Big Daddy Turns 20

March 12 - Richmond

Richmond Yacht Club's Big Daddy Regatta celebrated 20 years of racing for fun last weekend, with two standard races Saturday, a pursuit race on Sunday, and a spring break-themed party in between.

Saturday's top finishers were:

FLEET I (158 and less) - 1) Swiftsure II, Schumacher 54, Sy Kleinman, 2 points; 2) Astra, Farr 40, Mary Coleman, 5; 3) Bullseye, N/M 49, Bob Garvie, 6. (5 boats)

FLEET II - 1) Q, Schumacher 40, Glenn Isaacson, 3 points; 2) Bodacious, Farr One Ton, John Clauser, 4; 3) Wired, Beneteau 40.7, Rob Weed, 5. (5 boats)

FLEET III (72-93) - 1) Elan, Express 37, Bill Riess, 3 points; 2) Larrikin, J/105, Stuart Taylor, 5; 3) Petard, Farr 36, Keith Buck, 7; 4) Oni, Beneteau First 36.5, Peter Krueger, 10. (7 boats)

J/35 - 1) Fast Lane, John Wimer, 4 points; 2) Jarlen, Bob Bloom, 5; 3) Kiri, Bob George, 7; 4) Raptor, Jim Hoey, 8. (9 boats)

99ers - 1) Run Wild, Olson 30, Dale Scroggin, 3 points; 2) Razzberries, Olson 34, Bruce & Lina Nesbit, 5; 3) Mischief, Soverel 33, Jeff McCord, 7; 4) Goldilocks, Morgan 36, Noble Griswold, 8. (10 boats)

SF 30s - 1) Jeannette, Tartan Ten, Hnery King, 4 points; 2) (tie) Ixxis, Olson 911-S, Ed Durbin, and Takeoff, Laser 28, Joan Bryne, 5; 4) Wishful Thinking, Tartan Ten, Lester Gee, 6; 5) Enigma, Capo 30 mod., Bob Hultman, 11. (11 boats)

WYLIECAT 30, etc. - 1) Silkye, WylieCat 30, John & Rina Skinner, 4 points; 2) El Gavilan, Hawkfarm, Jocelyn Nash, 5; 3) Uno, WylieCat 30, Steve Wonner, 7; 4) Fast Freight, Newport 30, Bob Harford, 10. (9 boats)

ANTRIM 27 - 1) Nemesis, Martson/Shortman, 3 points; 2) Always Friday, John Liebenberg, 4; 3) Kind of Blue, Steve Saperstein, 5. (6 boats)

EXPRESS 27 - 1) Exocet, Jason Crowson, 3 points; 2) Baffet, Tom Baffico/Forest Baskett, 5; 3) El Raton, Ray Lotto, 6; 4) Abigail Morgan, Ron Kell, 10; 5) Swamp Donkey, Doug Robbins, 10. (13 boats)

OLSON 25, etc. - 1) Bewitched, Merit 25, Laraine Salmon, 5 points; 2) Barking Dog, Olson 25, Jeff Kroeber, 5; 3) Csardas, Moore 24, Torben Bentson, 6. (7 boats)

WYLIE WABBIT - 1) Mr. McGregor, Kim Desenberg/John Groen, 3 points; 2) Kwazy, Colin Moore, 3; 3) Furrari, Pete & Angie Rowland, 7. (8 boats)

Sunday's pursuit race wasn't the usual around Alcatraz and Angel Island course, but rather a double star shape that included lots of reaching in a strong ebb. And no, you didn't get to pick which direction to go!

Saturday's racing finished before the rain started.
Photos Latitude/Rob

PURSUIT RACE - 1) Bullseye, N/M 50, Bob Garvie; 2) Mr. McGregor, Wabbit, Kim Desenberg/John Groen; 3) The White Boat, Wabbit, Andy Hamilton; 4) Kwazy, Wabbit, Colin Moore; 5) Run Wild, Olson 30, Dale Scroggin; 6) Fast Lane, J/25, John Wimer; 7) Silkye, WylieCat 30, John Skinner; 8) Sleeping Dragon, Hobie 33, Mark & Susan Halman; 9) Maximus, Express 27, Josh Grass; 10) Always Friday, Antrim 27, John Liebenberg. (72 boats)

Complete results are available at www.richmondyc.org/racing/results/big_daddy/bd_results.html and be sure to check out our feature article with more photos in the April issue of Latitude 38.

Orange Meets St. Helena

March 12 - Atlantic Ocean

As of this morning (Tuesday), the maxi catamaran Orange had notched up 531 miles in 24 hours in her attempt on the Jules Verne around-the-world record. Their average speed was somewhat slowed by a broken padeye. That failure has been taken care of, but the crew is wary of the padeyes and is making constant checks, climbing the mast several times a day. Besides keeping an eye on potential hardware problems, they are now concentrating on the St. Helena High Pressure Zone, sailing at 20-22 knots off the coast of Brazil.

Gilles Chiorri reports from onboard, "We should draw a nice little curve towards the east before sailing downwind for about 36 hours, finally catching a line-up of low pressure systems around March 14. We'll hit the gas to go after these systems, jump aboard and surf down to 40º/50º South."

Skipper Bruno Peyron adds, "We're ready for the deep south. In two days we'll be starting serious business. There is going to be a lot of deck work to do and everyone shall have to know how to adapt himself to all types of weather conditions - keeping in mind that we'll have to try and 'cruise' in 30 to 35 knots of wind. We all are getting ready."

To beat the record set by Olivier de Kersauson, Orange must cross the finish line (between the Lizard Cape Lighthouse in England and Ouessant Island) before May 12 at 23:57:29. At 11 days into her attempt, she is currently 1,308 miles ahead of the record.

For continuous updates on Orange's progress, see www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/site/en/index2.cfm.

illbruck Challenge Out of A-Cup

March 12 - Leverkusen, Germany

illbruck Challenge, Germany's professional sailing team and leader of the Volvo Ocean Race, have just contacted us to let us know that they are discontinuing all preparations for America's Cup XXXI effective immediately. It would have been
the first-ever German participation in the 151-year old America's Cup. Despite intensive efforts to find a corporate sponsor, a commercial partner has not been found to finance the campaign, Michael Illbruck, 42, Chairman of the illbruck Challenge, announced today.

"This decision to discontinue plans for the America's Cup, which starts October 1 in Auckland, New Zealand, with the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selection Series, in no way impacts the team's current successful participation in the Volvo Ocean Race Round the World 2001-2002," Illbruck said. The illbruck Challenge is the overall race leader with four of the nine legs completed. The race, which finishes in Kiel in June is now in its fifth stage from Rio de Janeiro to Miami.

The illbruck Challenge is a professional international sailing team and an extension of the illbruck-supported PINTA racing teams that over the past 30 years have earned success at many of the world's top regattas. The illbruck Challenge was representing the Duesseldorf Yacht Club. For more on illbruck Challenge, see www.illbruck-challenge.com.

YOTREPS

March 12 - 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

March 12 - 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 has moved to 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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