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January 9 - Mill Valley
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In the January and February issues of Latitude 38, you'll find little forms to fill out if you want to do just about any kind of sailing (short of the type covered in the stories below!) The idea is to fill out the coupon and mail it to our office with a small advertising fee, and we'll put you on our world-famous Crew List. We have lists for boat owners who need crew, for sailors who need a boat, for racers, cruisers, daysailers, charterers and boat swappers, at all levels of expertise. If you're a racer, the deadline to get your form in is February 15, as the racing list will be published in the March issue. Everyone else has until March 15, as the 'big' crew list comes out in the April issue. To get started, pick up a copy of Latitude or go to our Crew List pages online. And while you're thinking about it, mark your calendars now for the Spring Crew List Party. The date for this fun event, which is open to everyone (and sometimes it seems like everyone is there!) has been changed to Tuesday, April 10. As always, we will pack the ballroom at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon from 6-9 pm with sailors of every stripe. |
 Most racing on the Bay requires lots of bodies. Photo Latitude/Richard |
RacingThe Race UpdateJanuary 9 - Atlantic Ocean Stuck in the dreaded Doldrums, 'Club Med' and 'Team Adventure', the two leaders in The Race, are steering a zigzag course to exploit the slightest breeze and dodge the squalls. Their objective is to make progress at all costs, as far as possible heading south. 'Club Med' is sailing at about 8 kts, no comparison with the 20-25 knot average of 'Innovation Explorer' who adopted a more westerly strategy. If the leading three maintain their present speeds, 'Innovation Explorer' could catch the first two in the next eight hours, although she would still be 270 miles to their west. The stakes are high: the first to escape the Doldrums will have the advantage of the southeasterly trade winds which will let them pull away from the other giant cats. Skating along at 18.7 knots, 'PlayStation' is tracking 'Innovation Explorer' at a distance of 475 miles. 'Warta-Polpharma' is steadily passing to the east of the Cape Verde Islands. 'Team Legato', heading into the wind, is making slow progress at 5 kts. For the complete story, see www.therace.org. |
  In the nine days since the start of The Race, the current leader, Club Med, has encountered a variety of weather conditions. Photos Courtesy The Race/France Telecom |
Vendée Globe UpdateJanuary 9 - Pacific Ocean Vendée Globe around-the-world alone race leader, Michel Desjoyeaux on 'PRB', this morning lay just 355 miles from Cape Horn and was still finding himself propelled along by favorable winds to maintain a 13-kt average speed. He expects to round the Horn tomorrow afternoon (January 10). This will be his first solo rounding, although he passed the Cape during the Whitbread as crew on board 'Côte d'Or'. "Last time it was dark and we were further offshore. This time I hope to pass near it as I have a fascination about actually seeing this famous rock." Ellen MacArthur of 'Kingfisher', in second place, is about 500 miles behind Desjoyeaux. After having a terrible time aground, Yves Parlier phoned his shore team today to indicate that he has successfully floated 'Aquitaine Innovations' again after running her aground. While beached on a sand bar at a South Pacific island, Parlier filed this report: "I've run aground and been battling with my anchors since this morning. I hope to get myself off by 0200 hrs local time it's 2200 hrs right now. My keel bulb is resting on the silty sand bed. My mistake was to want to get back into the river and now I'll have to go further inshore as it's deeper. I re-anchored this morning with my main anchor and about 300 meters of rope. I pulled up my little anchor using a piece of the mast and some small rocks. I threw one end towards land where there was more depth. I shall be able to pull myself over in order to get off the bed." "I've been sunk nearly twice in my raft. The end of the anchor was stuck in the bed. I managed to pull it out without diving but when I tried to pull vertically I fell out of the raft. Trying to anchor the boat was hell, just impossible to get it to hold. Thankfully I ran aground on the sandy instead of rocky side. |
 Yves Parlier aboard Aquitaine Innovations Photo Gilles Martin-Raget www.martin-raget.com "The one plus point is that I've opened my mussels for dinner tonight. They're larger than my hand span, like mangoes. I gathered ten in one minute. "There's a journalist on one solitary boat out here.
Thierry Martinez (a French photographer) is also there taking
the odd See www.vendeeglobe.com for more details. |
January 9 - Long Beach
More that 350 sailors, from 16 colleges and 45 high schools, competed in the 2001 Rose Bowl Regatta over the weekend in Long Beach, California. The event, co-hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and the University of Southern California Sailing Team, was sailed on two venues on Alamitos Bay.
In collegiate action, St. Mary's College of Maryland eked out a one-point win against Dartmouth College of Hanover, NH; UC Santa Barbara took third.
The 45 high schools, all from California, were divided into two groups. Coronado High School of Coronado, with an "A" team of Brian Haines and Blaire Herron and a "B" team of Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and Lauren Usrey, were first in the 24-school Gold Division. Servite High School of Anaheim, with an "A" team of Ryan Mulvania and Dustin Delgado and a "B" team of Jamie DeWolfe and Ryan Gautshi, won the 21-school Silver Division. A local note: in the High School Gold Division, Marin Catholic took fifth place. For all the results, see www.ussailingctr-longbeach.org/uscsailing/
January 9 - 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.
You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology satellite picture by clicking here.
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.
January 9 - 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/
The Wanderer reports from St. Barts (where the phones are
working again) that he will return on Thursday with scads of great
photos and tales from the Caribbean.
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