The wind is light and the seas flat, but the fishing is expected to pick up any time now in Del Rey Yacht Club’s 18th biennial Corum International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta.

Fishing is part of the competition for the Salsa fleet, but even Roy Disney’s Pyewacket, stalking the 20-year-old record for the 1,125-nautical mile race, has been trying its luck.

“We’re just kind of limping along,” crew member Rick Brent reported by satellite phone as the last starters approached the halfway point. “We caught a small mackerel this morning. He wasn’t big enough so we let him go. Last time [in 2003] we got a nice yellowtail. We have the fixings for sushi if we get lucky.”

As Brent spoke, Pyewacket was making 10.5-11 knots into a 7-knot headwind with a No. 2 jib and full main sail. Its average speed for the first 384 miles was 9.2 knots—about three-tenths of a knot less than necessary to break the record of 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 14 seconds set by the MacGregor 65 Joss in 1985.

Doug Baker’s maxi sled Magnitude 80, though rating 85 seconds a mile slower, was only 13 miles behind.

“Mag’s hanging in there really well,” Pyewacket watch captain Ben Mitchell said.

But the closest race was between the two Transpac 52s—Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste from Hong Kong and the Mark Jones/Dick Watts Flash, San Francisco. They were dead even in latitude and longitude (photo at right) as they closed in on the three Santa Cruz 50s that started a day earlier.

Greg Daley, skipper of the escort vessel Chaos, said, “It was so cool to see these boats neck and neck after 600 miles of racing.”

Daley also offered a fishing report: “We are currently trolling for tuna and dorado. No hookups yet, but we’ve just started. We should be at the head of the fleet [Monday] morning for roll call which is right near the entrance to Mag Bay. So after roll call, we’ll watch the whales mate in Mag Bay for a few hours before proceeding to Cabo San Lucas where we hope to spend the evening.

“The weather is perfect. No clouds, no rain, about 75 degrees with calm seas. Ocean is blue. No, I mean really, really blue. Doesn’t get any better than this.”

Unless you’re trying to set a record.

Brent said, “It sure would be nice to have a little more wind from a different direction.”

That is still on its way, according to the weather forecast that calls for 12-20 knots of breeze from south/southwest Monday and 10-20 from the northwest Tuesday and Wednesday, which would be drop dead time for the record.

Pyewacket navigator Stan Honey also interpreted the weather information and said the wind “might be a little lighter than that,” but it would certainly be an improvement.

Daily position reports, including latitude and longitude, and standings are posted at www.delreyyachtclub.org.

Corum, the title sponsor for this race, will present the owner or skipper of the overall winner in each class with a Corum Admiral’s Cup Trophy 41 watch, which has a retail value of $2,195.

Corum is an independent, family owned company producing high-quality and prestigious Swiss watches since 1955. The Admiral’s Cup Trophy 41, with a 41mm stainless steel case and nautical pennants instead of numerals to indicate the hours, was just introduced by Corum last year. The watch, along with the complete Corum line, may be seen at www.corum.ch

Racing Division

(Sunday morning’s standings by corrected handicap time; seconds-per-mile handicap ratings listed)

PHRF-AA (started Feb. 18)

1. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), –180, Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif., 754 miles to go.

2. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), –120, David Janes/Jay Steinbeck, Newport Sea Base Syndicate, Newport Beach, 815.

3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh maxZ86), –265, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles. 741.

DID NOT START: Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), –274, Randall Pittman, San Diego.

PHRF-A (started Feb. 17)

1. Tie between Beau Geste (Transpac 52), –78, Karl Kwok, Hong Kong, and Flash (Transpac 52), –78, Mark Jones/Dick Watts, San Francisco, 662.

WITHDREW: Barking Spider (MacGregor 65), –24, David Kory, Point Richmond, Calif.

PHRF-B (started Feb. 16)

1. Bay Wolf (S/C50), –3, Kirk Wilson, San Pedro, Calif., 617.

2. Chicken Little (Santa Cruz 50T), 0, Don Adams/Rick Palmer, Los Angeles, 621.

3. Horizon (S/C 50), –3, Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif., 636.

Salsa Division

(after Leg 1 of 3)

SPINNAKER-A

1. Lark (J/46), 45, Bob and Kathy Patterson, Los Angeles.

2. Cheyenne (Whiting 49), 75, Alan Blunt, Venice, Calif./David Fox, Santa Cruz, Calif.

3. Broadway Babe (C&C 110), 72, Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey, Calif., DNF.

WITHDREW: Masquerade (Choate 40), 72, Tim Coker, San Diego.

SPINNAKER-B

1. Green Dragon (Catalina 380), 120, Gary Green, Culver City, Calif.

2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), 96, Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-A

1. Lazy Bones (Irwin 54), 99, Jeff Allen, Marina del Rey, Calif.

2. Quest (Davidson 53), 72, Scott Adam, Marina del Rey, Calif.

T3. Ginny B (Beneteau 46), 78, Mark Biddison, Boulder, Colo., DNF.

T3. Far Niente (Catalina 42), 102, Patrick Hearne, Newport Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-B

1. Camelot (Catalina 36), 144, Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey, Calif.

2. Wind Dancer (Tartan 38), 120, William Solberg, Los Angeles, Calif., DNF.

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