January 31, 2003

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.