We’ve been watching our PNW boats very carefully this Pacific Cup, and were disappointed to see that the J/125 Hamachi was apparently going to finish second to sistership Rufless. But wait, there’s more. Hamachi filed a rating protest and Rufless withdrew, giving Hamachi a class win and third overall. See Ronnie Simpson’s report here. I’ve excerpted the Hamachi-relevant part:
Third place overall and first place in the BMW of San Rafael Division is Jason Andrews and Shawn Dougherty’s Seattle based J/125 Hamachi. After an overall win in the 2019 Transpac, the team is back on the box in a Hawaii race after yet another fantastic crossing. With a slower rating than Hamachi, Rufus Sjoberg’s J/125 Rufless finished just a couple of hours behind Hamachi but seemingly corrected out to claim the divisional win. We say apparently because Hamachi had lodged a protest against Rufless’ ORR rating, claiming a rating discrepancy. After much deliberation, the crew on Rufless has decided to withdraw themselves from the Pacific Cup. While this is a sad occurrence for all of us here at Pac Cup, who view Rufus Sjoberg and his Rufless team as part of our ohana (family), we support their decision and wish them the best of luck in having their boat re-measured, re-rated and coming back stronger in 2024. Rufus, Navigator Skip McCormack and the entire Rufless crew were incredibly gracious in coming to this decision. The Corinthian spirit of sailing is alive and well here in Kaneohe as the Rufless crew and Hamachi crew congratulated each other on a hard-fought race and shared a warm and friendly debrief.
As far as the rest of our PNWers go;
Moonshine (Marc Andrea Klimaschewski, Sloop Tavern and CYC Seattle, Dogpatch 26, Kolea Doublehanded division) Won the Kolea DH1 Division.
Alternate Reality (Ian, Mitchell and Darrel Jensen, Sloop Tavern YC, Express 27, Ocean Navigator class). Fourth in Ocean Navigator Division.
Dash (Stephanie Arnold & Ken Machtley, Orcas Island YC, J/99, Mahina DH2) Fifth in Mahina DH2
Free Bowl of Soup (Erik Hopper & Douglass Schenk, Portland YC & CYC Portland, J/105, Weems and Plath) First in the Weems and Plath Division.
the Boss (Chad Stenwick, West Sound CYC, J/35, North Sails division) Second in the North Sails Division to Andy Schwenk’s Express 37.
Lodos (Tolga Cezik, CYC Seattle, J/111, Goslings Rum division) Sixth in Goslings Rum Division.
Such Fast (David Garman, SSS, One Design 35, Goslings Rum division) Ninth in Goslings Rum Division
Freja (Jonathan Cruse, Sloop Tavern YC & CYC Seattle, Aerodyne 43, Goslings Rum division) Fifth in Gosling’s Rum Division, and has the best quote of the event describing “non-consensual surfing.” See report here.
Raku (Christina and Justine Wolfe, Orcas Island YC, J/111, Mahina DH2) While they seemed to be a lock on first place for much of the race, the Donovan 30 Wolfpack made a dramatic final push to finish first and push the Wolfes to second.
Hamachi (Jason Andrews and Shawn Dougherty, CYC Seattle & Sloop Tavern YC, J/125, BMW of San Rafael division) First in the BMW of San Rafael Division.
Blue (Michael Schoendorf, South Shore YC, Pacific Cup YC, Riptide 41, BMW of San Rafael) Third boat to finish in Hawaii and third in the BMW of San Rafael Division. You absolutely have to love a 41′ boat finishing that early.
Rage (David Raney, Corinthian YC Portland, Wylie 70, Alaska Airlines class) Third in the Alaska Airlines Division. Rage came from behind to finish ahead of Westerly, though not enough to beat her on corrected time.
Westerly (Stuart Dahlgren, Royal Victoria YC, Santa Cruz 70, Alaska Airlines class) Second place in Alaska Airlines Division and overall. I’m going to call her first among normal boats, as Pyewacket with her canting keel really should be in a different class. This was an amazing achievement especially considering the final push it took just to get to the starting line.
Shadow II (Peter McCarthy, West Vancouver YC, TP52, Alaska Airlines class) Fifth in Alaska Airlines Division.
Zvi (Alan Lubner, Seattle YC, Reichel/Pugh 55, Alaska Airlines class) Second boat (first of the normal boats) to get to Hawaii and fourth in the Alaska Airlines Division. The Zvi program continues to improve in its second race to Hawaii, and has show consistently high speeds in this race.
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.