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Photos of the Day

April 11 - San Francisco Bay

Today's Photos of the Day were taken by Chris Ray and come from the Collegiate Regatta held at the St. Francis YC, with help from Stanford and the Golden Gate YC. According to Ray, 30 teams came from all over the West Coast and Midwest to compete. "And what's not to like?" he asked rhetorically. "Close starts, lots of hiking action, some carnage, and a good crowd basking in the warm sunshine. As of Saturday evening, Cal Irvine was in front, followed by Stanford and USC."

Photos Courtesy Chris Ray

What's New in Newport Beach?

April 11 - Newport Beach

Newport Beach has always been a great place for visiting cruisers, as they've got a nearly unlimited number of moorings available, and they're only $5 a night - which for Profligate, is a savings of $41 a night over Catalina. The problem at Newport has always been where to land your dinghy. There's an unlimited-time dinghy dock near the Coast Guard station, but all the other docks around the long and narrow bay were limited to something like 20 minutes. That didn't leave enough time to shop or go to a restaurant.

When in Newport this last weekend, signs posted around the little docks indicated a great improvement. As you can see, depending on where you tie up on the little dock, you can legally stay anywhere from 20 minutes to 12 hours. This makes life much easier for visiting mariners, for which the Orange County Sheriff's Department, who is in charge of such stuff, is to be commended.

Also relatively new - and in time for the start of the Ensenada Race - are new heads and showers by the Coast Guard station. Because of the abuse such heads receive from the general public, they have to be the nearly-indestructible San Quentin type. Nonetheless, the showers now feature hot water - in fact, almost too hot water - a commodity that was lacking in the old ones. So while you don't want to use them expecting Four Seasons opulence, and you definitely want to remember to wear flip-flops, the showers are certainly functional.

Doha Wins Oryx Quest

April 11 - Qatar

Brian Thompson, who used to kick around Sausalito when crewing on Steve Fossett's trimaran Lakota, guided the 110-ft maxi-cat Doha (ex-Club Med) across the finish line last weekend off Doha, Qatar, to take honors in the first ever Oryx Quest around-the-world race. He and his crew finished in just under 63 days, more than 10 days off the around-the-world record recently set by Bruno Peyron and Orange II. Thompson was lucky to have finished the race at all, having been hit flush in the face by a block.

The Oryx Quest, which is the doing of Brit Tracy Edwards, the arch-enemy of Bruno Peyron, was something of a flop. Two of the four starters broke. These included Olivier de Kersauson's maxi-tri Geronimo, a very viable contender, which had to drop out with repeated structural problems. Also knocked out was Fossett's maxi-cat Playstation, the former around-the-world record holder, which was dismasted. Fossett was not aboard. That left Daedalus, a great but much-dated mini-maxi cat as Doha's only competition. While the event got quite a bit of press in the Arab world, it evoked very little interest in Europe or the U.S.

Volunteers Needed for the America's Cup

April 11 - The Sailing World

Got time on your hands? Enjoy the America's Cup? Have enough money to survive in Europe with the strong euro? Then you may want to be a volunteer for the America's Cup. They've got almost 50 different position, from regatta operations to hospitality. Check them out at www.americascup.com.