Few reports are coming in as the first boats are now less than 300 miles from the finish line. No doubt everyone smells the barn (even if from a distance for some of the cruisers) and are staying focused. As soon as we hear from our friends on Canard, we’ll let you know. They’re catching up, but are hung out there pretty far to the east.
Those of you who were confused, as I was, about the Division 3 placings on the tracker, fear not. (The tracker has Rain Drop fourth in division 3 where she actually is first, and leaving little doubt about their ultimate position) The organizers point out that the ORC overall position is correct, as is her placement on the water.
At the front of the fleet it’s Valkyrie maintaining her lead on the water and Kinetic leading on corrected time. That’ll be a great way to keep everybody happy, one TP with the elapsed time win, yet behind to the other one on corrected time. Westerly is falling in line behind those two.
Longboard should slip in behind those three powerhouses but ahead of the 74′ Atalanta. And to think, Atalanta (ex-Ondine) was state of the art in the late 1960s. If you look at her interior now, it is art. I’m not sure how the handicaps are going to play out in division 1, but it sure feels like little Longboard should win.
Other positions have remained fairly static in the last few hours as the race course becomes a parade. No doubt there are rivalries within the race that have crews focused.
One interesting sideshow is that the Pacific Cup fleet is finishing as well (at Oahu). At last check, the 100′ Rio 100 had one boat yet to pass, an Antrim designed Class 40. I wonder whether “our fleet” is going to see any of “that fleet.”
We’ll check in in a few hours. In the meantime, if you’re privy to any tidbits we don’t get, please share!
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.