Photos of the Day

October 30 - San Diego

As we write this, 90 boats have started the eighth annual Baja Ha-Ha Rally off Coronado Roads, San Diego. A few boats will start late and a few more will join the fleet later today off Ensenada, for a total of around 100 boats. In the next day or two, we hope to have photos of the start; today's photos are of Sunday's barbecue Halloween party sponsored by West Marine at Cabrillo Isle Marina (pictured below). Also tomorrow, check back for more Halloween madness from the Great Pumpkin Regatta.

San Diego's finest got into the Ha-Ha spirit.

Some costumes were a sign of the times.

The Pillsbury Doughboy

Assa Abloy Protests illbruck

October 30 - Cape Town, South Africa

Assa Abloy has lodged a protest against Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 winner illbruck over an alleged misuse of the Internet. On the protest form, Assa Abloy states that, "Access to a site containing extensive meteorological information can only be obtained by adding the suffix '/rsm' to the illbruck Challenge nominated site http://atmosfera.lma.fi.upm.es.

"The required suffix is not publicly known and it is not mentioned on the site nor was it published in the Leg 1 Sailing Instructions, Annex C."

Under new rules introduced for the Volvo Ocean Race each team is allowed to list ten Web sites they want to view during each leg. Navigators pick sites from which they can download all the information they require for a leg. Prior to the start of each leg these lists are compiled and published as part of the leg sailing instructions. The idea is that allowing teams to view the same Web sites creates a level playing field.

The hearing was provisionally scheduled for 1400 local time (1200UT) on Thursday, November 1, at Race Headquarters in Cape Town. You can follow this issue on the official Web site, www.volvooceanrace.org.

Three boats have yet to finish the first leg. SEB, djuice Dragons, and Amer Sports Too are stuck in light and variable winds caused by a low pressure cell parked northwest of Cape Town.

Amer Sports One skipper Grant Dalton left Cape Town for Auckland to meet his new daughter, Olivia Anne, born on October 23 as Dalton was racing to finish Leg 1. Olivia entered the world seven weeks early weighing only 3 3/4 lbs. After holding her in his arms, Dalton commented, "She's perfect, but very tiny. She is still in an incubator, but she is putting on weight, really thriving."

Dalton will return to Cape Town on November 5 to make final preparations for
Leg 2 and the Southern Ocean.

Fall Dinghy and Olympic Classes

October 30 - San Francisco Bay

Six classes of 98 dinghies and 9 windsurfers raced in six to nine races in St. Francis Yacht Club's Fall Dinghy & Olympic Classes Regatta this weekend. You can find all the results at www.stfyc.com/race-office/2001/falldinghyolym.htm, but here are the winners:

Laser: Andrew Campbell, 11 points; Byte (Nationals): Griffin Hewitt, 21; Europe: Anneli Clea Bolund, 11; Finn: Darrell Peck, 7; Vanguard 15: Matthew Sessions/Avery Patton, 36; IMCO (Mistral): Ted Huang, 5.

We've had several phone calls to the office asking for Great Pumpkin results. They have not been posted yet, but we hope to have them for you here tomorrow.

YOTREPS

October 30 - 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

Tropical Storm Warnings

October 30 - Atlantic Ocean

All is clear for the Baja Ha-Ha fleet, however, on the other side of Mexico, Tropical Depression 15 is tracking north toward the Yucatan peninsula, and "interests in the North Caribbean Sea should closely monitor the progress of this system." Out in the middle of the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Lorenzo is also northbound, kicking up winds of up to 45 knots and seas of up to 12 feet. You can track these two systems at http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2001/index.html.

October 30 - 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/. (Note: This page seems to be working correctly again.)

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.