VOLUME 446 August 2014 WE GO WHERE THE WIND BLOWS DINGOES RUN OFF There were 50 U.S. entries in last month's 2,070-mile Pacifi c Cup race from San Francisco to Oahu, and who had to take us due south before we The Holo Holo Cruising Divi- takes fi rst in Division, Fleet and Pacifi c could start our turn toward Hawaii, sion, the fi rst-ever in the Pac Cup to Cup? Rob Date's R/P Southern Cross but it still put us in front of everyone. permit motoring and outside weather 52 Scarlet Runner from Melbourne, Unfortunately, the wind kept fi lling in assistance, was led start-to-fi nish by from behind, preventing us from really Michael Chobotov's luxurious Jean- pulling away, and it wasn't until the neau 49 Venture from Sausalito YC. last three days that we could really light Having wanted to do the race since he it off. We did 391 miles one day, and was a teenager, Chobotov couldn't de- 1,090 miles — more than half the race cide whether to enter the Cruising divi- — between the 16th and the 18th. Our sion or a regular PHRF division. He fi - top speed was 25.6 knots. It was a great nally decided to go with the former, and race and a spectacular time." is glad he did. One reason was time. "After 15 years, I fi nally managed to pull off an IPO for my medical device Scarlet's hat trick of sorts did company this spring," he says. "So I nothing to overshadow some brilliant just didn't have the 40 hours it would small-boat performances, particularly have taken me to unload my boat to get LESLIE RICHTER / WWW.ROCKSKIPPER.COM that of Karl Robrock and Gilles Comb- her weighed and measured for PHRF. Karl Robrock and Gilles Combrisson took top risson on the Moore 24 Snafu, who took I'm also glad we ended up in the Cruis- PHRF honors with 'Snafu', the smallest boat. fi rst in Division, fi rst in PHRF Fleet, and ing division because a week before the Australia, that's who. Date and his 11th in Pacifi c Cup — the latter being start my navigator fell ill, so I lost him band of Aussies managed to correct out a somewhat tortured way of combining and his son, leaving me with a crew two hours ahead of Roy Patrick Disney PHRF and ORR boats. of just fi ve. Fortunately, I met veteran and his star-studded crew on the An- Small boat shout-outs are also due sailor Tom Conte days before the start drews 68 Pyewacket (ex-Pegasus). So Ward Naviaux and Andy Schwenk on at a Pac Cup pre-race party, and he be- you might think twice before inviting the Santa Cruz 27 Blade Runner, which came a valuable sixth crew member." the Aussies to your next 'FUN' race. fi nished second in division and PHRF, The Cruising division boats got off to One of three Southern Cross 52s and Melinda and Bill Erkelens on the a great start, with three to four days of built by Davie Norris in New Zealand, Donovan 30 Wolfpack, who fi nished beam reaching, which meant as much Scarlet wasn't expected to run off with fi rst in the Kolea Doublehanded Divi- as 190 miles a day for so much hardware. After all, she was sion and third in PHRF. Venture. nearing completion of an around-the- Fun fact: The combined weight of "Then Rick Shema, world tour, had fi nished last in her di- Snafu, Blade Runner and Wolfpack is our weather advisor, vision in Les Voiles de St. Barth, and half that of a Cal 40, the traditional gave us a next way- didn't get off to a good start. On the oth- choice for racing to Hawaii. Light is point of 240 miles to er hand, one sailing expert told Latitude right when sailing to Hawaii, and as the the south of where we that if you want to race a big boat com- top three PHRF boats proved, double- were in order to avoid petitively on the West Coast, you either handing is lighter than crewed having the High drop- want a 52 like Scarlet or a refi ned, old- There is always a lot of luck involved ping down on us," school sled with a favorable rating such with any Pacifi c Cup, as the starts on laughs Chobotov. "As as Disney's Andrews 68 Pyewacket. a result, we soon saw "Our chartplotter told 0.0 on both the wind- speed and knotmeter, The only major title Scarlet missed us our ETA at Kaneohe and we all went swim- out on was line honors, which was Bay was 3,000 days." ming. It's weird swim- claimed by Frank Slootman's R/P 63 ming in 12,000 feet of Invisible Hand (ex-Limit) from Encinal fi ve different days usually mean that water." YC, the only boat to fi nish in less than some boats are going to get much more The Venture crew seven days. favorable conditions than others. This intended to sail all the "We had raw boat speed with Hand," year the lucky ones started on Monday way to Hawaii, but explained sailing master Norman Da- and Wednesday, with the less lucky changed their minds vant, "as in anything under 14 knots ones on Friday and Saturday. While ev- when some trailing she does windspeed plus, and in every- erybody had their share of light air, the cruising boats fi red thing over 14 knots she does the wind- Tuesday starters really got the shaft at up their iron gennies. speed. We also had some new straight- the start and in the middle. Surprised to learn, luff Zero sails that really helped. Our As Seadon Wijsen of the Swan 45 two days out, that bow team of Joe, Moe and 'Fro', put up Swazik explained, "You try to win your they had a chance to 'the Bro' — our blast-reaching Zero — 'day', then hope for the best. If you do be fi rst boat to fi n- shortly after the start. That allowed us well in fl eet too, well that's a bonus." ish, the Venture crew to take off at seven knots even though Because of the signifi cant luck fac- threw up the chute there was only three knots of wind and tor, the most meaningful results are and resumed sailing not a ripple on the water. within each division, which is how we're seriously, fl ying the "Patrick Whitmarsh, our navigator, going to report on this Pacifi c Cup. kite through the night. Page 84 • Latitude 38 • August, 2014 WITH THE PACIFIC CUP Tracks to the Winner's Circle But the raging Hand fl ew right by them. a few coastal races Chobotov and Venture's previous with his Moore, and long trip was to the Farallones. Curi- had never sailed to ously for such a luxurious boat, they Hawaii before, so he dined on backpacker chow. went in thinking he'd Wolfgang Hausen's Tayana 48 Koh- "be jazzed" just to fi n- Invisible Hand Ring from St. Francis YC was second, ish. "My crew Gilles, and Bernard Debassch's Beneteau 411 42, is a veteran of four For race fans back home, it was Med Viking was third, both more than Pacifi c Cups and had fascinating to watch the fleet's two days back on corrected time. a much more positive progress toward the fi nish, thanks to Yellowbrick software. view," says Robrock. Venture 'I think we can win it YELLOWBRICK Iwi Doublehanded. As noted, Karl all,' he told me before we started." over swell that we fi nally pulled down Robrock and crew Gilles Combrisson It was a harder race on Snafu than it the sails and slept for four hours." claimed top honors in this division, and might normally have been for two rea- The second thing that made it in- fi rst in the 33-boat PHRF fl eet with the sons. First, the weather was unlike that ordinately hard was Snafu's autopilot Santa Cruz-based Moore 24 Snafu. Fin- in any previous race to Hawaii. "We had crapping out on Day Two. "I didn't re- ishing in 13 days 21 hours, the duo cor- every kind of weather you could imag- alize how big a deal it was until after rected out almost 12 hours ahead of the ine," says Robrock, "but none of the 'fi ve it happened," says Robrock. "but when next PHRF boat, making their victory segments' I'd been taught to expect. you doublehand the Pac Cup, you're completely legit. The Moore was the fi rst Our slowest day was the third night out basically singlehanding three hours ultralight production boat, designed in when the High disintegrated, and what on, three hours off. You don't want to the late 1960s by the great George Ol- was left of it came down right on top of disturb the other's guy's rest, so with- son as an improvement on the Cal 20, us. There was zero wind and we were out the autopilot, once I got on watch which has the same displacement and slatting around so violently in the left- I couldn't do anything but steer. I sail area as the Moore. couldn't change a sail, take a leak, get Spread; Frank Slootman's 'Invisible Hand' was Nobody was more surprised by his food or water, or grab my sunglasses.