Here is our return track from Kaneohe Bay to San Francisco. If you download the Google Earth .kmz file (VALIS – Pac Cup Return 2010.kmz) you can see the hourly conditions we were experiencing. Also, at long last I have finally completed the videos for the 2008 Pac Cup: Race Video: http://www.sailvalis.com/Pac%20Cup%2008/Race/index.htm Return Video: http://www.sailvalis.com/Pac%20Cup%2008/Slides/index.htm […]

Here is our track for the 2010 Pacific Cup. Notice the great-circle path, and below that the rhumbline. The typical track to Hawaii is south of the rhumbline. This was a very strange year indeed! Click on “VALIS – Pac Cup 2010.kmz” for a copy of the Google Earth trackfile. This file contains hourly reports […]

The 2010 Pacific Cup is about to begin. The VALIS team is starting to assemble, the boat is (almost) ready, we’re preparing and loading provisions, collecting our gear, and generally psyching ourselves up the competition. We are also hoping for a glorious passage to Hawaii. However, the weather forecasts are looking pretty unpleasant for the […]

Here’s another look at the VALIS 2010 Pacific Cup Team, this time from the bridge of VALIS as we sail to a home-port regatta (VALIS is a member of the Mars Yacht Club). (L-R: Edward Killeen, Rich Jones, Jack Thomas, Paul Elliott, John Clinton, Paul Carson) Unfortunately, wives and sweethearts (may they never meet) will […]

Part of winning a trans-ocean race is having the proper gear.  Slippery shoes, leaky foulies, fogged glasses, inadequate sun protection — any of these things can make the difference between a podium finish and being a LOSER.  The VALIS research and development team has been diligently working behind the scenes to ensure that our crew apparel is […]

As you may know, VALIS has entered the 2010 Pacific Cup, and has again volunteered to be the communications boat for the race.  This will be our third Pac Cup, and extrapolating from the improvement in our ranking from 2006 to 2008, we should do very well indeed in 2010! A big part of the race […]