Monday, July 7, 2014

Pacific Cup Preview

J/92 sailboat- Bob Johnston sailing Pacific Cup (San Francisco, CA)- The Pacific Cup Yacht Club (PCYC) has announced starting dates and divisions for the 2014 race from San Francisco Bay to Kaneohe, Hawaii. Sixty boats are currently entered in the 18th edition of the “Fun Race to Hawaii.”  Running every even year since 1980, the Pacific Cup has taken hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors the 2,070nm from San Francisco to Oahu.

Richmond YC has collaborated with the Pacific Cup YC to be the Start Line Race Headquarters of the 2014 Pacific Cup and invites all competitors and their families to the first-ever “Pacific Cup Village.” The Village establishes a San Francisco Bay venue for Pac Cup racers to gather and have fun as well as an opportunity to get useful information and assistance with any last minute preparations.  Kaneohe YC, the Pac Cup’s destination and Finish Line Race Headquarters, has always provided exceptional hospitality and entertainment at the end of the race— the arrival “Mai-Tais” are worth the trip almost by themselves!

J/125 sailing Pacific Cup to HawaiiRichmond YC is located in Point Richmond; a sunny location on foggy San Francisco Bay sometimes called “the Richmond Riviera.” The Village will use RYC’s clubhouse and harbor facilities with their spectacular views of San Francisco across the water and colorful sunsets.  A “tent village" will house the Village’s concierge services, supplement the Club’s entertainment facilities, and provide additional space for competitors, friends and family to take a break or check out race sponsors like Alaska Airlines and Sonnen BMW.  Enjoying all the pre-start festivities as well as looking forward to post-race festivities after a sunny, fast, windy race are a half-dozen J/Teams from across the West Coast.  54 keelboats are sailing this year’s Pacific Cup, including six J/Teams (11.0% of the fleet). Interestingly, the top three brands all have six boats sailing (Cal, J/Boats & Santa Cruz).  The Cruising Division starts Sunday, July 6th; three Divisions start Tuesday, July 8th; and most boats finish around the Friday, July 18th time frame- 10-13 days from the start.

J/105 sailboat- sailing Pacific Cup to HawaiiSailing in the Weems & Plath PHRF Division B, starting at 1130 hrs on July 8th is the J/105 FREE BOWL OF SOUP, hailing from the Corinthian YC Portland, OR. Her crew is Eric Hopper skipper with crew of Eric Albertson, Scott Davey, Keith Sheets, and Doug Schenk as Navigator.  If you recall, this is the same intrepid crew that tackled the fabulously windy Oregon Offshore Race and won their class by a zillion miles.  Let’s hope their extraordinary downwind skills exhibited in that race translate into 2,070nm of smokin’ hot, trail-blazing speed.

In PHRF C Division, the J/109 BLUE CRUSH skippered by Eric Devaney from the Cortez Racing Association in San Diego, CA is heading up a “family affair”. Their crew is largely the Devaney family (Will, Yong, Ken and Eric) with Scott Prysi as a watch captain!

Bob Johnstone- skipper of J/92In the PHRF Double-Handed Division is Bob Johnston’s J/92 RAGTIME from Richmond YC, with crew Tracy Rodgers, both from the San Francisco Bay area.  They will be up against the J/120 SHEARWATER sailed by Justin & Christina Wolfe from Seattle, WA.  Johnston’s RAGTIME has been one of the most successful single and double-handed boats on all of San Francisco Bay for over a decade; their favorite being, of course, the infamous “Three Bridge Fiasco”.

J/125 sailing San Francisco Bay- under Golden Gate BridgeThen, the SONNEN BMW Division D ORR fleet will be featuring the battle of the J/125s.  Greg Slyngstad’s J/125 HAMACHI from Corinthian YC Seattle will go up against Tom Garnier’s J/125 REINRAG 2 from Los Angeles YC.  Neither team is holding back, both with championship winning crews and, in the case of REINRAG 2, a previous Transpac Race class winner.  Slyngstad’s HAMACHI crew consists of mostly Seattle sailors like Jonathan McKee (an Olympic Gold Medallist), Peter “Fritz” Johnson, Fritz Lanzinger, Mike Leslie and long-time San Francisco friend Trevor Baylis as Navigator.  Garnier’s REINRAG 2 crew is also a “family affair”, with Lashawna, Darren, & Kevin Garnier joining the crew along with Jared Lathrop.  For more Pacific Cup sailing information