Saturday, July 19, 11:30 AM PDT Lat 26d 26m N, Lon 152d39m W Speed 7 kts, Course 215 deg mag (straight towards Kaneohe, 408 miles to go)
We had a nice night. It wasn’t fast, but we kept up a decent speed and general course. There were a few small squalls, with rain, wind shifts, and times of lighter air, but we plugged along and made 155 miles for the 8:00AM 24-hour run. The half-moon didn’t rise until around 4:00AM or so (boat time = PDT), and the dark shy was perfect for stargazing through the gaps in the clouds. We are currently fourth in our division, with the top three boats safely out of reach for the rest of the division unless chance and circumstance intervene. We are maintaining our “don’t break it” philosophy. but during the morning radio roll-call the crew put up the spinnaker, rigged as an asymmetrical kite, attached to the bow with no pole. This has been drawing nicely on our desired course (although it is a more sensitive to wind angle then a regular asym would be) and does help our speed. Besides, it looks good.
Crew Profile: Rich

I met Rich on the internet when a memorial for a mutual friend was being organized. Rich first sailed on VALIS during the 2008 Pac Cup, and every Cup since then. He has also helped VALIS return after all but one race, and did our recent Friday Harbor to San Francisco delivery. Rich certainly has more miles aboard VALIS than anyone else but me.
Regards, Paul / VALIS