bdk
07/08/2008, including handicap times

The Pacific Cup race organizers cluster boats with roughly similar performance characteristics into divisions. In addition to clustering boats, they also assign a Pacific Cup Rating (PCR) handicap equal to some number of seconds per mile for each boat which factors in more subtle differences between the boats in any particular division. The PCR also allows for boats in different divisions to quasi-compete for overall standing. Realistically, with divisions starting over several days, luck will play a part in overall results. For example, Division C starts on Tuesday 7/15 and Division D on Wednesday 7/16. If one day is foggy and the other sunny, the wind conditions will likely be very different giving one of the divisions a big advantage. So getting back to what we have more control over (our competitors in Division C) here they are with handicaps relative to Sweet Okole and the key for identifying the boats pictured above:

Boats we owe time to (ie we need to finish in front of by more than the handicap allowance to "correct out" ahead in the final scoring):

"B" Bequia - SO spots them 1 hour, 43 m, 30 s
"E" Oceanaire - SO spots them 34 m, 30 s
"A" Ada Helen - SO spots them 34 m, 30 s

Boats we get time from (ie if we finish behind these boats by less time than the handicap allowance, we will correct out ahead of them:

"C" Tiki Blue - SO gets 1 hour, 9 m, 0 s
"F" Urban Renewal - SO gets 2 hours, 52 m, 30 s
--- Rabian (no pic) - SO gets 2 hours, 52 m, 30 s
"D" Bullet - SO gets 2 hours, 52 m, 30 s

Division C

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bdk
07/07/2008, Bowshot

Dean and Pam have been working hard to get SO ready to race. Today, they completely emptied the boat of everything that wasn't bolted on. Then they gave her a good cleaning. SO looks spectacular. I took this quick shot of the bow this afternoon. As wide as SO is toward the back of the boat (which was the inspiration behind naming her), she is equally radically narrow in the bow.

Getting Ready

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From the food challenged crew of Sweet Okole
07/03/2008, We love your products!

It's all about who you know and we are feeling so fortunate to have friends over at the Clif Bar & Company who have supplied us with a generous sampling of their bars and goodies to supplement our minimalist menu. The Sweet Okole crew is half ecstatic and half relieved that we'll have such tasty alternatives to hard boiled eggs and PB&J's. Thank you Clif Bar & Company!

Getting Ready

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bdk
06/29/2008, Richmond Yacht Team Entry

An added twist: Team scoring = more chances at the podium! Sweet Okole is teaming with "Moore Havoc" and "Summer Moon". If it's windy, you gotta like this trio of downwind flyers.

From the PacCup website...

Suggested by the Storm Trysail Club and patterned after a trophy awarded in many of their races, this trophy will add a new dimension to the race. At the end of the race, one yacht club will take home the trophy, celebrating a combined performance under a single burgee.

Pacific Cup organizers hope that this new trophy will foster an additional competitive spirit. Some clubs may well find this triggers more than one discussion at the bars or the docks.

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06/27/2008, Division C Start is Tuesday 7/15 @ 2:00pm

Now this is more like it! Less than 5 hours of handicap allowance between the the slowest rated and fastest rated should make for fun racing.

Getting Ready

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bdk
06/25/2008, 20 days left to get ready!

This weather forecast shows promise that our race will take place with almost normal wind and pressure conditions. It is still forming, but the Pacific High Pressure Ridge is taking shape (roughly under the long yellow oval). The magic routing software would have us sail a southerly route. The red star show us theoretically crossing the 130 degrees West longitude at 29 degrees North latitude. Typically, 130 x 30 is considered a good rule of thumb. 130 x 29 would take Sweet Okole over 220 miles of additional sailing compared to rumbline. Another standard rule of thumb is never to get closer to the Pacific High than the 1020 millibar line. As the yellow labels show, the optimal route (red line) clearly would put us above the 1020 line. I'll be watching how this develops very closely.

Weather Maps

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