Pyewacket heads off in search of record

Rich Roberts reports on the final start of the Corum International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta

The chase was on Friday for Roy Disney's maxZ86 Pyewacket, pushed by Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 maxi sled. They're in pursuit of the record in Del Rey Yacht Club's 18th biennial Corum International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta set by a MacGregor 65 in 1985.

One thing is certain: it won't be another Mac 65 that breaks it.

The only one in this race - David Kory's Barking Spider 3 and she blew out her mainsail in 25 knot headwinds south of San Diego and dropped out Friday at about the time Pyewacket, Magnitude 80 and the Reichel/Pugh 78 Scout Spirit were starting in the PHRF-AA class.

After the abrupt withdrawal two days earlier of Pyewacket's strongest rival, Genuine Risk, that cut the racing fleet to eight boats. Currently out in front in two tight groups were three Santa Cruz 50s that started Wednesday, about 135 miles ahead of two Transpac 52s that started with Barking Spider 3 on Thursday.

The record for the 1,125 nautical miles - the oldest and longest race to the Mexican mainland - is 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 14 seconds set by Richard and Camille Daniels' Joss in 1985. Pyewacket, or anybody else, would have to finish 47 seconds before noon next Wednesday to beat it.

Pyewacket navigator Stan Honey reported by satellite phone at 4:30 Friday that the boat was making 10.5 knots into a southeast (160 compass degrees) headwind of 17-22 knots with winds up to 25 expected late Friday night. "We're hard on the wind," he said. "We had some dolphins [alongside]. That was good."

He also said that Magnitude 80 was visible about a mile behind, but Scout Spirit could not be seen. Baker's boat, now Pyewacket's principal threat, is rated more than a day slower than Disney's for this race, but strange things can happen in the sub-tropical climatic enigma south of the border. "I think the record will go if there's any kind of wind," Baker said, "especially if, once you get through the lee of Cabo San Lucas, there is any wind across the gulf [of California] that's a normal northerly. We haven't given up against them. We don't really know what our speed differences are."

Earlier, Honey was cautious in his expectations. "We'll be busting into a 10-15 knot southerly [Friday] and Saturday, then Sunday it could be really light. By Monday, traditionally, a Mexican race is downwind in 10-15 knots. The upside for us is the time we’ve spent in the boat, checking different configurations and stuff."

A current weather pattern from the south that has brought successive splashes of sub-tropical rain into Southern California ,and headwinds for the racers, was expected to continue into next week. The most encouraging sign Friday was that the escort boat Chaos, close to the S/C 50s farthest down the course, reported 15 knot southwesterly winds, probably allowing those boats to reach but not fly spinnakers.

For Friday's start there was a southeasterly breeze of 10-12 knots off the beach that sent the trio across the line on port tack. All three approached the line on starboard, but Pyewacket, to weather with Robbie Haines driving, and Magnitude 80 tacked to port seconds before the gun as Scout Spirit, representing the Newport Sea Base in Newport Beach, CA, crossed behind them on starboard and kept going for a couple of hundred yards before falling into line.

In PHRF-B, Don Adams and Rick Palmer's chartered Chicken Little and Kirk Wilson's Bay Wolf were virtually even 854 and 855 miles from Puerto Vallarta and averaging 7 knots over the course.

The TP52s, Karl Kwok's Beau Geste and Mark Jones and Dick Watts' Flash that now comprise PHRF-A, also were only a mile apart with 988 and 989 miles to go. The 11 remaining Salsa Division boats finished their second leg at Bahia Santa Maria Friday.

Corum, the title sponsor for this race, will present the owner or skipper of the overall winner in each class with a Corum Admiral's Cup Trophy 41 watch, which has a retail value of $2,195.