Dry Creek Vineyard Pro-Am Report

November 9 - Virgin Gorda, BVI

Scuttlebutt's Curmudgeon, Tom Leweck, reports from the Bitter End Yacht Club:

"The regatta uses a Triple Race format in Freedom 30s with the guests of the resort serving as crew. Triple Racing is a three-boat match race, with only the winner scoring a point. The second and third place boats get nothing. No one had an easy time of it racing in the opening round of Pro-Am Series itself. The wind was much further to the right than the normal easterly Tradewinds. This made the conditions on the BVI's North Sound so shifty that only seasoned lake sailors could have been in their comfort zones.

"Each of the first four races of the Masters Division had a different winner, with Keith Musto, Butch Ullmer, Rod Johnstone and the Curmudgeon each scoring one point. Lowell North thought he'd won the last race of the day, but when he learned he'd rounded the wrong mark on the second weather leg, he withdrew giving that win to Johnstone.

Photo Yacht Shots BVI
Courtesy Bitter End YC

"In the Junior Division, Robbie Haines won two races, with both JJ Isler and Ed Baird winning one. Peter Isler and Marie Bjorling were both shut out."

We'll have more on this regatta next week in 'Lectronic Latitude and in the December issue of Latitude 38. In the meantime, see www.beyc.com.

Jacques Vabre Update

November 9 - Atlantic Ocean

This afternoon, Multihull Open 60s Belgacom and Kingfisher-Foncia belted ahead of their rivals . . . by 178 miles! As of 1900 GMT this evening, Belgacom is leading K-F by 21.4 miles. Monohull Open 60 Bobst Group Armor-Lux has moved ahead of Ecover. Leading Open 50 One Dream - One Mission is only 200 miles behind. And a news flash: Banque Pop makes a pit stop at Cape Verde.

Read the full story at www.jacques-vabre.com.

PlayStation Sets New Isle of Wight Record

November 9, 2001 - Cowes, UK

After aborting his attempt on the Cowes-St Malo record yesterday due to strong winds, Steve Fossett today challenged the Round the Isle of Wight record. The 125-ft catamaran PlayStation set off on her attempt at 10:02:29 GMT this morning under a chilly 35-knot north wind. At 12:36:24 GMT, PlayStation crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line for a time of 2 hours 33 minutes and 55 seconds, 36 minutes less than Rodney Pattison and Francis Joyon did on the 60-ft trimaran Eure et Loire during the HOYA Round the Island Race in June. From on board PlayStation a jubilant Steve Fossett commented: "Back in 1994 we thought the best conditions would be a north wind. These were just the right conditions." It was also a nostalgic moment for Fossett. In 1994 Fossett had set a record for the circumnavigation, taking nearly an hour longer. With him on board today in addition to himself were some of Lakota's crew for that passage - Ben Wright, Helena Darvelid and David Scully. "There is a special satisfaction for all of us to take back this record," he said.

According to navigator Stan Honey the top speed PlayStation saw was 38.6 knots as they flew around the south side of the island. As PlayStation flew past Yarmouth, a madforsailing.com correspondent reported that, "I've never seen a boat sailing that fast." During the circumnavigation PlayStation only jibed once (as they rounded the Needles) and only tacked once (off Bembridge). The wind held at 25 to 30 knots. The new record is currently being ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

Mini Transat Wraps Up

November 9 - El Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

Yannick Bestaven (first place finisher) and Ronan Guerin (fourteenth place finisher in the Prototype Division) celebrate in Brazil on November 6 after the second and final stage of the 2001 Mini Transat.
Photo Jacques Vapillon/Pixsail.com

Bestaven finished the 4,300 miles first in a total of 29 days 23 hours 23 minutes and 30 seconds, just over 16 hours ahead of Britain's Simon Curwen in second place. Brian Thompson, who had led for so long, finished sixth in the singlehanded race. Full finish position lists are available at madforsailing.com.

Security Guidelines for Boaters

November 8, 2001

Patty Cerf of Tiburon YC reminds us: "Following the September 11th attacks, the U.S. Coast Guard issued guidelines for recreational boaters summarizing new security restrictions impacting San Francisco Bay and the Delta.

"Generally these guidelines are just good common sense in light of all the events in the news. As you know all commercial vessels entering San Francisco Bay now have U.S. Marshals on board. More than ever before it
is imperative that all recreational boaters observe Rule 9 which says
that large vessels whose movement and maneuverability is restricted by
size to certain channels ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. In addition the
new guidelines provide for minimum speed and clearance requirements near
U.S. Naval vessels, military installations, airport facilities and bridges. Generally speaking you don't want to be near any of these.

"The guidelines have been published on the PICYA Web site at www.picya.org. Click on 'Safety' then click on 'Boating in post attack America'.

"The Coast Guard will be stopping any vessels they feel are suspicious or who are violating any of the new guidelines. PICYA has provided the Coast Guard with 50 copies of the Yachting Yearbook for their use in identifying local recreational vessels. The Coast Guard is asking that boaters fly their yacht club burgee as an aid to the Coast Guard and to reduce your chances of a boarding.

"I encourage you to read the information on the PICYA Web site carefully and print it out for future reference. Also read the USCG Local Notice to Mariners for more details and for new notices as they are issued. You can access the Notice to Mariners at the USCG web site at www.uscg.mil/D11."

YOTREPS

November 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/

Weather Updates

November 9 - 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 Winds and Pressure

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.

Pacific Sea State

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.