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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
Dollars race to Hawaii
every yearEvery summer, hundreds of sailors brave thousands of miles of open ocean racing the trade winds to Hawaii.
In odd-numbered years, it's the Transpacific Yacht Race that brings them, while in even-numbered years, they're participants in either the Victoria, Can., to Lahaina, "Vic-Maui Race," or the San Francisco to Kaneohe Bay, "Pacific Cup."
Neither the Vic-Maui nor the Pacific Cup have the historic tradition of the 98-year-old Transpac, but all three exemplify the allure our islands hold for sailors around the world.
The Vic-Maui, for instance, was first sailed in 1965 as the result of one man's intense desire to make his dream a reality.
Canadian Pacific pilot and sailor Jim Innes talked three other skippers into joining him in the first 2,308-mile contest and 15 days later, they were enjoying Hawaii's "aloha spirit" -- and spirits -- in Kahului Harbor.
While on Maui, the sailors met up with a few founders of what was soon to become the Lahaina Yacht Club and later, convinced the Royal Victoria Yacht Club to join with the LYC to sponsor a biennial event.
The first official Vic-Maui Race was held in 1968 and it has been run biennially ever since.
The current record holder is James McDowell, a Lahaina and Waikiki yacht club member, whose Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion completed the race in nine days, two hours and eight minutes in 2000.
This year's Vic-Maui fleet hit the starting line last Wednesday, so if the record is to be broken, the winning boat will arrive off Maui sometime next Friday.
The Pacific Cup, often called the "fun race" to Hawaii, also got its start due to the enthusiasm of a few sailors wanting to race to "paradise."
According to Kaneohe YC member Lou Ickler, it was first organized as a 2,126-mile race from San Francisco to Nawiliwili, Kauai in 1980.
The following three races -- 1982, 1984 and 1986 -- all finished off Kauai, but unfortunately, race volunteers at the Ballena Bay YC in San Francisco and the Nawiliwili YC became overwhelmed with the logistics.
The contest was saved from extinction in 1988 with the creation of a "Pacific Cup Yacht Club" organizing body, a new finish line off Oahu -- administered by the KYC -- and major sponsorship from West Marine.
Under this new organization's direction, the Pacific Cup continues to grow in popularity.
Now racing over a 2,070-mile course, its entries have climbed from 45 in 1990, to 77 in 2002, where they are now apparently capped due to limited mooring space at KYC.
In order to allow its fleet -- comprised of boats from 26 to 140 feet long -- to finish in a compressed time period, the Pacific Cup has a series of starts.
The first is on June 28 and the last on July 2. This arrangement gives the smaller, slower boats a four-day head start.
With its course record of six days, 14 hours and 23 minutes, established by Roy Disney's Santa Cruz 70 Pyewacket in 1998, any challenger will need to finish around midnight on July 8.
And, as for what these races mean to Hawaii?
Just ask our yacht clubs, boatyards, hotels, restaurants, etc., how the influx of the crew, families and friends from some 90 boats affects their bottom line each summer. It's been estimated in the millions.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.