Latitude 38 February Issue Out Today

Welcome to the February issue of Latitude 38. This month we conclude our “Season Champions” series with a feature on racing with the YRA and BAMA. We examine the question “Will AI win the Pacific Cup?” We sail Down Under with the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, cruise Venezuela in the ’80s, take a look at a reed boat sailing across the Pacific, summer sailing for youths across the Bay, and much more. Here’s a preview.

Season Champs, Pt. III — YRA and BAMA

February marks the third and final edition of the Latitude 38 “Season Champions” feature, in which we highlight as many as we can of the winners from the past season. It’s the month when we really turn the page on the prior season. We look forward to the Super Bowl, midwinters wrap up, and fleets start to prepare for the “regular season.”

Will AI Win the Pacific Cup?

AI beats humans at chess, Go programming, and Jeopardy!. Is sailing next? As a Pacific Cup race board member, I wanted to share some of our thoughts about what keeps the fun in the “Fun Race to Hawaii.”

With the ability to learn over time and access wide swaths of data and convert them into an intelligible and useful format, AI has become a powerful and accessible tool in the hands of many. With Starlink, it operates offshore.

A San Francisco Yankee Visits King Charles’ Former Southern Estate

Each year in the Land Down Under, while most of the world is still trying to figure out how to install batteries in their new Christmas gadgets, an intrepid group of sailors heads south to the land of wombats for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The day after Christmas may seem a strange time to be starting a yachting competition, but the sun is up over 14 hours a day and folks from all over the world descend upon Sydney, Australia, to test their skills against some of the world’s fastest — and certainly largest — ocean-racing thoroughbreds.

Also in this month’s issue:

Letters: Cruisers Helping Communities; Blue Power for Commercial Maritime; At the Moment There Will Be No American Entry In the Next America’s Cup; Wait … Maybe There Will Be?; Vadura Memories and Threads; plus many more readers’ letters.
Sightings: Science on Sailboats with OGAP; Summer Sailing for Bay Area Kids; Crossing the Pacific on a Reed Boat; New Olympic Sailing Director Molly Vandemoer; and more.
Max Ebb: “Lunacy”
Racing Sheet: As we emerge from our winter hibernation, wrap up midwinters, and start getting ready for the season, there has still been plenty of sailing on San Francisco Bay and around California over the past month. Races to celebrate the holidays and the new year were sailed at Monterey Peninsula YC, San Diego YC and Coyote Point YC, and by the Master Mariners Benevolent Association. Richmond YC’s Small Boat Midwinters chug along. A new and familiar high school city champion is crowned. The sailing Rose Bowl was a lot more exciting than the football one. Read about all of this and more in the February Racing Sheet.
World of Chartering: “Don’t Stop Belize’n” — Chuck Skewes, the “New-Bah” who’s taking the helm for future Baja Ha-Ha’s, shares his Belize Moorings charter aboard a Leopard 4500.
Changes in Latitudes: With reports this month on Viva La Vida’s initiation into “real” cruising; Roam’s most challenging passage; the charm of the Lauducci family’s third cruising boat Luana; Keeldragger’s return home after a Pacific loop; and some fun Cruise Notes.
All the latest in sailboats and sailboat gear for sale, Classy Classifieds.

Drop in to your nearest distributor to pick up your copy of this month’s Latitude 38.

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