They Both Rate -180

June 4 - Pt. Richmond


Zephyrus empties water ballast
Photo Latitude/Richard

"I liked your comparison of the 146-ft Mari-Cha III and the 86-ft Zephyrus in yesterday's 'Lectronic," writes Queen Lucie The Irrepressible. "As Chief Boat Nanny, I visited (drooled) MC3 right after her arrival at KKMI, before the interior was stripped. But one detail that tickles me a lot is that the PHRF committee gave both boats a -180 rating, which most people probably aren't aware of yet. Both boats are also challenged by the ban on water ballast. I don't believe that the photo of Zephyrus listing will resemble the way she looks at the West Marine Pacific Cup, as rules specify a maximum degree of heel at the dock prior to the start."

You're correct, the boats are so different and so fast that the PHRF committee reportedly 'threw up their hands' and gave them both a -180 rating. That's three minutes a mile over boats that rate 0. And, they'll have to do it without using water ballast, which was banned after Roy Disney crushed the old record with Pyewacket, in part thanks to Kevlar water bags hanging over the side.


Master and Commander

June 4 - Baja California

A movie based on Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander novel is to begin filming this month with Russell 'Beautiful Mind' Crowe starring as Capt. Jack Aubrey. The movie will be released the following year.


Two J Class Yachts Expected in New Zealand

June 4 - Auckland, NZ

Two of the three remaining J Class Yachts - Shamrock V (K3), and Endeavour (K4) - are booked aboard freight ships for arrival in Auckland December 2002. They are both expected to compete in the International Classic Yacht Regatta in Auckland February 6-9, between the Louis Vuitton Cup and New Zealand's defense of the America's Cup.

Things change, of course. Yesterday, Dennis Kozlowski, chairman of Tyco, resigned. Today he was indicted on charges that he circumvented paying more than $1,000,000 in sales tax due on expensive art work. So who knows what the future holds.


Kozlowski driving Endeavour off St. Barts, trying
to hold off John McCaw and the 118-ft Extra Beat.
Photo Latitude/Richard


Thanks for Nothing!

June 4 - Gothenburg, Sweden

With just one leg left in the Volvo Ocean Race, Nautor Swan may be wondering if they should have gotten into the event - with two boats, no less - in the first place. Skipper Grant Dalton, who had been surprisingly successful in the early going with Amer Sports One, slammed the effort as being "half arsed" from the start. 

More recently, Katie Pettibone of Amer Sports Two, the women's boat, told Rich Roberts, "This has been a joke." Pettibone, the American watch captain, complained that the men's boat received the priority and attention, and got some of the sails originally budgeted for the women's boat. 

Bridget Suckling, Pettibone's crewmate, told Roberts, "If there's not enough funding, the shore team's gonna spend more time on the boys' boat. That's how boys work. I used to think that's all well. If you have a fast racehorse in a stable, you put more resources into the racehorse. But that's not why a girls' team is sponsored. A girls' team is sponsored for equal opportunity."

Pettibone and Suckling agreed that it had been totally different the previous time when they sailed EF Education opposite Paul Cayard's victorious EF Language. For the whole story, visit www.yachtracing.com/richroberts/leg8-women.html.

Whether the accusations are right or wrong, it's not exactly music to the ears of those in search of corporate funding for future sailing endeavors. And the blatantly sexist "That's how boys work," doesn't help.


Amer Sports Too finishes Leg 8

Photos Guido Cantini/SEA&SEE
Courtesy www.volvooceanrace.com


Skipper Lisa McDonald is greeted by fellow Nautor Challenge skipper Grant Dalton in Gothenburg.


Katie Pettibone


Bridget Suckling


YOTREPS

June 4 - 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 4 - 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 another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.


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