| Pegasus
Collects Coastal Cup Record; Pyewacket Trails, Drops
Out
By
Rich Roberts
Pegasus 77 owner/skipper
Philippe Kahn reported shortly after crossing the
finish line off Santa Catalina Island Sunday that
his Reichel/Pugh 77 had won the Coastal Cup race
from San Francisco in the record elapsed time of
26 hours 24 minutes 55 seconds. Official results
were not immediately available.
Kahn
also said he had been told by the Encinal YC's race
committee that chief rival Pyewacket had dropped
out sometime Sunday morning while trailing by five
hours in dying breeze. Some crew members needed
to catch scheduled flights out of Los Angeles, the
committee said.
"We
got lucky on this race," Kahn said. "It
won't be the same at [Transpac]."
The
two boats---Pegasus the defending Barn Door winner,
Pyewacket the record holder---will line up again
July 6 for their epic match race to Hawaii. They
are the only entries in Division 1 of the 42nd Transpacific
Yacht Race. Both were in their full powered-up configurations
to the limits of Transpac's new rating rule.
Pegasus'
average speed for the 360 nautical miles was about
13.6 knots, although it topped 29 knots in spurts
during the strong breeze through Saturday afternoon
into evening. The time broke the record claimed
by Larry Ellison's Sayonara and Doug Baker's former
Magnitude by about 6 1/2 hours.
Both
boats blew out spinnakers along the way and Pyewacket
broached when it lost its chute, according to Kahn.
Other results were not immediately available.
Pegasus'
crew included Zan Drejes, Samuel (Shark) Kahn, Sean
(Doogie) Couvreux, Mo Hart, Jeff Madrigali, Mark
Christensen, Brian Ledbetter, Mike Mottl, Morgan
Larson, Steve Erickson, Marco Constant and Stu Bettany.
Shark
Kahn is the skipper's 13-year-old son. "What
a fabulous ride and what a great Father's Day,"
Kahn said.
Kahn,
a Santa Cruz-based software developer, served as
navigator in the absence of Mark Rudiger, who is
sailing in the transatlantic race---"a beginner
navigator matched against one of the great ones:
Peter Isler," Kahn said.
Isler
has replaced Pyewacket regular Stan Honey, who will
sail Transpac on his own Cal 40.
The
boats started off Baker Beach outside the Golden
Gate at 10 a.m. Saturday and soon found quartering
winds in excess of 25 knots, with gusts to 40.
Kahn
told of averaging 22 knots through one two-hour
stretch.
"It's
amazing how well Pegasus 77 handles in these extreme
conditions," he said. "She just planes
down the faces of huge waves at a constant heel
angle. When we get tossed around by a rogue roller
she just recovers beautifully."
By
dawn Sunday the wind had dropped to 4 knots. Pegasus
77 finished off Arrow Point at about 12:30 p.m.
More
information and photos: www.pegasusracing.com
Results
to be posted: www.encinal.org
|
