The finishers of this year’s LongPac are trickling in. The first boat to finish (no surprise) was Jeff Lebesch’s Hammerhead 54 trimaran Hecla. Jeff finished on Friday evening at 2040 after a ripping run back from the turning ‘mark’ (a longitude, not a floating object). Jeff's log sent to the Singlehanded Sailing Society explained the scene: "I reached the turn-around line last night shortly before sunset. My very southerly course put me south of the race fleet, so while I had all instrumentation on full alert I had no contacts with any boat on the return course, and now I am clear of the entire fleet.

“Except for the very light conditions in the first few hours of the race, the wind has been fairly ideal, moderate, NW about 10 to 14 knots, which is enough for good boat speed and not so much that it is rough and wet; ideal for me! The light to moderate winds and NW direction made my fastest course more southerly than the rest of the fleet; it has to do with the shift in apparent wind as boat speed increases. I (any sailboat) am limited to sailing with the wind no less than 40 degrees right or left of center, and as boat speed increases the apparent wind moves forward (think of wind in your face on a bicycle), so I have to steer a little wider than slower boats to maintain that 40 degrees. At this time, Friday morning, a zone of very light wind is settling in on the turn-around region and I am glad to have escaped it. Some of the fleet may be trapped there for a while, but my guess is that Coyote, Tiger Beetle, Outsider, and Alchera have also escaped it and they are hot on my tail. It looks like I might finish around eight tonight."

Jeff also noted the cold and foggy conditions for this year’s race: "While the wind and waves are very nice, the sky has been full cloud cover with consistent drizzle and 50 to 55 degrees, so it is a damp and clammy ride out here."

The first monohull to finish was veteran singlehander  Rob Macfarlane on his Nelson/Marek 45 Tiger Beetle. The Beetle sailed in under the Gate, with Cityfront racers (sailing in the Aldo Alessio) tagging along, to finish at 1258 on Saturday afternoon. Right after his finish off the Golden Gate Yacht Club his only comment over the VHF was, "I'm going to clean up and hit the bar."

Most of the fast boats are finishing now (Saturday evening) and a clump of mid-speed boats should be arriving by Sunday night. To read the log reports, check on finishers, and watch the tracker go to: http://sfbaysss.org/Longpac_2009.html. We’ll have more after the race is complete.