We got to the boat on the morning of July 4th, and by 10:00 we were heading out into the bay to give our latest fix a good workout. We hoisted, dropped, hoisted, reefed, hoisted, tacked, reefed again, dropped, and finally hoisted the main. All the while we were looking for any signs of jamming or tearing, but the system was working flawlessly.

It was time to go!

We radioed the Pacific Cup Race Committee boat and informed them of our intentions: we were going to finally cross the starting line approximately 23 hours late, about an hour before the Division C fleet was to start. Heading for the Marina again, we found the starting line buoys and crossed the line, noting our time and radioing it in to the race committee. One tack under the Golden Gate Bridge, two more going out the channel, and we were in the Pacific, finally on our way to Hawaii.

By the way, the Leisurefurl system worked flawlessly all the way to Hawaii (and back).

During the race we emailed daily reports to the VALIS blog. You can see our trials and tribulations, in detail, starting here: Race Start Blog

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