October 6, 2003

Photos of the Day: Women’s Keelboats

October 6 – Annapolis, MD

Today’s Photos of the Day come from the
very challenging Day 4 of US Sailing’s 2003 Rolex International
Women’s Keelboat Championship. Winds topped out around 25 knots,
with gusts to 30, during Thursday’s racing on Chesapeake Bay.

Photos Dan Nerney/Rolex

After the racing ended on Friday, Sally
Barkow of Nashotah, WI, and her crew of Debbie Capozzi (Bayport,
NY), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, MI) and Annie Lush (Bournemouth,
England), had won the regatta, which was hosted by Annapolis
YC. Going into the final races, Barkow’s team held a 20-point
lead over the 66 teams competing on J/22s Sept. 29-Oct. 3. In
light 8-10 knot breezes, the foursome once again showed command
of their boat-handling skills and the scoreboard. With finishes
of 3-8, they maintained a healthy lead on the fleet and became
champions in what has become one of the world’s most prestigious
women’s sailing regattas.

Paula Lewin/Team ACE Group, with 58 points,
came in second; Carol Cronin/Team Atkins, finished third with
60 points, and Mary Brigden/Team San Diego, 71 points, got fourth.
Betsy Alison of Newport, RI, who started out with two bullets
and led on and off for much of the regatta, ended up in eighth
place due to two black flags (a penalty incurred after two general
recalls). Donna Womble of Carmel Valley, a Monterey Bay J/22
sailor, finished thirteenth. One of three New Zealand teams,
skippered by Kylie Jameson, included well-known SF Bay sailors
Melinda Erkelens and Stephanie Wondolleck, and came in seventeenth.

For more complete results and more news
and photos, see www.race.annapolisyc.org/rolexkeelboats.

Mari-Cha IV
Breaks 24-Hour Record – Twice

October 6 – Atlantic Ocean

Robert Miller’s 140-ft super maxi, Mari-Cha
IV, bettered their 24-hour distance record further at 10:28
UTC this morning. Between 10:30 UTC on Sunday, October 5, and
10:28 UTC on Monday, October 6, Miller and his crew sailed an
incredible 511.4 nm (to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing
Council).

Mari-Cha IV
broke the previous record of 484 nm, set by John Kostecki and
illbruck on April 29, 2002, during the Volvo Ocean Race.

The new canting-keel two-masted speed machine
had already rewritten sailing history, at 07:30 UTC this morning,
by becoming the first monohull ever to sail over 500 miles in
one day, achieving 505 nm.

Mari-Cha IV
is now more than half way through her transatlantic record attempt
and looks set to complete the voyage in well under eight days.
The existing record is 8 days, 20 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds,
set by Bernard Stamm with the Open 60 Armour-Lux.

Robert Miller, speaking from Mari-Cha
IV this morning, said: “What an amazing feeling. We
have designed and built this fantastic yacht with one aim in
mind, to break records, and here we are on our first attempt
and we have broken one already! I have a great team consisting
of some of the best sailors in the world and together I’m pleased
to say that we’re really showing what this awesome yacht can
do.

“All of us onboard are in high spirits,
but the hard work is, as always, relentless. We are well on course
for the transatlantic record, but will continue to push hard
until we reach England.”

For photos, and updates as they happen,
see www.mari-cha4.com.

Beer Can King and Queen

October 6 – Emeryville

A missive from the Beer Can King, “I
saw the Beer Can King article. [Page 118 of the October issue
of Latitude 38.]
First rate write up! Your edited version was much more clear
and readable than the version I sent you. One mistake that has
the crew laughing: I’m not in the picture that you chose. The
handsome gentleman that the caption identified as Mel Atwood
is in fact Mike Weller. Chello (our Queen) is correctly identified.
Attached is a picture with me in it: I’m the one standing in
the green hat and the red vest. Chello is sitting with the bandanna
on. Or, clockwise from left: Ralph, Joe, Susana, Lorne, Mel,
David, Chello. Thanks for the fun.”

Photo Courtesy Tangiel

Atwood won the coveted title by sailing
his Emeryville-based Newport 28, Tangiel, in five consecutive
beer can races in one week. He shares the throne with crew Chello
Perez, as she was onboard for all five races: Bay View Boat Club
on Monday, Sierra Point YC on Tuesday, Sequoia YC on Wednesday,
all the way up to Benicia YC on Thursday, and Berkeley YC on
Friday.

Transat 6.50

October 6 – Atlantic Ocean

Since last night the leaders in the singlehanded
Transat 6.50 (aka the Mini Transat – so called because of the
size of the boat, not the size of the course) have been stuck
in the Doldrums, drifting along toward the equator in three knot
breezes, with no hope of more very soon. American Jonathan McKee
on Team McLube retains the lead. Pierre Roland, sailing
Extrado far to the west of everyone else, is in second
place. In third, to the east of McKee, is Armel Tripon on Moulin
Roty.

The official Web site (www.transat650.org – check out their phototheque)
is in French only, but Joe Andresen sent us the following English-language
sites offering coverage: www.yachtinguniverse.com, www.bakewell-white.com, and www.seattleyachtclub.org/Sailboat/News/JM%20Transat2003.

Tales of Survival Outside the Gate

October 6 – Sausalito

The Richardson Bay Maritime Association
(RBMA) is sponsoring a free event on Thursday, October 16, at
7 pm, at the Bay Model in Sausalito.The Coast Guard will be giving
a presentation on “Survival Conditions – Actual Rescues
Outside the Golden Gate.” In addition, the RBMA will be
sponsoring the release of a new book, Sausalito Wooden Boat
Tour, a self-guided walking tour book of the historical Sausalito
waterfront and the eclectic collection of wooden boats that grace
her harbors.

For more information see www.butterflute.com/rbma_survival.html and
www.butterflute.com/boat_tourBook.html.

One More Marty Damage Report

October 6 – La Paz, PCS

Big Rick Stuart, afternoon/evening jock
at KFOG-FM, is a loyal Latitude
38 reader and fishing enthusiast. He sent us this link
to a Baja fishing site which features a hurricane aftermath report
and an excellent photo of dock damage in La Paz. See www.bajadestinations.com/hbarc/hb2003/hb030929/hb030929.htm.

YOTREPS

October 6 – 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

October 6 – 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.