Early Lead for Doublehanders in Pac Cup Fleet
Early Lead for Doublehanders in Pac Cup Fleet
With more than half the 2012 Pac Cup fleet now en route to Hawaii, albeit slowly, the remaining racers are not chomping at the bit to get off the dock, given the dour wind pattern that has plagued the early starters and the not-so-great outlook for the next day or so.
As of 1300 hours PDT on Wednesday, as predicted, the lead boats were those taking a more northerly route. Currently leading is Jamani, the J/120 from San Francisco skippered by Sean Mulvihill and crew Jeff Mulvihill, with a mere 215 nm under their belts in almost 48 hours since their start on Tuesday.
Naos 30, the Beneteau 1st from Los Angeles, skippered by Charles Devanneaux and crew Frederic Courouble, had tucked away 192 nm in the same period, while in third, Moonshine, the Dog Patch 26 crewed by Dylan Benjamin and Rufus Sjoberg had sailed 183 nm.
Jamani and Moonshine, further north than Naos 30, were making between 6-7 knots, while Naos was maintaining a steady 5.5 knots.
Skip McCormack, navigator on Double Trouble leaves for his ninth west coast to Hawaii race on Thursday with the Div E boats.
“It’s unfortunate that the way that these things work with the staggered starts is that you generally have winners and losers right off the bat,” McCormack commented. “Unfortunately those earlier starts are showing again, just as they did in 2010, they’re just struggling to get around and through that low that eventually shut the door on them. It’s a real struggle out there - the buoy reports are showing absolute still calm conditions right outside the Gulf of the Farallones. It’s just a bummer and I feel pretty bad for those guys.”
