Today’s Photo of the Day comes from Greg
Retkowski and Cherie Sogsti of Scirocco, who later report
on Panama. Down in Central America, where the quality of ice
is suspect, they’ve come up with a way to keep their drinks cold
without polluting their cocktails.
Photo Scirocco
Louis Vuitton Quarter Finals Are Juicy!
November 13 – Auckland, New Zealand
With the start of the Quarter Finals of
the Louis Vuitton Series yesterday, the action heated up dramatically
as three of the four races, held in 14 to 19 knots of wind, were
extremely tight. Alinghi, the top ranked qualifier from Switzerland,
beat Italy’s Prada by a misleading 1 minute and 18 seconds, as
they were only ahead by eight seconds at the final weather mark.
Prada had to do a penalty turn on the last leg as a result of
having hit Alinghi on a previous downwind leg. Larry Ellison’s
Oracle BMW from the Golden Gate YC nipped Seattle’s OneWorld
by just 12 seconds. It had been a back and forth battle, and
OneWorld lost the lead for good on the final weather leg when
they elected to do their 270 degree penalty turn. OneWorld pulled
to within meters on the final downwind leg, but Oracle BMW withstood
the challenge. The win means that Oracle skipper Chris Dickson
has yet to lose. Team Dennis Conner, sailing their new boat pulled
from the bottom of Long Beach Harbor, led GBR Challenge around
the entire course until the very end when they tried to force
the Brits into a penalty to offset the penalty they themselves
had incurred in pre-start maneuvers. The desperate attempt failed,
and Team Dennis Conner also lost by a deceptively large margin.
In the fourth race, the Swedish Victory Challenge dispensed of
the French with relative ease.
The same match-ups are in store for today,
as they continue the best of seven series. Alinghi, Oracle, OneWorld,
and Prada are all in the upper quartet, which means losing the
series puts them into a second chance bracket. If any of the
other four teams lose, they pack their bags and head for the
airport.
Scirocco
in Panamanian Waters
November 13 – San Mateo
“On October 18, Greg Retkowski and
I entered Panamanian waters aboard his Morgan Out-Island 41 Scirocco,”
reports Cherie Sogsti. “Before I arrived here, I only knew
two things about Panama: It has a Canal and Van Halen sang about
it. Panama is country number 32 for me, and it all makes sense.
Exactly 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus began exploring these
same waters. First came Columbus, then half a century [sic] later,
Cherie and Greg.
“There is not just a political line
of demarcation separating Costa Rica from Panama. They are very
different countries. Prostitution is legal in both countries,
but in many ways, that is where the similarities end. As we sailed
by the shores of Panama, I watched the coast transform. Jungles
began to spill like waterfalls into the sea. The landscape became
hot, steamy and passionate. If I was a country, I’d want Panama
to be my lover.”
“Isla Gobierna, where the tide rises and falls over twenty
feet. We know this because we spent a little more time here than
we intended – grounded.”
Photos Scirocco
The view from the top of Taboga Island, with Panama city eight
miles away in the distance.
“These Panamanian girls gave us
a ride in the back of their truck.”
Route du Rhum Continues to Be Rough
November 13 – Atlantic Ocean
If you take some of the most talented and
aggressive singlehanded skippers in the world, put them on the
most high tech boats in the world, and add in North Atlantic
fronts with winds over 80 knots, there’s going to be carnage.
So it is that in the early stages of the Route du Rhum, four
boats have capsized, three have been dismasted, and nine others
have retired. That’s out of a fleet of 58. And now the leaders
are about to sail into southwesterly gales. Here are some of
the reports:
“At midnight, Philippe Monnet reported
wind shifts from 20 to 70 knots. Monnet’s Sopra Group
had only the storm jib up and was sailing in survival mode. The
extremely strong wind hit the trimaran too hard, the staysail
got caught up in the furler forming a huge pocket. This catapulted
the trimaran right over sideways some time after midnight. Monnet
has been safely airlifted, having had to abandon the boat in
the dangerous conditions.
“The next victim of capsize occurred
at 0610 GMT this morning, when Yvan Bourgnon on Rexona Men
was hit by brutal wind forces, which lifted the boat and knocked
it over. Close by, Loïck Peyron on Fujifilm was severely
beaten by the same sort of conditions. With no sails up, on starboard
tack, in massive waves and 45 knots of wind, Loïck Peyron
realized at 0900 GMT that his starboard float was broken in two,
neatly cut between the two beams. Two hours later, at 1100 GMT,
the French skipper called in again Fujifilm had
dismasted. The front of the starboard float exploded, and the
mast immediately gave out. The mast fall damaged the port float,
which is now filled with water. Peyron is calm and claims there
is no emergency situation. He is now sailing a ‘proa’, heading
downwind towards Portugal. The majority of the powerful but vulnerable
trimarans are sailing with solely a storm jib and the main sail
down.”
In the monohull division, the Brits continue
to hold to the lead. The monohull fleet is doing better than
the cruel harvest of the 60-foot trimaran fleet, and the race
is full on. Mike Golding’s Ecover has been in the lead
since yesterday. Ellen MacArthur on Kingfisher is catching
up at a steady pace, only 4 miles behind at the 15.00 GMT position
report, and moving three knots faster. With three reefs in the
main and a storm jib, Golding was calm, with high morale despite
the conditions, “The conditions are very bad, and the wind
will be increasing, making it even more difficult. It is a very,
very rough sea, and sailing at 14-15 knots of speed, each wave
is quite an impact. We have just got to get through this and
catch some nicer conditions.” Australian Nick Moloney on Ashfield Healthcare is still leading the Class 2 monohulls.
Alain Gautier’s Foncia is still sailing, in second place.
Multihull 60′ ORMA
1. Thomas Coville, Sodebo, 2,851 miles to finish
2. Alain Gautier, Foncia, 2,935 mtf
3. Marc Guillemot, Biscuits La Trinitaine-Ethypharm, 2,941
mtf
Monohull 60′ IMOCA
1. Mike Golding, Ecover, 2,810 miles to finish
2. Ellen MacArthur, Kingfisher, 2,814 mtf
3. Roland Jourdain, Sill, 2,865 mtf
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.
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.
