’t plane their way to Hawaii.
The smallest boats competing in this year’s race are two Moore 24’s; Dan Nitake’s Absinthe, with Tony English, and Karl Robrock’s Snafu, with Giles Combrisson. The fellows on these boats make it sound a bit like the old guys versus the young guys. These are four very good sailors. Will old age and treachery beat youth and skill?
The remaining boats starting Monday were four Santa Cruz 27’s from the Pacific Northwest: Ward Naviaux’s Blade Runner, with Andy Schwenk; David Garman’s Giant Slayer with Dave Martin; James Parker’s KAOS, with John Mason; and Stan Perkins’ Mirage, sailing with his daughter, Kerry Halyburton. Although four feet longer than a Moore 24, everyone agrees that the Santa Cruz 27’s will be the wettest, most uncomfortable ride to Hawaii, but this is an eager, companionable group. Mirage is from Hood River, windsurfer heaven on the Columbia River Gorge, so they have a significant amount experience in high winds – but the Puget Sound boats may have an advantage if it’s light.
Rapture, the Cruising Division boat that turned around just outside the Golden Gate Bridge Sunday with an engine problem (that turned out to be a regulator problem) is back in the race and looking good.
The remaining divisions start Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Starting times for all divisions can be found Pacific Cup's 2014 Race Entries by Division list. Details and photos will be posted on the Pacific Cup's website and Facebook page. You can follow the boats on the Pacific Cup website’s tracking page or the Yellowbrick app for iPad, iPhone and Android devices. Positions are delayed by six hours until the first boat reaches the 200 miles to the finish point, when the data will become live.
For more information, please contact:
Karin Knowles
(510) 232-8420
media@pacificcup.org
High resolution images are available from Pacific Cup photographer, Leslie Richter, contact:leslie@rockskipper.com, 415-509-1777 www.rockskipper.com
About Pacific Cup Yacht Club – The Pacific Cup Yacht Club is responsible for organizing the biennial Pacific Cup, dubbed the "FUN RACE to Hawaii." Since 1980, the Pacific Cup has been sailed from San Francisco Bay to Hawaii every other year, and since 1988 the finish has been at the warm and welcoming Kaneohe Yacht Club on Oahu. With an emphasis on pre-race preparation for the 2070-mile race, PCYC’s volunteer membership has helped to ensure that thousands of racers have been delighted with their Pacific Cup experience. For more information about the Pacific Cup, visit http://dev.paccup.org
About Richmond Yacht Club – Since 1932 RYC has been dedicated to serious sailing while at the same time having tremendous fun. The club's Point Richmond location and excellent harbor facilities make it easy to hold both small boat and big boat regattas, and RYC has a proud tradition of hosting world class championships as well as many regattas for Bay Area racers, junior and youth boaters, and its own members. A significant percentage of Pacific Cup competitors have always come from RYC, so it's not surprising that the two clubs joined in partnership to establish RYC as the Start Line headquarters for this year's race. For more information about Richmond Yacht Club, www.richmondyc.org
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