Photo of the Day

October 8 - Annapolis, MD

We've just returned from a very upbeat 32nd annual Annapolis boat show held October 4-8. The largest and oldest sailboat show in the country, the Annapolis show is seen as a major barometer for the sailing industry across the nation and around the world.

An overview of the scene in Annapolis
Photo Courtesy United States Sailboat Show

Walking the docks and tents this year was no different than any year past with crowded aisles and stalled dock crossings. Annapolis was blessed again with beautiful fall weather, and there were at least as many, if not more, boats than last year. The always impressive line-up of multihulls was huge even though the 9/11 carnage did block the new Contour 50 from crossing the Canada/U.S. border. The ever increasing presence of European boats was undiminished with the addition of boat lines from Hanse, Kirie, Etap and Northwind filling in the already broad array of boats. Well known manufacturers such as Beneteau, Hunter, J/Boats and others were well represented with most of their extensive lines of boats on display.

By Sunday afternoon the mood of exhibitors on the docks and in the tents was both happy and relieved. We didn't get to talk to everyone but most of those we did speak with reported solid sales. Beneteau was tracking ahead of last year's sales, Hylas was reporting sales equal to last year and high-end Oyster found buyers in the crowd. In the tents, sails, watermakers, self steering vanes and boom furling systems were selling well.

There has been more uncertainty in the air and every business wants to get a sense of what's ahead. For the sailing industry, the Annapolis Boat Show is always a great opportunity to 'test the waters'. One thing we know is that sailors love to sail and seem to have taken the message to move on with their lives to heart. In fact, anecdotal stories indicate that many people are moving ahead because of life's uncertainties. Additionally others reminded us that interest rates are low and if you're thinking of a boat sometime a good time to buy is when your payments will be low.

Whatever the case, the Annapolis Boat Show was again an energizing and inspiring event that reminds us of all the great ways there are to enjoy sailing. We came back wishing we were Philippe Kahn and could walk through the show saying, "I'll take one of these and one of these and one of these. . ."

Fossett and PlayStation Crush 24-Hour Sailing Record by 34 Miles!

October 8 - Atlantic Ocean

Still averaging speeds of over 25 knots, American skipper Steve Fossett's maxi-catamaran PlayStation and her 10-man crew remain strongly ahead of schedule to break the 11-year-old Transatlantic sailing record held by Serge Madec on Jet Services 5 (6d 13h 3m 32s). This (Monday) morning, 64 hours into the attempt, they were some 400 nm ahead of Madec's pace, with approximately 1,180 nm to sail to the finish line at The Lizard, England, and promising weather conditions ahead.

Additionally, a new 24-hour sailing record was set Sunday afternoon, recapturing the "bragging rights" first claimed by Fossett and PlayStation in March 1999, and currently held by Grant Dalton's Club Med in 2000/2001. At 687.17 nm, PlayStation's 24-hour run from 2200 GMT October 6 to 2200 GMT October 7 sets - pending ratification by the WSSRC - a new world record. Dalton and crew set the current record in the Southern Ocean at 655.13 nm on Feb. 7-8 2001 during The Race. "Our focus for the past two days has been on making progress on this Transat, but getting the 24-hour record back from Grant is pretty nice, too," said Fossett. "PlayStation is once again the fastest sailboat in the world."

Navigator Stan Honey, of Northern California, described the weather conditions: "We're finally out of the Labrador current, so the boat has warmed back up and the fog has lifted. So far we are staying ahead of our gale/cold front. It is intensifying, but it has slowed down a bit. Often when boats adopt the weather strategy that we are using - trying to cross the Atlantic preceding a cold front - the front goes stationary just before the English Channel, and a potentially good passage goes to rot right at the end in light air. This could of course still happen to us, but the pattern looks pretty good (i.e. just progressive enough) so that we might carry our breeze to the English Channel. Saturday, when we passed Sable Island, we went close to two oil platforms. Both platforms warned us of the incoming 50-knot gale and were surprised to hear that we were out there precisely because of the incoming gale - although we were not intending to stick around to see the center of it."

Consider the Source

October 8 - Baja California Sur

We've been told that one Fred Metcalf of a Baja California 'org' Web site has/is reporting that Cabo Isle Marina "has been wiped out." In times of war and natural disasters, truth is always the first victim, and this seems to be another case. We've repeatedly reported that Cabo Isle Marina was only very slightly damaged - although the much smaller Marina de Baja near the harbor entrance was indeed badly damaged. Boats in marinas in La Paz came out mostly unscathed. Boats in Santa Rosalia experienced 35 knots of wind with gusts to 50 knots. Apparently the surge at the docks was severe, so the boats vacated. None were reported damaged.

The biggest damage to boats, of course, was to those on the hard at Astilleros Marina in La Paz. Here's the most recent list of boats that got knocked over: Nimbus, Namaste, Crescendo, Lady in Red, Gypsy Dolphin, J&M Liberty, Sandetee, Malarkey, Sea Clipper, Light Wind, Winterland III, Spirit, Pleite, Kiananin, Cyrus, Orion, Bountiful, Luethin, Summer Wind, and four unidentified trimarans. Vessels damaged in the anchorage include: Escape, aground; Time Machine, aground; Katmandu, aground; Beyond Therapy, roller jib came unfurled, windlass pulled out; Destiny, mast damaged.

Kostecki and illbruck Continue to Lead Volvo

October 8 - Atlantic Ocean

Northern Californian John Kostecki, skipper of the favored illbruck, continues to stretch his lead in the Volvo Around the World Race as the fleet enters the doldrums. Here's an onboard report from crewman Richard Clarke:

"Just got off an awesome six hours on deck. Perfect example of champagne yachting . . . 15-23 knots of wind and nice surfing waves. Boat speed was always near 15 knots with peaks into the 20s - and all this in shorts and nothing else. I have not worn boots for a week as there has seldom been water on the deck, and now there is it is a welcome relief from the heat. The trades are fitting the bill as a great place to sail; I just wish that it took a little less time to get here."

For more great photos and reports, see www.volvooceanrace.com.

YOTREPS

October 8 - 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

October 8 - 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.