July 22, 2002

Photo of the Day

July 22 – Newport Beach

Rich Roberts reports from SoCal, “A
trio of teenagers flying the Union Jack as their burgee and singing
‘Rule Britannia’ before their crucial matches won all 15 of their
races to bring the UK its first victory in the 36 years of the
Governor’s Cup Sunday.”

Hosted by Balboa Yacht Club, the Governor’s
Cup features team competition is a match-racing format with on
the water umpiring.

“Skipper Paul Campbell-James, 19,
of Southampton; trimmer Alex Cherry, 19, Brighton, and bowman
Paul Burgoine, 18, Coventry, represented the Royal Yachting Association
of Seaford in East Sussex, England. Moments after crossing the
final finish line to dispatch Mark Dorling’s Royal Sydney Yacht
Squadron team, 2-0, they pulled off their shirts and performed
a forward flip dive into the Pacific to celebrate.

Photo Rich Roberts

“Twelve three-person crews representing
clubs from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and across the U.S.
sailed Santana 20s in winds of 5 to 10 knots [July 16-21].

“Defending champion Simon Minoprio
and his team from the Royal New Zealand YC went down before the
Brits, 2-0, but defeated Dan Corlett’s Royal Prince Alfred team
from Sydney, 2-0, for third place. After the ‘all-royal’ sailoffs,
the top U.S. finisher was Mission Bay YC from San Diego, led
by skipper Piet VanOs, in fifth place. An all-girl team from
the St. Petersburg (FL) YC won one race.

“The crews rotated boats after every
race, but it made no difference to Campbell-James and his lads
which one they sailed.” For Rich’s complete story, more
photos, and results, see http://yachtracing.com/richroberts/governorscup.html.
See also www.bycgovernorscup.com.

Pacific Cup Report

July 22 – Kaneohe Bay, Oahu

Benign sailing conditions have graced the
Pacific Cup this year, and everyone seems to be having a great
time. The parties begin this evening, by which time most boats
should have finished. Even little Moonshine, which we
understand is sailing with a nine-ft jury-rigged spar, lists
their ETA as this evening at 9:15. You can check to see who’s
in, their finish times, and who’s still out there on www.pacificcup.org.
The site also features photos of each crew as they finish. A
scoring snafu has messed with the results, but this may be straightened
out by now and all results so far are unofficial at this point
anyway.

Two Guys on the Edge was the first small boat and the
first doublehanded boat to finish, arriving fourth after the
77-ft Pegasus, on Friday evening. However, Skip
Allan’s Wildflower, a Wylie 27, which finished
at 5:30 on Sunday, will correct out over the Sonoma 30 in the
doublehanded division.

Another Record Bites the Dust

July 22 – Mackinac Island, Michigan

Finishing Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to
Mackinac in less than 24 hours, Roy Disney’s Pyewacket
has broken the 15-year old monohull record by more than two hours,
finishing this 96th running of the world’s longest freshwater
race first.

Pyewacket
sailed the course in 23 hours 30 minutes. The monohull record,
set in 1987 by Dick Jennings’ Pied Piper, was 25 hours
50 minutes 44 seconds. The multihull record was set in 1998,
by Steve Fossett’s Stars and Stripes, which finished in
18:50:32. The race normally takes between 40 to 60 hours to complete.

Late breaking news from Chicago YC indicates
troubles in the fleet as numerous boats have withdrawn, some
with unconfirmed reports of injuries. A multihull, Caliente,
is reported to have capsized; her crew safely rescued by a competitor,
Kokomo. You can follow this event at www.chicagoyachtclub.com/racetomackinac.

Couch Potato Sailing

July 22 – Croatia and New Zealand

Outdoor Life Network has a couple of choice
offerings tonight for viewers. At 8:00 pm PDT/EDT: ‘Grand Prix
Sailing’ featuring the ACI Ronhill Cup from the South Adriatic
coast in Split Croatia, which attracts visitors from all over
the world. It may not have been discovered by most Americans,
but this center of Dalmatia is well known in Europe for its sailing
conditions and traditions and the skills of its sailors.

At 8:30 pm, travel down under to the current
center of the America’s Cup for ‘Road to the Louis Vuitton Cup’.
This edition features an interview with Oracle’s Larry Ellison,
a tour of Viaduct Basin, the transport of A-Cup yachts to New
Zealand, and the fine line between cutting edge technology and
design chaos.

420 Worlds

July 22 – Travira, Portugal

An Indian team have emerged victorious
in the 420 Worlds, hosted by the Clube Náutico Tavira:
Farokh Tarapore and Vikas Kapila are the new World Champions.
In the Women’s Division, Coraline Jonet and Magali Pallanca of
France took first place. An American team, Julie Papanek and
Whitney Bessee, scored fifth. For all the results and lots of
photos, see www.cnt.pt/uknews420.htm.

The victorious Tarapore and Kapila
Photo Courtesy Clube Náutico Tavira

YOTREPS

July 22 – 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

July 22 – 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/.
The National Weather Service site for San Francisco Bay is at
www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey/.

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/Maps/Southwest.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 views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/.