![]() |
![]() |
July 13 - Loick Peyron announced that he will be co-skipper
of the 110-foot catamaran 'Code One' for The Race. 'Code One'
is a near sistership to 'Club Med', Grant Dalton's cat which in
the course of setting a new transatlantic record covered an astounding
628 miles in one day. Filmmaker Stephane Peyron, Loick's brother,
will be part of the crew. Bruno Peyron, the oldest of the three
brothers and the organizer of The Race will join his two brothers
on 'Code One' for a tune-up when they go after the transatlantic
record in October.
What qualifications does Loick have to skipper the Gilles Ollier
designed and built maxi cat? Well, at age 40, he's sailed across
the Atlantic 37 times, 16 of those singlehanded. He also has 10
victories on the multihull circuit. We don't know about the rest
of you, but we're impressed.
Weather UpdatesJuly 13 - Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean WeatherWinds are looking moderate for the Pacific Cup fleet, but the bad news is that everyone looks as though they may be headed more than normal, meaning much more windward work and no chance of setting kites very soon. California Coast WeatherFor the third day in a row it's been very light along the California coast. Pt. Argie didn't even have wind in the double digits yesterday. |
![]() University of Hawaii Meteorology Graphic |
For such moderate winds, the Pacific Cup fleet is suffering through some lumpy seas. Check it out at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html. For another view, check out: http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.
There are no tropical storms or hurricanes in the Pacific, which means we're overdue off the coast of Mexico.
July 13 - Fiji After nearly two months, the coup that overthrew the elected
government in Fiji has ended. On May 19 ethnic Fijian George
Speight overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry,
by taking him and 17 other government officials hostage. Like
44% of the population of Fiji, Chaudhry is of Indian descent.
After 56 days, the native Council of Chiefs have elected Josefa
Iloilo as interim President. Just before the relatively bloodless
coup ended, Speight the deposer and Chaudhry the deposed spoke
amicably for several hours. |
![]() Photo by Ralph Neely Fiji, of course, is one of the most popular cruising grounds in the South Pacific, with the clearest water we've ever seen. While some resorts and other tourists facilities were trashed during the long coup, we've yet to hear of cruisers experiencing any problems. One reason is that the small country is spread out over thousands of relatively small islands. The accompanying photo of Pt. Vuda Marina when it was new was taken by Ralph Neely of 'Neeleen'. |
July 13 - Cyberspace and the Pacific Ocean
Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS - yacht reports - at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/
July 13 - The Golden Gate
The third wave of starters took off in fine fashion at 1:30
p.m. from the St. Francis YC starting line yesterday. Most of
the nine starters in Division E (the only start on Wednesday's
ticket) hit the line so aggressively we thought we were watching
a Cityfront race instead of a 10.5-day, 2,070-mile slide to Hawaii!
A few protest flags went up, and one boat, 'Zamazaan', even peeled
off a quick 720. 'Cha-Ching' led the charge over the horizon,
followed in order by 'Black Knight', 'Osprey', 'Glama!', 'Matador',
'Flashgirl', 'Zamazaan', 'Roam', and 'Flite'. (A tenth boat, the
Bravura 35 'Presto', was scheduled to start but unfortunately
dismasted coming down from Washington.)
Conditions were similar to the previous two starts (12-15 knot
westerly, big ebb), but for the first time the sun actually peeked
out from behind the clouds. The omnipresent fog bank off the coast
remains, but according to the weather forecast so far (the weather
buoy 250 miles offshore is reporting perfect 15-20 knot winds
on the beam) this year's Pacific Cup should be a fairly safe and
easy one. Despite the benign conditions, two boats - the
doublehanded 'Crinan' and the Portland-based 'Witchcraft' - have
already dropped out. 'Witchcraft' reported mast problems seven
hours into the race; 'Crinan' withdrew for as-yet unknown reasons.
Two more starts are scheduled for today (Thursday) at 2:10 p.m.
- six SC 50s in 'F', and six SC 52s in 'G'. The four biggest boats
- 'Taxi Dancer', 'Rage', 'Pegasus' and 'Kiwi Coyote' - will
take off on Friday at 2:50 p.m. The custom Elliott 46 'Kiwi Coyote'
- was scheduled to start on Thursday with the SC 50s, but
was recently granted an extra day by the race committee. The 'Coyote'
crew has been working feverishly to replace the carbon rig they
broke motoring up the coast from L.A. with an aluminum version.
![]() After getting some sleep, Commodore Tompkins decided to do the race with his Wylie 39 'Flashgirl' which, after seven years of construction, is almost done. |
![]() The Farr 52 Zamazaan, a great transPacific boat, tacks out the Gate in pursuit of the Aerodyne 38 Matador. |
![]() 'The Antrim 27 'E.T.', a race favorite, started on Tuesday. |
![]() Division E boats hit the starting line hard. |
If you read the 'Kites to
Kaneohe' preview in the July issue of 'Latitude',
you might be wondering just who is the "bearded PhD who
drinks Coors Light and smokes Carltons"? The guilty party
- John Clauser, skipper of 'Bodacious' - appears in the
accompanying picture, along with wife Bobbi Tosse. This will
be Clauser's eighth 'fun race to Hawaii', tying him with Jim
Corenman ('Heart of Gold') as the highest mileage Pac Cupper
of all time. We're not worthy! When we saw him at 'Weavapolooza' (the excellent Marina Village-sponsored kick-off celebration), John hazed us pretty hard for writing that everyone should take advantage of the 125% jib credit loophole (good, we wrote, for a 'free' 3.5 hours on the course). 'Bodacious' is one of the boats taking their 150%, and Clauser - who never lacks for an opinion - swore up and down it's crazy not to take one. Given the relatively light conditions so far, he may be right - but the debate rages on. |
![]() John and Bobbi Get in the Aloha Spirit at the Kick-Off Party One part of Clauser's tried-and-true Pac Cup routine that we do agree with is growing a wild-looking beard before the race. "It's fun," claimed John, "and it's cheaper than buying sun screen!" |
'Latitude's editor on the scene in Kauai, John Riise, offers
the following update at noon on July 13:
"By the time you read this, 22 of 23 competitors in the 12th
Singlehanded TransPac from San Francisco to Kauai will have crossed
the finish line, completing one of the most unusual ocean races
on record. A woman took first to finish for the first time ever,
a boat was abandoned for the first time ever - and on the same
day no less! And that was just the beginning. At this writing,
the oldest boat in the fleet, a 32-year old Black Soo sailed by
Greg Nelson of Alameda was the fleet leader on handicap.
Who almost tailed-end another competitor off the Farallones at
night?
What caused the General's mast to come down 500 miles from Kauai?
Why did the racers vote "screw him" when they were polled
about one competitor's difficulties?
How did the fire start on one of the Olson 30s?
Which boat ruined a boom, pole, sail and almost lost his autopilot
in one roundup?
For answers to all these and many other questions, don't miss
the August
issue of 'Latitude 38'.
Also, visit: www.sfbaysss.org.
Top
/ Index of Stories
/ Subscriptions
/ Classifieds
/ Home
©2000 Latitude 38 Publishing
Co., Inc.