Photo of the Day

July 22 - Newport Beach

Rich Roberts reports from SoCal, "A trio of teenagers flying the Union Jack as their burgee and singing 'Rule Britannia' before their crucial matches won all 15 of their races to bring the UK its first victory in the 36 years of the Governor's Cup Sunday."

Hosted by Balboa Yacht Club, the Governor's Cup features team competition is a match-racing format with on the water umpiring.

"Skipper Paul Campbell-James, 19, of Southampton; trimmer Alex Cherry, 19, Brighton, and bowman Paul Burgoine, 18, Coventry, represented the Royal Yachting Association of Seaford in East Sussex, England. Moments after crossing the final finish line to dispatch Mark Dorling's Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron team, 2-0, they pulled off their shirts and performed a forward flip dive into the Pacific to celebrate.

Photo Rich Roberts

"Twelve three-person crews representing clubs from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and across the U.S. sailed Santana 20s in winds of 5 to 10 knots [July 16-21].

"Defending champion Simon Minoprio and his team from the Royal New Zealand YC went down before the Brits, 2-0, but defeated Dan Corlett's Royal Prince Alfred team from Sydney, 2-0, for third place. After the 'all-royal' sailoffs, the top U.S. finisher was Mission Bay YC from San Diego, led by skipper Piet VanOs, in fifth place. An all-girl team from the St. Petersburg (FL) YC won one race.

"The crews rotated boats after every race, but it made no difference to Campbell-James and his lads which one they sailed." For Rich's complete story, more photos, and results, see http://yachtracing.com/richroberts/governorscup.html. See also www.bycgovernorscup.com.

Pacific Cup Report

July 22 - Kaneohe Bay, Oahu

Benign sailing conditions have graced the Pacific Cup this year, and everyone seems to be having a great time. The parties begin this evening, by which time most boats should have finished. Even little Moonshine, which we understand is sailing with a nine-ft jury-rigged spar, lists their ETA as this evening at 9:15. You can check to see who's in, their finish times, and who's still out there on www.pacificcup.org. The site also features photos of each crew as they finish. A scoring snafu has messed with the results, but this may be straightened out by now and all results so far are unofficial at this point anyway.

Two Guys on the Edge was the first small boat and the first doublehanded boat to finish, arriving fourth after the 77-ft Pegasus, on Friday evening. However, Skip Allan's Wildflower, a Wylie 27, which finished at 5:30 on Sunday, will correct out over the Sonoma 30 in the doublehanded division.

Another Record Bites the Dust

July 22 - Mackinac Island, Michigan

Finishing Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac in less than 24 hours, Roy Disney's Pyewacket has broken the 15-year old monohull record by more than two hours, finishing this 96th running of the world's longest freshwater race first.

Pyewacket sailed the course in 23 hours 30 minutes. The monohull record, set in 1987 by Dick Jennings' Pied Piper, was 25 hours 50 minutes 44 seconds. The multihull record was set in 1998, by Steve Fossett's Stars and Stripes, which finished in 18:50:32. The race normally takes between 40 to 60 hours to complete.

Late breaking news from Chicago YC indicates troubles in the fleet as numerous boats have withdrawn, some with unconfirmed reports of injuries. A multihull, Caliente, is reported to have capsized; her crew safely rescued by a competitor, Kokomo. You can follow this event at www.chicagoyachtclub.com/racetomackinac.

Couch Potato Sailing

July 22 - Croatia and New Zealand

Outdoor Life Network has a couple of choice offerings tonight for viewers. At 8:00 pm PDT/EDT: 'Grand Prix Sailing' featuring the ACI Ronhill Cup from the South Adriatic coast in Split Croatia, which attracts visitors from all over the world. It may not have been discovered by most Americans, but this center of Dalmatia is well known in Europe for its sailing conditions and traditions and the skills of its sailors.

At 8:30 pm, travel down under to the current center of the America's Cup for 'Road to the Louis Vuitton Cup'. This edition features an interview with Oracle's Larry Ellison, a tour of Viaduct Basin, the transport of A-Cup yachts to New Zealand, and the fine line between cutting edge technology and design chaos.

420 Worlds

July 22 - Travira, Portugal

An Indian team have emerged victorious in the 420 Worlds, hosted by the Clube Náutico Tavira: Farokh Tarapore and Vikas Kapila are the new World Champions. In the Women's Division, Coraline Jonet and Magali Pallanca of France took first place. An American team, Julie Papanek and Whitney Bessee, scored fifth. For all the results and lots of photos, see www.cnt.pt/uknews420.htm.

The victorious Tarapore and Kapila
Photo Courtesy Clube Náutico Tavira

YOTREPS

July 22 - 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

July 22 - 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 is at 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/Maps/Southwest.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 views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/.