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The Ha-Ha Gets Ink October 28, 2009 – San Quintin, Baja, Mexico (Click on the photo to enlarge it.) The Ha-Ha graced the front page of yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune. Photo Latitude / John A. © 2009 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. The start of the 16th annual Baja Ha-Ha received a surprising — but welcome — amount of local media attention this week, including reports by NBC San Diego and the San Diego News Network, as well as the cover of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The comprehensive U-T report by Matthew Hall included great photos, a video and a list of the rally's official rules, the most important of which is "There shall be no whining! And no sniveling either!" This rule has been especially pertinent this year, as winds and seas combined to get the rally off to a wild start. As we noted in Monday's 'Lectronic, the Grand Poobah encouraged Ha-Ha'ers to tuck into San Quintin or Punta Baja on their way to Turtle Bay to wait out heavy seas. Assistant Poobah 'Banjo Andy' Turpin reported this morning that about half the fleet did just that. "This is an incredible spot," said Turpin. "I bet 1,000 boats could anchor here — and it's dead calm in these northwest winds." According to Turpin, Ha-Ha'ers were reporting swells to 15 feet and gusts up to 30 knots. "Most of the big stuff was way offshore," he said. "This year has been abnormal in that most of the fleet has stayed close to shore." At least two 'rough riders' said to heck with the weather and have already made it to Turtle Bay: Scott Piper on his J/160 Pipe Dream IX and Rob Macfarlane aboard his Nelson/Marek 45 IOR Tiger Beetle. Both are accomplished singlehanders — Piper has circumnavigated four times and Macfarlane has made five crossings to Hawaii — so it doesn't come as much of a surprise that they viewed 30 knots of wind as good spinnaker-flying weather. The San Quintin contingent left this morning around 10 a.m. and expect to arrive in Turtle Bay tomorrow morning. From that point on, the rally committee will maintain the published schedule. Stay tuned for further reports. - latitude / ld

Pirates Capture Cruising Yacht

October 28, 2009 – Indian Ocean

Somali pirates are reporting that they captured a British cruising couple in the Indian Ocean yesterday. Paul and Rachel Chandler, 58 and 55 respectively, left the Seychelles October 22 bound for Tanzania aboard their Rival 38 Lynn Rival. A spokesperson for the pirates claims the Chandlers are in good health and are on their way to Somalia, where ransom will presumably be asked. Family members say the Chandlers are retirees on a limited income and have little means to pay any ransom.

Monsoon season has just ended in the area, which means calm weather for pirate activity. Authorities have issued warnings about pirates, and several attacks have been reported in the last few weeks, so it's unclear why the Chandlers chose to leave when they did. Even the pirates say they were surprised to find the couple out during peak piracy season.

- latitude / ld

Ad: Get Your Captain's License October 28, 2009 – Sausalito © 2009 Modern Sailing / modernsailing.com/coast_guard.php

Weekend Racing Wrap-up

October 28, 2009 – The Bay and Beyond

The Finns and the Lasers get all mixed up together on the Cityfront at St. Francis YC's Fall Dinghy and Olympic Classes Regatta. © 2009 Erik Simonson / www.h2oshots.com

The Great Pumpkin Regatta wasn't the only thing going on this weekend. Over at St. Francis, the Fall Dinghy and Olympic Classes Regatta brought out 83 boats. The top turnout among the classes was in the Finns, which boasted 25 boats. Six 49ers showed up along with ten 505s, seven 29ers, nine Laser Radials, 18 Laser full rigs and a remarkable nine Wetas.

About 15 Vanguard 15s made the short trek up to Inverness YC this weekend for a 27-race series on Tomales Bay, a camp-out and an oyster mission to Pt. Reyes Station on Saturday night. The results aren't up yet. When they go up, you'll find them here.

St. Francis YC Racing Manager John Craig is the newest member of US Sailing's Board of Directors. © 2009 Ashley Fraser

In other news, the winners of the US Sailing Board of Directors spots were announced this weekend at the governing body's general meeting. We're psyched to relay to you that, despite the fact that a disproportionate number of US Sailing members are from regions other than the West Coast, St. Francis YC Racing Manager John Craig was voted into one of the three positions on the Board of Directors. Congratulations, John!

You need a pretty big crane to unstep a 180-ft rig. Is this a sign that a hard-wing sail is on the way? Stay tuned - our duck on the dock is keeping a close eye on the BMW Oracle base. Photo Courtesy All It's Quacked Up To Be © 2009 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.

And last, but certainly not least, Ras al Khaimah is out! Justice Shirley Kornreich told Alinghi yesterday that the Arab Emirate was the wrong answer for a venue for the February 2010 33rd America's Cup. Her stated reasoning explained that the decision considered only the Deed of Gift's requirement that a February match be held in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, our duck on the dock in San Diego managed to con a tourist out of a digital camera and send us this pic — is this soft-sail rig on the way up or down? Time will tell . . . .

- latitude / rg

Create a Delivery Day Event

October 28, 2009 – Everywhere

How many Latitude readers can you fit in a YC bar on delivery day? These Corinthian YC sailors have the attendance record for a 'Delivery Day' party as far as we know. Photo Latitude / John A. © 2009 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.

Because the first of November falls on Sunday, we figured we'd try to get the magazine out on Friday, a couple days early, so you'll have it to enjoy over the Halloween weekend. That means you'll have a perfect opportunity to get warmed up for your Halloween party schedule with a Latitude 38 'Delivery Day' party.

Okay, we staged this one . . . Yacht Club boards be advised, 'Delivery Day' parties are actually a boon to bar revenue! Photo Latitude / John A. © 2009 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.

Have you ever been reading a Latitude and suddenly exclaimed "Right on!" or alternately, "That's such bullshit!" and then wondered what your friends and fellow sailors thought about the item in question? Well, if you're reading alone, you'll probably have to wait until you see their letters in the following month's issue, and let's face it, it's just more fun to have people around when you're reading the magazine. So consider gathering your friends and family together for a 'Delivery Day' party! Partake in a frosty beverage and a group Latitude reading at your yacht club, favorite watering hole or marine business. All it takes are a few copies of the magazine and a few friends — sounds like a good time to us. Send us some photos of your 'Delivery Day' party and you just might see them in the magazine!

PS: A Halloween-themed 'Delivery Day' party would be especially photogenic!

- latitude / rg

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