September 27, 2000

By Grzegorz | September 27, 2000

Photos of the Day

The Maxi Yacht with the Cartoon Name

September 27 – San Francisco

The St. Francis YC’s Big Boat Series ended on Sunday, but
that doesn’t mean there aren’t any big boats left on the Bay.
The yacht in the two accompanying photos is ‘Slingshot’, a Wally
67 that is based at San Francisco’s South Beach Marina. We’re
sure the owner didn’t realize it, but whoever cleaned the bottom
of his boat didn’t finish the job. When you’re sailing around
on a super elegant yacht like ‘Slingshot’ – particularly when
she has a white bottom – you don’t want a bunch of slime down
there. It’s kind of like wearing a white suit with a red wine
stain to a fancy garden party.

For those who don’t follow the world of maxi performance cruising
yachts, Wally Yachts has taken that world by storm since 1983.
What has set them apart from other sailing yachts of their size
is their elegance, innovation and simplicity. Their influence
on the recent offerings by the likes of Swan and Baltic is obvious.
What’s really unique about Wallys is that they are the design
and technical brainstorms of 47-year old Luca Bassani, who doesn’t
have a yard, but rather farms them out and supervises construction
at the best yards in Italy, England and the United States. That
they’ve been a success story is evidenced by the fact that Bassani
is having a new 160-footer called ‘Wallygator’ being built for
himself. Incidentally, the funny name for the boat and company
evolved from his young son’s love for a Hanna-Barbera cartoon
character of the same name.

For more details on the Wally story, visit www.wallyyachts.com.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Look Out Caribbean

September 27 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

Tropical Weather

Don’t worry about Isaac, even though he has 80-knot winds,
as he’s turned to the northeast and looks like he’ll avoid land.
The problem is Joyce, a new hurricane that’s currently about 1,000
miles away from St. Martin and the Virgin Islands, but headed
directly their way. Joyce could still turn north, but if she doesn’t
. . . For more on the Atlantic hurricane season, go to http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2000/index.html.

Hurricane Joyce (left) and
Hurricane Isaac (right)

Unisys Weather Graphics

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay right now, check
out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/.

California Coast Weather

Looking for current as well as recent wind and sea readings
from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena and the Mexican border?
Here’s the place – which has further links to weather buoys and
stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml.
Right now, it’s quite calm all along the coast.

Pacific Ocean Weather

You can view the new University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here. It’s not as nice as the old one, but still useful.

Pacific Sea State

Check out today’s sea state at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

Cruising

The Riviera Is Full of Possibilities

September 27 – Somewhere in the South of France

When you cruise the South of France, there are great islands
– some with forts and/or monasteries – just a few miles offshore.
Who can name this one? And when on the mainland, the selection
of fruits and vegetables is mouth-watering. If you’re ever looking
to charter, the 80 miles between St. Tropez and Monte Carlo is
full of possibilities, both for totally getting away and for
totally getting into the bustle of vacationing humanity.

YOTREPS

September 27 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

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/

Photos Latitude/Richard

Racing

‘Team Phillips’ to Restep Mast

September 27 – England

Pete Goss and his maxi catamaran ‘Team Phillips’ are waiting
for calm winds in England to restep the massive sailboard type
mast/sails. Once they’re able to do that, they will resume sea
trials. Readers will remember that this much heralded The Race
contestant lost both her bows in 15 knots of wind and flat seas
during her original sea trials. Whether the design was fatally
flawed from the outset or whether the problems stemmed from construction
problems will soon be known.

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