Photo of the Day

June 3 - Tomales Bay

Today's beautiful Photo of the Day comes from Stanton Morris, the skipper of Flying Scot, #3640 in Tomales Bay, who writes:

"I don't know what you consider 'active racing' to be, but the four International 110s in this photo seem active to me. The photo was taken on Tomales Bay last summer where 110s have been actively racing for at least the last nine summers that I have been sailing there. I anticipate they will be actively racing on Tomales Bay again this summer."

Light Weight or Waterline in Pacific Cup?

June 3 - Pt. Richmond

It's time to get your bets in for who will be first-to-finish in next month's West Marine Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii. We've been operating on the assumption that it will be Bob Miller's Hong Kong-based Briand 146 ketch Mari-Cha III, which until last year held the TransAtlantic record. Here's a couple of shots of the lovely beast. Notice the size of the rod rigging and the tack for the jib. One of the interesting things is that 15 tons of gorgeous English 'men's club' interior were removed to get the boat ready for racing - which is why you see one of the crewmembers standing in what looks like an empty salon. Since we didn't have an adequate wide angle lens, you don't get a true idea of how wide the salon is - nearly 30 feet. During the race, 14 of the 25 crew will be bunked here. Despite being so huge, Mari-Cha is surprisingly light on her feet. She was built by Sensation Yachts of New Zealand - after the first hull had to be disposed of because of lamination problems.

Anyway, while we were at KKMI Boat Yard, honchos Paul Kaplan and Ken Keefe both bet us a quarter that Bob McNeil's brand new R/P 86 Zephyrus will be first to Hawaii. Zephyrus is the dark hulled boat that is heeled over at the dock - thanks to the water ballast tanks being full on her starboard side. Those who favor Zephyrus figure that Mari-Cha III will use her long waterline to sprint to an early lead in the normal heavy-air reaching, but when it gets to the running, particularly if in light air near the end, Zephyrus will use her incredible power-to-weight ratio to overtake the bigger boat. We favor Mari-Cha, because we think most people don't appreciate how fast she is in even light to moderate winds. In any event, it's going to be fun to follow the daily position reports.

Zephyrus

Bahia Del Sol

June 3 - El Salvador

Cruisers who got fed up with bureaucratic hassles in Mexico can't believe the hospitality they're getting at Bahia Del Sol in El Salvador. The only thing nicer than the government officials are the resort's staff. You can read about it in this month's - and next month's - Latitude 38.

Ellen MacArthur to Get Maxi Cat Kingfisher in October

June 3 - England

Young Brit heroine Ellen MacArthur will set off this winter aboard 110-ft maxi cat Kingfisher 2 in pursuit of the Jules Verne Around the World record of 64 days recently set by Bruno Peyron with Orange (ex-Innovations Explorer). MacArthur and 10 crew will be sailing the renamed Orange, but won't take possession of her until October. The maxi cat is featured on the cover of the June Latitude 38. It's going to be an exciting winter, as Tracy Edwards will have a women's team doing the Jules Verne with Maiden (ex-Club Med), a virtual sistership.

YOTREPS

June 3 - 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

June 3 - 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/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.