I guess the good news is that the entire Vic-Maui Fleet has committed to the Great Circle Route and have (wisely) decided to follow Brad Baker on Firefly. The bad news is that as we pointed out last week, the high has built to 1039MB, we said 1040, and it is centered well west at 161degrees W, we said 160, and instead of a 28MB spread from the center of the high to the Islands it’s only 24MB. That is still plenty. The problem will be that between the Pacific High and the coast are persistent troughs of low-pressure off the coast and a very weak ridge of high pressure along the coast. This has created some very breezy conditions north of the Bay Area and will impact the starts of Pacific Cup but only for the first couple of days of the race. After that, it appears there will be a nice band of wind to get south and get set up for the final approach to the Islands. Navigators will really earn their keep this year as from about 140W to 155W there will be unsettled areas of light air.
The Vic-Maui Racers have a more complex problem. They’ve all committed to sailing the shortest possible route which will take them into a large area of light air by the 10th of July. This caused by the fact that the jet stream is simply not around this summer. By the 8th to the 10th of July it make dip as far south as the Aleutians, otherwise, there is nothing to really push the these weather systems around.
For the Pacific NW our mild summer will continue with an unusually strong southerly breeze off the coast today which will diminish as this trough pushes through. Onshore flow will build behind this trough creating strong westerlies in the central Straits. Wind over the rest of the area will remain light and variable. You should still check the VHF weather readings and log the barometer before you head out on any cruise. Just be the prudent mariner.
Enjoy the weekend!
Ed. Note: I’m coming back from a terrestrial vacation in WI. Lots of news to catch up on and put out there on sailish.com. For example, once again Hanne Weaver is the US Singlehanded Women’s Champ! And Firefly and Joy Ride are going at it hard. -KH
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography and learned meteorology “to keep from getting kicked around on the race course.” Bruce spent nearly two decades as Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)