According to the Notice of Race, the “Pacific Cup is an invitational biennial 2070 nm race from the starkly beautiful coastline of San Francisco, California to the lush, tropical paradise of Kaneohe, Hawaii. The course will start at or near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco and finish outside Kaneohe Bay in Oahu, Hawaii. The starts will be between July 16 and July 21, 2012.”
Participating in this year’s ocean race will be local sailors, Stan Perkins (Hood River, OR) and Ray McCormack (Vancouver, WA), double handing Mirage, a Santa Cruz 27. While both sailors are highly experienced and skilled, with many races under their respective belts, this will be their first Pac Cup race…and a first for Mirage, as well. “Mirage has been racing in Hood River and done some offshore racing”, said McCormack. “It’s a 1970’s Ultra Light Displacement Boat (ULDB), designed and built by Bill Lee “The Wizard”, and [these boats have] participated in many large ocean races with utmost performance.”
In addition to the sustained endurance required over such a long distance, they are also racing in support of Remember Nhu, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to prevent the exploitation of children in the sex trade industry throughout the world. “Stan’s daughter has been over in Asia helping Remember Nhu build schools and give young girls a new life full of opportunity,” said Ray. “In our journey we hope to raise this awareness and promote fund raising to help remembernhu.org make a difference.”
To learn more about Stan, Ray, Mirage and their efforts to “Race to Remember”, go to their blog.
For details on the race or PCYC, click here.
