June 15, 2001

Antigua Classic Regatta June 15 – Antigua The Antigua Classic Regatta was held in mid-April, but as you can see from these photos by Tim Wright, the beauty is timeless. For more of Tim’s incredible pictures of this event, see the May 9 ‘Lectronic Latitude. His sailing photography can also be found at www.photoaction.com.

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Baja
Ha-Ha Update

June 15 – Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

The folks at the Baja Ha-Ha, Inc., report that earlier this week they sent out the first 103 entry forms for this fall’s Ha-Ha Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. And that they’ve received their first three entries: 1. Sabbatical, Maple Leaf 48, Michael Fitzgerald, Sacramento 2. Gitana, Aeking & Rasmussen 60, Dennis Choate, Long Beach 3. Quantum, Beneteau First 405, Frances McAbee, Alameda If you’d like an entry packet for the Ha-Ha, send $15 to Baja Ha-Ha, Inc., 21 Apollo Road, Tiburon, CA 94920. Include a 9×12 self-addressed envelope. Don’t try to call, because there is no phone. The entry fee is $250, except for owners under 35 years of age and boats under 35 feet in length, in which case it’s $200. One good reason to sign up early is that it puts you higher on the list for the few berths at Cabo Isle Marina.

Last year’s group in sunny Cabo San Lucas Photo Latitude Archives For more info on the event, see their Web site at www.baja-haha.com.

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Hoya
Round the Island Race

June 15 – Isle of Wight, UK

And you thought the Ensenada Race was big. As many as 1,735 boats
and 13,000 sailors are expected for this weekend’s 50-mile Hoya
Around the Isle of Wight Race. This would make it the second biggest
fleet in the history of the event. One of the line honor favorites
is Mike Slade’s 90-ft Reichel/Pugh maxi Skandia Leopard.
Slade has twice set monohull records for the course, including
the current monohull record of 5 hours and 12 minutes with the
Farr maxi Longobarda. The all-time record is 3 hours and
55 minutes, set eight years ago by the 60-ft trimaran Paragon.

Another View June 15 – Banderas Bay, Mexico This is another shot of the Cascade 42 ketch Neosal that went aground near Nuevo Vallarta about 10 days ago. (See June 5). Although it spent a night high and dry, thanks to the ‘won’t quit’ attitude of cruisers and others, she was floated a day later and taken to the boat yard. For a more detailed story, see the July issue of Latitude 38.

Photo Dick Markie

June 15 – San Francisco

As you may have read in Latitude 38, Fonatur, the National
Tourism Development Fund of Mexico, has decided they will spend
$210 million dollars of public money, plus get $1.7 billion dollars
in private investment, for what they’re calling a ‘Nautical Route’
to lure wealthy U.S. boats to Mexico. The project calls for 10
new marinas, dozens of hotels and more than 30 golf courses.

But the June 12 edition of the Mexico
City News featured an article in which “critics say that
Fonatur is badly miscalculating U.S. demand”. We were one
of those critics. Fonatur says there is “unlimited demand”
for boats to come to Mexico, suggesting that 800,000 Americans
will come to Mexico in 50,000 boats by 2010. We’re quoted as saying
there aren’t 50,000 boats in California that could make the trip
on their own bottom, and said we’d be stunned if 5,000 boats come
to Mexico in 2010. (In fairness to all, Fonatur is talking about
boats 16 feet or larger, while we told the reporter that we were
talking about boats that could make the trip on their own bottom.)
Besides, if Fonatur thinks somebody pulling a 16-foot dinghy is
going to spend a couple of hundred bucks a night for a big hotel
room and then another $120 for a round of golf, they just don’t
understand the market or the attraction of the Sea of Cortez.

Mary Shroyer of Marina de La Paz is quoted
as saying that, “Bad weather limits the high season for big
boats to April and May. It’s a niche, middle-class market. The
Sea of Cortez is not going to attract these rich guys who want
everything to be perfect.” The owner of the oldest marina
in Mexico, Mary knows what she’s talking about.

“Don’t think we’re stupid,” replied
Project Director Alejandro Rodriguez. We wouldn’t use such a harsh
word, but if he thinks 800,000 Americans are going to bring 50,000
boats down, let’s just say he’s unrealistic.

Kirsten Grossman, owner of Marina San Carlos,
told the paper that her marina has lost business for the last
decade and hasn’t been full since ’89. She said that additional
development would help fill her marina. But she also said that
the number one obstacle to nautical tourism is paperwork and fees
when crossing the border and entering ports. We don’t know if
it’s number one, but it’s right up there.

For the full story, visit www.thenewsmexico.com,
go to June 12, then click national news.

An Attractive Nuisance? June 15 – Sausalito Can somebody explain this circular staircase into the Bay for us? There’s one in downtown Sausalito, and there’s at least one in downtown San Francisco. They clearly suggest that people should walk down them and step into the Bay. This is one of the dumbest and most irresponsible ideas we’ve ever seen. Many tourists have no concept how cold the Bay is, how easy it is to slip on the algae, or how severely they could be thrown against the rocks by a ferryboat or other wake.

Photo Latitude/Richard

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Adios
’til the 4th

June 15 – Mill Valley

The Wanderer, who normally edits ‘Lectronic Latitude, is off to
Europe on Sunday to shoot stock photographs. It’s unclear how
frequently ‘Lectronic will publish between now and then. We’ll
all have to see.

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YOTREPS

June 15 – 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/

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Weather
Updates

June 15 – 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.