Photos of the Day

January 31 - Townsville, Australia

Today's photos come from Steve and Dorothy Darden's Morelli & Melvin 52 catamaran Adagio, sailing in Australia. Having recently visited the Great Barrier Reef and adjacent Townsville in Queensland, the Dardens have posted these photos and many, many more on their excellent Web site, www.adagiomarine.com.

"Next to the marina in Townsville is the popular Tobruk Pool, which marks the beginning of 'The Strand', a remarkable project undertaken to rebuild the city's 2.2 km beachfront following damage by tropical cyclones. At the opposite end is the Rockpool - a striking saltwater enclosed swimming area. These swimming areas are important - particularly in the summer, as swimming off the beach risks encounters with stingers (jellyfish), crocodiles and sharks."

ReefHQ, the aquarium at Townsville, has a superb exhibition of Barrier Reef denizens (see photo at right). The Dardens also recommend visiting the Museum of Tropical Queensland.
Photos Adagio

For more on the Dardens' adventures in Australia, see Changes in Latitudes in the February issue of Latitude 38, which is making its way around the Bay even as we write this.

Miami Olympic Classes Regatta Report

January 31 - Miami

The Miami OCR continues through Saturday. In the star-studded 68-boat Star class, Bermuda's Peter Bromby is leading by a 24-point margin over Paul Cayard. Vince Brun of San Diego is in third place with 50 points. John Kostecki is in tenth place after four races.

The tightest racing is in the U.S.-dominated Men's 470, with only a four-point spread between the four leaders. Steve Hunt (Hampton, VA) is in first by only one point over Mark Ivey (Huntington Beach). Paul Foerster with crew Kevin Burnham is a point further back in third place. Behind them by one point is the team of McDowell/Kinsolving.

In the 49-boat Laser class, defending champion Paul Goodison (GBR) is leading countryman Daniel Holman. Matt Mendelblatt, the top U.S. competitor, is in fourth place, 15 points behind the leader before throw-outs are applied.

Leading the Yngling class are Jody Swanson (Buffalo, NY) with crew Cory Sertl (Rochester, NY) and Elizabeth Kratzig (Houston, TS). Betsy Alison is in second place, two points back with 22 points, followed by Carol Cronin with 28 points. Tiburon's Melissa Purdy, sailing for skipper Hannah Swett with Jean Touchette is in 12th place.

Meg Gaillard (Jamestown, RI) leads the Europe class. Krysia Pohl, StFYC's Yachtswoman of the Year, is in 7th place and Bay Area sailor Molly Carapiet, now a student at Yale, is in 12th.

See www.ussailing.org/olympics/RolexMiamiOCR/index.htm for full results in all 13 classes and an excellent Daniel Forster photo gallery.

Russell Coutts Revelation

January 31 - Auckland, NZ

Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts revealed today the circumstances of his and Brad Butterworth's decision to leave Team New Zealand in May 2000.

At the time they left TNZ, in response to a request from Tom Schnackenberg and incoming new trustees, Russell and Brad had promised not to disclose problems preceding their departure. This week, however, they have obtained an agreement from trustee John Risely to talk openly.

Coutts is quoted on the Team Alinghi Web site: "By clearing the air we hope we can now return to a focus on the sport and to the action on the water.

"I am well aware of the strong reaction in New Zealand to our decision to leave. At the time, Brad and I had been involved for over two years in very difficult discussions with the people who controlled the trust that ran Team New Zealand and controlled the rights to mount a defense. It had been previously agreed that when Sir Peter Blake left the team [for the Cousteau Society] we and Tom Schnackenberg would take over the management. But it was only at a very late stage in negotiations that we concluded we were very unlikely to be able to reach a satisfactory agreement for this to happen."

For the full story, see www.alinghi.com.

Kingfisher2 Is Off!

January 31 - North Atlantic Ocean

After some quick repairs in Plymouth, Kingfisher2 is now about a day and a half into her Jules Verne Trophy attempt and has passed Cape Finisterre after a difficult night, sailing at an average speed of 19.8 knots before a north wind averaging 30 knots with gusts over 40.

YOTREPS

January 31 - 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 31 - 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.