February 3, 2003

Photos of the Day: Miami OCR

February 3 – Miami, FL

The Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta
concluded Saturday after four days of sailing in pleasant sunshine
and a fresh, steady breeze on Biscayne Bay. The regatta attracted
526 competitors representing 34 countries in 11 Olympic classes
and two Paralympic classes. It’s the only ISAF Grade One ranking
event in the U.S.

American Mark Mendelblatt snatched the
Laser title from defending champion Paul Goodison (GBR). For
his performance, Mendelblatt was deemed the best U.S. sailor
at this event and received the newly created “Golden Torch”
award. The award is an Olympic Torch from the 1980 Olympics in
Moscow (which the U.S. boycotted in protest of the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan) presented by the Russian Olympic Committee to
the chairman of US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee.

The huge (68 boats) Star Class was the
most competitive, with almost every boat in the fleet at some
point awarded a black flag or scored OCS (on course side) for
starting early. Peter Bromby and Lee White sailing for Bermuda
won the regatta by 21 points. Americans Andy Lovell/Eric Oetgen
took second. U.S. teams dominated the top ten with Bill Hardesty
and Will Stout taking third, Paul Cayard in fourth place and
Terry Hutchinson in fifth.

Another amazing performance was seen in
the 470 Men’s class by Americans Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham.
The Olympic medalists won by a one-point margin, with Steve Hunt
and Michael Miller settling for second. The American 470 Women’s
team of Katie McDowell and Isabelle Kinsolving sailed steadily
throughout the series to win in that class.

For complete results in all the classes,
daily reports and more excellent photos, go to www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR.

Puerto Rico’s Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez starting in
their Tornado. Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher (AUT) won
the catamaran class.
Photo Dan Nerney/Rolex

Peter Spaulding and Tim Wadlow won the 49er class.
Photo Dan Nerney/Rolex

Another PlayStation Record Attempt

February 3 – Cadiz, Spain

Steve Fossett and crew aboard PlayStation
are in place in Puerto Sherry for another record attempt: the
Christopher Columbus Route, from Spain to the New World (San
Salvador Island, to be exact). The previous record is 10 Days
14 hours 53 mins 44 secs, set by Grant Dalton and Bruno Peyron
aboard Club Med in June 2000. See what Steve’s up to at
www.fossettchallenge.com.

An Inadvertent Link

February 3 – Mazatlan, Mexico

“At the end of this week we are flying
to Mazatlan for a couple of weeks of R&R,” writes Pat
McIntosh. “If you know of anyone who could use a quick shuttle
of needed parts, etc, please pass on my name and number. Will
be able to carry whatever we can get on a plane, and it can be
picked up, or we can get it to one of the marinas. Have enjoyed
reading Latitude
38 for years, and I know that sometimes you are an ‘inadvertent’
link to helping somebody in need. We’ll get time to visit Marina
Mazatlan, and will pass on anything we find out about what’s
new there.” Pat signs off: “Temporarily on the hard,
except for a fatty knees dinghy.” Contact Pat at via
email or (916) 488-4140.

YOTREPS

February 3 – 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

February 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/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.