August 18, 2003

Photos of the Day: Eye on the Bay

August 18 – San Francisco Bay

Spectacular weather this past weekend once
again spoiled local sailors for everywhere else in the world.
Makes us wonder why the Bay isn’t more crowded than it is – but
at the same time happy it hasn’t been ‘discovered’ by too many
folks. The accompanying photos are of a few of the lucky ones
who are in on the best kept ‘secret’ in sailing.

The Hans Christian Aloha

The F-31 Antares

J/105 North Americans

August 18 – San Francisco

To no one’s surprise, local hero Chris
Perkins and his Good Timin’ crew (brothers Phil and JP,
boat partner Dave Wilson, John Collins and Amy Leroy) topped
a 39-boat fleet to win the ninth J/105 North Americans, hosted
by St. Francis YC on August 14-17.

The Good Timin’ gang

Though not quite as big as last year’s
record 50-boat NAs in Chicago, this fleet was – according to
virtually everyone – the toughest, most competitive J/105 fleet
ever assembled. The event has come a long, long way since the
last time it was held here (1999, in the Pre-Perkins Era, when
just 18 boats sailed).

Good Timin’
strung together a consistent 4,4,7,6,6,1,3 series, and had the
distinction of being the only boat to score all single-digit
finishes. Zuni Bear, sailed by Shawn Bennett and Rich
Bergmann, finished second overall, six points behind Good
Timin’. Jack Franco and Ed Cummins’
Newport Beach-based Bold Forbes finished third, just one
point behind Zuni.

Zuni Bear the boat . . .

. . . and Zuni Bear the crew

Both Zuni Bear and Bold Forbes
scored two bullets in the moderately windy series, while Aquavit
(Tim Russell) and Blackhawk (Dean Dietrich) picked up
the remaining two.

Rounding out the top ten behind GT, ZB
and BF were:
4) Nantucket Sleighride (Peter Wagner); 5) Masquerade
(Jim Sorensen); 6) Aquavit; 7) 007 (Phil Lotz);
8) Blackhawk; 9) Nirvana-Flame (Jim Doane); and
10) Short Skirt (Peter Lufkin). Complete results can be
found at www.stfyc.com.

Sunday’s start

Beating past the Exploratorium

Windward leg

Windward mark

Photos Latitude/JR & Rob

For more, see the September issue of Latitude 38.

Fastnet Race

August 18 – Cowes, UK

Photo Rick Tomlinson

Bay Area sailors Ed Kriese and Ashley Perrin
recently finished the mild 605-mile Fastnet Race, winning their class in a British Beneteau 40.7.
They’re the blue-hulled boat with the red and white kite in the accompanying
picture of the crowded start off the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes. Ed and
Ashley are
now vacationing in the English countryside.

For more on the Fastnet, see www.rorc.org/fastnet/index.php.

YOTREPS

August 18 – 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

August 18 – 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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states
has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.

For views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.