September 29, 2000
Photos of the Day
If You Have to Ask How Much…
September 29 – Richardson Bay
A couple of days ago, we did a short feature on ‘Slingshot’,
a San Francisco-based Wally 67 big boat that didn’t participate
in the St. Francis YC Big Boat Series. But there was another big
sailing yacht on the Bay at the same time, the ketch ‘Charlatan’,
which is seen at anchor off Sausalito in the two accompanying
photographs.
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‘Charlatan’ is a 110-footer designed by Ron Holland of Ireland
and built by Alloy Yachts of New Zealand. She replaced the English
owner’s previous boat, ‘Catalyst’, a Holland designed 92-footer.
‘Charlatan’ is set up for just six guests and four crew, and the
120-ton high performance cruiser is available for charter. But
if you have to ask how much, it’s too expensive. After all, you
don’t build boats like ‘Charlatan’ on the cheap. For example,
in order to get the interior right, a full-scale 80 by 40-foot
mock-up was built in England so the interior decorator and owner
would know exactly what kind of space they would be working with
– without having to commute to New Zealand. If we had to guess,
we’d say the boat came in at about $12,674,492.00 – not including
any original artwork, which could have bumped the price by any
number of millions.
Ron Holland is no stranger to middle-aged sailors in Northern
California – such as Skip Allan, Dave Wahle, Tom Wylie and scores
more. For in the ’70s, he raced all over the globe with Dave Allen’s
Belvedere-based, Gary Mull designed 42-foot ‘Improbable’. A few
years later, Holland got a huge break when Allen selected him
to design a new 40-footer that would be called ‘Imp’. The boat,
which had a weird aluminum interior superstructure, kicked ass
so thoroughly at Admiral’s Cups in England and at the then very
important SORCs in Florida, that it became a legend. ‘Imp’ put
Holland on the map in the way ‘Dorade’ did Sparkman & Stephens.
Before long, Holland moved to Cork, Ireland, and established a
design business. It’s been going great guns ever since. In addition
to having designed many cruising yachts over 100 feet, he designed
the just launched Super Maxi 100, which is supposed to provide
one-design racing as enjoyed by the giant J boats – but employing
modern design and materials.
Ron Holland, temporary local boy who made it big designing big
boats.
Weather Updates
September 29 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
Tropical Weather
There’s wild weather in the Atlantic/Caribbean. Hurricane Isaac
is currently blowing at 120 knots, which is category 5, about
as high as the scale goes. Fortunately, it made a big turn to
the north in the last two days, so it’s paralleling the East Coast
of the United States a comfortable 1,200 offshore. It’s even going
to pass to the east of Bermuda.
Posing a much more serious threat is Hurricane Joyce, which is
currently blowing at 80 knots about 750 miles due east of Trinidad
– which is never supposed to get any hurricanes. Computer models
suggest that Joyce will actually curve north of Trinidad and head
right up through the chain of islands in the Eastern Caribbean.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world if it only blew at 80 knots,
but it could build. Joyce is a wild card for the entire Antilles
right now, so smart folks are preparing for the worst and hoping
for the best.
As if that weren’t enough, Tropical Depression #15 is working
its way north between the Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the west
end of Cuba toward the Gulf of Mexico. TD15 is expected to reach
hurricane strength within 72 hours, and therefore is of concern
for everyone between Key West, Florida, and Texas. For more on
the Atlantic hurricane season, go to http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2000/index.html.
 Hurricane Joyce |
 Tropical Depression #15 Unisys Weather Graphics |
While this is the peak season for tropical storms in the Atlantic/Caribbean,
it usually begins to wind down in Mexico. There is currently no
tropical activity off Mexico.
San Francisco Bay Weather
To see what the winds are like on the Bay right now, check
out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.
It looks as though it will be a great weekend for sailing on San
Francisco Bay.
California Coast Weather
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.
Pacific Ocean Weather
You can view the new University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.
Pacific Sea State
Check out today’s sea state at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.
Cruising
La Paz Ha-Ha to Follow Baja Ha-Ha
September 29 – La Paz, BCS
For the last couple of months, it’s been unsure whether there
would be another La Paz Ha-Ha after the Baja Ha-Ha to take the
fleet up to the Sea of Cortez. It’s been done for the last several
years, but the main sponsor said their marina was too full so
they weren’t going to bother.
So Ed Vergara, formerly of Marina Palmira and most recently of
the not-yet-completed Marina Santa Cruz stepped up. “I’ll
be at the kick-off party at the Cabrillo Isle Marina in San Diego
on the 31st to let everyone know the details, and I’ll be in Cabo
again at the beach and awards parties to confirm the details and
prizes and such. I want to invite all cruisers up on behalf of
all the marine business in La Paz. While my Marina Santa Cruz
is not yet complete, I will be offering piling and mooring tie-ups
as well as spots in the marina area to anchor. These will come
with free use of the dinghy docks, water, bathrooms, swimming
pool, free incoming faxes and all kinds of other stuff. When people
go out to the islands and vacate a space, I’ll give them credit
for when they come back.
“I want everyone to have a great time in La Paz, so we’ll
be doing Temporary Import Permits for free, as well as helping
everybody find any goods or services they need. As for the La
Paz Ha-Ha party, participants pay for the beer; the food and prizes
are on me. If anyone has any questions, they can email me at [email protected].”
We’ll be posting photos of Vergara and the facility he runs in
about a week.
YOTREPS
September 29 – 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/
Racing
Sexual Satisfaction or Latitude 38?
September 29 – Pacific Ocean
| It’s possible to race on all different levels. When the sled guys do a TransPac, they trim the sheets on every wave to get a little extra oomph. But in the West Marine Pacific Cup, not everyone competes with the same intensity. To prove the point, Lucie van Breen sent us the accompanying photograph – and explanation: “When I sailed aboard ‘Omega 1’, the owner, Dr. Don van We at ‘Latitude’ are both pleased and concerned. We’re delighted |
 Intense Racing in the Pacific Cup Photo Courtesy Lucie van Breen |
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