Photos of the Day

June 19 - San Francisco Bay

Today's Photos of the Day come from last Sunday, about as sweet a day of sailing as could be enjoyed on the Bay.

A nautical oddity: a gaff-rigged trimaran,
off the Sausalito shoreline.

An unidentified boat sporting a reefed Cal main.
Winds ranged from 10 to 28 knots.

Mazatlan Marina Open Again?

June 19 - Mazatlan, Mexico

All we can say for sure is that at least six boats have been allowed back into the marina. As some of you might remember, there was a legal squabble over the sale of the marina late last year, and no boats were allowed in. Hopefully, the situation has sorted itself out.

Bahia Del Sol

June 19 - El Salvador

How's this for hospitality? When several boats showed up offshore of El Salvador's Bahia Del Sol Hotel and Casino at the panga guide's rendezvous spot, it was too rough to cross the bar, so they had to anchor for the night. When it was too rough the next day also, the three boats were about to move on down the coast - until the hotel manager arranged to bring all the crews in on a panga and put them up for free at the hotel. And, to put a member of the El Salvadoran navy aboard each boat to stand watch. Well, the surf stayed up for three days - and so did the free rooms and free navy guys standing watch. Guess who wants your business? More in the July issue of Latitude 38.

Booboo in Coastal Cup Report

June 19 - Santa Catalina Island

Monday's news flash on the Coastal Cup was all screwed up. Doug Baker's Andrews 70 did take honors, but covered the 360-mile course - thanks to wind into the 30s - in 33 hours, not 24 hours. Still, it was a heck of a run considering the light air one always encounters nearing the islands. There were 39 starters and 8 DNFs in the windy race. We'll have a full report in the July Latitude, but here are top finishers: CLASS WINNERS - Class A (and second overall): Raven, Nelson/Marek, 39, Mark Thomas; Class B: Wired, Beneteau 40.7, Robert Weed; Class C: Zuni Bear, J/105, Kennedy/Bergman; Class D (and third overall): Takeoff, Laser 28, Joan & Greg Byrne; Class E (and overall winner): Sleeping Dragon, Hobie, 33, Mark Halman. For complete results see www.encinal.org.

Kostecki on the Volvo Race

June 19 - Kiel, Germany

Having just won the Volvo Around the World Race, Marin's John Kostecki is not sure if he wants to do another one. But he's got some ideas on how to improve the event: Move up from 60 footers to 80 to 90-footers; cut expenses by reducing the number of sails allowed and the number of stops in the event; increase the size of the fleet.

Overboard - The Rest of the Bermuda Race Story

June 19 - Bermuda

Roy Disney's R/P 75 Pyewacket won the 43rd running of the 96-year old Newport to Bermuda Race in record time, but thanks to 25 to 30-knot southeast winds stacking huge, square waves against the five-knot south-flowing current, it was really nasty. Tactician Robbie Haines of San Diego said that it once got so rough that they "slowed down to 8 to 10 knots, with no headsail and a double-reefed mainsail to keep the boat from breaking up." As miserable as the conditions might have been, at least Pyewacket didn't lose anybody overboard - which is more than can be said of four other top flight entries.

Oracle Racing and Oracle Business

June 19 - Redwood Shores

Peter Holmberg, almost certainly to be the Oracle Racing helmsman for the America's Cup, told the press that USA 71, their first Bruce Farr designed boat, "doesn't look like the others boats I've seen." Holmberg said Oracle had something different, and that it could best be described as a "weapon."
The other day, somebody told us that they thought Larry Ellison, the Oracle honcho, might be running low on money. A lot of people might think this, in view of the fact that Oracle stock, like almost all tech stocks, has taken a big dive. But given the quarterly report released yesterday, we don't think Oracle Racing has to scrimp on winch handles or anything else. Despite these very difficult tech times, Oracle reported a net profit of $655 million for the quarter. That's net profit, not gross sales. Ellison, because he always resisted the money of venture capitalists, still owns a big chunk - something like 15% - of the company. Let's see, 15% of $655 million for just one quarter . . .

YOTREPS

June 19 - 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

June 19 - 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/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 views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/.