June 9, 2004

Photo of the Day: Transat

June 9 – Boston, MA

Today’s Photo of the Day is of the 60-ft
trimaran Géant, sailed by Michel Desjoyeaux of
France, who yesterday sealed his legacy as perhaps the greatest
singlehanded offshore racer ever by winning the singlehanded
Transat (ex-OSTAR) from France to Boston. He didn’t just win
the Transat, he crushed the old record by more than 36 hours,
finishing in 8 days and 8 hours. For the actual distance he sailed,
he averaged an astonishing 16.41 knots. Desjoyeaux has now completed
the singlehanded offshore hat-trick: winning the Vendée
Globe around the world race with his Open 60 monohull PRB in
2000, winning the brutal transatlantic Route du Rhum two years
later when Géant was one of only three of the 18
multihulls that survived to finish, and now taking the Transat.
All hail Desjoyeaux!

Photo B. Stichelbaut/Effets Mer Courtesy Géant

How tight was the racing in the multihull
class? Both Desjoyeaux and Thomas Coville on the second-place
finisher Sodebo agreed that it came down to Coville tacking
150 meters away from Desjoyeaux in the early going, which by
the luck of the draw allowed Desjoyeaux to pull away.

And what of Yves Parlier’s radical 60-ft
double wingmasted, seaplane-hulled catamaran, Médiatis
Région Aquitaine, which has hit as much as 36 knots
in just 20 knots of wind? She’s way off the pace – but that was
expected. She’s not an upwind boat like the trimarans, and the
Transat is an upwind race. Further, they are still working out
the bugs and details on this most radical boat. Look for her
to do much better in the upcoming race from Quebec back across
the Atlantic to St. Malo, an off-the-wind crewed race.

The monohulls should be finishing the Transat
today. See www.thetransat.com.

Is Somebody Sinking Sailboats in Richardson
Bay?

June 9 – Sausalito

Last weekend we noticed that two of the
nicer-looking sailboats anchored in Richardson Bay had sunk for
no apparent reason. A boat sinking in Richardson Bay is common
enough, but two of the nicer ones in the same day or two? We
can’t help but wonder if it didn’t have something to do with
a police action the day or two before. We don’t know the whole
story, but it involved a woman with a bloody face, and a bunch
of cops boarding a Coast Guard vessel in search of some fellow
who disappeared in the vicinity of the boats that were sunk a
day or two later.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Baja Ha-Ha Entry Packets to Be Mailed
out on Thursday

June 9 – Tiburon

“We’ve received more than 120 requests
for Ha-Ha entry packs,” reports Baja
Ha-Ha Honcho Lauren Spindler, “and those packs will
be mailed out later this week. For skippers wanting to be at
the top of the list for berths in Cabo following the Ha-Ha, it’s
important to return the completed entry forms as early as possible.
For come early November, nobody should whine if they aren’t at
the top of the list for a berth. If anyone still wants to get
an entry pack, please send a $15 check to Baja Ha-Ha, Inc., 21
Apollo Road, Tiburon, 94920. Please include a self-addressed
9 x 12 envelope with $3 postage.”

And if anybody out there knows a John G.
Snook of PO Box 181300, please tell him he forgot to include
his city, state, and zip code on his pre-addressed envelope.

Point Conception Was Also Calm on July
11, 2002

June 9 – Point Conception

“After seeing the picture of a calm
Pt. Conception in a recent ‘Lectronic,”
writes Dudley Gaman of the Coyote Point-based Catalina 36 Kir
Orana, “I couldn’t resist sending this picture of me
rounding the point on July 11, 2002, while returning from the
Channel Islands. The picture is testament to the adage, ‘If it’s
foggy in the morning, it’s a good day for rounding the point.’

Photo Teresa Gaman

We’d modify that adage to, ‘If it’s foggy
in the afternoon, there’s a greater chance it won’t be as rough
rounding the point.’ It’s been our experience that it’s almost
always foggy in the morning there, and that there have been lots
of times when it’s been foggy and still blown hard.

Making the America’s Cup More Television
Friendly

June 9 – Valencia, Spain

Here’s what’s going to be different about
the 32nd America’s Cup to make it more enjoyable to a worldwide
television audience:

There will be a series of ‘pre-regattas’
– to be known as ‘Acts’ – held around the world. The first ‘Act’
will be in Marseilles.

The courses will be set up so the boats
can finish in 90 minutes, a nice television time-slot.

There will be some fleet racing to add
drama, although match racing will remain the main focus.

Racing will be held in a greater wind range
to reduce the number of matches delayed by too little or too
much wind.

Nobody asked us, but we think the way to
make the America’s Cup more attractive to television audiences
is to sail the event in the 60-ft trimarans. Not only do these
much less expensive boats go upwind in the high teens and reach
at over 30 knots, they flip over, too! What could be better to
attract boob-tube watchers? Surely the two trimarans in the accompanying
photo present more arresting visuals than do a couple IACC boats
digging holes in the water.

Photo Courtesy Team Gitana

Genuine Risk
in San Diego

June 9 – San Diego

“We did the 2002 Ha-Ha aboard MR
Destiny, our Tayana 37,” reports Richard Brown, “and
bashed our way back to San Diego after the ’02-’03 season. We
really miss cruising Mexico. But while at Driscoll’s Boatyard
in San Diego the other morning, I took the photo of Genuine
Risk, which is now being commissioned.

Photo Richard Brown

“According to an Aussie fellow standing
by, Genuine Risk is a 93-ft Dubois/Oliver design, with
canting ballast twin foils (CBTF) fresh from McConaghy’s in Australia.
Sure looks cool with dual rudders.”