Photos of the Day

May 6 - San Francisco Bay and Vallejo

A sunny weekend (racers were treated to 'shorts weather' both days) with light to moderate breezes and a light ebb set the stage for a picture-perfect Vallejo Race, arguably the largest inland yacht race in the country. This is the event that kicks off the summer sailing season for racers and serves as opening day for the SF Yacht Racing Association. For complete results of the two-day event, check www.yra.org/HDA-info.htm#Results or www.yra.org/ODCA-info.htm#Results. Results aren't posted yet (as of Monday morning), so be patient. And we'll have full coverage in the June issue of Latitude 38.

SAM at the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

The view from the bridge
Photo Latitude/John Arndt

The J/105 fleet's Redrum party at the Vallejo Marina

Bay Area Sailor Wins Women's World Championship

May 6 - Calpe Bay, Spain

Great news! San Rafael skipper Liz Baylis and crew Stacie Straw, Aimee Hess and Karina Shelton just won the 2002 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Calpe Bay, Spain. Sixteen of the best women match racers in the world - minus Denmark's Dorte Jensen, who won this prestigious event the last three years - came together between April 28-May 4 for a windy J/22 match racing series. Pre-race favorite Marie Bjorling and her #1-ranked Swedish team won the round-robin part of the competition,
and advanced to the finals with Liz (who was fourth in the round-robin, and went into the Worlds ranked eighth). Liz and crew won the first race of the finals, lost the second, and then came through in the crucial third race to win 2-1, and the celebrating began. Congratulations to Liz, Stacie, Aimee and Karina!

Results: 1) Liz Baylis, USA; 2) Marie Bjorling, SWE; 3) Anne Le Helley, FRA; 4) Cordelia Eglin, GBR; 5) Dawn Riley, USA; 6) Nina Petersen, DEN; 7) Sabrina Gurioli, ITA; 8) Lotte Meldgaard, ESP; 9) Sandy Grosvenor, USA; 10) Giula Conti, ITA. See www.cncalpe.com for full results and lots of pictures.

Yachting Cup Good to NorCal Boats

May 6 - San Diego

Bay Area boats fared well at San Diego YC's Yachting Cup this past weekend. After five light air races in kelp-infested waters, the following NorCal boats took home silver - Peter Stoneberg's Shadow (first in the Farr 40 class); Dave Carrel's Gone Too Farr (second Farr 40); Bill Wright's Zsa Zsa (second 1D-35); Bill Turpin's TP-52 Alta Vita (second in PHRF-I); and Dale Williams' ILC 46 Wasabi (third in PHRF-III). See www.sdyc.org for full results.

Orange Sets New Around the World Record

May 6 - Brittany, France

Bruno Peyron and his 13 crew sailed the 110-ft Gilles Ollier and Multiplast-built catamaran Orange across the finish line of the Jules Verne course to set a new around the world record of 64 days, beating Olivier de Kersauson's old record with the trimaran Sport Elec by seven days. Peyron and crew sailed 2,035 miles more than the minimum 26,000-mile route, primarily in order to avoid beating. "I'd rather sail 200 miles at 20 knots and 100 miles upwind at 10 knots," said Peyron. Despite averaging 18.15 knots - stop and ponder averaging that speed for more than two months on a sailboat - Peyron is the first to admit that the record probably won't last long. For one thing, because of weather abnormalities and later a cracked titanium ball on which the mast rests, this was not the best possible time. Furthermore, lots of folks are really hot for a crack at the record. These include Tracy Edwards, who now owns the old Club Med, and Ellen MacArthur, the young British phenom. The Jules Verne is a great race for women, because brute strength isn't required as often. Indeed, there are rumors that Florence Arthaud wants to do the Jules Verne singlehanded in Sport Elec! In addition, Steve Fossett and others have said they'll be going after the record this winter. Until then, congratulations to Bruno Peyron, a classy guy with a well-deserved record.

Who Will Render the Verdict?

May 6 - Auckland, New Zealand

As many of you are probably aware, the fate of Seattle's OneWorld America's Cup syndicate is now in the hands of a panel that has the authority to give them the boot. The charge is that they possess technical secrets belonging to Team New Zealand. So who is on the panel? It's comprised of two New Zealand high court judges, an Australian judge. and two Italian judges. The decision is expected in about two weeks. Meanwhile, the OneWorld team continues to practice off Auckland.

Mystery Photo

May 6 - It's a Mystery

This is a photo of a French military jet flying over a cruising yacht. Today's question is where and why would the French military give 24-hour air coverage to a bunch of cruising yachts. Email Richard.

YOTREPS

May 6 - 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

May 6 - 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.