The Latitude 38 staff is
on deadline for the 284-page September Boat Show issue, so today’s
‘Lectronic will be short.
America’s Cup Jubilee
August 22 – Cowes, UK
While the weather has been too windy or too light for some of
the Jubilee, conditions for yesterday’s UBS re-enactment of the
60-mile around the Isle of Wight race that started the America’s
Cup 150 years ago couldn’t have been more ideal for the 201 boats
in the greatest sailing event in history.
Even mid-week, the Solent is teeming with spectators Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Prada
Line honors went to Giovanni Agnelli’s
Frers-designed 92-ft Stealth in 4 hours and 48 minutes
– less than half the time it took America to sail the
course. Corrected time honors in the headlining IRC Modern Class,
however, went to Robert Miller’s Mari-Cha III, followed
by Agnelli’s old boat, the 118-ft Frers-designed Extra-Beat,
now owned by Seattle’s John McCaw (One World Syndicate). Extra-Beat,
however, has a large lead in the series overall.
The real glamour division of the Jubilee,
of course, is the J Class. As was the case in the first two races,
Dennis Kozlowski’s Endeavour wasn’t the first off the
starting line, but nonetheless finished first for the third time
in a row by a comfortable margin. Velsheda slipped into
second for the first time, edging Shamrock. Just about
everyone at the Jubilee says the sight of the J Class boats is
enough to stir the emotions of even the most hardened sailors.
The 130-ft Endeavour sails by a spectator ship Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Prada
For the Brits, who are just getting back
into the America’s Cup, the America’s Cup class is the big deal.
Their GBR Challenge led almost the entire race – only
to be nipped by two seconds at the finish by Italy’s Luna
Rossa. But then Luna Rossa was tossed for a luffing
infraction.
In the 12-Meter Class, Russell Coutts drove
the Swiss Team Alinghi to victory over South Australia
and the rest of the large fleet.
In other boats familiar to West Coast sailors,
Belvedere’s Tom Perkins’ Herreshoff 135 Mariette took
third in the Vintage II class, and sits at second for the regatta,
despite having to retire in the second race after running aground. Dorade, the boat that made S&S and was once owned
out of the St. Francis, took seventh in Vintage III. L. Scott
Frantz’s Herreshoff 72 ketch Ticonderoga – known for thrilling
TransPac finishes in the ’60s – took third in Vintage I.
The classics round the Needles light Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Prada
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/
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 Winds and Pressure
The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily
map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.
