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Photos of the DayOctober 6 - Richmond  Today's photo of the day is of Marina Bay's newest tenant. A number of readers alerted us to the arrival of this unique craft on Tuesday, so we did some research - or at least tried to. Precious little is publicly available about this craft, but we were able to dig up a few facts: It was designed by prolific Bay Area yacht designer Jim Antrim from Ugo Conti's original concept; it's 100 feet long and 50 feet wide; it's powered by twin diesel engines; the inflatable hulls were built by Arcata's Wing Inflatables; the craft was assembled in Anacortes, WA (where it was spotted several times during apparent sea trials); and it's capable of crossing oceans with "as much, if not more, stability than a normal catamaran," according to Jim Antrim.  As we were snapping this shot a fellow gawker noted, "It looks like a windshield wiper." In reality, it's one of four gigantic shock absorbers. It's all very hush-hush, but a press conference is forthcoming in the next few weeks that will hopefully answer the most pressing question: "What's it for?" We'll let you know as soon as we find out. -latitude/ld  Looking a bit like the bridge of a spacecraft, the mystery vessel's cockpit hangs about 15 feet above the water Photo Latitude/LaDonna |
Top Four Teams Battle for Star Dominance on Final DayOctober 6 - San Francisco Bay  Teams from 24 nations flew in to compete. Photo Chris Ray/www.crayivp.com Entering the final day of competition, New Zealanders Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams stand in first place (11 points) in the Wells Fargo Private Bank Star Worlds. But it's way too soon for them to be thinking about uncorking the celebratory champagne, as at least three other teams, from as many nations, are within striking distance of the lead in this hotly contested, 66-boat competition.  Leaders Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams Photo Jan Pehrson/www.JanPehrson.com Challenged all week by variable, and often shifting, breezes, in addition to substantial currents, the regatta has produced very intense competition. During the five races to date, eleven different teams have scored finishes in the top three. Brazilians Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada currently hold second place (18 pts.), while Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau of France lie in third (20 pts.). Americans Andy Horton and Brad Nichol are currently in fourth place (21 pts.), having briefly enjoyed a first place ranking at the end of Day Three.  If you want abs of steel, this could be your sport. Vincente Gimeno and Luis Felipe Herman of Chile. Photo Chris Ray/www.crayivp.com Assuming that the weather gods cooperate, the event, hosted by the St. Francis YC in the Berkeley Circle area, will conclude today. - latitude / aet |
16th Annual Racer ChaserSeptember 25 - San Francisco  We invite you to advertise in the 2007
Latitude 38 YRA Calendar, a comprehensive full color guide
to Northern California racing. Ideal for any club, class, association
or business wanting to reach local racers. Click
here for details (a PDF flyer will download). |
Olson 25 NationalsOctober 6 - San Francisco Bay  Shark on Bluegrass leads a school of O25s at the start. "You posted the results of several other nationals but not ours.The Olson 25 Nationals were held last weekend with eight boats competing. It was a tight series with the final outcome determined only after the fifth race - congratulations to Jens Jensen aboard Hamburger Haus for his overall win! It seems our fleet is having a bit of a renaissance - nine boats have already signed up for next year's season. Final results can be found at www.encinal.org." - Tom Nemeth, 'Clean Sweep' |
Crew List Party Was a Rousing SuccessOctober 6 - Alameda About 200 people joined us on Wednesday night for the Mexico-Only Crew List and Baja Ha-Ha Party at Encinal YC, and a great time was had by all. There was a terrific food spread, a Baja Ha-Ha slideshow, giveaways, demonstrations, and, most importantly, lots of people hooking up. We don't know if anyone "hooked up" romantically, but we saw lots of "green tags" (Looking to Crew) making inroads with lots of "orange tags" (Looking for Crew). So if you're still looking to crew - or for crew - don't wait too long as spots are filling up fast. See our Crew List page or the October issue of Latitude 38. - latitude / ld  Riana and Meredith didn't make it onto this year's Crew List but still got plenty of interest from southbound sailors. We wonder why.  Ha-Ha kid François, 12, aboard Calou is looking forward to meeting other kids along the way. Photos Latitude/LaDonna |
