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Photos of the Day

February 20 - Caribbean

Today's Photo of the Day is of six-year-old Tiki Green, daughter of Jim and Anna Green of the 9-Meter Tango II, an inshore racing boat launched in 1950 that Jim sailed around the world three times. How does the arrival of a child affect the sailing lives of circumnavigators like Jim and Anna? It turns them as upside down as Tiki is in this photo, hanging from the dodger of Tango II. For details, check out our interview with the Greens in the March issue of Latitude 38.

The other two photos are of the Greens in the cockpit of Tango II - which had been buried for years prior to her launch in Norway to prevent the Nazis from finding her - and of the low-riding Tango II on the hook in the Caribbean.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Frosty Jack Frost

February 20 - East Bay

The coldest weather so far this midwinter season was predicted for the past weekend. These photos are from Encinal YC's Jack Frost series. The name seemed apt.

The crews of the Melges 24 Tinseltown Rebellion and the Antrim 27 Max model the day's fashions: fuzzy hats and full foulies. Both T-Reb and Max are topping their one design divisions.

"It was an interesting day," commented EYC Rear Commodore Charles Hodgkins, "nowhere near as bad as the weather forecast. The wind started from the SE at about 12 kts. Just before we were going to get the first race underway, it clocked around almost 100 degrees to come from the WNW. So we had to postpone and pick everything up and reset. We were ready to go at 12:40. The first race went well, and we sent them up and back, real short in case the weather turned nasty. We managed to get everyone finished and start a second race. It was during this race that the wind changed again. It disappeared! Or almost. Still, we managed to get everyone across the finish line. All in all, a typical winter racing day."

A trio of Express 27s set their poles.

The J/35 Stray Cat Blues prepares to hoist their spinnaker.

J/35 owner Bob George and Hobie 33 owner Grant Hayes appear to have similar taste in spinnaker colors. George's Kiri is in first place in the PHRF A standings.

On the horizon behind the Olson 25 Samba, you can see the Corinthian Midwinter fleet.
Photos Latitude/JR, who commented on the luminescent quality of light, despite the heavy overcast.

We'll have a feature story on the Jack Frost series in the March issue of Latitude 38. For results, see www.encinal.org/2006_racing_program.html.

"The Best Three Weeks of Our Lives"

February 20 - Wellington, New Zealand

The Volvo 70 fleet left Wellington on the fourth leg of their around the world race. This one will take them deep into the Southern Ocean - although two gates have been put in place to try to keep the boats from going so far south that they risk hitting icebergs - where it's anticipated they'll 'enjoy' the wildest and fastest sailing of the race.

Cayard waves good-bye to Wellington.
Photo Robin Britton

Pirates of the Caribbean was the first boat across the starting line, with Paul Cayard at the helm. There are a lot of great sailors in the world, but is anybody as good at so many different aspects of sailing as Cayard? He's proven himself to be in the elite in everything from Stars, to one design keel boats, to the America's Cup - and then stunned everybody by winning the Whitbread. And now, he's taken a very late entry in the Volvo, and despite drastic setbacks and adversity, has demonstrated tremendous leadership while keeping the boat in the running. Our admiration for his talent grows with every passing day. And by the way, here's his first report of this leg:

"We had a great start on the Pearl and we are out of there! It is always fun to win the start of these offshore legs even if it probably doesn't mean much over the three weeks that we have ahead of us. But it is the time when you are in front of the public, television, etc., and everyone is cheering, the spectator boats are trying to keep up and with a spectacular back drop like Wellington harbor, I am sure the photos will be special.

Leg 4 start
Photo Oskar Kihlborg

"It was a reaching start where we managed to hit the line at full speed, roll our competitors and lead the entire way on a short lap around Wellington Harbor. The wind was gusting up to 20 knots as we planed down the entrance of the Bay, a good show for sure for the very knowledgeable and appreciative Kiwi public.

"The good start was extra nice for the Pirates as the last 24 hours has been quite a scramble for us. One of our bow men, Curtis Blewett, got injured on leg 3 and went straight to the hospital for X-rays on our arrival Thursday. He underwent a series of treatments and injections to try to make it for this leg(his favorite), but early yesterday afternoon, his doctor told him he should not go. Being in a bind, we made a few calls to some of our Kiwi friends up island to see if they would help us out but they were not able to.

"At 17:00 we made the decision to take our sailmaker, Jeremy Smith. He had a bit on to meet the Volvo medical requirements, and we submitted his paperwork and received approval from the Race Committee for the substitution. Jeremy will do a great job, and it is breaks like this that can change a career for a young sailor like Jeremy, so I am glad he was able to step in.

Jeremy Smith aboard The Black Pearl in leg 4
Photo Pirates of the Caribbean
All Photos Courtesy www.volvooceanrace.org

"We are currently about 30 miles off the southwestern cape of the North Island of New Zealand. We went through a transition in the wind shadow caused by the high mountains, but now we are moving at 20 knots again. We took the 'corner' wider than ABN AMRO One, our closest competitor and Brasil 1 and ABN AMRO Two tried to cut the corner as well. We have gained a lot on all of them. Ericsson has made a strong move to the southwest, staying out of the transition for longer, and that could pay off nicely for them.

"We are settling in now, starting our watches, cooking our first meal, stacking the boat with everything to port. The forecast is for 17-20 knots of wind, initially from 020 then backing to 345 over the next 30 hours or so. We have to sail around a high pressure system that is to our east so we are sailing a bit more southerly than we might otherwise sail.

"The mood on board is good and we are settling in for three of the best weeks of our lives, ones we will surely never forget!"