The first three finishers of the 2024 Pacific Cup, all sloops, crossed the finish line in Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, only a week after starting their grueling passage from San Francisco with winds topping 30 knots. The T52 Saga finished with an uncorrected time of eight days 02:10:54, the Wylie 70 Rage sailed in after seven days 19:49:35 and the Rogers 46 Lucky Duck finished after eight days 02:10:54.
Each vessel in the race was required to report its position at 0800 each morning to the Pacific Cup Yacht Club (PCYC) by email. Crew could include a brief report on other news, such as other vessels sighted, interesting wildlife, injuries or illnesses among the crew and so on. Crews were also informed they could ask for help from the staff medical support provider and seek advice on technical matters, but they could not inquire as to the progress or tactics of other boats in the fleet.
The first few days of the race went well, but on the fourth day, several vessels ended up pulling out and turning back to the California coast for a variety of reasons. One boat’s steering system had been damaged, and another had a medical emergency.
The Davidson 44 Imagine, with Wyatt Jones as skipper, reported a malfunctioning steering system, but the autopilot appeared to be working well enough to help the vessel seek shelter at either Santa Cruz or Monterey a couple hundred miles south of the starting point in San Francisco Bay.
Mechanical malfunction on the Olson 34 Keaka rendered the boat unsafe to turn away from land to cross the Pacific. Skipper Chris Maher reported, “We are experiencing rudder issues, and out of an abundance of caution will be retiring.”
No doubt the strangest occurrence among the Pacific Cup fleet up to this point was on the Antrim-designed racer Rapid Transit, skippered by Jim Partridge. A shark that had been circling the boat finally charged at the rudder, partially damaging the transom mount. The crew of the Westsail 32 Hula later reported seeing a shark carcass, presumably a victim of his own device, giving the crew of Rapid Transit a final sense of justice.
The crews of boats finishing the tough ocean race celebrated at a series of gatherings in Kaneohe. Festivities included a luau on July 31, a rum party on August 1 and an awards ceremony on August 2.