Crushing Class Wins for J/35 & J/92(San Francisco, CA)- This year’s 2,275nm Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco, CA to Hawaii started out fast, in particular for the smaller boats. The fresh high 20 kt winds on the beam made for a demanding first night for the 29 original starters of the Pacific Cup to Hawaii- a.k.a. the “fun race to Hawaii”! Race veterans compare last night’s conditions to the 2002 and 2016 races that were marked by unusually stiff breezes.
Thereafter, the fleet was besieged by a combination of light winds and a hurricane pushing northwest from Mexico that upset the traditional balance of the Pacific High’s tradewinds. However, for the last five days of racing, the fleet was blessed by the regular tradewinds blowing from the east-northeast at 15-20 kts plus all day long.
In
PHRF Class B (Weems & Plath), Karl Haflinger’s J/35 SHEARWATER,
racing with his crew of Jim Ianelli (Navigator), Stewart Putnam, David
Smullin, and Alan Johnson, won their class by a 10-hour margin.Then, in PHRF Class C (Alaska Airlines), Phil Wampold’s J/92 ZAFF, racing with his Canadian crew of Kieran Horsburgh (Watch Captain), Ansel Koehn (Foredeck), and Paul Mais (Navigator), won their class by the amazing margin of nearly two days on corrected time! Follow the news on the Pacific Cup Facebook page here. For more Pacific Cup Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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