(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!
Richmond
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.
Sailing
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!
In
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”.
Then,
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
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