2000 – 2001
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Pacific Cup Updates
|
July 21, 2000 |
San Francisco, CA |
Rage update 7-21, 10am pdt
Position: 22 59N 149 06W
Course: 241 magnetic at 15.5kts
The race for first to Hawaii is really Ragin now. The wind has finally really filled in and the sky is grey and angry looking. Last night was excessively exciting at times, with continous squalls increasing and shifting the wind. The last 24 hrs was our fastest so far, and we have hit 20kts several times. The noise below of the spinnaker sheet easing on the winch is deafening. The bow often dives below the surface to emerge from the other side of the waves. The loads on the afterguy and upper runner are terrifying.
We have closed the distance to about 25 miles behind Pegasus. They must have had a wild night jibing on the shifts, to take up position almost directly in front of us. It is the smart move for them to cover and stay between us and the finish.
It is now a flat out drag race. The 4000 sq ft “whomper” is still up and pulling like angry elephant. If we weren’t so close we might change to a smaller kite, but there is no backing off now.
Some of our best driving has been by Campbell Rivers. At only 16 he is a real natural and a great find by Commander Rander. He is also completely insane and hasn’t seen enough big stuff break to be scared! I like that. He reminds me of me.
I stayed on deck pretty much all night to look after things and gear settings. The others joke that I sleep with my eyes open to make sure they don’t screw up.
Attached is a shot of the cockpit in it’s continuous action, and the bow flying along.
Scared but determined,
The crew of Rage
Rage update 7-21 7:25pdt
We just finished a major fire drill. We were on starboard jibe, having jibed earlier today to set up the best angle for our final approach. I was off watch trying to snooze on the weather rail when there was (another) loud BANG. Broken halyard again! Everyone jumped to the foredeck and once again we rescued our beloved “Whomper” before it became a fishing net.
The halyard (another old one) broke near the mast block, so it still long enough to use. I went up the rig to relead it while the gang banded and repacked the whomper. Repacking the kite instead of hoisting another took more time, but we wanted the right kite up. Halfway through this process we remembered that we had been thinking about jibing back to port, so we changed all the gear around for that. This is a bigger task than one might think, since our turbo pole is so long there is a rather complicated array of lines, a reaching strut, and safety lines to set up each time.
Anyway, we lost a few miles in this fiasco, but we are dailed in now. Hope there are no more big surprises. We don’t know where Pegasus is right now, so all we can do is keep going fast.
Later,
Bruce
Special thanks to our Pacific Cup Sponsors!:
Doyle Sails Alameda: Official Supplier of sails to Made in America
Titan winch handles: Makers of the superlight “Viper” carbon winch handles
Forespar Mfg: Makers of our badass 32ft “Turbo” spinnaker pole
Samson Cordage: Suppliers of “Amsteel Blue” running rigging, the strongest and most durable line
MAS Epoxies: Suppliers of Epoxy resin to Made in America
Nobeltec: Providing World-Wide charting software to Made in America
Complete Cruising Solutions:
Waypoint: Knowledgable dealers of Navigation and Weather software, charts, and books
HF Radio on Board: Experts in Marine Communication