July 28, 2003

Photos of the Day

July 28 – Mallorca

Today’s Photos of the Day are from Noel
G., who used to have a Union 36 sloop in Sausalito and Mexico,
but then moved to Grand Mott, France, and caught the catamaran
bug. He now owns an Outremer 43, which can be seen in these two
photos anchored off the beautiful Spanish Island of Mallorca
in the Med.

Noel reports he’s headed for a sailing
vacation in Corsica and Sardinia, and will be sending additional
photos. “What would you like, landscapes, boats, smiles,
nudes?” he asks.

Noel also sent us this photo of a cat he saw at Mallorca with
‘wave piercing’ bows. It’s an odd look, but the owner says they
work great, and if you’ll check the Morrelli & Melvin Web
site at www.morrellimelvin.com
they’re showing a design very similar to it.

Photos by Noel G.

L’il Buccaneers Aboard the Chieftain

July 28 – Sausalito

Latitude spawn
Baylis Weaver joined about 30 other kids aged 9 to 12 last week
to attend the Hawaiian Chieftain’s Buccaneers & Explorers
day camp for kids. Campers immersed themselves in maritime arts
and history, including traditional navigation, marlinspike seamanship,
helmsmanship, setting the sails aboard the 103-ft topsail ketch,
following clues to buried treasure, rowing the longboat, and
swordplay.

Captain Mike, who makes his own costumes, demonstrates a knot.

Baylis makes handcuffs out of a bit of line.

This week, the Chieftain’s series
of summer camps wraps up with the Voyagers Camp for teenagers.
See www.hawaiianchieftain.com.

Baylis will report on his week as a Buccaneer
in an upcoming edition of World of Chartering in Latitude
38.

Photos Latitude/Chris except
as noted

More Great IACC Racing

July 28 – San Francisco Bay

They were racing IACC boats on the Bay again this weekend, this
time with a total of six boats, thanks to the additon of USA-49.

Photo Courtesy Brandon Mercer

Michelle Slade filed this report:

Larry Ellison’s Team Oracle BMW Racing
took the Il Moro Trophy 2003, while Team Wells Fargo won a tiebreaker
with NZL-20 for first place in Vintage Division. Oracle
BMW won the Il Moro in a clean sweep as they did the Sausalito
Cup, but notwithstanding a good fight from USA-49, Paul
Cayard’s old boat from the 2000 America’s Cup. Helmed by Peter
Stoneberg with a rock star crew including Dawn Riley, Hamish
Pepper and Jeff Madrigali, USA-49 put on a great show
on Sunday, leading USA-76, helmed by Larry Ellison, for
a good part of race one.

The essence of The Challenges Series events shone through yet
again with a great regatta, sailing in near perfect conditions
in beautiful surroundings, with a significant focus on fun. The
full complement of six races was sailed in breezes that averaged
15-18 knots throughout the weekend. At the prize-giving, Herb
Myer of Wells Fargo, the event’s primary sponsor, put forth a
challenge to Larry Ellison for a contribution of $50,000 to a
favorite charity if Team Wells Fargo beats Oracle BMW in the
next Challenge Series event, The Golden Gate Cup on September
5-8.

Yacht Lost in Australian Race

July 28 – Down Under

Shortly before 0300 this morning, the 31-ft boat Red Rock
Communications, sailing in the Sydney to Southport Race,
hit the three-meter high Black Rock near South Solitary Island,
10 miles northeast of Coff’s Harbour. In very dark conditions,
the crew realized they were close to the rock and had started
to turn, but it was too late. The boat hit the rocks with force,
slewing her over 70 degrees. The rig came down, the keel plates
were bent up, and the boat began taking water rapidly. The crew
activated their 406 EPIRB, and within 30 seconds had their liferaft
valise in the water and inflating. All six crew took to their
liferaft and the vessel sank 15 minutes later. An hour later,
Mike Kelaher’s Santana arrived and towed the liferaft
away from South Solitary. The crew are safe and well.

Post-Deadline R&R

July 28 – Southern California

We’re off for some much needed after-deadline
R&R sailing in the beautiful waters of Southern California.
We’ll return on Friday, the same day as the August issue of Latitude 38 hits
the streets. Happy Sailing!

YOTREPS

July 28 – 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 28 – 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.