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Photos of the Day

April 21 - Istanbul, Turkey

Today's Photo of the Day is of a worker atop one of the three masts on Tom Perkins' 287-ft Maltese Falcon, which was just launched in Istanbul, Turkey. As you'll recall, the Belvedere resident's yacht with the ultra unique rig will be the largest private sailing yacht in the world. To give you a better idea of how big she is, Perkins reports that when anchored at a regatta and showing off with all her dress flags and battle flag with the Falcon logo flying from the foremast, the sail area of the flags alone will exceed - by 50% - the upwind sail area of an America's Cup boat!

Hey, wait a minute - we've just digitally zoomed in on the Photo of the Day and can tell that's no Turkish worker atop Falcon's mast, but Perkins himself! We've got to hand it to him, being atop such a rig - check out the size of the crane in the second photo - when past the age of 70 it takes more than money, it takes cojones.

The third photo is of one of Falcon's three unique carbon fiber masts as it lays on the ground. Wild, isn't it? The fourth photo is of the bottom of the rotating mast with all the wiring coming out the bottom.


Photos Courtesy Tom Perkins
 


Sailor Reported Killed Aboard Powerboat at Mag Bay

April 21 - Bahia Magdalena, BCS

"On Wednesday we heard that the Charlotte B, a 67-ft Nordhavn trawler, was having problems doing the Baja Bash near Mag Bay," reports Axel Heller of La Paz. "The report was that one person had been injured and that the Mexican Navy was responding. This morning the news was worse - the Charlotte B had somehow been lost on the rocks, one person had died, and the remaining four crew had been air-lifted out. The crewmember who was lost was reportedly from a sailboat berthed at Marina Palmira in La Paz. It's unclear how the boat went onto the rocks, but the wind was reportedly blowing 35 knots or more, and the seas were rough."

Axel gave us a partial name of the crewmember believed to have been lost, but until we can get a confirmation, we're not going to report it.


Baja Ha-Ha Reunion at the Latitude Booth at Strictly Sail Pacific Tonight at 6 P.M.

April 21 - Oakland

We want to see you there! The show, of course, is at Jack London Square in downtown Oakland. We haven't been yet, but from all reports it's a good one. Until tonight . . .


The Maxi Tri Geronimo Continues on her Tear Across the Pacific

April 21 - Pacific Ocean

How does 3,178 miles in seven days sound to you? Alas, she still has 2,344 miles to go to Yokohama, as not all of her 500-mile days are 500 miles toward her final destination.


Things Are Going Great, Thanks

April 21 - Mexico

We've been having semi-regular reports on Liz Clark, the young lady from Santa Barbara who took off on a surfing safari under sail aboard her Santa Barbara-based Cal 40 Swell. How are things going in Mexico? Well, let's let the photos tell the story. The horizontal shot above shows the kind of cold water surfing the former collegiate surfing champion was getting on the Baja coast. You never find Rincon that uncrowded, do you?

The second shot is of Liz jammin' in the much warmer waters of mainland Mexico. As for the third shot, you've just got to get into the water even when the surf is flat.


Photos Shannon Switzer


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