July 21, 2003

Photo of the Day

July 21 – Duxbury Reef

Young Charlie Perkins took a day off from
racing Knarrs to go fishing out at Duxbury Reef last weekend.
Having had to deal with his first bout of seasickness and then
reel in the catch of the day, young Charlie was tuckered out
by the time they got back to the dock. Nonetheless, he’s the
star of our Photo of the Day.

Photo Chris Perkins

Silver Eagle Race

July 21 – San Francisco Bay

Last weekend was Island YC’s Silver Eagle
Long Distance in the Bay race, which took the fleet from the
Cityfront, to the San Francisco Airport, almost to Vallejo, and
back. The weather was great, with terrific wind to start, and
the usual holes under the Bay Bridge and down by Candlestick.
First to finish the 67-mile course was Brendan Busch with the
Inter 20 Catamaran Team Lexis Nexis, who crossed the finish
line at 6:21 p.m. Busch is a vet of the Worrell 1000, and says
that, “This race was as tough as the 1000.”

Corrected time honors went to Pat Benedict’s
J/105 Advantage 3.

A disappointing four boats sailed in the
41-mile Eaglet, for slower boats. It was won by the J/24 Phantom.
More boats should put this race on their schedule for next year.

Jitterbug leads another J/105 up the San Francisco shore.

Finally escaping the wind hole near Candlestick.
Photos Latitude/Richard

Yacht Club Abuse?

July 21 – Half Moon Bay

The following was posted on www.craigslist.org and one can only wonder
what it’s about:

“To any and all ex and current members
of the Half Moon Bay YC, who have left due to mistreatment, or
are contemplating leaving due to mistreatment, please respond
with the intent of providing details to this spokesman in the
interest of a class action lawsuit which is being prepared by
several ex-members for the purpose of rectifying and vindicating
unfair and improper behavior at the HMBYC. Punitive damages are
being sought in the cause of fraud, misrepresentation, loss of
consortium, and breach of agreement by the HMBYC towards members
who have joined under the outlined tenets and bylaws of the club
as described on their Web site.”

Big Cat Coming Along in New Zealand

July 21 – New Zealand

“I’m just back from New Zealand,”
reports Don Engel of the East Bay, who along with his business
partner is having a Derek Kelsall 70-ft catamaran built. “It’s
a tough trip to New Zealand, as there’s so much flying and too
little time there. But the boat is coming along very well.”

Photo Don Engel

It’s interesting to see how they are building
this cat, doing the interior of the hulls before putting on the
outside of the hull. We’ve never seen anything like it before.

Dr. Laura Goes High Tech

July 21 – Los Angeles

Thanks to reading Forespar’s newsletter,
we’ve learned that ‘Dr. Laura’ Schlessinger, famous advice giver
on radio, has ordered a carbon fiber mast for her J/105.

Some people might not think of Dr. Laura
as the sailing type, but she’s one tough cookie. We were surfing
the radio one day and heard a young woman say, “Dr. Laura,
my husband’s sort of a slob and I’m just not interested in having
sex with him anymore. What should I do?”

What she shouldn’t have done was call Dr.
Laura, who unloaded with both barrels: “Look honey, you
agreed to marry him, and with that comes responsibilities. One
of them is sex. You may not want to do the dishes all the time,
but it’s just something you’ve got to do. It’s the same with
sex. You may not want to have sex with your husband, but you
married him, so you have to service him.” Ouch!

Aussies Win the Admiral’s Cup

July 21 – Cowes, UK

The Australian team from the Royal Prince
Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney have been declared winners of the
2003 Admiral’s Cup in Cowes, England. They barely nipped the
Spanish team from Real Club Nautico de Sangenjo, which had led
going into the final race.

Once the greatest international offshore
event in the world, the Admiral’s Cup fell on such hard times
that the last one was canceled. Only time will tell if it’s on
its way back. No American team competed this time. For details,
visit www.rorc.org.

Kids on the Ha-Ha

July 21 – Tiburon

“We’ve entered this fall’s Baja
Ha-Ha and will be taking our 10-year-old daughter with us,”
write Rick Huls and Marsha McCarthy of Magic Places. “We
were wondering if there are any other children in the fleet,
and if the boats with kids want to contact each other. We’re
so looking forward to our first Ha-Ha, as it will be a great
educational experience for us and our daughter. We can be contacted
via email or sailmail.

By the way, Ha-Ha Honcho Lauren Spindler
reports they have sent out 150 entry packs and already received
49 paid entries. It appears to be shaping up to be a good Ha-Ha
year – and the additional dock space in Cabo, as reported on
in Friday’s ‘Lectronic –
won’t hurt at all.

YOTREPS

July 21 – 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

July 21 – 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.