July 15th, 11:36 pst – Go West young men!

That’s all that we can be sure of this morning: Go West! Most models point to the North, with some uncertainty: Two days upwind in 20 to 30 knots and big seas, then a nice run to Honolulu. Forecasters and models agree with first waypoints around: Latitude 31.30 N and longitude 125.00W. The good news is that the tropical depressions look like not being a factor. However down to the South, just behind them there could be much less wind. That makes a Southerly routing tricky.

As we cast off the dock, we’d like to give a big thank you to our team: 90 days ago we didn’t own an Open 50! Team you made miracles happen: This is a super complex system that involved articulating bow-sprits, hydraulics with canting keels, two shaped dagger boards, two rudders and all the systems to monitor them. With the pressure and the excitement, there sometimes were harsh words. You were unwavering. Now we get to race the fantastic package that you all put together. See you in Honolulu!