Photo of the Day

November 2 - Monroe, Michigan

Mark McCrindle sent us this photo of a Hobie 33 in Monroe, which is 40 minutes south of Detroit. Best photo caption wins a Latitude 38 T-shirt, or a Baja Ha-Ha T-shirt if there are any left when the ralliers return. Email your caption to the Webmistress.


Photo Courtesy Mark McCrindle

While Mark and his fellow Great Lakes sailors are "getting ready to hibernate for the winter," here on San Francisco Bay our midwinter season starts this weekend with races hosted by Golden Gate YC on Saturday and Sausalito YC on Sunday.


Great Pumpkin Day 2 Photos

November 2 - Pt. Richmond

Wrapping up our coverage of last weekend's Great Pumpkin Regatta, here are photos from Sunday's pursuit race. For Saturday's photos, see yesterday's 'Lectronic. Check out the December issue of Latitude 38 for more pictures and the whole story.

For top finishers, see Wednesday's 'Lectronic Latitude. We still don't see results up on the Richmond Yacht Club Web site, but you can check it at www.richmondyc.org.


Photos above Latitude/Rob, who went clockwise with the majority of the fleet aboard Elan


Photos above Latitude/Chris, who went counterclockwise with Talisman Banana


illbruck Protests Won't Affect Standings

November 2 - Cape Town, South Africa

illbruck Challenge has been fined for boat modification. The penalty will have no impact on the results of the Volvo Ocean Race's Leg 1.

An International Jury found that illbruck Challenge had improperly modified its race boat by adding a weed cutting device to the S-Drive engine prior to the start of the race. The jury assessed a penalty of 1,000 British pounds for the infringement.

The race committee, which filed the protest, told the jury that they did not believe a points penalty would be the proper punishment for this modification. The RC believed the addition of the weed cutting device had no impact on the outcome of the race and possibly may have had a negative speed impact by increasing the drag on the boat through the water. The weed knife will now be removed from the boat for the balance of the race.

The first protest filed against illbruck Challenge, by fellow Volvo Ocean Race competitor Assa Abloy, was withdrawn after a three-and-a-half hour hearing when it became obvious that illbruck Challenge was in compliance with race rules. The protest concerned the use of Web sites on board the race boat during
the team's victorious Leg 1.


Paul Cayard Demoted by Larry Ellison

November 2 - Auckland, NZ

Billionaire Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle software and backer of the Oracle
Racing Team challenge for the America's Cup, has demoted Paul Cayard from
his position as Sailing Manager of the team. While still on the Oracle payroll, Cayard will not be joining the team in Auckland for the winter trials. It's not clear what his new function, if any, will be in the organization.

Bob Fisher reports for Grand Prix Sailor: "Earlier this year, Ellison saw fit to depose his skipper, Chris Dickson, but that was seen as a popular move among the rest of the crew. Dickson was accused of being an irritating skipper by other members of the crew, and Cayard, whose experience in the America's Cup is second only to that of Dennis Conner, while not being appointed to the post, was in the skipper's position by default, as a result of his being the Sailing Manager.

"The latest move, revealed exclusively to this writer from an inside source in Auckland, may be seen as one of identity crisis. Ellison likes to sail on his boats . . . he is subsequently believed to have found the position of spending money to promote the fame of another totally intolerable."

There were reports two weeks ago in Bermuda that Cayard knew of his ouster but did not tell others until the end of the Gold Cup (which fellow Oracle teammate Peter Holmberg won with Cayard as tactician/bowman). There was reportedly an outcry from teammates, and a reinstatement. If that's true, Cayard's return to the boat was short-lived. It looks like Holmberg will likely be the Oracle helmsman.

Fisher's complete article is available at:
http://sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=350

For an interview with Ellison, check out Ultimate Sailing's "Best in the West" hosted by Gary Jobson on Sunday, November 4, at 3:00pm PDT on ESPN2. This 30-minute program highlights the best West Coast sailors and events over the past year. Special features also include the TransPac, Congressional Cup, and Ensenada Race.


New Pacific Ocean Yacht Races

November 2 - San Francisco and San Diego

CrossPac Ventures, based in San Francisco, today announced the first running
of a new shorthanded ocean race in summer 2003, with singlehanded and doublehanded divisions.

Participating in the organization of CrossPac are the Golden Gate Yacht Club, Waikiki Yacht Club, Hawaii Yacht Club, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (Sydney), Singlehanded Sailing Society of SF Bay and the Shorthanded Sailing Association of Australia.

The first CrossPac will start on June 7, 2003, at the Golden Gate YC. The first leg will take racers 2,100 miles to Diamond Head on Oahu. Leg 2 begins on July 1 and takes the fleet across the equator, past Fiji, and just south of New Caledonia. The fleet will sail through the Tasman Sea to finish in Pittwater, on Broken Bay just north of Sydney, Australia. This will be the longest shorthanded race that is not a circumnavigation.

Race Director Alan Hebert adds, "We designed the race to provide an event that sailors from all around the Pacific Rim could take part in. From the very beginning the race was conceived as an event that would attract both serious corinthian sailors as well as professionals. I can't think of a better way to cap an offshore sailing career, or to qualify for the Vendée Globe or Around Alone."

Hebert can be reached by email. You can see their Web site at www.CrossPac.org.

Another new TransPacific Race, this one for crewed yachts, Silver Gate Yacht Club's Gateway to Hawaii, will go from San Diego to Nawiliwili Bay on the island of Kauai, a distance of 2,323 nautical miles. This newest of the biennial Pacific races will start on June 25, 2002, and will run on even years at roughly the same time as the Pacific Cup, alternating years with Southern California's TransPac. Projected classes range from ULDB and PHRF to Double-Handed and Cruising. Information on this event is available at www.gatewaytohawaii.org, or you can call them at (619) 222-1214. Deadline to enter is February 1, 2002.


Transat Jacques Vabre Starts Tomorrow

November 2 - Le Havre, France

Twelve Open 60s and seven Open 50s will depart Le Havre for Bahia, Brazil, tomorrow, followed by 14 multihulls on Sunday, in the 4,340-mile doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre. Although this is a popular race with Europeans, no American teams are entered. For details, see www.jacques-vabre.com.


Among the European sailing stars setting off this weekend are
Alain Gautier (FRA) and Ellen MacArthur (GBR) aboard Kingfisher-Foncia,
seen here practicing off Brittany.
Photo Thierry Martinez


YOTREPS

November 2 - 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

November 2 - Caribbean Sea

Michelle is now a hurricane, and hurricane watches are in effect for the following provinces in Western Cuba: Pinar del Rio, La Habana, Havana City, Matanzas and the Isle of Youth. South Florida and the Keys are advised to closely monitor Michelle's progress. At 1500 GMT, the center was located near 17.9N 83.9W, with movement to the north at 3 knots. Maximum sustained winds have been 65 with gusts to 80. To track Michelle, see http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/
atlantic/2001/index.html
.

Graphic Courtesy Unisys Weather

 

November 2 - 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 Winds and Pressure

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.

Pacific Sea State

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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