Photos of the Day

September 5 - San Francisco Bay

The Photos of the Day are from last weekend's NOOD regatta at the St. Francis. We'll have results, more photos and coverage of the NOOD in the October issue of Latitude 38. Check in with us again tomorrow or Friday for more Jazz Cup photos.

Volvo (Around the World) Ocean Race

September 5 - Portsmouth, UK

With the Volvo Ocean Race set to start on September 23 from Portsmouth, England, odds have recently been posted in both England and Australia.

William Hill in England has Northern Californian John Kostecki and the German illbruck entry the favorite at 7/4; Team Tyco 4/1; Team News Corp 9/2; Assa Abloy with Mark Rudiger of Corte Madera co-skipper at 11/2; Team SEB 11/2; the Grant Dalton Amer Sports One (Nautor) at 11/2; Djuice Dragons 8/1; and Lisa McDonald's Amer Sports Too (Nautor entry) at 33/1.

Down in Oz, the Centrebet Web site only had the top and last boats ranked in similar positions. illbruck Challenge 3.2/1; Team Tyco 4/1; Amer Sports One 4.5/1; Team SEB 6.5/1; Assa Abloy 6.5/1; Djuice Dragons 6.5/1; Team News Corp 8/1; Amer Sports Too 50/1.

It's often said that races are won at the dock through preparation. If so, no wonder John Kostecki and illbruck are solid favorites. While Grant Dalton and his talented crew run around like maniacs trying to put their two boats together and decide which to keep and which to give to the women's team, Kostecki and crew are so prepared they are taking two weeks off before the start of the race to rest.

Novato's Dee Smith will be sailing with Grant Dalton aboard whichever of the Amer Sports boats they chose. He reports that the Farr boat is a little faster in conditions where less power is needed, but that the Frers design is faster where more power is needed. Now the job is to figure out which is most suited to 32,000 miles of weather over the next nine months. It's a tricky question, because the last time Dalton did the race, it's believed he lost by picking the wrong boat. Despite all the deadlines and pressures, Smith says there is time for fun. The other day, for example, King Juan Carlos of Spain came out for a sail with them. After the sail, the Mayor of Sanxenxo took them for a traditional three-hour dinner, which featured "some of the best seafood I've ever tasted."

illbruck Challenge plows through heavy seas in last month's Fastnet Race.
Photo Peter Bentley

Heading up the Solent after a Fastnet start
Photo Rick Tomlinson

Charges for Boats at Puerto Escondido

September 5 - Sea of Cortez, Mexico

Elvin Schultz, Commodore of the Hidden Port Yacht Club at Puerto Escondido in the Sea of Cortez, reports:

"This is to inform you that as of September 1, 2001, Fonatur is charging $75 per month to have a boat at Puerto Escondido, and $15 for parking a car. The anchoring fee includes use of the dinghy dock, trash disposal and one cubic meter of water per month. We received this information on September 3, 2001, and billing will be retroactive to the 1st. To our understanding, there will also be a daily rate, but we don't know what it will be. Sometime in the future all existing moorings will be removed, and Fonatur will put in moorings of their own."

"Elvin didn't have any info on how this will be administered," says David Wallace of AirOps, who passed on the information. "They do have some buildings near the dinghy dock so it seems likely they will establish an office of some sort. My guess is that this change is part of the grand 'ladder of marinas' plan for Baja and western Mexico. I'm actually surprised it took Fonatur so long to figure out they could be making some money at Puerto Escondido. With 40-50 boats 'permanently' residing at Puerto Escondido, plus regular transients, the income is not inconsequential. The way I understand it, the Mexican government bought back the development rights from the French firm that was supposed to develop the area (the hotel shell remains essentially unchanged since the late '80s), and development is fairly restricted since Puerto Escondido falls within the Marine Park of that area."

For those not familiar with Puerto Escondido, it's considered the premiere hurricane hole in the Sea of Cortez during the summer. Many cruisers have been living there permanently, and many store their boats there for the summer. The legality of the latter has always been up in the air.

Name this Anchorage

September 5 - Mystery Location

Email your answers to Richard.

Rolex Maxi Cup

September 5 - Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy

With the America's Cup Jubilee having just finished a couple of weeks ago, you'd think there would be a lull in big boat sailing on the other side of the Atlantic. But that's not the case. Twenty-five of the biggest and most expensive yachts in the world - said to collectively be worth $200 million - are going at it in a rather friendly manner at the September 2-8 Rolex Maxi Cup in Sardinia. Some of the boats are very old, such as George Hinman's New York-based 180-ft schooner Adela, which was built in 1903, but is said to have an interior to rival the best chateaus in Germany and France. Others entries are very new, such as Luca Bassani's Tiketitoo, which not only has a swing keel and rudder, but four canard daggerboards to give additional lift. All of them have maxi dimensions. The 124-foot Antonisa, for instance, draws 24 feet when her centerboard is down. After two days of fine racing, the third race was called off because the mistral winds were "strong enough to blow the poms - Aussies - out of the pubs."

YOTREPS

September 5 - 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

September 5 - 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.