August 22, 2003

Photos of the Day: McNish Classic

August 22 – Ventura

Today’s beautiful Photos of the Day are
of something called the McNish Classic and were taken by Maraya
Droney. We haven’t been able to find out anything about the boats,
the event, or even whether it was held out of Ventura or Oxnard.
Can somebody clue us in? In any event, they are lovely boats
sailing in lovely weather.

Photos Maraya Droney

France to California in Just over Five
Years

August 22 – North America

A little more than five years ago, Marvin
and Ruth Stark bought a Catana 44 catamaran in St. Tropez, France.
Since then, they’ve spent much of their time sailing her back
to their homeport of Sacramento. They did take their time, of
course, and made a number of side trips to places such as the
Northeast. Now that they are home after 35,000 miles, Marvin
says he wishes he was out there again.

The Starks at the San Blas Islands in Panama.

Suzanna’s Laguna Marina in San Blas, where the Starks left their
cat for eight months at $120/month.

Under the Proud Burgee of the New York
Yacht Club . . .

August 22 – New York, NY

. . . there was about 140 years of hosting
the America’s Cup – plus slave trading! Wait until Al Sharpton
gets in teeth into this.

Thanks to David Demarest.

Singlehanded Around the World in a Maxi
Cat?

August 22 – France

A lot of Frenchmen – and Frenchwomen –
have talked about it, but Frances Joyon is actually going to
attempt it this winter aboard IDCE (ex-Sport Elec).
The 90-ft trimaran was built for Olivier de Kersauson in
’86, and for five years held the Jules Verne Around The World
Record. She’s now been modified for singlehanding. de Kersauson,
incidentally, holds the singlehanded around the world record
on a multihull – 125 days. Ironically, the solo around the world
record is one of the few still held by a monohull – Michel Desjoyeaux
did it in 93 days.

Several other crewed multihull assaults
on the around the world record have also been announced for this
winter, including one by Steve Fossett in Cheyenne, the
new name for his 125-ft M&M maxi cat.

Rare Openings on Alaska Eagle Sail
Training Trips

August 22 – Pacific Ocean

We’ve learned that, in a rare situation,
Orange Coast College’s Sailing and Seamanship School has two
berths open on two of its upcoming offshore sail training
passages aboard Alaska Eagle. As many readers know, this
custom 65-ft yacht was built by Huisman, arguably the best boatyard
in the world, for the then-Whitbread Around the World Race, the
toughest race in the world. Originally named Flyer, she
won that event, and sailed in it again four years later as Alaska
Eagle.

The openings are on the September 21 to
October 12 trip from Tahiti to Hawaii, which is for women only.
No guys, you can’t sign up for the women-only trip. The second
is from Hawaii to San Francisco on October 14-31. The goal of
the passages is to improve the students’ offshore skills and
confidence. Call (949) 645-9412 for details.

Late Entries Okay for Storer Race

August 22 – Tiburon

When asked if late entries will be accepted
for this Sunday’s Joan Storer women’s regatta at Tiburon YC,
race organizer Lesa Kinney replied, “If they want to bring
the entries to the race seminar or even as they sail by the race
committee boat, we’ll accept them. We are encouraging everyone!”
The race seminar will be given at 10:30 am by Marcia Peck at
the lovely new clubhouse in Paradise Cay. The regatta will be
followed by an auction and barbecue, and the event will benefit
the Mikey Murison Fund, which was set up through the College
of Marin Foundation to help the well-known local sailor in his
recovery from cancer.

For more information and an entry form
see www.tyc.org.

Another Cat Trip Aboard Profligate

August 22 – Southern California

We had so much fun during our last three-day
shared-expenses Catalina weekend, that we’ll do another on September
5, 6, and 7.

We’ll gather in Long Beach at 10 a.m. on
Friday, September 5, and sail over to Avalon and either take
a mooring or anchor for the night. Want to drive a 63-ft cat?
This would be your chance. Folks could explore Avalon that night
and the next morning. In the afternoon, we’ll either sail around
the back side up the island, or up the front side, depending
on the wind, and in any event end up at Two Harbors for the night.
It’s a great place to hike and we’ll have a beach barbecue for
the evening meal, followed by a bonfire. As always, there would
be live music and dancing ashore. After more hiking opportunities
on Sunday morning, at noon we’ll set sail on what’s usually a
spinnaker run to Newport Beach. We should arrive by 7 p.m., in
time to catch the 9 p.m. Southwest flight back to Oakland.

It would be an activity-packed three-day
adventure, with lots of sailing and lots of time to run around
onshore – a great three-day getaway. It would be a particularly
good trip for couples, especially couples who have toyed with
the idea of buying or chartering a catamaran. If you’re interested,
email Richard. Be
sure to include in your email a phone number where we can reach
you.

YOTREPS

August 22 – 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 22 – 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.