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Photo of the DayMay 23 - Napa River Photo Latitude/Richard |
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Ellen MacArthur Does It Again!May 23 - Terragona, Spain In France - and much of Europe - the Challenge
Mondial and the 60-foot trimaran racing circuit is huge. While
this year's race was one of the slowest ever - the winner only
averaged a little over 10 knots, which is pathetic when you consider
these boats have covered 625 miles in 24 hours - it was also
one of the closest ever. With just 150 miles to the finish, the
standings looked like this: But in the last miles of what turned out to be match racing on a calm sea, Alain Gautier and his crew bested Jean-Luc Nélias and Belgacom at the finish by merely 12 minutes. "It was absolutely fantastic!" said MacArthur. "We were a great team and had a very good time. We never gave up, even when we were 40 miles behind. These boats are amazing. We were reaching at 30 knots in a very confused sea during the first days of the race. It was just amazing to see these boats perform so well in those conditions." |
 The starting line in Cherbourg Photo P. Garenne  The happy winning team in Terragona Photos Courtesy Challenge Mondial Assistance |
May 23 - New York
Steve Fossett and his international crew of 12 aboard the 125-ft
maxi catamaran PlayStation set a new Miami to New York
world sailing speed record of 2 days 5 hours 55 mins. This beats
the previous mark - set by Bruno Peyron and Cam Lewis in the 86-foot
Data Explorer - by 17 hours. In the first two days, they
covered 1,008 miles. The crew included Dawn Riley of Sausalito,
West Marine's Chuck Hawley, and Peter Hogg of Mill Valley.
Congratulations are in order of course, but this record can't be considered a big deal, not when PlayStation and Data Explorer are the only two big multihulls to have ever done it. The real test will come shortly when PlayStation will take on the Transatlantic record that has stood for 11 years. First, however, the record-hungry Fossett will jet to the balloon with which he'll attempt the first Solo Around the World Balloon Flight. The last time he tried it, you'll remember his balloon was struck by lightning and fell 29,000 feet to the ocean, where Fossett was rescued by a yacht.
Whale in the BayAs we headed into Raccoon Strait yesterday from Richardson Bay, we looked out toward the Gate and saw this whale. Yes, we know there's not much to see, but he was camera shy. And when he did come much of the way out of the water, we couldn't get our camera on him fast enough for a good shot. You'll just have to trust us. |
 Photo Latitude/Richard |
Hay Schooner on the BayWhile just about to enter Richardson Bay, in addition to the whale, we saw Billy Martinelli's lovely hay schooner replica. She's busy now, taking out children on educational sails. She's also looking good. Photo Latitude/Richard |
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May 23 - 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/
May 23 - 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.
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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