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Photos of the Day

June 19 - San Francisco

All but one of Today's Photos of the Day were taken by Erik Simonson, and are of the first annual San Francisco Speed Sailing trials that were held on San Francisco Bay last Friday and Saturday, and attracted an eclectic collection of windsurfers, kiteboards, skiffs, multihulls, and tri-foilers. Fastest overall were boardsailors Bill Weir and Mike Percy, who each posted an average speed of 37.27 knots. That's over 40 mph!


Above Photos Erik Simonson/h2oshots.com


Photo Latitude/Herb

The last two shots are of the Prosail 40 cat Tuki, which completed 16 runs over the 500-meter course. The onboard shot was taken by Latitude's new editor, Herb McCormick from the leeward hull.

Look for a complete wrap-up in the July issue of Latitude 38.

 


First Paid Baja Ha-Ha Entries Received

June 19 - Tiburon

1) Kialoa III / S&S 79 / Sailing School of Orange Coast College / Newport Beach
2) Alaska Eagle / S&S 65 / Sailing School of Orange Coast College / Newport Beach
3) Raptor Dance / Valiant 50 / Bill Finkelstein and Mary Mack / Tiburon
4) Mykonos / Swan 44 MK II / Myron & Marina Eisenzimmer / San Geronimo
5) Three Quarter Time / Catalina 470 / Chuck & Cynthia Pfaff / Auburn
6) Gypsy Sol / Cal 34 / Jay Sousa / Merced
7) Southern Star / Island Packet 45 / Mark Rogers / Berkeley
8) Saeta / Sceptre 41 / Richard & Andrea Black / Santa Cruz
9) Mai Pen Rai / Islander 36 / Noble Brown II / Benicia
10) Ladyhawke / Mariner 50 / Mike & MaryLyn Morehouse / Santa Cruz
11) Voyager II / Norseman 447 / C. Wayne Rafliff / San Luis Obispo

Because they are legends of sailing, Baja Ha-Ha Honcho gave Kialoa III and Alaska Eagle the honorary first two slots. We were chuffed, however, to learn that the next two spots were claimed by Ha-Ha vets. Entry #4, the Eisenzimmers, wrote, "This will be our third Ha-Ha, as we had a blast on the other two. It's amazingly fun what can and does happen at the stops at Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria. We're looking forward to meeting a whole new group of cruisers."


Beach party at Turtle Bay
Photo Latitude/Andy


Their Med Voyage All Started with the '00 Ha-Ha

June 19 - Kos, Greece

"We've finally made it to the island of Kos, Greece, and can see Turkey 20 miles in the distance," report Doug and Judy Decker of the San Diego-based Beneteau 37.5 Limerance. "We're a long way from San Diego, where we started our long cruise with the Baja Ha-Ha in 2000. We passed through the Corinth Canal about 10 days ago. It cost us $147E for our 37-ft boat. Ours is a smaller - but elegant - cruising yacht, and we love the small size when we're going into dinky little ancient French and Italian ports!"


After a couple of years cruising on the Pacific Coast and in the Caribbean, the Deckers had their boat shipped to the Med.

Having been through the Corinth Canal with our Big O some 10 years ago, we remember that the roadway bridge, at least on the Corinth end of the canal, lowered beneath the surface - rather than lifting or turning - so vessels could enter the canal. This seems absurd, and for the last few years we've began to question our recollection of how that roadway works. So we asked the Deckers to report back to us.

"The bridges - there are two - in fact do sink down into the canal, permitting vessels to enter the canal by crossing over the top. There are huge overhead bridges, but there is plenty of clearance beneath them."


The Corinth Canal really is skinny, and parts of the walls are covered with paint scraped from the sides of ships.
Photos Courtesy the Deckers


Volvo Commits to 2008 Race, Cayard Leads Fleet Home

June 19 - Gotenburg, Sweden

On a beautiful weekend day that brought thousands of spectators to Gotenburg, Sweden, waterfront, Kentfield's Paul Cayard and his crew aboard Pirates of the Caribbean wrapped up a come-from-behind victory on Saturday to win the ninth and final leg of the eventful 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. The Pirates' victory ­ a narrow 4 minutes, 50 seconds ahead of ABN Amro Two ­ enabled them to secure a second place overall in the grueling event, a remarkable achievement considering that Cayard's boat was the last to be launched and he was playing catch-up from the word go. "We were one of the most consistent boats with 11 podium places," he said. "That's smart sailing."


A happy Paul Cayard after winning Leg 9
Photo Paul Todd/www.volvooceanrace.org

To say that Northern California was well represented in this edition of the Volvo would be a huge understatement. Though ABN Amro One finished last on Leg 9, they'd already sealed up the overall victory two legs ago, in large measure due to the navigational prowess of none other than the Bay's own Stan Honey - perhaps his greatest achievement in a remarkable ocean-racing career.

After weeks of speculation on the race's future, Volvo also announced that they were on board to sponsor the event's next running, in 2008-09. Though details haven't been finalized, one of the big surprises is that the race course will likely include stopovers in Asia and the Middle East, and may avoid the wild Southern Ocean altogether - which was the reason it was founded in the first place. Moreover, race organizers are considering a California layover, which would be a first. Details should be forthcoming in the next few days.

Would a San Francisco leg persuade Cayard to take a third swing at the Volvo, or convince Honey to come back to defend the title? Stay tuned.


Paul Cayard's Perfect Weekend

June 19 - Southern Marin

People who know how much we read and write often ask us what we do in our spare time. Besides sailing, we love to read - and there's nothing we love to read more than the Financial Times, which for some reason is printed on pink newsprint. If you don't read the Financial Times, there's no way you can possibly know what the hell is going on in the world politically and economically. The Economist sort of does the same thing, but is boring and doesn't know how to have fun like the F.T.

The best part of the Financial Times is the Weekend Edition, which always has great articles and unusual interviews - the latter conducted over lunch - with noteworthy people you've probably never heard of. It also features lots of cleverly written columns on every aspect of life but the political and economic, and all from a worldly wise perspective.

About once a month, the Weekend Edition includes a glossy magazine called How To Spend It, which is geared toward the super rich. Entirely in keeping with the F.T.'s sense of fun, each month there is an entire feature in the magazine devoted to mocking and skewering the super rich - such as those who have real grass tennis courts installed on their megayachts, but don't know how to play tennis.

On the inside back page of each How To Spend It is an article titled the Perfect Weekend. These are written by people who live unusual lives, and simply describe their perfect weekend. It just so happened that last weekend's How To Spend It Perfect Weekend author was none other than Paul Cayard of Marin County, known to most sailors as the skipper of The Black Pearl in the Volvo, for having won the Whitbread eight years ago, for having been in countless America's Cups, for having competed in the most recent Olympics, etc., etc. We can't offer you any proof, but we're certain that Cayard - like sailmaker Lowell North 15 years before him - is much more famous in Europe than he is in the United States.


Cayard's Perfect Weekend Feature in How To Spend It.
Photo Latitude/Annie

You're going to somehow have to get a copy of last week's How To Spend It in order to find out how Cayard does spend a perfect weekend, but we will tell you that you might bump into him at Piazza D'Angelo, which is right up the street from our office in Mill Valley, the Silver Peso Bar in Larkspur, which is also a popular hangout with Marin kids home after their stints at university, and Sam's Anchor Cafe in Tiburon.


Cayard's favorite restaurant is across the street from the Depot Plaza in Mill Valley.
Photo Latitude/Richard

Paul Cayard - my hasn't he done well? The best thing about it is that he's done well based on skill and achievement, not having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A tip of the Latitude hat to him.


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