Race Report from the event

JULY 16 RACE REPORT
Monday morning shows much of the same as Sunday on the leaderboard, but
there are some very major developments occurring on the race course which
threaten to significantly impact the overall rankings in this fascinating 20th
edition of the Pacific Cup. Most notably, the northerly boats in the first wave of
starters have sailed into a large area of very light winds and hit the brakes.
Furthermore, the Friday starters have proven to get off to a quicker start than
predicted and are storming towards the top of the overall Pacific Cup
leaderboard. Overall PHRF and Pac Cup leaderGreen Buffalo was sailing at
less than four knots this morning.
Also up north and showing reduced boat speeds are the top cruising boat and
still 2nd on line honors,Outremer,as well as the leading boat in the DH2/
Mount Gay Rum division, Douglas Pilhaja's J/105Abstract.As these northerly
boats all take their first major hitch south on a port gybe, they will begin to
consolidate with the more southerly boats in the fleet, who are still on
starboard and rumbling towards Hawaii, albeit still fairly slowly, though
comparatively quicker than their northerly rivals. If the most southerly boats
can reach the strongest breeze on the course and the northerly boats remain
slow, this most recent development could again threaten to blow the race wide
open.
With lead boat, the experimentally-ratedA Fond le Girafon slowing to just 4
knots or so for the last day, their ETA into Kaneohe is getting pushed further
and further back, while far behind them the Mills 68Prospector- the fastest
boat in the entire fleet - is cruising along at a steady 14+ knots as of this
writing. Doing what modern mini-maxi's do, the big Mark Mills designed yacht
owned by the Shelter Island Transatlantic Partners has already blazed a path
past all of the Wednesday and Thursday starters and should soon begin
overhauling the first wave of starters in wholesale fashion. With most of the
first wave of starters in the southerly pack at around the halfway mark
andProspector just 400 miles astern, it now looks like a Friday starter may
well be the first boat into Kaneohe.Prospectoris currently correcting out to
2nd overall in the ORR divisions and 2nd in the BMW of San Rafael E
Division. Top honors for ORR and E division currently belongs to pre-race
favoritePyewacket, the famous Alan Andrews designed sled owned by Roy
Pat Disney and sailing with internationally acclaimed crewmembers such as
navigator Tom Addis, VOR stud Stu Bannatyne and 5-time Olympic medalist
Torben Grael.
Again proving why one-design racing is so thrilling to watch, much of the
Express 27 fleet appears to be sailing within sight of one another with the top
four boats seemingly playing musical chairs on the leaderboard; it's that close.

We have a new leader in the DH1/ Pau Maui Vodka division in Alternate
Reality, as Loose CannonandFired Up! also find themselves on the podium
at the moment while pre-race favorite Motorcycle Irene is in a dog fight in this
competitive fleet and currently sails in 4th place, though all positions are still
up for grabs. Rebecca Hinden's Express 27Bombora, which is sailing three-
up in the Coral Reef Sailing Apparel A division still remains ahead of all of the
doublehanded Express 27's on handicap, but with her slightly more northerly
position, she should soon be passed by some of the more southerly boats
who are sailing more than a knot faster to contest for overal Express 27
honors.
Benjamin Rummen's Farr 1220The Fugitive remains in a steady first place in
the Weems & Plath B division, though just a handful of hours on corrected
time over her pursuers, which are tightly clustered together. The Swan
46Free, Grand Soleil 50Alessandra,Davidson 44Imagineand Farr
44Companera are all essentially tied on corrected time, with everything still to
play for. Taking a conservative, middle of the road approach, this fleet should
be slow and steady towards the finish. Squared back and running deep, this
should be a low-and-slow drag race to the barn in Kaneohe with little chance
for a major tactical home run to blow the division open. The other fleet of
Wednesday starters, the Alaska Airlines C division is living up to the pre-race
hype with Dean Treadway's Farr 36Sweet Okolevirtually tied on corrected
time with Phil Wampold's J/92Zaff,who is sailing neck and neck with the
Hobie 33 Aloha and the Evelyn 32-2 Poke and Destroy. As the breeze
continues to move aft and this becomes a true downwind race, Zaffwill have
her work cut out for her to run deep angles in the light-to-moderate trades that
are forecast to the finish. The big questions will be whether Okole can leg out
on her rivals, ifZaffcan keep up, and if the smaller, lighter Hobie 33 and
Evelyn 32 can make gains.
In the Pasha Hawaii D division,J World's Cazan'searly flyer to the south
looked brilliant in the short-term, while her more northerly rivals were
becalmed, but once they picked up the breeze, they have accelerated into the
lead as Cazanhas faded. Gregory Mullins' Farr 52Zamazaan and her crew,
which includes several professional sailors, has jumped out to a big lead in
division, whileJ World's Hula Girl is off their port quarter, though sailing
slightly slower and on a faster rated boat. It is a commendable effort from a
group of pay-to-play sailors who are sailing their hearts out against the wicked
up pro crew on Zamazaan. The J/120Hokulaniis rounding out the podium at
the moment, while Chris Kramer's 32-foot rocketship Six Brothers continues to
move up the leaderboard after struggling in the early stages. As the breeze
continues to move aft, watch for Six Brothers to displace Hokulani on the
leaderboard; at the moment, the two are virtually tied.