April 12, 2002

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Photos of the Day April 12 – British Virgin Islands Roy Disney and Pyewacket – as well as our Andy Turpin – were just down in the British Virgin Islands for the lovely sailing that is the BVI Spring Regatta. Check out the conditions in our Photos of the Day. Complete coverage of the Spring Regatta in the May edition of Latitude 38. Photos Latitude/Andy

The Sea Urchin shops provided a sexy fashion show at the end of the regatta. Notice the impressionable young minds in the front row.

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12 Feet Off April 12 – St. Barts “They all look big, don’t they?” is the response of Paul Kaplan, “your faithful Swan agent,” to the ‘big boat, little boat’ photo we ran a couple of days ago. “I remember a time, when sailing on an 80-ft boat was considered an incredible event. Today, boats in the 80-ft range are relatively commonplace. The larger boat in the April 10 ‘Lectronic Latitude is not a Swan 100, but rather a Swan 112. The first Swan 100 isn’t due to launch until late this year. This boat is going to be named Red Sky, after the owner’s current Swan 68. She’ll be red, like the present boat, but that’s where the similarities will end. The new Red Sky has a carbon mast, pre-preg carbon deck and cored bulkheads and will weigh approximately 100,000 pounds less than her big sister, the 112. This boat is set up to be sailed with a very small crew with all sails leading to captive winches.” The photo below is of the outer anchorage at Gustavia, St. Barts, during the first week of this year. Many of the boats in the photo are over 80 feet. Photo Latitude/Richard

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Volvo Leg Six to Start Sunday April 14 – Miami, FL Marin County sailors John Kostecki and Mark Rudiger take off Sunday on the Miami to Baltimore Leg Six of the Volvo Around the World Race. Skipper Kostecki and his German entry illbruck continue to lead the stellar international field with 36 points, while Assa Abloy, with Rudiger as co-skipper, is in second with 28 points. It’s Kostecki’s event to lose, but he’s been cool under pressure so far, both on the boat and off. Miami schools visit the Volvo Ocean Race Village: Kiara Estelles from Meadowlane Elementary gets her feet wet trying out the Assa Abloy steering wheel. Photo Marion Brennan

Fitting the mainsail to Amer Sports Too at the dock in Miami. Photo Paul Todd/Outside Images NZ

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Spring Crew List Party April 12 – San Francisco If you missed Latitude’s Spring Crew List Party at the Golden Gate YC in San Francisco last night, you missed a jam-packed club full of networking sailors. Among the 300 people there were lots of new faces and a lot of younger sailors. If you were at the club and didn’t get offers for lots of rides, or didn’t find lots of folks looking for crew, you must have been in a coma. Among those we saw there were Hall Palmer, who was hoping to start the Eastern Med Rally shortly with his Farr-designed Beneteau 51. But with the unpleasantness in Israel, he may head east for the Corinth Canal instead. When this spinnaker blew up on a race, this resourceful sailor “just knew there was a ball gown in it.”

Sal’s Inflatables provided a demonstration of an inflatable liferaft. Here, a party guest pulls the cord. Once inflated, the liferaft became a party spot of its own. Photo at Left Latitude/Andy; Photos Above Latitude/Annie

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Adieu to the Southern Ocean April 12 – Cape Horn Bruno Peyron and the maxi cat Orange are about to round Cape Horn and begin streaking up the Atlantic on their return to France in their quest for a Jules Verne Around the World Record. And barring a disaster, the record should become theirs, as they are currently four days ahead of Sport Elec’s record pace. And this despite less than ideal conditions during their long time in the Southern Ocean. The simple fact is that today’s maxi multihulls are so much faster than those of just two years ago.

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Congo Cup Tightens Up April 12 – Long Beach If nothing changes, Peter Holmberg, Ken Read, Dean Barker, and Scott Dickson – who is Scott Dickson? – will be in the semifinals of the 38th Congressional Cup off Long Beach on Saturday. Trouble is, the status hasn’t been quo all week, least of all Thursday. Holmberg was humbled, Read and Barker just hung in there and Dickson was devastating. The local hope sailed back into contention by winning all four of his races, including closing victories against Holmberg, the world’s top-ranked match racer, and Barker, who leads New Zealand’s America’s Cup defense. Scott Dickson, 31, isn’t ranked, doesn’t compete on the international Swedish Match Tour, and no billionaire has hired him to sail for the America’s Cup. But with five matches remaining, he is tied with Read for second place at 8-5. They are now within reach of Holmberg (10-3), who was unbeaten in the first round robin, but slipped back to the fleet by losing his first three races. He dodged a shutout in a final shootout with Prada’s Rod Davis, who led Holmberg into the finish, but couldn’t shed a penalty he owed. Dickson’s older brother Chris should be proud. He probably told him so. He was standing right behind him all day, calling tactics and watching Scott, 10 years his junior, handle some of the planet’s top sailors the way Chris did in the days when he was ranked No. 1 and won a couple of Congressional Cups. “Chris is phenomenal,” Scott said. “Without him we would get to a certain winning form. I worked real hard to put this crew together. But with Chris you get there at turbo speed. He’s a big accelerator in getting the most out of the team.” The action in the Long Beach outer harbor may be viewed from the end of Belmont Pier, where there is commentary for spectators at no charge. Racing starts at noon each day, wind conditions permitting.