News

With (mostly) textbook precision, our five groups of starters headed out through the Gate on the FUN race to Hawaii.

With clearing skies and a steady breeze at the start and out the gate, they certainly had more FUN than the starters on Monday, who suffered a very challenging night with minimal wind.  The wind has filled in nicely, with a firm 20-30 knot push forecast and observed, so for some it will be a case of "be careful what you wish for."

Wednesday's crowd included two PHRF divisions, the Multihulls, and an ORR division. The final division, ORR2 started Thursday.

Each of the ORR divisions

This morning's fleets headed out under light winds and an overcast sky to the promise of difficult light winds.  As we checked in with the Coast Guard (required for organized races), the officer asked "how long till they are fifty miles out?"

Uhh.... six hours? Ten?

Well our fleets have found some good wind and are making progress. Some are heading South and some West, all in search of the magic locations where wind may be found after the sun goes down. Called the "glass-off," this nightly near-shore phenomenon can be frustrating in coastal or ocean races. The only cure is to get offshore, or

Our first starts are Monday the 15th. As sometimes happens, the weather forecast for the start is light wind. This will be a challenge.

"Of course, we can't control the weather," says Principal Race Officer Michael Moradzadeh. "We worked to pick a start date with a good current helping folks out the Gate, and a full moon once they are out there, as well as a likely good offshore weather pattern, historically, but the stuff right outside the Gate looks like a challenge."

A variety of weather features are contributing to light winds in the 7-10 knot range for the Monday starters, and lighter

The volunteers at KYC are at it again, handcrafting boat leis from beautiful Hawaiian foliage.

These leis will grace the bow (or stern) of the arriving boat and will bear the cheery message written by the giver.  The boat lei has been a tradition in our races for several years and is a welcome greeting to your weary sailor friends.

Order a lei for your favorite boat here (https://admin.pacificcup.org/lei)

Pac Cuppers know to look to the weather! We are glad we did not decide to start the Pacific Cup this week. A huge low pressure zone wandered down and has smothered the entire course. The forecast for this week is “you are not going to Hawaii.”