'Lectronic Index

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Photos of the Day: Master Mariners Regatta

June 1 - San Francisco Bay

Sunda leads Odyssey and Pegasus around Blackaller Buoy

Today's Photos of the Day are from last Saturday's terrific Master Mariner's Race on San Francisco Bay, where the sun shone and the wind blew over mostly reaching courses between 15 and 17.1 miles. Fifty-eight classics of all types started, and all but seven gutted it out.

Gaslight

The winners were as follows:
Bird class: Polly, Stephen Gort; Big Schooner: Gaslight, Billy Martinelli; Gaff 1: Brigadoon, Terry Klaus; Gaff 2: Pearl, Nick Haines; Marconi 1: Barbara, Bobert Klemmedson; Marconi 2: Unda, Dean Gurke; L-36: Leda II, David James; Marconi 3: Makai, William Thompson; Marconi 4: Trigger, Alice Merrill; and Ocean: Odyssey, Audrey Burnand.

Congratulations to all participants for looking so good!

Riding the bow on Pegasus

Struggle at the windward mark

Regulus

Volunteer

Yankee on the clubhouse reach

On the last leg

Brigadoon holds a narrow lead over Yankee down the homestretch.
Photo Latitude/JR & Richard

Mari-Cha IV Breaks 100-Year Old Transatlantic Record

June 1 - The Lizard, UK

Mari-Cha IV after the finish

Robert Miller's 140-ft modern carbon fiber schooner Mari-Cha IV has just crossed the finish line for the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, breaking Charlie Barr's 100-year-old record with the schooner Atlantic. Miller and crew covered the 2,925-mile course in 9 days and 15 hours at an average of 12.61 knots, breaking the old mark by more than two days. Miller said this was by far Mari-Cha's roughest Atlantic crossing, and it was very hard on the boat and crew.

Indeed, it's been a rough race for the entire 20-boat fleet, and some of those still on the course are still getting hammered. Hot on the heels of Mari-Cha was the new 100-ft Kiwi boat Maximus, whose co-owner suffered a broken collarbone in the hard going. For more, see www.nyyc.org.

Halyard failure aboard Drumbeat
Photos Latitude Archives

New Focus Looking for Crew from Polynesia to Hawaii to Northwest

June 1 - Raiatea, French Polynesia

Paul Biery of the Northern California-based Catana 431 cat New Focus has done 6,600 miles of "mostly great sailing" from San Francisco to Mexico to French Polynesia, and is now looking for a couple of crew for the legs to Hawaii and the Northwest. Biery has done three Ha-Has, a couple of Baja Bashes, and crewed on Profligate for the 4,000-mile trip from Cabo to the West Indies. And while we haven't sailed with Biery on his boat, we can assure you that his cat and her systems will be in as near perfect condition as possible.

"We've been having great time here in paradise. We have anchored at various spots around Raiatea, and have found it very easy to set and pull anchor. Yesterday we moved during a hard, warm rain, and then anchored, washed the boat - and let the rain gods rinse it! The boat looks great this morning. We're surprised that there is apparently less wildlife here than around Mexico. We've seen very few fish jumping, birds flying - and hardly any bugs.

"As for the trip to Hawaii, it's about 2,350 miles and we may stop at some of the deserted islands on the way. I figure on about 16 to 20 days for the passage. After a short time in Hawaii, we'll continue on to the San Juans."

New Course for SSS's In-the-Bay Race

June 1 - Tiburon

If you act quickly - like today - you can still sign up for Saturday's singlehanded or doublehanded 17-mile In-the-Bay Race put on by the Singlehanded Sailing Society. It's one of our three favorite races on the Bay - along with the Midnight Moonlight Marathon and Silver Eagle. From the looks of things, some multihull sailors must have bribed the race organizers to change the course, for this year's version features mostly reaching with a relatively short weather leg. Basically, you sail from the Corinthian YC to SBC Park, to Southampton, and upwind to a finish at the Corinthian. Plus the start isn't until about noon. Go to www.sfbaysss.org, and get your entry in.