August 4, 2000

Photos of the Day Fastest J/105s in the World August 4 – Oakland ‘Jose Cuervo’ prepares to ‘plane’ to Hawaii. Photos Karen Rosenbaum

A pair of Kenwood Cup-bound J/105s – Sam Hock’s ‘Jose Cuervo’
and Jaren Leet’s ‘Irrational Again’ – had an excellent adventure
on Saturday, July 29. After the two boats failed to roll off the
container ship in Honolulu last Wednesday (oops! someone left
them in a back corner of the Matson yard in Oakland), things looked
pretty bleak for the two boats’ chances of participating in the
already small (30 boats) Kenwood Cup, which began on Tuesday,
August 1. After almost a year of planning and who knows how many
dollars, the skippers and crews of both 105s were devastated.
The four J/105s remaining in the Kenwood Cup weren’t exactly thrilled
either, as they were now faced with losing their one design start.

After a bunch of presumably heated phone calls (and the threat
of a rather large lawsuit), Matson – to their everlasting
credit – quickly came up with an alternative arrangement.
For something like $225,000, they contacted HeavyLift Cargo Airlines
and chartered a gigantic Russian-built Antonov AN-124 plane –
one of just three in the world – to ‘airmail’ the two boats to
Hawaii. ‘Jose’ and ‘Irrational’ were the only cargo, hardly denting
the plane’s 120-ton carrying capacity. The only people on board
were 16 Russians (9 pilots and 7 crew), an English representative
from HeavyLift, and two local J/105 sailors (‘Jose’ crew Erik
Schumann, who was meant to accompany the delinquent sisterships,
and a spur-of-the-moment ‘stowaway’, Karen Rosenbaum).
The story ends happily, with the two boats arriving safely in
Hawaii and being reassembled in time for the regatta. Kind of
gives a whole new meaning to the expression ‘planing to Hawaii’,
doesn’t it?

Weather Updates August 4 – Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean Weather Once again, the winds are light along the rhumb line from California to Hawaii, just as they were during the Pacific Cup. Winds are actually a little stronger – 15 knots – to the north, giving the delivery crews heading back to California reasonably pleasant conditions. California Coast Weather Winds are unusually light along the Central Coast of California this morning, but have been blowing 15 to 20 knots in the Santa Barbara Channel – ideal for the Santa Barbara to King Harbor (Redondo Beach) fleet. For details see: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml

University of Hawaii Meteorology Graphic Click here to see enlarged graphic.

Pacific Sea State

Seas in the Pacific are average – except for those far down
in the Southern Ocean and those feeling the effects of hurricanes
and/or tropical storms. Check out http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

Tropical Disturbances

Just before ‘Lectronic Latitude went on hiatus on July 25,
we noted that the absence of tropical storms and hurricanes off
the coast of Mexico was getting a little spooky. The quiet didn’t
last long, however, as hurricane Daniel formed off Mexico and
headed in the direction of Hawaii with sustained winds up to 110
knots. With each passing day, those who had just finished the
Pacific Cup became a little more concerned for their boats, and
there was even a skipper’s meeting at the Kaneohe YC about the
hurricane. While Daniel dropped to tropical storm status and skirted
to the north of the Islands, he had legs, having started down
at 10N and eventually getting as far north as 35N – which is the
same latitude as Santa Barbara.

Three days after Daniel started, Tropical Storm Emilia started
off the coast of Mexico, and reached 55 knots during her short
three-day life.

And as we go to press, Tropical Storm Fabio, far offshore down
at 15N, is nearing hurricane strength. It’s suddenly become a
very busy period for tropical activity in the Eastern Pacific.
See http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/e_pacific/2000/index.html
for more.

Hurricane Daniel

Tropical Storm Emilia

Tropical Storm Fabio

Both government and private sources have predicted a big year
for hurricanes in the Atlantic-Caribbean, but it’s been all quiet
­ until now. Tropical Storm Alberto has formed off the coast
of Africa and is headed almost due west toward the far distant
Caribbean. He is, however, expected to reach hurricane force soon.
With lots of warm water in the Caribbean, this one will bearing
watching. See http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2000/index.html

Tropical Storm Alberto

Unisys Weather Graphics

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Cruising

Coup, Coup, Coup

August 4 – Fiji

George Backhus of the Deerfoot 62 ‘Moonshadow’ arrived in Fiji
shortly after the coup and has been there ever since. He reports
that the effect on yachties outside of the main populated areas
seems to have been nil – although the situation remains in flux.
We’ll have more on the situation in Fiji soon.

West Marine Bermuda Cruising Rally

August 4 – Bermuda

Albeon Anderson Jr’s Catalina 34 ‘Full Moon’ from Rocky Mountain,
North Carolina, took top honors in the West Marine Bermuda Cruising
Rally that ended in late June – but was only reported now. Line
honors in the surprisingly small six-boat fleet for the 640-mile
race went to ‘Sea Hew II’, Harry Weber’s Pennsylvania based Caliber
40, which completed the course in four days and six hours – averaging
a little over six knots.

Baja Ha-Ha Update

August 4 – Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

Lauren ‘the Devilette’ Spindler reports that 160 entry packs
have been sent out for October 31’s Baja Ha-Ha VII, and 42 entries
have paid up. She expects a fleet of 125 boats to cross the starting
line for the 750-mile, two-stop cruising rally from San Diego
to Cabo San Lucas. A list of the current paid-up entries will
appear in Monday’s ‘Lectronic Latitude.

YOTREPS

August 4 – 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 http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/

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Racing

Kenwood Cup

August 4 – Hawaii

After light and fluky weather conditions in Hawaii caused by the
effects of hurricane Daniel, the Kenwood Cup fleet has finally
been getting good wind. The Australian team has a small lead over
the Kiwis, with the America Red team is third after three races.
We’ll have much more on this event next week, but for now check
out www.kenwoodcup.com.

The Race

August 4 – France

Things are currently looking a little shaky for what is planned to be the December 31 start of the no-holds-barred around the world race. Grant Dalton’s 110-foot ‘Club Med’, which had recently smashed the 24-hour sailing record with a 625-mile run, lost part of her sacrificial bow shortly after leaving the U.S. for Europe. She’s now on a ship headed back to the yard that built her. Meanwhile, Steve Fossett has announced that he’ll be cutting the hulls of his 105-foot catamaran ‘PlayStation’ and adding another 20 feet to make her a 125-foot cat. The sail area will stay the same. Fossett explained that the boat has shown a tendency toward pitchpoling – something dangerous enough on Monterey Bay with a Hobie Cat, to say nothing of being in the Southern Ocean while coming to a stop from 40 knots. Several of the other expected entries have yet to be built or have been having troubles of their own.

‘Club Med’ Bow Owie Club Med Photo Fossett has made the best suggestion to date: Postpone the start of The Race for one year, giving all competitors a chance to properly finish and/or test these ground-breaking boats.

Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race

August 4 – Santa Barbara

Many folks think the ‘King Harbor Race’ is the most enjoyable
distance race in Southern California – and when there’s good wind,
as it looks like there will be today – we’d have to agree with
them. In fact, we used to bring our boat down from Northern California
just to do it. Check out the results on Monday.