Photos of the Day

February 19 - Tiburon

The photos of the day are of the three classic IACC (America's Cup) boats in action off Angel Island during last weekend's Corinthian Yacht Club Midwinters. The three boats competed in one race each day, in a variety of mostly light air conditions. Although this was more a 'presentation' than a race, the results were: 1) Il Moro Di Venezia 1, Peter Stoneberg. 2) New Zealand 20, David and Karie Thomson. 3) New Zealand 14, Paul and Chrissy Kaplan. John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan of America's Cup Media say this is just a preview of a much larger IACC fleet action on the Bay next summer.
For more photos and coverage of the event, see the March issue of Latitude 38, or view Tom Zinn's images at http://adrenalinimages.com/Corinthian_Midwinters/.

 

Photos Latitude/John Riise


Bad Sunset in Z-Town

February 19 - Zihuatanejo, Mexico

"Trip on this," writes Adam Sadeg of the Morgan 38 Blarney3 in Z-town. "Steve and Gabby of Karibu, Rob and Kristin of a Pearson 36 from Florida, and Jesse and Anne of Taka, and I took Rob and Jesse's dinks to Los Gatas Beach to do a sunset walk to the lighthouse. This guy on the beach helped us bring the dinks up on the beach - then tried to push Jesse's dink back in the water. What was up with that? So we moved all the dinks over to Amado's restaurant just a few feet away. I had been fishing with Amado before, and we'd been to his restaurant for beers many times. The waiters said they'd watch the dinks. So we walked up the hill to the lighthouse.

"We were almost to the lighthouse when one of the waiters came running up the hill and told us some guy on the beach had punctured our dinks! We all ran down the hill, and sure enough, the guy who had helped us bring the dinks onto the beach and then pushed them off, went off on both dinks with a screwdriver! He stabbed Jesse's dink 26 times in various tubes, and probably got Rob's 15 times before he was stopped by one of the waiters - who whacked him with the dull edge of a machete. The guy then went went down the beach a short distance, sat in a chair, and started sipping a beer! Oh yeah, he'd also stolen all the plugs from the dinks and pushed them into the water.

"Before we got to him, Jesse had whacked the perp around quite a bit, and kept asking him why he did it. In perfect English, the guy responded, 'Ask my father.' The girls and Rob went to get the police who, of course, never showed up. We waited there on the beach making sure the dinghy murderer didn't run away. He didn't even try. In fact, he was very calm and didn't seem to care about what he'd done. It turns out - surprise, surprise - that he was very drunk and on drugs. He is also the brother of a waiter at Amado's that we all know. The good brother showed up on the beach with Amado, the owner of the restaurant. The brother promised - as did Amado - that they would pay for everything. The next day, Amado gave us his car to use to get patches.

"Well, the whole fleet got together and chipped in patches, sandpaper, acetone, and two-part glues to fix the dinks. Meanwhile, the bad brother was taken to jail. This wasn't his first offense."

So you see, not all the nut cases and drug and alcohol victims are on the streets of San Francisco, there are some in Mexico, too.


Steve, Jesse, Kristin, Adam, Anne, and Rob.
By the way, they are on a surfboard thought stolen from Profligate.
It never happened.


Here's what a good sunset looks like in Z-town. Say, isn't that Gregg, who sailed his Morgan Out-Island 41 Scirocco in the Ha-Ha, with Cherie, who sailed aboard the Swan 53 Mistress? Looks like the two of them are spending a lot of time together.


Kostecki and illbruck Win Leg Four of Volvo

February 19 -
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Marin County skipper John Kostecki of illbruck proved his mettle once again, guiding the German entry to line honors again in the fourth leg - Auckland to Rio - of the Volvo. It wasn't easy, however. First there was the brutal Southern Ocean. Worse still, however, were the light airs of the east coast of South America, which allowed the trailing boats to make big gains. "It was a tough leg, especially these last three days with the fleet catching up the whole time. . . we just played it safe the whole time, played it smart."

The battle for second was fierce, and for much of the leg it looked as though Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One, with Marin County's Paul Cayard - Kostecki's skipper in the last Whitbread/Volvo - would claim it. Alas, Amer Sports One lost big time at the end, as djuice, Tyco, and Assa Abloy - with Marin County's Mark Rudiger, nipped them. "It was tough, a lot tougher than last time," said Cayard. "There was never more than 40 miles between the boats."

See www.volvooceanrace.com for more.


illbruck sails into Rio.
Photo Courtesy illbruck Challenge


Samba-style celebration


Kostecki received the Waterford Crystal Trophy.
Bottom Two Photos Rick Tomlinson


Hi Ho, Geronimo!

February 19 - Brest, France

Frenchman Olivier de Kersauson has just left France on his sixth trip around the world, this time in pursuit of the Jules Verne record he already holds, aboard Geronimo, which at 110 feet, is the world's largest trimaran. The current record is 71 days and 14 hours, which he set in '97 with Sport Elec. He's hoping to finish the 26,000-mile course in less than 60 days. It's not as though the boat has been fully tested, however. Last fall de Kersauson and crew sailed all over the eastern Atlantic and never found more than 27 knots of wind. Then the top of the mast snapped in light air. Since then, all the time has been spent repairing the mast, and not sailing the boat.

Meanwhile, Bruno Peyron, another Frenchman who once set the Jules Verne record, is working feverishly at the Multiplast boatyard to repair the top of the mast on the 110-ft maxi catamaran Orange. Just a few days ago, she took off on a Jules Verne attempt, but was damaged less than 30 minutes later when the top of the mast snapped - apparently as a result of halyards sawing through it. Peyron says the deadline for taking off again is March 10, after which summer would be over in the Southern Ocean.

For more on Geronimo, see www.grandsrecords.com/ker/rec/en/homepage.htm.


YOTREPS

February 19 - 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

February 19 - 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/. The National Weather Service site for San Francisco Bay has moved to www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey/.

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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