Looking ahead to Wednesday night’s racing, it appears as if the wind will hold up overnight and allow the fleet to press to finish: the way it should be. There is traditionally a day or two of light winds in this race. This year, they came at the beginning of the race. Fortunately, ideal downwind race conditions have turned the race around for the 20 boats still on the course.

Pyewacket looms as the projected corrected-time leader despite the majority of the fleet sailing out ahead of them, leaving little room for error for those vying for the title. Two weeks ago, BadPak sailed an impeccable Islands Race, winning with Pyewacket 2nd overall. This week, Pyewacket looks to pay it back and will have the final 200 miles to set the pace. Also in contention is Rio100 with their Wednesday morning finish establishing the time to beat. Vitesse and Peligroso also rank in the top 5 and will have a chance at the overall win.

Artie Means, BadPak Navigator: "Cabo lived up to its reputation, fully throwing a wrench in what we thought was a strong line. 3 hours of sail changes for very few miles - all while watching the trailing fleet compress in; painful to say the least. Neptune seems to be cranky with us, maybe we had too many dead squid on our decks this morning? Been great sailing across the gulf. Finally clear sky, foulies hung up, and laying down some miles. Looking forward to the finish of this race."

In Class 3, Zero Gravity 51 and Vitesse have traded the lead several times down the course with Vitesse now holding a more consistent line for the last 24 hours to expand their lead over ZG.

Class 4 has been battling all week, with Lucky Duck’s Wednesday breezy run finally putting some time on the rest of the class.

Dave MacEwen, Lucky Duck: “In the prior three PV races in which we participated on Lucky Duck, we have always taken the southern crossing of the Baja wind shadow. This year, conditions were perfect for a close crossing at Cabo. Once we jibed on to starboard at the southern tip of the Baja, the wind accelerated to 24 knots. With the waves coming from astern, it was a thrilling moonlit ride, hitting boat speeds in the low 20 knot range. A great memory of a fantastic race.”

Class 5 has settled into a likely 2-boat duel with Good Call and Amazing Grace in a projected close corrected-time battle, currently within 10 minutes of each other. As of Wednesday evening, Good Call is sailing its final 100 miles of the race with the lead pack, while Amazing Grace (100 miles behind) is giving the Cabo peninsula the widest berth of the entire fleet by leaving it approximately 65 miles south.

Class 6 has featured Blackwing consistently at the front of the fleet for 6 days now (aside from Rio’s fly-by to the finish on Tuesday). As the sun sets on the race course on Wednesday, they are leading boats still on course with It’s OK, Lucky Duck, and Good Call bearing down on them.