September 16, 2003

Moët Cup

September 16 – San Francisco

Yesterday was the first day of the Moët
Cup match racing on the San Francisco Bay between Alinghi,
winners of the America’s Cup, and Oracle BMW Racing, runners-up
in the Louis Vuitton Cup. God knows we can be skeptical, but
the show exceeded our expectations in all respects:

– The IACC boats looked magestic and spectacular! It’s one thing
to see them on television, but an entirely different thing to
see them in person. Some of the tacking duels near Aquatic Park
were terrific and the tip of the spit were excellent.

Oh yeah, baby, a front row seat for a IACC tacking duel.

– San Francisco Bay came up with great
conditions, with about 14 knots in the first race, and close
to 20 knots in the second race. What a terrific venue!

– Most of the racing action – which took place between Treasure
Island and near the Blackaller Buoy – was clearly visible from
the spectactor area between the St. Francis and Golden Gate YCs.
Even when the boats were as far away as Alcatraz, it was easy
to follow the action.

The
Cup is there for all to see.

– The spectator facilities on shore have
been done well. You know how cold it gets on the Cityfront? Well,
they’ve erected a number of heated temporary structures where
you can go inside and warm up – and buy food, drink, and America’s
Cup clothing – as well as follow the racing through superb graphics
displays on flat screens. In addition, Dawn Riley provided ongoing
commentary.

When
the boats got a little further away and people got cold, they
could follow the action on screens in heated buildings.

– The only shortcoming yesterday was that it was apparently too
foggy for Larry Ellison’s fireworks show, so who knows, maybe
tonight?

The bottom line is that sailor or non-sailor, you should check
it out. There are two races a day through Saturday, with the
racing starting about 1 p.m.

There
was close racing downwind also.

YOTREPS

September 16 – 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

September 16 – 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.