April 11, 2003

Photos of the Day: Dueling Turtles

April 11 – Bitter End, BVI

Match racing, as anyone who has done it
can tell you, is an absolute blast. It doesn’t matter if it’s
in IACC boats, Farr 40s, Catalina 37s (see below) or remote-controlled
pond toys, as long as the two boats are evenly matched.

The accompanying pictures, taken at the
Bitter End YC during a layday in last week’s BVI Spring Regatta
and Sailing Festival, are a case in point. With all the resort’s
‘real’ dinghies (Lasers, Hobie Waves, Rhodes 19s, etc.) already
checked out for the afternoon dinghy races, these four guys scraped
around the waterfront and came up with a pair of Optis.

Armed with movable ballast (Heineken cans)
and spinnakers (wind scoops off the BEYC’s Freedom 30s), they
happily sailed out into the North Sound to do battle.

The younger crew (green kite), obviously
future rockstar material, even flew a battle flag en route to
the starting line, and was followed around by what appeared to
be their coach and shoreside team in an inflatable (see photo
at top right). They earned lots of style points for this, but
when the racing started, the older and possibly more sober guys
(red/blue kite) took them to the cleaners.

Pre-start maneuvers consisted primarily
of guzzling beer and bailing, rather than the customary circling.
When the gun went off, it took about five minutes before the
first boat (red/blue) lumbered across the line, earning a sarcastic
cheer and round of applause from the spectator fleet. Twenty
minutes later, ‘Rocket Turtle 2’ had competed the quarter-mile
windward-leeward course, easily beating their sistership – not
that anyone was really keeping score.

It was a vintage Bitter End moment, highly
entertaining for all. Maybe you had to be there.

Crew List Party Offers Something for Everyone

April 11 – San Francisco

Mixing and mingling was the name of the
game at Latitude 38’s spring Crew List Party, held Wednesday
at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club. As in years past,
this casual shindig served different purposes for different folks.

Some came simply to reconnect with old
friends, while others had serious agendas, such as the captain
who needed crew for a Fiji to New Zealand crossing. Typically,
there were would-be crew members with all levels of experience,
from neophyte sailors to seasoned ocean voyagers. And there was
no shortage of captains-in-need who were eager to interview them.
If you missed out on the fun, make note that Latitude’s
Mexico-only Crew List Party is scheduled for October 1 at Alameda’s
Encinal YC.

The crew lists themselves are available
in the March issue (racing only) and April issue (everything
else) of Latitude
38 and on our Crew
List Web pages.

14-0 Isn’t All That Easy for Brady

April 11 – Long Beach

Rich Roberts reports from SoCal:

When Sean Clarkson says, “It was a
tough day,” how does everybody else in the Long Beach Yacht
Club’s 39th Congressional Cup feel?

Clarkson, the pitman on Gavin Brady’s boat,
was making the point that Team Beau Geste running its unbeaten
record to 14 wins Thursday wasn’t as easy as it might sound.

Brady was behind in all four races, starting
with an OCS (premature start) in the day’s opener against Scott
Dickson of Long Beach and ending with a 12-second win over Jes
Gram-Hansen.

Brady also broke the hearts of Britain’s
Chris Law and Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg along the way.

“We had some huge comebacks,”
Clarkson said. “When it’s shifty you have to be patient.”

And it’s easier to be patient when the
pressure’s off. Brady maintained his four-match lead over Australia’s
James Spithill, who also swept his slate to stand at 10-4 – the
only other winning record.

The dogfight for the other two places in
the semifinals is Friday. Ken Read, of Newport, RI, won three
of four to tie Italy’s Paolo Cian at 7-7, followed by Dickson,
Law and Holmberg at 6-8. Gram-Hansen and his Scandinavian countryman,
Jesper Radich, are ranked 1-2 on the Swedish Match Tour scoreboard
but are struggling at 5-9, followed by France’s Luc Pillot at
4-10.

The race committee plans to run only three
of the last four flights Friday, saving the 18th and last for
Saturday preceding the best-of-three semifinals and finals.

Winds were steady but light Thursday, teasing
the sailors with a sunny 6-8 knots that included a built-in 40-degree
shift to the right through the afternoon.

Clarkson and Brady, products of the Royal
New Zealand Yacht Squadron youth program, have been sailing together
for about 14 years, and this week they are back with other Kiwi
mates after spending the last couple of years with Prada’s America’s
Cup campaign.

“The boys are just having fun,”
Clarkson said. “When you’re having fun there’s no pressure.”

Brady offered a different insight. “I
noticed that Sean, who is one of the fittest guys here, was sweating
all day,” Brady said.

But Brady also appeared to be relaxed,
steering from a seat on the rail much of the time while his rivals
wrestled the Catalina 37s standing up.

His best moments Thursday were the comeback
against Dickson and a classic door slam against Law at the committee
boat before the start. Law started 15 seconds behind but still
managed to lead at the first windward mark.

Congressional Cup spectators on Belmont Pier have front-row seats
for pre-start jousting between Luc Pillot (2) and Paulo Cian.

Gavin Brady circles back to restart after mistiming the start
against Scott Dickson.

Above and below: Chris Law, under pressure from Gavin Brady,
runs out of room behind the committee boat and had to circle
back the wrong way to start.

James Spithill bears down on Jes Gram-Hansen, who is trying to
complete a penalty turn at the finish line. Spithill won the
race.
All Photos Rich Roberts

“[Brady] fell behind in some [spectator]
boat wakes,” Law said. “That was tough for him.”

Brady finished no better than bow to bow
with Holmberg in his last race, but the Swede still owed a penalty
turn from a pre-start foul.

Read, with a 3-1 day, will face Law, Brady
and Radich today, while Dickson meets Spithill, Gram-Hansen and
Law. After a 2-2 day, he is clearly on the bubble.

The Congressional Cup again is being sailed
on the Catalina 37 sloops built for the event. A short windward-leeward
race course is set adjacent to Belmont Pier, where spectators
are welcome.

The event is being broadcast live on local
810 AM radio each day. The broadcasts are fed simultaneously
to Long Beach City College’s Web site, klbc.org, which is available to anyone with
access to the Internet.

Also, about 15 minutes of edited streaming
video highlights are posted on the LBYC Web site, www.lbyc.org, every night.

What Did Saddam Sail?

April 11 – Basra, Iraq

Saddam Hussein’s yacht, photographed on
the Shatt al-al Arab waterway in Basra, appears to be a war casualty.
At one time Hussein reportedly had five private yachts over 200
feet long, most on lakes in Iraq.

Compass for the Blind

April 11 – London, UK

A British technology breakthrough will
help blind people navigate at sea.

Vicki Sheen, one of the winners of the
World Blind Sailing Championships, explained that the pinpoint
accurate audio compass is “a big breakthrough for blind
and partially sighted sailors – or those who fancy trying. It
makes sailing safer and more accessible.”

Medal winner Sheen was presented with one
of compasses by HRH Princess Royal (Princess Anne), patron of
the Royal Yacht Association’s Sailability initiative, at the
Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, in London on April 10.

Marine technology company Tacktick created
the Audio Compass after it was approached by RYA Sailability,
which was looking for affordable ways to help blind and partially
sighted sailors.

Clive Clifford, Chief Executive of RYA
Sailability, said: “Sailing is a sport and recreational
activity for all, regardless of disability. We are very happy
that a British technology firm has helped make sailing possible
for thousands more.”

Clive Johnson, Joint Managing Director
of Tacktick, added: “The new system will enable blind sailors
to be as effective sailors as those with 20:20 vision. This is
a breakthrough for the visually impaired, and we are pleased
to have played a part in improving their lives.”

RYA Sailability enables blind and other
disabled people to sail at venues across the UK. The audio compass
is just one highlight of a British drive launched this week to
get blind and partially sighted people sailing.

YOTREPS

April 11 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.

Weather Updates

April 11 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

To see what the winds are like on the Bay
and just outside the Gate right now, check out http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind.

The National Weather Service site for San
Francisco Bay is at www.wrh.noaa.gov/Monterey.

California Coast Weather

Looking for current as well as recent wind
and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena
and the Mexican border? Here’s the place – which has further
links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Southwest.shtml.

Pacific Winds and Pressure

The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric
pressure and winds.

Pacific Sea State

Check out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

For views of sea states anywhere in the world,
see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.