PACIFIC CUP PART 2 — T
he awards have been presented, the party at Kaneohe Yacht Club has ended, and the majority of the return fleet is tucked back into the barn after a long summer of sailing, officially bringing the 20th edition of the Pacific Cup to a close. The returning delivery crews were dealt much the same weather conditions that the fleet experienced during the race, with an active and atypical weather scenario continuing to impact the boats on the water. The record-breaking 2016 edition, sailed during the second year of back-to-back Super El Niño occurrences, was characterized by nuking winds and a series of hurricanes on the course that saw much of the fleet finish during a named tropical storm. While 2018 was wildly different, it was in so many ways almost exactly the same. It was not hurricanes in 2018, but more typical low-pressure systems up north that left their mark, constantly marching west to east across the North Pacific, forming off the coast and on the race course, and generally playing havoc with the traditionally stable Pacific High that tends to dominate the weather patterns in this region of the world. Both the racers and delivery crews saw atypical, if not benign, conditions as a result. Owing to unpredictable weather and a resultingly incorrect forecast, the Friday,
July 13, starters in the BMW of San Rafael E division surged to the top of the leaderboard in the overall rankings, despite starting on the day that had been forecast to be the slowest. The Shelter Island TransAtlantic Partners' Mills 68 Prospector claimed the overall victory, the fastest passage, and second place in E division. "We were excited to find out that once we got out of San Francisco Bay, what we thought would be 4 knots of breeze ended up being 10 or 12 knots of wind and we were able to get south," explained Prospector cr ew Paul McDowell. "The nice thing about the Pac Cup is
RONNIE SIMPSON
Kirk Denebeim's Archambault 35 'Mirthmaker' on delivery back to the Mainland. With atypical weather and a unique route as a result, much of the return fleet found themselves on a port tack beat-to-reach for what felt like an eternity.
The Andrews 70 'Runaway' as seen from the Cal 40 'Highlander' on July 19 — a week into the race! — photo by Ian Matthew
just days and days of downwind sailing. It's great, but the bond with the boys is the big one. We're just sort of laughing our way across oceans and doing a lot of fast sailing," added crew Quinn Tobin. Roy Patrick Disney's Andrews 69 Pyewacket won the E division, placed first among the two ORR divisions (D and E), and also won the prestigious Latitude 38 Performance Award, given to the boat that performs best in its division, compared to its rivals. Torben Grael, a five-time Olympic medalist from Brazil, sailed on Pyewacket. "We have
