June 23, 2003

Photos of the Day: Sausalito Cup

June 23 – San Francisco Bay

Today’s Photos of the Day are from the
weekend’s Sausalito Cup, which was sailed in five IACC – America’s
Cup – boats. Intended to be nothing more than fun racing among
friends with owners behind the wheels, Larry Ellison ‘won’ with
Oracle BMW, as expected, because he had the only modern
boat. The four other older boats enjoyed spirited competition
and some excellent sailing.

The conditions couldn’t have been more
ideal. There was plenty of sun and no fog, it was unusually warm
on the Bay, and it only blew over 20 for a brief period on the
Cityfront during one race. It was a good thing, too, because
these boats weren’t intended for heavy air, and not all crews
had more than a sprinkling of folks with IACC experience. Mary
Coleman, charterer/helmsperson of NZL-14, reported that it took
her and three others putting all their might on the two wheels
to keep the boat from rounding up during one breezy sequence.
But she had a great time.

Sunday’s second race – the last of the
scheduled five race series – was called off when it looked liked
the wind was going to hoot. Ironically, it faded instead of filling
in; nonetheless everyone was quite satisfied with the experience.
There will be more of John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan’s Challenge
Series racing in IACC boats this summer on the Bay, in late July,
in September, and culminating in the the Worlds October 11-19.

Instigators Tina Kleinjan and John Sweeney

Monsun
Abandoned in North Atlantic Challenge

June 23 – North Atlantic Ocean

After battling 40-knot winds and taking
on water, the crew of the 46-ft ketch Monsun issued a
Mayday and dropped out of the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic
Challenge event from Rhode Island to Germany. After spending
three hours in the liferaft, the six crewmembers were rescued.
Owned by Peter Flügge of Bremen, Germany, Monsun
had previously crossed the Atlantic four times.

On Saturday, Bob McNeil’s R/P 86 Zephyrus
V – the ‘bad boy’ of the event – took off on the 3,600-mile
course. Fifty-two of the 57 other boats had started days before.
It will not be warm weather sailing.

Skipper Dies, Boat Sinks, after Collision
on the Way to Block Island

June 23 – Rhode Island

The J/105 Hilaria was hit in a thick
fog last Thursday night by the 122-ft chartered motoryacht Mariner
III while en route to Block Island Race Week in Rhode Island.
The boat sank almost instantly. Two of three crew survived with
minor injuries, but Joe Schulz-Heik died en route to the hospital
despite heroic efforts to resuscitate him.

Another Sailboat in Trouble on the East
Coast

June 23 – Atlantic Ocean

Tim Kent, former Around Alone competitor,
and crew Rick McKenna, were competing in the Bermuda 1-2 Race
on Friday aboard the Open 50 Everest Horizontal when the
bulb keel fell off. The boat inverted and stayed that way 100
miles from Bermuda. The two swam to each of the boat’s rudders,
and climbed aboard the bottom of the hull. Before long the brightly
illuminated cruise ship Nordic Empress came alongside
and picked them up. The cruise ship passengers loved the excitement.
Everest Horizontal is presumed lost.

Everest Horizontal in the Around Alone race

Boat Trouble on San Francisco Bay, too

June 23 – San Francisco Bay

Jay Gardner reports that Adventure Cat
2, his outfit’s nearly new charter cat out of Pier 39, lost
her rig on Sunday while sailing upwind with 30 passengers aboard.
The cat, which is licensed to carry 99, was doing 10 knots upwind
in 23 knots of breeze. The 74-ft mast appeared to buckle about
40 feet up. Captain Hans released the three shrouds and the mast
and sails headed to the bottom of the Bay. The Coast Guard is
investigating.

Adventure Cat 2
Photo Latitude/Richard

Adventure Cat 2’s
rig is a duplicate of the “bigger, better, stronger”
rig we put on Profligate – the original one is still intact
and for sale. We can only assume a fitting broke causing the
mast to go out of column and break.

Around the Island Attracts 1,595 Entries

June 23 – Cowes, UK

A total of 1,595 sailboats did the 67th
Round the Island (of Wight) Race. Francis Joyon’s ORMA 60 Eure
Loir-Idec trimaran finished the 55-mile course in just over
four hours to take line honors. All the top boats on corrected
time were under 35 feet.

YOTREPS

June 23 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

June 23 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay
Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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/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.

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.