June 4, 2002

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

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.