Onboard banter and the fishing were the highlights of Pyewacket’s day Monday as Roy Disney’s wind-starved maxZ86 passed the halfway point with the clock ticking down in its quest of the record in Del Rey Yacht Club’s 18th biennial Corum International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta.

“I wouldn’t be gambling on it,” Disney said by satellite phone at 4 p.m. “Until an hour ago we’d been going decently, but then it just glassed out.”

Navigator Stan Honey said, “It’s too close to call.”

Disney said his crew’s spirits were good. “We caught a yellowtail today, so he’s going to be sushi tonight,” Disney said. “And the gags get better as the wind gets lighter.”

At the time Pyewacket was opposite Magdalena Bay, 40 miles offshore and 210 miles from Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja California, making about 5 knots in 3.5 knots of wind. Not even one of the fastest sailboats in the world can sail very fast in that.

Pyewacket had passed the two Transpac 52s that started the 1,125-nautical mile race a day earlier, but those boats also were struggling at average speeds of 4.8 for Mark Jones and Dick Watts’ Flash and 4.7 for Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste and had sailed only 116 and 112 miles in the previous 24 hours, respectively.

To beat the record of 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 14 seconds set by the MacGregor 65 Joss in 1985, Pyewacket would have to finish 47 seconds before noon PST Wednesday. It’s still possible but would require a dramatic boost in speed from the 8.3-knot average so far.

The most encouraging sign was Monday’s report from the Salsa fleet that set out from Cabo San Lucas across the Gulf of California in 10-12 knots of breeze from the northwest—spinnaker conditions.

Also, two of the Santa Cruz 50s at the front of the race—Kirk Wilson’s Bay Wolf and Don Adams and Rick Palmer’s Chicken Little—had found breeze closer to Cabo San Lucas and were averaging 6.5 knots.

Honey said, “I’m thinking it will build to 5-12 late today or tonight.”

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

(Monday 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., 582 miles to go.

2. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), –120, David Janes/Jay Steinbeck, Newport Sea Base Syndicate, Newport Beach, 658.

3. Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh maxZ86), –265, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles, 564.

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

PHRF-A (started Feb. 17)

1. Flash (Transpac 52), –78, Mark Jones/Dick Watts, San Francisco, 545.

2. Beau Geste (Transpac 52), –78, Karl Kwok, Hong Kong, 548.

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., 462.

2. Chicken Little (Santa Cruz 50T), 0, Don Adams/Rick Palmer, Los Angeles, 466.

3. Horizon (S/C 50), –3, Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif., 520.

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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