The mighty Dorade, restored by StFYC’s Matt Brooks, looking fine at the start of the 2013 TransPac Race. © Trans Pacific YC Fourteen boats from Divisions 7 and 8 of the 47th TransPac Race from San Pedro to 2,225-mile distant Honolulu got away on Monday in ideal conditions. More »

Sadly, the hottest action in this America’s Cup isn’t here. . . © Gilles Martin-Raget / ACEA It wasn’t too surprising that Emirates New Zealand won their second straight Louis Vuitton Series race yesterday, as for the second time in a row, theirs was the only boat on the course. More »

The schooner Niña in New Zealand prior to setting sail for Australia. © Steve Darden "My wife Dorothy and I are optimists," Steve Darden told Latitude in a telephone interview. "We believe that the pessimists will be proven wrong, and that the crew of the schooner Niña will be found safe, despite not being heard from in more than a month." More »

Hayden Brown designed and built Aldebaran, starting her in 1971. Aldebaran
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC Local sailors will be familiar with the sight of the beautiful 70-ft ‘pirate ship’ Aldebaran plying the waters of San Francisco Bay — she won last year’s Great San Francisco Schooner Race and is the official pirate boat of the Vallejo Pirate Festival — but the merry 4th of July fireworks cruise aboard the schooner came to a tragic end when she ran up on the Richmond Jetty. More »

"Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second," is supposedly the response given to Queen Victoria on August 22, 1851, when the schooner America beat 15 other yachts around the Isle of Wight to claim the first America’s Cup. More »

And then there was one. Five Mini 6.50s were set to race to Hawaii from Marina del Rey in the inaugural Mini 650 Pacific Challenge on Saturday but shortly before the start, two — Charlie Calkins on C’s Folly and Luiz Eduardo on ARG 842 — failed to qualify while Przemyslaw Karwasiecki on Libra bowed out just after the start. More »

Jeanne Socrates sailed into Victoria Harbor aboard her Najad 380 Nereida in the wee hours this morning to finish her nonstop solo circumnavigation. We’ll have a full report on her amazing accomplishment in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic. More »

Philo Hayward, rocking out on his 68th and on the 12th anniversary of his music studio/bar/restaurant. latitude/Richard
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC The plan was for Profligate to be relaunched at the Riviera Nayarit Shipyard about a week ago, and for the Wanderer and Doña de Mallorca to do a two-person Dash/Bash up to San Diego. More »

While most sailors are getting ready for casual Fourth of July fun on their boats, five Mini 6.50 sailors are amping up for the July 6 start of the Mini 650 Pacific Challenge. More »

If there was a prize for fortitude it would have gone to the San Diego-based Morgan O/I 33 Orca Suite. After the autopilot crapped out, Bill and Belinda Tackett had to hand steer for 40 days. More »