August 14, 2001

By Grzegorz | August 14, 2001

Photo of the Day

August 14 –
San Francisco

Today’s Photo of the Day is all about diversity on San Francisco
Bay. Together in one photo, from left to right, are a classic
Ranger 23, a Kronos 45 catamaran, a mid-size racer/cruiser with
a crowd of folks, and far in the distance what looks like a Swan
56.

Photo Latitude/Richard

A Big Smell Coming out of Cabo San Lucas

August 14 – Cabo San Lucas

In the August edition of Latitude
38, we had a four-page story about how the CT-65 Foxglove
III was hit by a ship June 29 some 120 miles off the coast
of Cabo San Lucas. According to skipper Rob Massuco, the ship
had motored past the sailboat and over the horizon – then turned
180 degrees and came back and ran into them, knocking down both
masts and smashing in the bow. The captain of the ship claims
that they returned because the ketch had issued an SOS – something
Foxglove’s skipper denies.

Photo Courtesy Rob Massuco

Initially, it sounded like a strange-but-true
case of a yacht being the victim of the ship. Since then, however,
anonymous sources tell us that Foxglove III has taken
on a Gary Condit quality – meaning that a number of people are
beginning to suspect that there’s a whole lot more to the story
than has been told. Something stinks in Cabo, we’re told, and
it may not be just the bait tank that somebody forgot to clean
out. Expect to hear a lot more about this incident.

J/24 Nationals

August 14 – San Francisco Bay

Defending champion Chris Snow and his crew Andrew Kerr, Nick
van der Wense, Dave Kurt and Bart Hackworth sailed Bogus
to honors in the Audi J/24 Nationals held on San Francisco Bay.
We’ll have details in the September Latitude,
but here’s some of what it looked like on the water on Sunday.

Winning boat Bogus on a run

Photos Latitude/Rob

Fast Fastnet, but no Record

August 14 – Cowes, UK

Francis Joyon and his crew aboard the 60-ft Nigel Iron’s trimaran
are the only finishers so far in the 608-mile Rolex Fastnet Race,
which takes the fleet from Cowes, England, to just off Ireland,
then back. Having finished in one day and 18 hours, they were
several hours off the record set in the last Fastnet by a sistership.
They would have claimed a new record had the winds not gone light
at the finish. It’s the third win in a row for Joyon, who last
summer won the Europe 1 New Man Star despite being a major underdog,
and more recently took fleet honors while setting a new record
in the Hoya Round the Island (of Wight) Race.

Although there have been more than 25 dropouts because of early
heavy weather on the nose, most of the other 200 boats are still
on the course. Leaders at Fastnet Rock were the Agnelli family’s
92-ft Stealth, Hasso Plattner’s R/P 84 Morning Glory,
the 80-ft Nicorette, and John Kostecki with the Volvo
60 illbruck. For details, visit www.rorc.org.
For great photos, visit www.madforsailing.com.

Ha-Ha Entries 51 through 60

August 14 – Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

The folks at the Ha-Ha tell us that they’ve sent out more than
180 of the 200 entry packs for this year’s event, so if you’re
planning on going, you’d better request one now. Send $15 and
a self-addressed 9×12 envelope to Baja Ha-Ha, Inc., 21 Apollo
Road, Tiburon CA 94920. If you need more information, see www.baja-haha.com, but don’t
call because there’s no phone.

Here are entries 51 through 60:

51) Vivace / MacGregor 65 / Ron
Milton / Los Altos
52) Profligate / Surfin’ 63 Cat / Joe Viagra & the
Lucky Stiffs / Tiburon
53) Fruitcakes / Catalina 42 / Steve & Angelina Phillips
/ Napa
54) Blarney3 / Morgan 38 / Adam Sadeg / Alameda
55) Seacure / Aries 32 / William Sturgeon / Dana Point
56) Hook / CT-41 / Fred Snow / Two Harbors, Catalina
57) Ursa / Cascade 36 / Chuck Fisher and Karen Jacobson
/ Lake Oswego, OR
58) Tini Apa / Custom 36 / Robert & Trudy Lindsay
/ Hilo, HI
59) Sheet Music / Caliber 38 / Jerry & Sally Swalling
/ Mukilteo, WA
60) The Great Escape / Catalina 400 / Duey & Nan Englehardt
/ Moss Landing

The entry deadline for the Ha-Ha is September
10. All entries after that date pay double the normal $250 entry
fee.

YOTREPS

August 14 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace

Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS –
‘yacht reports’ – at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/

Weather Updates

August 14 – 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/.

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/stuff/southwest/swstmap.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 another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.

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