Skip to content

"I enjoyed reading the July issue letters about the top speeds hit by various cruising catamarans," writes John Johnson of Las Vegas, "but I’m a monohull guy and am wondering about the top speeds hit by sailors with cruising monohulls.
He’s not the type of guy who would unduly worry people with bad news, but the fact is that the great Bay Area sailor Mark ‘Rudi’ Rudiger has been battling lymphoma for several years now.
The tracks of their tears. For the first three days, the Solo TransPac racers were frustrated with light-to-no winds but the breeze has finally filled in.
Always an eclectic fleet, this year’s Solo TransPac entries include (l to r) Jeff Lebesch’s Hammerhead 54 Hecla, John Hayward’s Valiant 40 Dream Chaser and Nick Ratto’s Hawkfarm Kali O Kalani.
Thomas Coville wrestles the gennaker aboard his 105-ft trimaran Sodeb’O. With less than 200 miles to go, a building high-pressure system is throwing a wrench in Coville’s attempt to break Francis Joyon’s singlehanded West-East Transatlantic record.
At long last Gulliver the macaw is back home in the U.S. Gulliver and his furry pal Snickers the cocker spaniel were abandoned on Fanning Island last December when their owners lost their boat on the reef.
We normally don’t do ‘crew wanted’ ads for individuals, but when it comes to folks who have made circumnavigations aboard schooners they’ve restored, we make exceptions.
As luck would have it, every arrival was at night. Last night Fortaleza was greeted at the line by the commodore of the Tahiti YC and others, who welcomed the crew with an armload of cold Hinano beers.
Women’s Circuit Queen Lucie Mewes asked us to remind everyone that the 33rd Annual Silver Eagle Long-Distance Bay Race is this Saturday and it’s not too late to sign up.
Barritt, Renee, and a friend, standing beneath the Colombian flag at Cartagena, one of the many great places they’ve visited.
Doug Baker’s Andrews 80 Magnitude 80 demolished the Tahiti Race record by 3.5 days, finishing Thursday with an elapsed time of 11 days, 10 hours, 13 minutes and 18 seconds.
Since the early 1990s, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has been handling drunken boating convictions — aka BUIs — like drunken driving convictions in the sense that they’ve suspended the driver’s licenses of the offenders.
There are only a few days left before the 22 competitors in the Singlehanded TransPac start their 2,120-mile odyssey to Kauai, and they are no doubt busily putting the finishing touches on their boats and gear.
Bay Area sailors couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to celebrate our country’s independence.
A 2006 U.S. District Court ruling is forcing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a ‘discharge permit’ for every recreational boat in the U.S.
Matt and Judy Johnson of Antioch, along with their grandson Tyler, were rescued last Saturday after running their 40-ft Elsewhere onto the reef surrounding Aur Atoll in the Marshall Islands group.
Wings takes flight last Independence Day. latitude/LaDonna
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC Independence Day is one of the most popular sailing days on San Francisco Bay — hundreds of boaters take their family and friends for a great daysail in the Slot followed by a quiet picnic behind Angel Island.
Jeanne Socrates credits the 2006 Singlehanded TransPac for giving her the confidence to set off on a 15-month solo circumnavigation.
Patrick Whitmarsh, Kevin Richards and Joe Penrod won the inaugural American Sailing League Championship off Pier 39, and with it a check for $10,000.
Entries for the ‘Fabulous Fifteen’ Baja Ha-Ha have been pouring in since we decided to ‘tip-toe’ into the 21st century by offering online sign-ups at www.baja-haha.com.
In Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic, we gave a pop photo quiz asking if anyone could identify the spot in Mexico where Profligate was shown anchored.
Firefighters called to San Rafael YC around 2:50 a.m. on Monday were greeted by a flaming back deck.
A German family of three and their French skipper were sailing a small yacht across the Gulf of Aden on Monday when Somali pirates forced them off their boat, taking them into the hills behind the fishing village of Las Qoray in the Puntland region.
In Friday’s edition of ‘Lectronic Latitude, we put the word out that cruising friends of Harold Parrett were concerned about his well being as he’d not been heard from since leaving Mazatlan on June 14 aboard his Newport 30 Etheral Star.
Switlik Parachute Company, makers of Switlik life rafts, has issued a safety alert and recall on all of their liferafts.