The “Great Pacific Longitude Race” (LongPac), which started on July 29,  is a 400 mile race from San Francisco to any point on Longitude 126°40′ West and return, open to singlehanded and doublehanded yachts.  No, VALIS isn’t racing in it, but some friends are.  Steve Hill, who was a great crewmember during the VALIS 2008 Pacific Cup race is singlehanding his Beneteau First 42 “Coyote” and is doing great.   Good Luck Steve!

The LongPac is used by many participants as a qualifying run for the Singlehanded Transpac, which requires a certain amount of previous singlehanded sailing before you can enter.

As I type this, about half the boats have reached Longitude 126°40′ West, and are now heading for the finish line.  This year the boats have beacons, and you can watch the action here: http://onltr.magnatrax.net/no.php?fid=10349

Coyote Starting the LongPac

Here is the LongPac website, which contains a list of the participants as well as race rules, the communications plan, etc: http://sfbaysss.org/Longpac_2009.html

There are race discussions, and some racer’s logs here: http://www.sfbaysss.net/forumdisplay.php?f=3 , and here: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=93797