Harbor filling in Montego Bay

Montego Bay, Jamaica (January 31, 2019) – The day one starters in the PHRF division for the 34th Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race are crossing the finish line for the 811 nm course, with the Farr 395 Senara holding the corrected time advantage.

Lindsay Duda’s Santa Cruz 52 Sin Duda! crossed the finish line today at 12:03:39 ET to capture line honors in the PHRF fleet, followed 2 hours 20 minutes and 58 seconds later by the second Santa Cruz 52, Renegade. The remainder of the PHRF fleet arrived throughout the day with less than 8.5 hours separating the first team from the last.

After starting a day later, Peter and David Askew’s Volvo 70 Wizard took line honors in the IRC fleet when they crossed the line today at 17:57:13 for an elapsed time of 3 days 3 hours 52 minutes and 13 seconds. The remaining IRC teams are still on the racecourse and expected in the early hours tomorrow.

“We literally went through our entire sail inventory,” said Duda. “We had a blast, it was challenging, it was very challenging, it wasn’t your typical trade winds race. There were a lot of navigational strategic decisions to be made and I think we made a lot of them right, so we’re stoked to get line honors and be here.

“For the first two days, everyone was like this was not what we saw in the brochure – it was kind of cold and miserable, but once it cleared up and we went through the windward passage with great pressure and started ripping downwind it was really fun. And then today the finish was a blast.”

Starting 28 hours after the PHRF fleet, the Volvo 70 Wizard had fast conditions at the start but then endurred a lengthy amount of time in a wind hole.

“We enjoyed some champagne sailing with bohemian tactical challenges,” notes Wizard Tactician Charlie Enright. “We felt like we lost a day We felt like we lost a day of our life, like 24 hours of basically being parked up in a transition zone. But, it was an unbelievable start and great finish.

“The post frontal bombing across the Gulf Stream at 24 knots – where we kept pace with the MOD 70 Argo for at least two seconds – was great and then we had some awesome sailing through the windward passage.

“We did the race in 2017 and came back for good reason. You can’t always pick the forecast, but we still had a good race and good time and good group. The hospitality when you get here is absolutely amazing, sailing down the Windward passage is really sick.”

Record Breaking:
This is the first time since 2003 that multihulls have competed in the Pineapple Cup. The MOD 70 Argo’s pace in the 2019 edition broke the multihull course record set in 1999 by the late Steve Fosset’s Orma60 Lakota by 20 hours and 21 seconds

Argo’s time also sets the outright course record at 2 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes minutes and 44 seconds besting Titan 12s record set in 2005 by 10 hours 16 minutes 58 seconds.

Titan 12’s record of 2 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds still stands as the monohull record.

Race details – Results – Tracker – Facebook

About the Pineapple Cup
Established in 1961, the Pineapple Cup is a classic 811-mile “beat, reach and run” ocean race that has been dubbed “the best ocean race in the world” by its devotees, including three-time winner and media mogul Ted Turner. The 34th edition had starts in Florida on Sunday, January 27th at 11h00 and Monday 28th, January at 14h00.

The race is hosted at the start in Miami by Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and at the finish in Montego Bay by the Montego Bay Yacht Club.

Source: Manuka Sports Event Management