'Lectronic Index

Previous 'Lectronic Edition

Photos of the Day

July 28 - Mallorca

Today's Photos of the Day are from Noel G., who used to have a Union 36 sloop in Sausalito and Mexico, but then moved to Grand Mott, France, and caught the catamaran bug. He now owns an Outremer 43, which can be seen in these two photos anchored off the beautiful Spanish Island of Mallorca in the Med.

Noel reports he's headed for a sailing vacation in Corsica and Sardinia, and will be sending additional photos. "What would you like, landscapes, boats, smiles, nudes?" he asks.

Noel also sent us this photo of a cat he saw at Mallorca with 'wave piercing' bows. It's an odd look, but the owner says they work great, and if you'll check the Morrelli & Melvin Web site at www.morrellimelvin.com they're showing a design very similar to it.

Photos by Noel G.

L'il Buccaneers Aboard the Chieftain

July 28 - Sausalito

Latitude spawn Baylis Weaver joined about 30 other kids aged 9 to 12 last week to attend the Hawaiian Chieftain's Buccaneers & Explorers day camp for kids. Campers immersed themselves in maritime arts and history, including traditional navigation, marlinspike seamanship, helmsmanship, setting the sails aboard the 103-ft topsail ketch, following clues to buried treasure, rowing the longboat, and swordplay.

Captain Mike, who makes his own costumes, demonstrates a knot.

Baylis makes handcuffs out of a bit of line.

This week, the Chieftain's series of summer camps wraps up with the Voyagers Camp for teenagers. See www.hawaiianchieftain.com.

Baylis will report on his week as a Buccaneer in an upcoming edition of World of Chartering in Latitude 38.

Photos Latitude/Chris except as noted

More Great IACC Racing

July 28 - San Francisco Bay

They were racing IACC boats on the Bay again this weekend, this time with a total of six boats, thanks to the additon of USA-49.

Photo Courtesy Brandon Mercer

Michelle Slade filed this report:

Larry Ellison's Team Oracle BMW Racing took the Il Moro Trophy 2003, while Team Wells Fargo won a tiebreaker with NZL-20 for first place in Vintage Division. Oracle BMW won the Il Moro in a clean sweep as they did the Sausalito Cup, but notwithstanding a good fight from USA-49, Paul Cayard's old boat from the 2000 America's Cup. Helmed by Peter Stoneberg with a rock star crew including Dawn Riley, Hamish Pepper and Jeff Madrigali, USA-49 put on a great show on Sunday, leading USA-76, helmed by Larry Ellison, for a good part of race one.

In the spirit of the regatta, Oracle BMW's Chris Dickson said, "Peter wasn't meant to be rounding marks in front of us ­ they weren't supposed to do that well!" In a toast to the fleet, Dickson added, "We're doing our best to support the profile of these events in San Francisco and will make sure we have more yachts racing at the next event." The two Grand Prix Division yachts shared close racing throughout the weekend and provided San Francisco spectators with an awesome display of world class America's Cup Class racing.

In the Vintage Division, Team Wells Fargo helmed by John Sweeney took first place after winning race two on Sunday in a tiebreaker against NZL-20 helmed by Karie Thomson and David Thomson. Lead changes and a number of spinnaker blowouts made for some exciting moments for the many guests on board the hospitality boats. Newcomers to the fleet, Dick Watts and Tom Thayer, did a great job helming Il Moro di Venezia in a transition from their Farr 40 experience. NZL-20 and USA-11 won three races each, with USA-11 taking the last race to win the Vintage Division.

The essence of The Challenges Series events shone through yet again with a great regatta, sailing in near perfect conditions in beautiful surroundings, with a significant focus on fun. The full complement of six races was sailed in breezes that averaged 15-18 knots throughout the weekend. At the prize-giving, Herb Myer of Wells Fargo, the event's primary sponsor, put forth a challenge to Larry Ellison for a contribution of $50,000 to a favorite charity if Team Wells Fargo beats Oracle BMW in the next Challenge Series event, The Golden Gate Cup on September 5-8.

Yacht Lost in Australian Race

July 28 - Down Under

Shortly before 0300 this morning, the 31-ft boat Red Rock Communications, sailing in the Sydney to Southport Race, hit the three-meter high Black Rock near South Solitary Island, 10 miles northeast of Coff's Harbour. In very dark conditions, the crew realized they were close to the rock and had started to turn, but it was too late. The boat hit the rocks with force, slewing her over 70 degrees. The rig came down, the keel plates were bent up, and the boat began taking water rapidly. The crew activated their 406 EPIRB, and within 30 seconds had their liferaft valise in the water and inflating. All six crew took to their liferaft and the vessel sank 15 minutes later. An hour later, Mike Kelaher's Santana arrived and towed the liferaft away from South Solitary. The crew are safe and well.

Post-Deadline R&R

July 28 - Southern California

We're off for some much needed after-deadline R&R sailing in the beautiful waters of Southern California. We'll return on Friday, the same day as the August issue of Latitude 38 hits the streets. Happy Sailing!

YOTREPS

July 28 - 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

July 28 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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.