January 12, 2001

Photos of the Day

January 12 – Richardson Bay

Richardson Bay, the two by three mile body of water between
Sausalito and Belvedere/Tiburon, is a fine anchorage – except
during winter storms. Unfortunately, the biggest storm of the
year blew through yesterday, which in combination with unusually
high tides created major problems. A number of moored or anchored
boats dragged, and several of them washed ashore.

Potentially the most serious case involved James Skorich, his
girlfriend Rainbow, and their dog Blue Moon. The 45-foot ferrocement
boat ‘Yankee Belle’, on which they were living, broke free from
its mooring and washed up at the bottom of a 40-foot cliff at
the base of Century Drive in Strawberry – as can be seen in the
accompanying photo. Tiburon firefighter Steve Ardigo was lowered
down the cliff to the boat and helped the injured couple and
their dog into an inflatable rescue boat from the Sausalito Fire
Department. They were then transferred to an ambulance. They
suffered from minor injuries, mild hypothermia – and a good fright.

The ‘Yankee Belle’ is owned by a resident of Humboldt County,
who was renting it out to the couple. According to Bill Price,
the harbor administrator, the ferrocement boat had been illegally
moored in Richardson Bay for 10 years. “It was a piece of
junk when it hit the beach,” he told the IJ. “Now it’s
a derelict piece of junk.” Price said the remains would
be hauled away in five days if not claimed.

The presence of semi-derelict anchor-outs has long been a source
of controversy, one, because they are illegal, and two, because
they often wash up on lee shores to create big bills for local
governments that need to have them removed. The second photo
shows a couple more anchor-out boats on the Strawberry Point
rocks.

Another interesting aspect of the storm was the extreme high
water caused by the combo of a very high tide and winds out of
the south piling up water at the northern end of the bay. For
example, check out the photo of the Travel Lift at Anderson’s
Boatyard. If the tide had been just a little higher, boats could
have floated to their stands. Another photo demonstrates that
the Clipper Yacht Harbor parking lot was submerged.

Yesterday afternoon at Clipper Yacht Harbor

The Race Update

January 12 – Atlantic Ocean

Just a month ago, most experts were wondering if Cam Lewis
and ‘Team Adventure’ were even going to be able to make the start
of the race. Now, after nearly 5,000 miles, Cam and crew have
taken lead again after a long duel with Grant Dalton and ‘Club
Med’. What’s more, Dalton has repeatedly been saying that Cam’s
boat – which is slightly lighter – is clearly the faster boat
in these conditions. In any event, Cam and crew covered 570 miles
in the last 24 hours and put nearly 50 miles on ‘Club Med’. Here’s
the way ‘Club Med’ sees things:

“The big blue ‘Club Med’ catamaran has been sailing along
in close company with ‘Team Adventure’ since exiting the Doldrums
three days ago, averaging speeds in the mid-twenties and burning
up the South Atlantic. ‘Team Adventure’ has been almost alongside
all the way, on the western side of the pair but traveling just
a fraction faster. Cam Lewis and the American crew on ‘Team Adventure’
have now turned a 50 mile deficit at the Equator into a one mile
lead in terms of distance to go to the finish. At noon today
the pair were situated approximately 800 miles North East of
the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, and were sailing at 22
knots in a 15 knot easterly wind. ‘Team Adventure’ was positioned
20 miles further South and one mile closer to the finish than
Grant Dalton’s ‘Club Med’.

“We have got this speed problem. It is beginning to show
now. I’m surprised it’s taken this long.” said Grant Dalton.
“He (Cam Lewis) is slowly pulling forwards. He is nearly
20 miles further south than us now and he was 50 miles behind
us two days ago,” Dalton explained. “The trades have
been punishing on the boat and the crew. The boat is sailing
at 90 degrees to the wind and flat out in a bit of a seaway.
We are just flying a hull most of the time. The loads are serious.
Yesterday we broke a mainsheet traveler car. It cost us 15 miles
getting it fixed.”

Flying hull on ‘Team Adventure’
Photo Jacques Vapillon www.vapillon.com

Aboard ‘Team Adventure’
Photo Jacques Vapillon www.vapillon.com

Graphic Courtesy Team
Adventure www.teamadventure.org

This section of the course, sailed in medium winds and bright
sunshine in the tropics, should be relatively pleasant sailing
for the crew on board ‘Club Med’, but keeping the big blue catamaran
under control and moving as fast as possible is difficult. “The
Trades are supposed to be fun, but it has been really hard work.
Flying a hull most of the time requires real concentration, keeping
it fast means keeping the weather hull skimming just above the
surface for no drag and maximum righting moment but not too high
that it gets dangerous.”With an apparent wind speed of 40
knots in just 15-20 knots of wind walking across the netting
from the leeward hull and past the back of the jib is like walking
past a 747 with take-off thrust set.”

The leading pair in The Race may have been setting the pace up
to this point but the weather forecast is not promising for the
future. The South Atlantic High, the most dominant phenomenon
in the South Atlantic Ocean, has extended right across the path
of the oncoming boats and will prove to be a difficult obstacle
to pass with its associated light winds. “Our lives are
about to change. We are going to hit a wall soon. The South Atlantic
High is stretched out right in front of us and there is no way
through for the moment. We are in exactly the same weather as
‘Team Adventure’, so we will both stop pretty much together,
but ‘Innovation Explorer’ and ‘PlayStation’ will come roaring
in from behind to meet us both!!! The situation will last a day
and a half. The way I see it the first boat into the South is
off and away.”

Ranking as of 01-12-01 / 1500 GMT / 0700 PST

1. Team Adventure dtf 19,834.9
2. Club Med dtf 19,851.3 / dtl 16.4 miles
3. Innovation Explorer dtf 20,083.4 / dtl 248.5 miles
4. Playstation dtf 20,586.3 / dtl 751.4 miles
5. Warta Polpharma dtf 20,895.5 / dtl 1,060.6 miles
6. Team Legato dtf 21,835.3 / dtl 2,000.4 miles

* dtf – distance to finish
* dtl – distance to leader

Quiz Response

January 12 – St. Barts

In yesterday’s ‘Lectronic Latitude,
we asked the names of the brothers from the Pacific Northwest
who owned the approximately 300-ft motoryachts that carry relatively
large sailboats – 43 feet and 67 feet – and who were in St. Barts
for the holidays. So far our only answer has come from Ken Haas
of San Francisco, who wrote, “I would guess that the brothers
in question are the McCaw brothers; Craig McCaw and his brother,
uh…..Mr. McCaw?!”

Close, but not sufficiently precise. Craig O. of Bellevue is
the high rolling brother, worth a reported $7 billion – even
after losing a couple of billion in a divorce settlement and
picking up the tab for the Seattle YC’s OneWorld America’s Cup
Challenge. He owns the 323-foot ‘Grand Bleu’ and keeps the new
67-ft Dubois-designed ‘Bellatrix’ aboard for sailing adventures.
In fact, here’s a shot of the transom of ‘Grand Bleu’, and another
of ‘Bellatrix’, which lives aboard ‘Grand Bleu’. But the question
still remains, which brother owns the 283-foot ‘Tatoosh’: Bruce,
John or Keith? (Send your answers to Richard.)
According to Forbes, they’re each worth about 1.7 billion, so
they all could afford it.