Update: Valkyrie‘s time, and the new record, was 8 days, 9 hours and 17 seconds. Wow. Kinetic finished 5 hours later and Westerly has finished as well.
They’ve done it! The TP 52 Valkyrie was first to finish, and no matter how the handicaps shake out, that is theirs to keep. Of course this breaks the record by a lot. It looks like they had to do a couple of gybes to get around Hawea Point. We’ll assess just how smashed the record is as Kinetic, and then Westerly, come in. Longboard is having to work their way west now, which is adding some difference, but she’ll be tied up next to the TPs and SC fairly soon as well. Kudos to Jason Rhodes, Gavin Brackett and the whole team. Mai tais all around.
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.