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As the Pacific Cup comes to a close, victory is already being declared by the organizers. Judging by this video of racers basking in the warm Hawaii air, it was another huge win for the Pacific Cup Yacht Club and all who participated.

But we here in the Pacific Northwest can do a little crowing of our own. By my count there were 10 Pacific Northwest Boats and a couple others with significant Northwest connections. The fat lady will sing in the coming hours as Classes B and C finish and we know the final positions of Shearwater, Zaff and Poke and Destroy. But here’s a brief rundown of PNW results so far.

In the Doublehanded 1 Division, Darrel and Ian Jensen corrected to a third in the Express 27 Alternate Reality. Alexia Fisher and Christa Bassett Ross corrected to fourth in the Santa Cruz 27 Zipper in the Doublehanded 2 class, nipping out the J/105 Abstract from Portland. This division had a very wide performance spread, and in fact the first boat to get to Hawaii, A Fond Le Griffon, came from this class in semi-foiling mode. In the Kolea cruising class, Holm Albrecht’s Swan 441 Gusto finished fourth with Wavelength and Edge of Moonlight coming in 6th and 11th.

In the BMW of San Rafael class (highest rated) there were two Northwest boats, Rage and Westerly, and one adopted Bieker design with plenty of PNW crew, Blue. The 41-foot Blue couldn’t hold with the fast sleds on the water, but did correct to third in class behind Pyewacket and Prospector.

In the coming hours, two classes with PNW boats in the money, are set to finish.

Phil Wampold’s J/92 Zaff of Victoria has sailed a great race, and looks like she will finish second in Class 3, while Alex Simanis’ Evelyn 32 Poke and Destroy looks to be in third. You gotta hand it to the boat on track to win the class, the lovely cold molded Farr 36 Sweet Okole, which has raced to Hawaii so many times it probably could get there on instinct alone. Who says old IOR boats can’t go downwind? In Class B, it appears the PNW will have its lone class winner, the J/35 Shearwater out of Tacoma owned by Karl Haflinger. If you’re curious, tune into the tracker here.

And here are the last couple reports from the Poke and Destroy team:

7/23/18

Good morning! Skyler here aboard Poke and Destroy with your daily update, sent by sat phone!

We’re FINALLY sending it! After another slow and frustrating day of trying to make downwind gains in light air, the breeze filled in yesterday evening just after a lovely dinner of freeze-dried kung pao chicken. 

Overnight we saw winds from 20-25 knots and were sailing under the A3 spinnaker at an apparent wind angle of 120-130 degrees to make our course. Those in the know realize that this is fully powered up. Boat speeds consistently between 8-15 knots have got us down to just 209 miles left to Kaneohe. 

Spirits couldn’t be higher even if the sleep is a bit hard to come by with living conditions 

down below becoming a bit rough. Hopefully this breeze holds through the end of the race as forecast.

We’ll keep you posted.

Poke and Destroy out.

-Skyler Palmer

Dennis Palmer here, Skyler’s dad, reporting from shore in Seattle.  It’s great to hear that Poke and Destroy is having a fast finish to the Pacific Cup.  If the wind continues, they should finish during daylight tomorrow, July 24, at about 15:00 HST.  

As of 11:21 a.m. PDT this morning, their boat speed was 9.7 knots, and they had 184 miles to go to the finish line at Kaneohe Bay.  Poke and Destroy is 8 hours and 21 minutes ahead of fourth-place Aloha, the Hobie 33.  Zaff, the J/92, is in second place, 4 hours and 42 minutes ahead of Poke and Destroy, and Sweet Okole, the Farr 36 with 12 Pacfic Cup’s worth of experience, have used their knowledge and skill to remain in first place, 6 hours and 42 minutes ahead of Poke and Destroy.

After Team Poke and Destroy has raced 1860 miles already, sailing another 184 miles sounds like a piece of cake, right?  Well, consider this.  The majority of experienced sailors have never sailed race as long as 184 miles.  

One of the most physically demanding races here in the Pacific Northwest is the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, which starts in Victoria, B.C. and sails out the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Pacific Ocean and back, covering 138.2 nautical miles.  The Swiftsure Race is so challenging that it was all I could do after finishing the last one I raced in was to drag my tired body across the street from the marina to the Empress Hotel for a long soak in a hot tub.  It took a couple of days for me to recover from sore muscles and fatigue.  The only other physical activity I have done that compares to the level of effort of sailing a Swiftsure Race is climbing 14,410-foot Mount Rainer, which takes about the same amount of time and energy.  

Team Poke and Destroy has already sailed the equivalent of more than 13 Swiftsure Races, and they have about 1.3 more Swiftsures to go until the finish line.

You know how tired you get after lifting weights at the gym for about an hour?  Imagine doing this for the better part of two weeks and you get an idea of how much work Team Poke and Destroy has been putting in, while being deprived of sleep and eating freeze-dried food.  

In some years, the Pacific Cup racers sail in trade winds of consistent direction and velocity for days on end, and trim the sails only now and then.  This year, the winds have been shifty, requiring frequent sail changes and constant trimming.  Team Poke and Destroy has been getting a major work-out for this entire race.

It would be completely understandable if Team Poke and Destroy eased off a bit and coasted to the finish line tomorrow.  Instead, they are giving it all they’ve got, sailing faster right now than they have for most of the race. The fact that their spirits couldn’t be higher says a lot about Alex Simanis, Elishia Van Luven and Skyler Palmer. 

By Dennis Palmer, Team Poke and Destroy Communications Manager

7/22/18

Poke and Destroy is getting closer to the finish line of the Pacific Cup at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu, with 406 miles to go as of 8:00 a.m. PDT on July 22.  Her estimated time of arrival is on 7/24/28 at 2010 hours HST (8:00 p.m. PDT).  Team Poke and Destroy is in a solid third place, nine hours and 16 minutes ahead of fourth place Aloha, the Hobie 33 with which they made a bet for two pitchers of mai tais to go to the winner between those two boats.  

Poke and Destroy is 5 hours and 20 minutes behind first place, which has now been claimed by Sweet Okole, the Farr 36 that has sailed in 12 Pacific Cups, including the first one in 1980.  Zaff, the J/92 from Victoria, B.C., is in second place, only 40 minutes behind first place.

Poke and Destroy continues to be on the south side of the boats in Division C.  The wind over the next couple of days looks perhaps a bit stronger for Poke and Destroy than the boats to the north, Sweet Okole and Zaff.  

The forecast for the next few days calls for cloudy or partly cloudy skies, with wind from 15 to 20 knots and gusts to 25 knots.  There may be isolated rain showers and squalls.

Kurt Hoehne

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.

There’s a large, talented contingent of PNW boats entered in this year’s Pacific Cup Race from the SF Bay area to Hawaii. Three of the boats, Alternate Reality, Gusto and Zipper, started a couple days ago. Several more were starting midday today, including Poke and Destroy, Shearwater and Zaff. I’ll give them a day to get out on the racecourse proper, then do an update. In the meantime, Bruce Hedrick has provided a weather outlook for a race that promises to be anything but simple. -KH

Kurt and I were wondering about how to deal with the plethora of questions that you have sent in so we decided I should provide an overview specific to this year’s event. I will try to get you some insight into what will surely be a very challenging event.

We love the Pacific Cup for a couple of very specific reasons. 1. It’s the shortest race to Hawaii. 2. You end up in Kaneohe Bay, a way better place than Maui or Honolulu. 3. They stagger the start so you start at the same point in the ebb out of San Francisco Bay and you only beat for a very short time (about 45 minutes in a “normal” year) before you start reaching for the Mai-tai’s. 4. They have a great pre-race prep program conducted by veterans. 5. The pre-race and post race parties are absolutely the best. 6. For boats from the Pacific NW, you usually break everything on the delivery south to SF so the first couple of days of the race are “We’ve been there and broken that.”

Since they instituted the staggered start, things have gotten more interesting and I think, for the most part, it has made the race more interesting. Over time it has shown that sometimes you roll the dice about the staggered start and sometimes the dice roll you. This year will be no different as the first starters on Monday left in probably more northwesterly than they wanted, 20-25 with higher gusts. They started with breeze, and are continuing to enjoy reaching in a solid 15-20 knots of North-Northwesterly. The folks that will be starting today will be starting in much less wind and it will continue to recede in front of them. The Thursday and Friday starters are going to be well and truly hosed as a low-pressure system over central California will move offshore and sit right over the big big boats. All the while the early starters will be cranking right along towards the Islands.

According to the tracker there are two very distinct camps with some very respected veterans going very different ways. The problem these folks are trying to solve will start to show up show up tomorrow in the form of an upper level low-pressure system that will set up shop right over the rhumbline. This will create a very large patch of light air and woe be the boats that get caught in that. This is where the navigators will earn their money as they decide to go over the top of this light air death trap or sail underneath it.

Let’s start with the basics. Whatever race you do to Hawaii, you always have to deal with the Pacific High which is the dominant weather feature of the North Pacific in the summer months. There is no wind in the center of the high so we always try to avoid that. The general rule of thumb is always try to keep 4MB of pressure between you and the center of the high to avoid becoming becalmed. Look at the Surface Analysis for July 11th. The high is centered at about 42N, 143W and is not particularly strong at 1035MB. It is also not round so between those two features, shape and center pressure, it is not going to be very stable and will be susceptible to being pushed around by the low pressure systems you see over central California and the North Pacific. We would really like to see the Pacific High be round with a center pressure around 1040MB. You would also like to sail the shortest possible distance, the great circle route which usually takes you way too close to the Pacific High and light air. The key is how you balance the extra distance sailed with how much wind you’ll have, always a challenge.

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The other key feature to watch is the distance between the isobars around the high. The closer they are together, the more wind you will have in that area. Note off the Oregon coast how tight the isobars are and the word Gale! Note also that the spacing between the 1016MB line and the 1020MB line and the 1028 and 1024Mb line is greater than the spacing between the 1020 and 1024MB lines. This will mean more wind between 1020 and 1024MB lines. At least for today.

Now go to the 12 July surface forecast chart and you’ll see that 1008MB low pressure system is moving slowly offshore right over SF Bay. This will bring light air and from the wrong direction, we are not supposed to beat to Hawaii and gentlemen only sail downwind. The gap between the 1016 and 1020MB and 1020 and 1024MB has increased meaning less wind in this area while the gap between 1024 and 1028MB has decreased which should more wind on the north side of the course. The surface forecast chart for 13 July is even more depressing for the late starters as the low has weakened from 1008MB to 1014MB and expanded in area meaning light and variable wind as the racers try to get away from the coast. First person to 130W wins. The Pacific High is also being pushed around by the fronts coming off of the two low pressure systems to the north and northwest of the 1035MB center of the high. The other interesting feature of the high are the two weaker lobes, one to the north and one to the west. Eventually the 1035 high will absorb these two lobes and the high try’s to get back to being round. Note also the gap in the isobars over the race course, less wind in the south, more wind in the north.

The surface forecast chart for 15 July will bring smiles to everyone on the course. The gap between the isobars is almost identical and when that happens the wind is basically the same over the course and those who sail the shortest possible distance will be the victors.

The sailors who handle the transition the best from today to the 15th will be the overall winners and right now I think it will be some one from the first group that started and that sailed the north course. Just my guess.

As always, if you have questions or comments, fire away. This is going to be a fun one to watch. I’ll update on Friday.

Bruce Hedrick

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)

“What does everybody think? Are we a dying breed?” It was in the 22nd hour of the Smith Island Race, which had been a drifty, damp and cold affair. We were leading the remaining fleet and spirits were actually pretty high, if a little drained.

Dan Falk posed the question in a way only Dan can, in his resonant, confident tone. Even though the conversation didn’t go into the philosophical direction it could have, it certainly got everybody thinking. Well, it got me thinking.

Keelboat racing has certainly faded in North America in recent years, in some places like the Pacific Northwest more than others. The many reasons have been discussed ad nauseam; expense, a time-pressed culture that doesn’t allow for this time-consuming sport, handicapping issues, et. al.

But I don’t think Dan’s question was about keelboat racing in general. I think it was about the whole overnight/long distance question. The “fleet” we were leading consisted of seven boats. It was only a fleet of 21 to start with, a far cry from the dozens (hundreds) that used to do this race back in the 80s. The short and cruising courses had another 25 starters but with the time limits they were assured of at least being home for a late dinner.

No, the question was, was the breed of sailor who’d stay out all night in the cold, hanging on in a race for up to 30 hours, dying. On the face of it, the answer would seem yes. The skippers and crews of the two TP52s and R/P 55 pulled the plug on the race in the afternoon, though even with a few breaths of air the time limit would not be a problem for them. There are tough, skilled and very competitive crews on all those boats, but they made the understandable choice to head home.

I’m sure they slept better than we did and got a whole lot more chores than we did as well. But there wasn’t one among Grace‘s crew that regretted staying out there. We all traded emails affirming that the next day. Even one crew who couldn’t make it chimed in on the thread wishing he’d been there. We were first to finish, and third overall on corrected time. While it would have been great to win on corrected time, the competition wasn’t at issue.

It’s something other than competition that kept us going and made us happy looking back. Sure, it’s the camaraderie, the use and honing of skills, the being out there in nature. Yada yada. But for me there’s something more to it than that, and it came clear to me because it’s been a while since I’ve raced overnight. For me it was the chance to do a mini restart. Life ashore is full of routines, challenges and expectations. Life at sea, especially with relative strangers, is full of changing and challenging conditions (without anybody but Neptune to blame), new conversations, physicality – even if it is an oppressive cold like the other night.

You come out of it reset. Tired, cold, sore, probably behind on the to-do list, but reset to face life ashore with a new set of eyes. Chances are there are some new jokes rolling around your head, even if you can’t tell some of them ashore.

This region used to be a mecca of overnight racing. It was at a time when the navigation, boatspeed and even attire weren’t nearly as good as they are today. I never got to enjoy the Around the Sounds and Great Equalizers, but they sound like they were lots of fun. There were hundreds of boats out there, even in humble little 25-footers that were of dubious construction with crews with minimal experience. Have we changed that much?

I submit we have not. I think sailors have just forgotten about the joys and challenges of overnight racing. I believe they’ve been told too often about the discomforts and not enough about the camaraderie. I believe the racing culture has taken a temporary course toward competition and comfort rather than adventure and camaraderie.

There are plenty of long distance races that are not only thriving, but are bursting at the seams. The Mackinac races in the Midwest, ARC on the Atlantic, Fastnet, Sydney Hobart and many others are hitting the limits. In Europe there’s an abundance of overnight racing. In our area, Swiftsure has been losing ground but it’s still strong, and it could flare up at any time to the fleet sizes of the 1980s. Then there’s the R2AK, set to start in about a month. Now, that’s discomfort that dwarfs a Smith Island Race on 40-footer, but now in it’s fourth year it’s come to full maturity with no signs of slowing down.

So, if you shake your head at those of us who stumble in, cold and really really hungry some morning, think again. The best part of racing might not be the competition, or getting home to a warm bed. The best part might be eating lasagna on deck in a drizzle while listening to that joke that would never be told on shore. You return to the dock as a person reset – which is just as important now as it ever was.

No, we’re not a dying breed. I’m pretty sure we’re just in hibernation.

Kurt Hoehne

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.

March may have been drier than normal, however, April will more than make up for that! At about the ½ way point in the month, we are only about an inch above the norm compared to last year at this time when we were 8” above normal. That will change over the weekend. Just take a look at the Water Vapor Imagery from this morning which really does look like a firehose aimed right at the Northwest.

The most breeze will certainly be today as the strong warm front shown in the charts moves inland. The winds will ease late tonight as the cold front shown behind the warm front slowly moves into the Pacific NW. This cold front will eventually stall over Western Washington on Saturday before it begins to dissipate. This will result in a light northerly flow on Sunday as a weak cold front shift east into Oregon. By Sunday evening we can expect weak onshore flow as this system moves inland. All the while accompanied by rain. Welcome to Spring in the Pacific Northwest.

Click any image to enlarge.

This will keep sailors on their toes both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning expect 8-12 from the south until around noon when it will start to drop off. Another southerly pulse of breeze will probably show up from the SSE by mid-afternoon this could be as high as 20 knots. This will ease just after sunset as flow starts down the Straits and into the Sound. Sunday will just be light northerlies becoming spotty by midday. At least it will still be raining but not nearly as much as we are expecting tomorrow. This upcoming week will be interesting as you look at the surface chart for Tuesday which shows a vigorous low-pressure system on the International Dateline with a very long frontal system attached and moving our way, possibly by next weekend.

Be safe and enjoy the weekend.

Bruce Hedrick

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)