At some point this morning the larger boats, led by Pyewacket, will start to catch the 34-year old Standfast 40 Cirrus, whose almost all female crew continues to lead the Aloha B division.

Light winds have made this one of the most challenging Transpacs to date, forcing another two boats to retire in frustration – Deliate Balance and Lucky Dog (Division 4). However, it may appear that they bailed out too soon. Philippe Kahn, reporting from Pegasus, exclaimed: “we found the trade winds! High five! Now we’re going [in] 12 knots of wind, the kite and staysail up and 10.5 knots of boat speed pointed straight at Honolulu. The nice trade wind cotton puffy clouds are unmistakable. We’re pushing the boat hard and the reports are going to get shorter. There is only one way to Honolulu. Surfing.”

Pyewacket also appears to have hit its stride. The crew logged 336 miles in the 24 hour period leading to Thursday morning’s roll call, with average speeds of 14 knots and reaching highs of 18. However, if they are to beat the record of 6-days 16-hours 4-minutes, they have a lot of ground to cover. It has been reported that an average speed of 18 knots over the last 1,240 miles is required.

(positions at 0800 Thursday)

Division 1 (Started 15 July)
1. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33), 1,307 miles to go
2. Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12), 1,423
3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-00:21:09:13), 1,240
4. Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37), 1,502
5. Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36), 1,573

Division 2 (Started 15 July)
1. Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12), 1,479
2. Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19), 1,505
3. Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17), 1,510
4. Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32), 1,624
5. Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05), 1,643

Division 3 (Started 15 July)
1. Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33), 1,551
2. It’s OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31), 1,618
3. Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28), 1,648
4. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach (2:23:51:49), 1,662
5. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (2:19:54:52), 1,672

Division 4 (Started 12 July)
1. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02), 978
2. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29), 955
3. Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37), 1,057
4. Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34), 1,012
5. Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (3:22:26:21), 1,238

Division 50/52 (Started 12 July)
1. Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25), 917
2. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46), 1,021
3. Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42), 1,024
4. Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36), 1,023
5. Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38), 1,019

Division 5 (Started 12 July)
1. Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37), 1,053
2. Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22), 1,084
3. On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40), 1,154
4. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16), 1,145
5. Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24), 1,208

Division 6 (Started 9 July)
1. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (7:02:47:32), 1,017
2. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (7:03:57:50), 1,030
3. Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (5:21:13:46), 980
4. Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (5:20:14:31), 1,042
5. DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller/Erik Shampain, Murrieta, Calif. (5:21:44:43), 1,079

Aloha A (Started 9 July)
1. Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (4:08:39:09), 858
2. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), 1,955
3. Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (5:06:21:29), 944
4. French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (5:11:59:45), 996
5. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (4:23:43:58), 1,212

Aloha B (Started 9 July)
1. Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu (7:02:14:16), 1,140
2. Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (8:12:05:44), 1,302
3. Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (6:14:37:49), 1,244
4. Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (6:12:14:02), 1,497

Multihull
The Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster, Pryor, Okla. (Started July 12), 1,337. LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (started 15 July), NO REPORT