New Pacific Cup record

Two handed Philippe Kahn and Richard Clarke sleigh ride into Waikiki

Philippe Kahn and Canadian co-skipper Richard Clarke aboard their Owen-Clarke Open 50 Pegasus (ex Artforms) set a new record for the 2008 Pacific Cup race of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds. The prior record was set by Volvo Ocean Race winner Stan Honey in 1992.

Crossing the finish line just before sunrise, Pegasus had the fastest elapsed time of all 61 boats, including fully crewed racing machines that ranged from 45 feet to 73 feet in length.

"Just the two of us: it's so rewarding and real," commented Kahn. "We had a great side bet and competition with Dave Ullman and Adrienne Cahalan on Holua, a fully crewed SC-70. This is some of the best sailing that I have ever done. Richard is an awesome teammate!"

The start Saturday was a picture-perfect afternoon, windy with a strong ebb tide. A powerful North Pacific gale hit the fleet during the first 36 hours of the race. There were breakages and injuries. "This is what sailing is all about - endurance, survival, strength and intelligence. With gusts more than 40 knots, this race was a test for every crew. Richard and I are a great team. We really complement each other, and sailing double-handed is an amazing intense experience. You are on 24 by seven," stated Kahn.

Squall after squall and hole after hole, the skippers wondered if they made the right navigational decisions, especially just after sundown on July 23, when Pegasus, flying at 25 knots, ran over a large fishing net, bringing the boat to a stop and putting the kite in the water, which ultimately wrapped around the keel. "Up until this point we'd been pretty lucky, but now we were in for trouble," Kahn said. "It was dark and we needed to get that sail off the keel. Because of the darkness, we couldn't dive in the ocean to free the boat, especially doublehanded, so we did what we could from above, pulling, pushing, grinding, cutting, yanking and winching." Exhausted, but determined to not give up, the duo finally succeeded after 11 tries. Pegasus continued charging toward Honolulu.

Kahn, a well-known technology visionary and most recently creator of MotionX applications for the Apple iPhone 3G, said, "The race isn't about technical equipment; it is about good old-fashioned navigation skills, which includes tracking the clouds and squalls. You must find the balance between sailing minimal distances and extending south to find more breeze. I've been in these high mid-Pacific ridges nine times before, but it is different every time. Luckily, I learned navigation skills from the best, Mark 'Rudi' Rudiger, one of the most sought-after ocean racing navigators in the world. Rudi passed away earlier this month; this race and record are dedicated to Rudi and his family."

Elsewhere in the results double-handed Raindrop (Joby Easton & Bill Huseby), with a bold initial southerly course and sailed by the winners of the 1988 race, reprised their victory to take first in division and first overall on corrected time. We figure we'll just invite them up to the podium to collect any prizes they care to nab.

Plus Sixteen (Paul Disario) and Giant Slayer (David Garman / Debra Lowell) took second and third respectively in Doublehanded 1.

Criminal Mischief bested the 'big boats' division F under Chip Megeath, with Velos and Holua taking second and third.

In the hotly-contested division E, it was Sabrina, followed by Recidivist and the Cayard family's Hula Girl. With barely over an hour separating first place from third place after 2070 miles, this division, dominated much of the time by Hula Girl, provided much excitement.

Sleeping Dragon took first in division and second overall, with RYC's Sapphire in second and E.T. in third. Todd Hedin overcame the "defection" of boat designer Jim Antrim (who opted to sail on the Antrim 40 XL) and wife Liz Bayliss, as well as four spinnaker pole breakages, to snag his third place clock.

Bullet (Mike Mahoney) took the (if you'll forgive the term) bullet in division C, followed by Sweet Okole (Dean Treadway) and Bequia (Dennis Ronk). In Division B, it was Checkered Past in first, skippered by parapalegic Chris Gibbs and a crew of mostly physically challenged sailors. Music (John McCartney) took second, and Cirrus, skippered by Hawaii resident Bill Myers collected third.

Division A, the slowest crewed division, was anchored by four venerable Cal 40s. Shaman (Steve Waterloo), Green Buffalo (Jim Quanci and Mary Lovely),and Azure (Encinal YC's Rodney Pimentel, organizer of the Coastal Cup race) will share the podium.

Double-handed 2 saw Bar-Ba-Loot followed by Alternate Reality and Moore Havoc as the winners.

Paul Cayard's final report on Friday:

At 0830 this morning we had 50 miles to go and we had just got finished dealing with the morning squalls. They were pretty mild this morning. We were hoping for a bit more really, to give us a chance to pass the Raindrop for first to finish. Raindrop is the only boat ahead of us. They are just 36 feet long, racing in the double handed division which started about 5 days ahead of us. They have been out here for a while! Maybe they deserve to the honor of finishing first.

We had a good night including some white knuckle driving by yours truly in 28 knots of wind with the A4 up. Boat speed was a pretty steady 18 knots with peaks at 20. Again, I am impressed with how well this boat performs!

Amazingly, we had no major damage onboard during the race. Not a torn sail, not a broken batten, never got kelp on the keel or rudder. We did have some normal wear and tear and we did break one masthead spinnaker halyard that required Robbie Kane going up to the top of the mast to drop a new one in 20 knots of wind. He is a "pro" with a great future!

Molokai is in sight off to our left as we are aiming at Coco head on Oahu. The wind is just 14 knots as usual at this time of the morning. It will build a bit as the morning goes on.

With the finish to our voyage hours away, I am thinking about how this was just a dream a year ago. I have to admit, it was a lot more work and time consuming that I thought it would be. That was mostly my fault as I wanted to modify and improve the boat which created a huge amount of work for my friends. But the boat is a nice boat to sail.

My goals with this project were: to share a sailing adventure with my children, that none of us will ever forget. Also, the goal was to expose them to the great world of offshore sailing, the beauty of nature at sea, and the teamwork and camaraderie that is crucial to a winning team. Along with mine, I took four other outstanding young adults, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have gained a lot out of it for sure. Mission accomplished.

I want to thank my whole crew; Allie Cayard who was a trouper, never missed a watch and lived with seven guys on a small boat for eight days. She ground the winches, trimmed the main and steered the boat at times. Allie will start her freshman year at the University of Colorado at Boulder this September. Danny Cayard, is the skipper of Hula Girl and learned tons on this trip. I think he and his friends could take the boat themselves next time. Danny is starting his sophomore year at Cal Poly San Luis. Mark Towill, Morning Light Alum, Hawaii native and Brown University sophomore; Robbie Kane, Morning Light Alum, already a top level bow man on the pro circuit at 23 years of age and University of Rhode Island Senior. We were very fortunate to have these two very well prepared and experienced young people on the Hula Girl. Thanks Morning Light-Roy and Robbie. Morgan Gutenkunst, Marin Catholic High School alum with Danny, Cameron and Allie, did a great job onboard with maintaining the running rigging, and is currently a Junior at Chico State; Cameron McCloskey also a senior at Chico State and 18 foot skiff sailing partner with Danny. For Danny, Allie and Cameron, this was their first offshore experience as well as first big boat sailing experience. Finally, my long time friend, Ralfie Steitz was the perfect partner for me as watch captain. Ralfie is the sailing coach at the US Merchant Marine Academy and is very used to working with young people. He is great at it!

I want to thank all those who worked on Hula Girl in the past few months, as well as the industry people who gave me great advice and products to optimize Hula Gil.

So this afternoon, we will finally taste that Mai Tai, the one we worked so hard for. It will probably taste pretty good. Might have to have a second one just to make sure of how good it is.

I am happy with myself for making this happen. For sure it cost some money, and for sure it took a lot of time, but as they say in the commercial: Priceless!
Paul Cayard