After over seven days of racing across the Pacific from Long Beach, California, the Projected Provisional Monohull Winner of the Transpacific Yacht Race’s prestigious Kalakaua Cup should cross Diamond Head finish line today, Thursday, July 13, 2017, at approximately 11 a.m.
Invisible Hand, skippered by Frank Slootman in his Pac 52, followed by the other new Pac 52, Tom Holthus’s Bad Pak are coming in fast at less than 70 miles out.
The remainder of the fleet—45-plus boats—will start coming in fast succession throughout the end of this week and into the weekend.
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As the bulk of the fleet progresses west and south into the trade winds, the weather gets warmer, layers of clothes get removed and the boats get flatter, giving teams more comfort after a sometimes very grueling race of over a week.
They will hit the dock today with lots of stories to tell and greeted by the famous Hawaiian Aloha Welcome Parties at Transpac Island in the Ala Wai Harbor.
Just after 3 a.m. this morning, Manouch Moshayedi’s monohull Rio 100 crossed the finish line of the 2017 Transpac Race as the winner of the Barn Door Trophy for the second consecutive race. Rio’s elapsed time of 6 days, 17 hours, 9 minutes and 9 seconds was over 12 hours faster than their Transpac Race in 2015.
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Rio 100’s hold on the Barn Door Trophy for being the first-to-finish monohull sailing without powered assistance in the sailing systems was fairly secure: at 1400 HST it was 170 miles out traveling at 15 knots. Assisted by a left shift in the breeze and being on port tack, she is close to being at her normal speeds and is outpacing Frank Slootman’s Pac 52 Invisible Hand who was closing on her the last couple of days but is now 100 miles astern. At current speeds, she is expected at Diamond Head after midnight tonight, with Hand expected about eight hours later.
This was the second fastest elapsed time for any Transpac Barn Door winner in the history of the event.
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