Photo of the Day

June 12 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Some folks think that publishing a sailing magazine is nearly effortless. It is, too. For example, when one of our ad guys said he was going to Bermuda, we provided him with a camera and asked him very nicely if he might take a few stock photos of the harbor and the prolific sailing scene. We visualized a great photo feature for the July issue.

But when he came back, all he'd taken was the accompanying photograph. It's a very nice photo, of course, capturing the lovely Catherine in a very Wyeth pose, with the red of her pants mimicking the red of the lighthouse. Unfortunately, the single photo is not quite enough for the layout we'd planned for the July issue. Then, too, the photo turns out to be of Amsterdam rather than Bermuda. When you send a staffer to Bermuda for a week to get a photo story and he comes back with a single shot of some lighthouse near Anne Frank's house, you know you're in the carefree world of publishing.


Photo Latitude/Mitch

'Sheilas' to Sail for Nautor in Volvo around the World Race

June 12 - Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

Grant Dalton has told madforsailing that Nautor's challenge for the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread around the World Race) will - as was the case with the EF Language/EF Education effort in the last race - have one boat crewed by men and the other by women. Unlike the EF Language effort, the boats will not be near sisterships. The first Nautor boat was designed by Mani Frers, German's son, while the second, to be launched early next month, was designed by Farr.

So, the big question is who will skipper the women's boat. Some of the names being tossed around are familiar: Dawn Riley of Sausalito, who headed up America True and has won a division in the Whitbread; England's singlehanding phenom Ellen MacArthur of Kingfisher; France's singlehanded legend Isabelle Autissier; and many more.

It will also be interesting to see if the women's boat can do better this time than last. Last time around, Paul Cayard took honors with EF Language while the women's EF Education languished in last place. We think they'll do a lot better. However, Grant Dalton says he reserves the choice of which of the two boats he wants for the race.


The EF Education team from the last Whitbread race
Where Have All the Sleds Gone?

June 12 - Great Lakes

The maxi sleds started out with Merlin of Santa Cruz in '77, and flourished on the West Coast for the next 20 years with countless Santa Cruz 70s, N/M 70s and Andrews 70s. And now they've all gone to the . . . Great Lakes? Where they are competing in something called the . . . Blackhaller Intergalactic Sled Matchracing Invitational. We can only assume they've named the event in honor of Tom Blackaller of the St. Francis YC. If that's the case, they should learn to spell his name correctly. In any event, Greta Schanen reports on what they are doing with the sleds on fresh water:

"Skipper Terry Kohler and tactician Tom Whidden won the second annual Blackhaller Intergalactic Sled Matchracing Invitational Championship (BISMIC) for the second straight year in a row. After three days of racing, three round robin flights totaling 12 races, countless tacking duels and aggressive starts, it came down to the last race between former US Sailing president Bill Martin, sailing the chartered Santa Cruz 70 Cynosure, and Kohler. Martin led by one point, but if he lost the match Kohler would win by virtue of the tiebreaker. At the final mark, Kohler led by two boat lengths when a warm front blew through and the breeze died. The boats split tacks, and Kohler's Santa Cruz 70 Evolution caught the new breeze first to win. 'It was the most fun I've had at a regatta in my 60 years of sailing,' said Kohler, North Sails chairman and BISMIC founder."

Results: 1) Evolution, Terry Kohler skipper, Tom Whidden tactician; 2) Cynosure, Bill Martin skipper, Perry Lewis tactician; 3) Chance, Mike Brotz skipper, Tom McLaughlin tactician; 4) Mirage, Mike Bucklo skipper, Gary Weisman tactician.

The 2001 BISMIC is a warm-up for the Great Lakes 70 Class Association's Season Championship, which kicks off with the Chicago NOOD regatta June 15-17. The 14-boat class celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2001.

Coastal Cup Photo Gallery

June 12 - Golden Gate

Our photoboat caught the fleet as they sailed out the Gate. For all the the results, the full story, and more photos, see the July issue of Latitude 38.

Photos Latitude/Andy

YOTREPS

June 12 - 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/

Weather Updates

June 12 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay and just outside the Gate 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.

Pacific Sea State

Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you might check out the Pacific Ocean sea states at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

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