September 10, 2003

Photo of the Day

September 10 – Santa Catalina Island

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from last
Saturday just around the corner from Long Point at Catalina.
It’s our understanding that a guy and his young sons left Newport
Beach at 0300 in their Bertram 42 sportfisher and headed for
Catalina. For reasons that aren’t clear – it was a beautifully
clear night and there’s a bright light on Long Point just a hundred
or so yards away – the boat piled right up on the rocks. Nobody
was seriously injured, thank goodness, but the boat was badly
damaged.

Photo Latitude/Richard

Some Vessel Assist boats were dispatched
to try to put the Bertram off the rocks and to a nearby beach.
They weren’t quite successful, as the Bertram went to the bottom
before they could pull her onto the beach. What you see here
is a photo of the salvors scratching their heads trying to figure
out how to raise the boat.

Big Boat Series Begins Tomorrow

September 10 – San Francisco Bay

St. Francis YC’s 39th Big Boat Series kicks
off tomorrow, with 114 boats signed up to compete in 11 classes.
If all entries actually start, this will be the biggest Series
in history, surpassing the 2000 milestone of 112 boats. The seven-race,
no-throwout Series will continue for four days. Five Rolex Submariner
watches will be awarded at Sunday’s trophy ceremony to the winners
of the most competitive classes.

As usual, the racing will occur on two
race tracks, the Cityfront (south course) and Berkeley Pier to
Yellow Bluff area (north course). The starting order among the
bigger boats is: 1) America’s Cup (an in-house skirmish between
two Oracle boats); 2) Americap-II A (9 boats, including five
TP-52s); 3) SC 52 (5 boats); 4) Farr 40 (15 boats); 5) Americap-II
B (8 boats); and 6) Americap-II C (6 boats). The starting order
in the other group is: 1) 1D-35 (11 boats); 2) J/120 (8 boats);
3) Beneteau 40.7 (6 boats); 4) Express 37 (9 boats); and 5) J/105
(35 boats).

All but one of last year’s BBS class winners
are back to defend their titles – Pendragon IV, Chance
(Farr 395), Yassou, Barking Mad, Winnetou, Zsa Zsa, Chance
(J/120), Golden Moon and Good Timin’. Check out
www.stfyc.com
for the full entry list, as well as the racing and social schedule.

Who Wants to Get Married?

September 10 – San Francisco

“I’m responding to the ‘Captain Needed’
letter from the couple looking for a captain to perform their
marriage ceremony,” writes ‘Reverend’ Capt. Randall Leasure
of the Half Moon Bay-based Westsail 32 Tortuga. “Latitude
is correct that it is a wives’ tale that just because you are
a USCG-licensed Captain you can perform wedding ceremonies. Having
just married my friends at Lake Arrowhead this summer, I have
researched this. I joined a ‘paper ministry’ called the Universal
Life Church in order to be ordained to perform the ceremony,
because being a captain is not enough.

“If anyone else is looking for a captain
to perform their ceremony, I’m available for a small fee. Hey,
that suit was expensive! I can be reached via
email.”

How to Get a Moët Mini Belt

September 10 – San Francisco Bay

“A couple of sailing friends and I
are headed for Abacos next month,” writes Stephanie Lucas,
“and when I saw that Moët Mini Belt in the September
5 ‘Lectronic, I thought ‘This is a must for our trip!’ But
unless I’m missing it – quite possible – I couldn’t figure out
how in the world to order one from their Web site. They give
product specs, but no price and no purchase instructions. When
you click on the shopping cart icon you merely get an email address.
Any suggestions?”

Photo Courtesy Moët et Chandon

If Moët marketed champagne like they
are the Mini Belt, they’d be broke. The number we were given
for further information is 877-SPIRITS – which translates to
(877) 774-7487.

Speaking of the Moët Cup between the
America’s Cup winner Alinghi and Oracle BMW, that racing will
take place starting next Monday. Monday night will be the big
fireworks show off the St. Francis YC, and you’ll not want to
miss that. The boats have been seen getting tuned up at KKMI
in Richmond and sailing on the Bay. We’ll have a larger preview
in Friday’s ‘Lectronic.

Photo Latitude/Richard

Rocky Mountain High of the 1D-35 Nationals

September 10 – Belvedere

#10, front and center went on to win the Nationals
Photo Bob Grieser

Liquor store owner and ‘regular guy’ John
Musa from the racing citadel of Fort Collins, CO, claimed honors
in the eight-race 1D-35 National Championship Regatta with Jacaibon.
The San Francisco YC-based event concluded yesterday. A major
factor in the victory was tactician Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis,
who has won 1D-35 National Championships twice before on two
different boats.

Jacaibon notched her first major regatta
victory for owner John Musa in commanding fashion, finishing
ahead of second place Chris and Kara Busch’s San Diego-based Wild Thing by a whopping 24 points. The DeVos brothers
from Holland, MI, were third. The best local finish was Bill
Wright’s Zsa-Zsa in fifth.

What’s Jacaibon mean or stand for? Just Another Crazy
Assed Idea Based On Nothing. See www.sfyc.org for full results and see Race
Sheet in October’s Latitude
38 for more.

The winning crew of Jacaibon. Musa is in the front row
on the left; Hutchinson is second from the right in front.
Photo Latitude/Rob

McKee Leads The Mini-Transat

September 10 – La Rochelle, France

The Mini-Transat – officially known as
the 2003 Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia Race – is one of
the wildest events in sailing because boats are limited to 21
feet in length – but that’s about the only limitation, as they
can pile on the sail area and stretch the sprits about a mile
in front.

When the singlehanded event started in
1977, the course was from Penzance, Cornwall, to the Canary Islands
and, after a stop, on to Antigua. That first running was won
by Norton Smith of Mill Valley in the Wylie 20 American Express.
Amy Boyer, of Alameda, finished well in Little Rascal,
a Wilderness 21. Back in those days, the boats were conventional.

In the years since, the event has been
French-ified – which is to say it’s become a really big deal.
Among the French sailing stars who have cut their teeth in the
event over the years are the Peyron brothers, Isabelle Autissier,
Yves Parlier, the Bourgnon brothers and Michel Desjoyeaux. It
was also where Brit Ellen MacArthur made a name for herself.
The course now goes from La Rochelle to the Canary Islands, a
distance of 1,350 miles, then to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, an
additional 2,900 miles. In addition to sailing what amounts to
21-foot skiff across nearly 4,500 miles of ocean, the course
takes them across the Atlantic hurricane zone at the height of
the season.

A day into this year’s Mini-Transat finds
Jonathan McKee, the two-time Olympic medalist from Seattle in
front with Team McLube. McKee was very strong in the racing
earlier this summer, and could well bring Mini-Transat honors
back to the U.S. for this first time since Smith in ’77.

McKee seen in second place after the first weather mark for spectators
Photo Courtesy Mini-Transat

Everest Horizontal Takes Another Blow

September 10 – Bermuda

Tim Kent’s Open 50 Everest Horizontal
has seen a lot of bad luck. She was dismasted in the Around Alone
race, then flipped when her keel fell off in the Bermuda 1-2.
After wild adventures recovering the boat, last Friday she was
one of the boats hit by the 140 knots of Hurricane Fabian, which
drove her on the rocks. Kent says the already-wounded boat apparently
still looks to be in pretty good shape, but he’s so low on funds
he’s trying to raise money just to be able to fly to Bermuda
to investigate.

Everest Horizontal as she looked to divers during her
recovery
Photo Courtesy Tim Kent

Apparently there was extensive damage to
boats in Bermuda, although the ones hauled out did better than
those on ‘hurricane moorings’. Five of the Bermuda YC’s famous
IODs were lost, but the club says they still intend to hold their
prestigious Gold Cup match race series.

Adventure Cat 2
Is Sailing Again

September 10 – San Francisco Bay

“Good news!” reports Jay Gardner
of Adventure Cat Charters on San Francisco Bay. “Two and
a half months after being dismasted, Adventure Cat has
her new mast up, it’s been blessed by the Coast Guard, and she’s
working again. The new Forespar mast looks great and is rock
solid. We are ecstatic!”

Photo Latitude/Richard

Adventure Cat 2
is 65 feet by 34 feet, and is Coast Guard certified to carry
about a million passengers.

TransPac Starting Dates Changed for the
Moon

September 10 – Los Angeles

According to the TransPac YC officials,
major changes are afoot for the 2005 running: “Skippers
and crews in the 2005 TransPac Race will sail under a full moon
in a big fleet led by some of the fastest monohulls in the world.
In its first meeting since the highly successful 2003 TransPac
race to Honolulu, the Board of Directors of the TransPacific
Yacht Club on September 3 approved moving the traditional July
4 TransPac start date ten days later to capture the light of
the full moon. “The full moon was so popular with skippers
and crews this year, that we felt tradition should give way here,”
said 2005 TransPac Commodore Jerry Montgomery. The move also
increases the chance of better winds. Montgomery allowed that
historical data shows stronger trade winds circulating the Pacific
High later in July. This will be especially helpful for many
of the 30 to 50-ft boats, which start up to a week earlier
than the fastest boats.

After almost doubling the entries from
the previous two races, TransPac is anticipating up to 75 boats
in 2005, said current TPYC Commodore Brad Avery. “Based
on the fun people were having in Honolulu, TransPac is in a new
era similar to the old days, with lots of families showing up
to celebrate in Hawaii. It’s a real race, not a rally, dominated
by families and friends, racing good boats that make sense to
own. This year’s race included three J/160s, a J/145, two Beneteaus,
a Swan 53, a Jeanneau 52, a Tayana 52 and 10 Cal 40s. All of
these boats were well sailed by amateurs, with good sail inventories
and weather programs. We’re looking to grow these kinds of entries,
which are primarily crewed by first-time TransPac sailors.”

The TPYC Board also approved a new rating
limit open to racing monohulls around 90 feet overall, up to
the new Bermuda race limit of 30 meters. The new rating limit
is intended to include boats with speed potential up to that
of a canting keel MaxZ86 on the TransPac course. Previously,
TransPac had invited a minimum of three MaxZ86 yachts to compete
in 2005 for the famous Barn Door trophy. Currently, one MaxZ86
sloop, Zephyrus, is sailing. Two nearly identical MaxZ86s,
both with canting keels, are under construction for Hasso Plattner
and Roy Disney. All three are expected to enter TransPac 2005.
Along with existing boats and those under construction, the new
limit allows for new builds.

In TransPac 2003, the first to finish boat
was the 77-ft Pegasus. The move to much bigger boats almost
guarantees that the current TransPac record of 7 days, 11 hours,
and 41 minutes will be shattered. “The development of big
racing boats around the world has moved forward very quickly,”
said TPYC director Bill Lee. “Half a dozen newer boats around
90 feet are now sailing, with just as many being built. Along
with much bigger boats, canting keels and water ballast are dramatically
speeding up first to finish contenders. Our objective is to create
a level playing field for these unique boats and have a great
first to finish race to Hawaii in 2005. The TransPac is committed
to the tradition of inviting new and existing boats to race.”

“TransPac wants to do whatever it
can to help foster fair racing on the TransPac course, not just
for the maxi boats, but also the rest of the fleet,” said
Avery. “Yacht design is moving fast and sailors are seeing
new technology on the race course. I think most sailors want
to compete against these boats, as long as the boats are equalized
through handicaps.”

YOTREPS

September 10 – 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

September 10 – 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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states
has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.

For views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.