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Photos of the DayFebruary 12 - Montego Bay Here's the Cliff Notes version of the 2001 Pineapple Cup (811
miles from Ft. Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica): |
'Bonkers' on the way to a win. The winning crew included some familiar faces. Photos Latitude/Rob 4) Three boats DNFed, including the mighty 'Pyewacket', all
with arguably more interesting stories than the winners. The
new J/145 'Strabo' plowed into a coral head early in the race,
lodging her bow on a "Volkswagen-sized rock" while
her depthsounder still registered 22 feet. "You could have
gone over the bow pulpit and stood on the rock without getting
your feet wet," they told us. . . 'Gemini', a Polish one-tonner,
sailed the last 350 miles of the race with just one third of
a rudder. They diverted into Cuba to resupply, and limped into
Montego Bay just in time for the Friday night awards ceremony. |
Vendée Globe FinishersFebruary 12 - Atlantic Ocean As expected, Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux of 'PRB' crossed the finish line on Saturday, one day ahead of Ellen MacArthur of 'Kingfisher', to win the fourth Vendée Globe singlehanded around the world race. Hundreds of thousands of mostly French enthusiasts were on hand to greet Desjoyeaux, 35, who completed the course in 93 days, three hours, knocking more than 12.5 days - or 11% off Christophe Augain's previous record. Michel Desjoyeaux Photo François Mousis Courtesy www.quokkasailing.com Desjoyeaux told reporters that most of his improvement over
Augain's time had been in the Southern Ocean because Augain didn't
have anyone hot on his heels. Desjoyeaux, on the other hand,
had Yves Parlier sailing an average of two knots faster in an
attempt to recapture the lead. Desjoyeaux decided not to try
and match Parlier's furious pace because, "I didn't believe
it was possible to go so fast for so long." Shortly thereafter,
Parlier suffered a terrible wipeout at speed, causing his mast
to fall. Ellen MacArthur after the finish. Photo Thierry Martinez Courtesy www.kingfisherchallenges.com MacArthur, who finished on Sunday a little more than a day
after Desjoyeaux, became both the fastest woman to solo around
the world - beating Catherine Chabaud's record by about 40 days
- and the youngest person to complete a Vendée. Last year
she took top honors in the Europe 1 New Man Star with 'Kingfisher',
and prior to that won the Open 50 class in the Route du Rhum.
Nobody considers her triumphant second place finish a fluke.
England's newest hero, MacArthur received a 15 minute phone call
from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who invited her to visit
him. "Yep, see you later," she told him in her unpretentious
manner that has made her such a favorite. For more details, visit www.vendeeglobe.com. |
February 12 - South Africa
The details are still sketchy, but 76-year-old David Clark, whose
wife lives in Antioch, was rescued off South Africa a couple of
days ago after his 45-foot steel boat 'Mollie Milar' sank. Clark
left Fort Lauderdale about a year ago in an attempt to officially
become the oldest person to sail around the world singlehanded.
Clark apparently discovered water sloshing around in his boat,
but she sank before he was able to identify and rectify the problem.
He and his beloved dog Mickey were being transferred by a sling
to a rescue ship when the dog scrambled free and fell into the
ocean. The dog was lost, but Clark is in good health. We'll have
more details in the March
Latitude 38.
February 12 - San Francisco
As was recently reported, Oracle Racing and the St. Francis
YC shocked everyone by not being able to reach an agreement on
an America's Cup effort. Oracle Racing is currently negotiating
to sail under the flag of the private California YC in Marina
del Rey. Not all the St. Francis club members were happy with
the decision of the flag officers, and some want them to try to
revive an agreement with Oracle Racing. Member Tim Scherer wrote
the following letter hoping to get as much support as possible
from the general membership:
"Dear Board and Flag Officers:
We, the undersigned as members of the Club, received the letter
from Steve Taft this past week and understand the position of
the Board of Directors. We are disappointed, however, that this
incredible opportunity for the Club to remain in the forefront
of America's Cup racing is vanishing. Since Oracle Racing is already
in advanced discussions with another yacht club, we wanted to
express our opinion as it relates to the America's Cup and Oracle
Racing. We understand that Oracle Racing has approached the Club
and wants to be the challenger for the Club in America's Cup XXXI.
Oracle Racing intends to fund this effort on its own and not require
any financial support from the Club. Should Oracle Racing be successful
and win the America's Cup, the subsequent defense would be on
San Francisco Bay in front of our Club. We understand that Oracle
Racing has asked the Club for a significant structural change
within the Club so that Oracle Racing, represented by designated
Club members, would have a majority vote as it relates to future
decisions made within the Club relating solely to the America's
Cup. Specifically, these structural changes include the Club changing
its Bylaws to expand the Board of Directors by three positions
to include Oracle Racing representatives that are Club members
and have significant America's Cup experience. Oracle Racing representatives
would fill these additional Board positions only during the challenge
period and any subsequent defenses. While this contemplated structure
is a huge departure from the traditional way that the Club selects
its Directors, we are of the opinion that the risk is well worth
the potential reward. The risks are that decisions relating to
future defenses of the America's Cup will be made by the Club,
without the majority support of the members. That, however, is
nothing new, and is a risk worth taking. If we were lucky enough
to win America's Cup XXXI, the Club membership together would
win the greatest trophy in the history of yacht racing. This experience,
as tasted with AmericaOne in America's Cup XXX, is something that
all Club members dream about. The economic impact to the Club
and to the City of San Francisco would be incredible. Finally,
the prestige and honor of having the America's Cup in our 'Cup
Room' would be indescribable. There are obviously many reasons
why the Club should and should not be involved in the America's
Cup. We are a yacht Club, however, and many of you have frequently
said we are the world's greatest yacht club. We agree. We strongly
encourage you and ask you, as our leaders and representatives,
to go back to Oracle Racing and make a deal. By all means don't
give away the Club, but make a deal. We want to be part of America's
Cup XXXI and we want a chance to make America's Cup history. The
only thing worse than not winning Americas Cup XXX, would be missing
a great opportunity to sail for Americas Cup XXXI.
Tim Scherer #4936 "
February 12 - Atlantic and Southern Oceans
Grant Dalton and his crew aboard 'Club Med' passed near enough
to see Cape Horn in moderately good weather, and then turned the
corner to the northeast at continued high speed. Out of the Southern
Ocean and with an 800-mile lead over 'Innovation Explorer', Dalton
says it's possible they could finish in 60 days. Meanwhile, the
crew aboard 'Innovation Explorer' is just a couple of hundred
miles from the Horn, but apparently will be overtaken by a real
blow before they can round. They are gearing up to be hit by steady
winds of 60 knots or more. Meanwhile, things just keep getting
worse for Cam Lewis and 'Team Adventure', which will be pulling
into Wellington for continued repairs to their main beam. It's
not in danger of failing, but the outer layers that were recently
put on are peeling off, and could lead to a more substantial failure.
Since this will be their second stop, 'Team Adventure' must take
a 60-hour pause.
We got a chuckle to learn that Bruno Peyron, who founded and is
managing The Race, was down at Cape Horn aboard Yvon Falconnier's
'Darwin Sound' to be on hand for 'Club Med's rounding the Horn.
'Darwin Sound' is an Ocean 71, sistership to 'Latitude's former
charterboat 'Big O'. What's more, Falconnier, a famous French
monohull and multihull racer from the '80s, had called us about
buying 'Big O' shortly after we sold her. He apparently ended
up buying 'Darwin Sound', which had been doing charters out of
Vancouver for about a dozen years before doing charters all around
the world.
Ranking of Feb. 12, 2001, 19:00:00 GMT
1. Club Med / dtf 6,193.5 miles
2. Innovation Explorer / dtl 926.5 miles
3. Team Adventure / dtl 5,742.4 miles
4. Warta Polpharma / dtl 6,419.9 miles
5. Team Legato / dtl 7,351.6 miles
February 12 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace
Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS - 'yacht reports' - at www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/
February 12 - Pacific Ocean
To see what the winds are like on the Bay and just outside the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.
Looking for current as well as recent wind and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena and the Mexican border? Here's the place - which has further links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml.
Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you might check out the
Pacific Ocean sea states at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.
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