March 16, 2001

By Grzegorz | March 16, 2001

Photos of the Day

March
16 – La Cruz, Mexico
It takes all kinds of folks to make up this crazy world – and
the cruising community. While some folks wait until they have
the perfect boat with a full complement of gear and gadgetry,
others simply ‘go with what they’ve got’. This jovial Canadian
aboard this Wharram catamaran is a good example of the latter.
As the bright pastel tones of his boat imply, he obviously has
plenty of spirit – and a tent. When we crossed paths with him
in the La Cruz, Mexico anchorage last month, he’d been cruising
for six months. And seemed perfectly content to continue in that
manner.

Photo Latitude/Andy

The Race

March 16 – The Atlantic Ocean

As The Race winds down, there are some interesting developments.
For Tony Bullimore and Team Legato some 5,700 miles from
the finish, it’s nip and tuck whether they’re going to get home
within the time limit to be an official finisher. They did 321
miles two days ago, but slipped to just 216 miles yesterday.
They need to average 319 miles a day to make the cut-off, which
is a month after the first boat finished.

There’s a problem of a different sort on
Warta Polpharma, which is 3,539 miles to the finish
at Marseilles. They are quickly running out of food. Armies travel
on their stomachs, and to a large extent, so do racing crews.
Will the crew be able to get by on minimum rations?

Cam Lewis and Team Adventure are
2,300 miles from the finish, and currently don’t have any worries
about food or finishing on time. In fact, Cam has enough time
to remind everyone that he’s looking for two school teachers
to join Team Adventure this summer when they take the
110-foot cat on the Route of Discovery transatlantic passage
that retraces Columbus’ route from Cadiz, Spain, to San Salvador
in the Bahamas. The 3,885 mile passage should be a great one.
For details, view the job listing at www.monster.co.uk
and use the search words “schoolteachers ahoy”. The
closing date for applications is Monday, March 19 – thanks for
the long warning – so get on it.

Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

America’s Cup History

The year was 1987, the place was Fremantle,
Australia, and the event was the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger
Finals between Dennis Conner of the U.S. and Chris Dickson of
New Zealand. Dickson had been so invincible with KZ-7 Kiwi
Magic – they were sailing 12 meters back then – that Conner
suggested the boat could have only been built of fiberglass because
the Kiwis wanted to cheat. All the other 12s that year had been
built of aluminum. Naturally, the New Zealanders were outraged.

Conner won the first two races in strong winds that suited his
boat. But in the third race, Dickson got the light conditions
he needed. Taking advantage of a spinnaker shackle that opened
on Conner’s boat, he took a six second lead. On the next three
3.5-mile weather legs, Conner tacked 35 times, 24 times, and 53
respectively to try to catch up with Dickson. Dickson nonetheless
gained on each leg to claim perhaps the most hard-fought challenger
final races ever. Alas, Dickson never won again, and Conner went
on to beat the Aussies and bring the Cup back to the United States.
But hey, that’s yacht racing.

Heineken Regatta

March 16 – St. Maarten

One of the unique features of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta
held early each March is that they get a number of tallships
to participate in the racing. Which, of course, gives guys like
the dude in black the chance to let the women do the heavy lifting.

Photo Latitude/Max Ebb

Spring Has Sprung

March 16 – San Francisco Bay

With the good weather back, Latitude’s photoboat and photographers
were
out on the Bay last Sunday. Here is some of what they saw:

Photos Latitude 38

YOTREPS

March 16 – 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/

Weather Updates

March 16 – Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

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/.

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 Sea State

Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you
might 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.

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