Photos of the Day

January 13 - Antigua

Today's Photos of the Day are of Sebastian Clover of the Isle of Wight, England, and his Contessa 32 Reflection. At age 15, the young Brit has become the youngest person to ever singlehand across the Atlantic, having covered the approximately 3,000 miles from Tenerife, Canary Islands, to Antigua, Eastern Caribbean, in a time of 22 days.

Sebastian Clover at the helm
Photos Mike Harker

What did Dolores, Sebastian's mother think of the stunt? Actually, it was her idea, as she suggested that her husband Ian, a sailing instructor, and her son Sebastian have a singlehanded race across the Atlantic in sisterships. Dad won by 12 hours, in part because Seb's boat suffered from some brief steering and rig problems. Sebastian, who had been training for the crossing since the age of 12, reported that it had been fairly uneventful.

The Wanderer Is Back from His Annual 'Business Trip' to the Caribbean

January 13 - Eastern Caribbean

"If there's bluer water or better sailing conditions than in the Eastern Caribbean, I've never seen it," says the Wanderer. "We were lucky enough to race aboard the 107-ft S&S-designed Zingaro in the 'around the island race', and the conditions were ideal. We didn't win, but we managed to nip Colonel Whitbread's old ketch Silver Fox on the last weather leg. Everyone who participated in that 22-miler on New Year's Eve was a winner.

After New Year's, it was day after day of tropical perfection, as for the third year in a row there weren't any Christmas Trades in the St. Barts - St. Martin area. And although the body surfing wasn't world class, it was never ending. We boogie boarded at least 500 waves. Too bad, however, about the two guys who broke their shoulders after pile driving into the sand at Grand Saline. They were probably trying to impress cover girl Brooke Burke, who was strolling around looking really great with her second boob job, holding hands with her plastic surgeon husband and young child. We'll have more on St. Barts later.

On the way home, we stopped at Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, where we bumped into Scott, Stacy, Lauren (8) and Clay (6) of Shaw Island, Washington, aboard their Switch 51 catamaran Willyflippit.

We're writing a Changes about the family, who in May of last year took delivery of their catamaran in France, then sailed around the Med before crossing the Atlantic. One problem: We were so relaxed from our vacation that we forgot to ask their last name! Maybe one of you can help. They previously owned an Island Packet 37 they sailed around Vancouver Island, then down to the Sea of Cortez for 2000 and 2001, before shipping her home from Seattle.

Sausalito Sailor Survives Plane Crash Thanks to Sailing Gear

January 13 - Belize

"I have a great story about our charter to Belize over New Year's," reports Norm Woods, M.D., of the Marina Village based Seascape. "Jim Keenan, a member of Sausalito YC, was involved in a plane crash of the local commuter plane to San Pedro. After evacuating everyone onto the wing in the rain and dark, Jim retrieved his backpack, which contained a VHF radio, GPS, and night vision binoculars for our charter. Using these, he was able to issue a Mayday, give our exact position, and guide the rescue boat in the dark. Everyone was saved with only minor injuries. We all proceeded to have a great week with TMM charters."

Obviously, we're going to get more details on this story.

Olivier de Kersauson's Jules Verne Attempt Underway

January 13 - Eastern Atlantic Ocean

Frenchman Olivier de Kersauson has begun his latest Jules Verne Around the World record run with his 120-ft maxi trimaran Geronimo. They have covered 472 miles in the first 24 hours, an average of 19.65 knots, which puts them ahead of Bruno Peyron's pace when he set the record with the 120-ft maxi cat Orange. As most of you know, Orange is now Ocean Queen Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher2, which is poised to also take off after Kersauson and the Jules Verne Record. Saying that she preferred to be the hunter rather than the hunted, MacArthur is awaiting the next weather window before taking off. Sixty-four days and eight hours is the record.

Oracle BMW Down 2-0

January 13 - Auckland, NZ

After two races in their best of nine series against the Swiss Alinghi Team, Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW, sailing for the Golden Gate YC, finds itself trailing by two races. The top-ranked Alinghi was dominant in the first race, winning easily. Oracle did quite a bit better yesterday, although a rare miscue on the spinnaker drop pretty much sealed their fate early on, as they sailed over the chute and broke their spinnaker pole. Russell Coutts and Alinghi seem to be able to point higher while sailing faster, a deadly combination. In yesterday's race at least, Oracle seems to be a little faster off the wind.

Photo Bob Grieser/Louis Vuitton Cup

Jelik's Failed Keel not the Original

January 13 - South China Sea

"Rumors of the loss of Jelik are true," reports Nancy Rander of Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland. "Jelik, the sleek 77-ft racer designed by Tom Wylie and built by us at Schooner Creek Boat Works for Hong Kong yachtsmen Frank Pong, was lost December 18. We at Schooner Creek were told that while returning from the Philippines after first to finish and corrected time victories in the Hong Kong to Manila Race, Jelik's keel failed while 400 miles out, and she turned turtle. All seven crew were picked up by a Malaysian tanker, none the worse for the experience.

"As it turns out, the keel failed at the top hull flange attachment. This however, was not the original keel that had been designed by Wylie and built by Schooner Creek. Jelik has been undergoing a series of modifications, including new rigs, new keel, and new rudders. Her owner has enjoyed not only racing, but also experimenting with design and performance improvements.

"It was hoped that tugs could be sent to salvage Jelik, but as she closed the coast and ransacking became a possibility, the salvage attempts were abandoned. The loss of Jelik is sad for all who have known and enjoyed her."

CrossPac Is Called Off

January 13 - San Francisco

"The staff at Pacific Ocean Racing, Ltd., regret to announce that we are canceling the CrossPac Race," reports Alan Hebert. "As of the deadline for starting the registration process, January 1 2003, we have only three entrants. While they are excellent teams, it's clear that three entrants does not justify holding the race. It may seem premature to cancel a race in January, when the event does not start until July, but since the CrossPac participants from the western Pacific will also be doing the Osaka Cup, which starts in March, it is necessary for us to let them know what the status of the race is as soon as possible. Our sincere thanks go out to our competitors who registered for the race: Ivan and Sybille McFayden, on Funnel Web; Brian Peterson and John Bankart on Maverick II; Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess on Two Guys on the Edge."

YOTREPS

January 13 - The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

January 13 - 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.