November 6, 2003

Baja Ha-Ha Update

November 6 – Bahia Santa Maria, BCS

As the Baja Ha-Ha 2003 fleet approaches
Cabo San Lucas, this report was sent to us via our onboard Globalstar
satellite phone.

Leg Two of this year’s event was one of
the best ever in terms of steady winds. Most boats arrived at
Bahia Santa Maria some time during the second night after leaving
Turtle Bay. While crews rested safely on the hook in the expansive
bay, however, the wind piped up to 30 knots during the wee hours
of the morning and continued to blast all the next day. Unfortunately,
it was the smallest boats in the fleet which got caught in the
heavy blow as they struggled to reach the shelter of the bay.
At least one broached, and several others finally arrived with
leaks they’d never experienced previously.

Bahia Santa Maria serves as the Ha-Ha’s surf spot for those so
inclined.
Photo Latitude

The traditional Beach party – hosted by
Victor and his crew of local fishermen – was a welcome respite
from long hours on the ocean. Amazingly, Victor brought a three-piece
rock and roll band and an enormous sound system across the desert
and up the estuary through the mangroves – a 14-hour trip – in
order to entertain the masses. A good time was had by all.

Multihulls Off to a Good Start in Transat
Jacques Vabre

November 6 – Atlantic Ocean

Yesterday’s Open 60 multihull Transat Jacques
Vabre start featured 20 knots from the SSE, fluctuating from
the land, with smooth seas. After more than 24 hours of racing
the multihulls are already halfway across the Bay of Biscay.
The current leader of the fleet is Belgacom, followed
about six and seven miles back respectively by Banque Populaire
and Groupama. After being in the top three for most of
the race, Italian trimaran TIM has slipped to fifth behind
Géant.

Open 60 multihull leader Belgacom
Photo Courtesy Transat Jacques Vabre

The 14 Open 60s are in their fifth day
of racing, to the northeast of the Canary Islands off the Portuguese
coast. Despite another rough, uncomfortable night on the race
course, the winds are changing and so are the rankings. As the
last cold front passes through the fleet, leading boat, Ecover,
has now dived south on starboard tack, but staying to the
west of rivals Virbac, as British skipper Mike Golding
explained: “We’re quite happy where we are, but Virbac
is obviously a fast boat and a very strong contender. We want
to be in the west to get the new winds and better sailing conditions
first on the other side of the front. Then the breeze will slowly
ease and that begins our long run to the trade winds.”

The 50-ft multihull Mollymawk, skippered
by British duo Ross Hobson and Andi Newman, has re-entered the
race! After hitting a UFO off Ushant on Monday, the trimaran
limped to Plymouth, and Ross announced on the satellite phone
that they were abandoning the race. However, they hadn’t had
a chance to send through an official declaration of their abandon,
and once they reached port they soon realized that they might
be able to repair and restart before yesterday’s 60-ft multihull
start. The jury gave their authorization for the team to re-enter
the race, and Ross and Andi were able to restart overnight.

Storagetek, sailed
by Frenchmen Régis Guillemot & Olivier Salnelle, leads
the four Open 50 monohulls.

For complete reports, more photos and to
follow the action, see www.jacques-vabre.com.

Missing Sailor

November 6 – Hawaii

“My name is Kimm Glander. It’s been
almost two years this Thanksgiving since anyone has heard from
David R. Glander. He’s
a professional sailor and delivery person. The last known contact
was a phone call to his mother from Hawaii. He’s 46 years old,
5’8″, 165 pounds. He was in very poor health last time we
heard from him, with extensive liver damage. He is the father
of my two children. It’s been three years since they talked to
him.

“If someone out there has seen him,
we’d like to know if he is well and still with us. I write to
you because he has always had a Latitude 38 in his hand
ever since I’ve known him.”

If anyone knows of the fate of this missing
sailor, please call Kimm at (541) 736-8745.

YOTREPS

November 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 Links

November 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.