December 1, 2003

Photos of the Day: Mirabella

December 1 – Portsmouth, UK

Photos Courtesy Mirabella
V

Fun Mirabella factoids: Her lifting
keel weighs 150 tons! Her mast and rigging weigh 31 tons!

Today’s Photos of the Day are of Joe Vittoria
on the bow of the about to be launched 245-ft Ron Holland designed
Mirabella V in Portsmouth, England, and of the magnificent
yacht just after she was launched.

My how times have changed! Many Northern
California sailors can remember when Ron Holland was a nobody,
and got his big break in the late ’70s designing the 40-ft Imp
for Belvedere’s Dave Allen. There’s no telling how many of those
would fit into the main salon of the 478-ton Mirabella.
The huge yacht, to be available for charter later this year in
the Caribbean and Med for $250,000/week, is not only the largest
sloop in the world, but will have the tallest mast. Her carbon
stick is 100 feet taller than any mast ever built before, and
would not make it under the Golden Gate Bridge by something like
80 feet. Shaking this boat and her systems down should be a real
challenge.

A Little Warmth on a December Day

December 1 –
Galapagos Islands

No doubt sensing that most ‘Lectronic readers
were damp and cold on this first day of December, Mike Harker
of the Manhattan Beach based Hunter 466 Wanderlust was
nice enough to forward this shot of Lena, one of his crew, diving
in the Galapagos Islands. As you might notice, no wetsuit was
required. Mike reports that all of his underwater shots are taken
with a Canon digital IXUS S400 in a Canon housing while he free-dives.

America’s Cup to Valencia, Spain

December 1 – Valencia, Spain

As you may have heard, the America’s Cup
has been awarded to the wild and warm Mediterranean city of Valencia,
the fourth largest city in Spain. This hotbed of recreational
activity – and nightlife – supposedly gets 12 to 17 knots of
breeze every afternoon. Some say this consistent wind is good,
others complain that the reliability will thwart lead changes.
But if anyone gets too bored, they can head up the coast to Barcelona
or to the nearby Balearic Islands. It seems to us the only thing
that could prevent the 2007 Cup from being a smashing attraction
is a possible lack of entries. Many experts feel that Alinghi
and Oracle have nearly prohibitive financial and technological
edges, and will discourage most other competitors. Especially
when the ante will be close to $100 million.

In an attempt to make the Cup more exciting,
the modified designs will displace about a ton less and have
about 8% more downwind sail area. It’s hoped this will make them
more responsive to puffs and therefore promote more lead changes.
In other changes, the number of crew will be increased to 17
and after a certain date skirts will only be permitted around
the keels.

We don’t know about the rest of you, but
these changes seem too little and too late. With boats like the
new Mari-Cha IV, the new maxi 86s, maxi cats and tris,
and even 60-ft tris that have no trouble hitting 35 knots, don’t
the AC boats seem dowdy and boring?

No Wonder Nobody Leaves La Paz

December 1 – La Paz, BCS

According to Money magazine, La
Paz, Mexico, is the fourth best place for Americans to retire.
It was noted you can get a nice three bedroom house for $100,000
and that health care was good and taxes low. No mention was made
of hurricanes or blistering summer temperatures. La Paz was the
only city outside the United States to make the top ten.

In Business News . . .

December 1 – Los Angeles

Well-known yachtsman Roy Disney of Los
Angeles hit the financial page headlines today when he stepped
down from the board of directors at Disney. That’s not such big
news in itself, as he’d reached the age of mandatory retirement.
What did cause sparks was forthright contention that for the
last seven years Michael Eisner, chairman of Disney, has done
a very poor job and should also step down.

In more pleasant news, Disney’s new canting
keel MaxZ86 should soon be in the water. She’s expected to race
in the Caribbean this winter.

Speaking of MaxZ86s, Dee Smith of Novato
sent us these photos of Hasso Plattner’s about to be launched
Morning Glory. Smith says he’s been working on the design
and construction for 18 months, and is eager to sail the boat
for the first time next week.

Photos Dee Smith

Profligate’s
Progress

Using the Globalstar satellite phone, Doña
de Mallorca reports that Profligate and crew are about
six hours from Aruba, having finally left the rough and dangerous
coast of Colombia behind them. They are currently making eight
knots in 15 knots of wind and four to six-foot seas which, as
they’ve been since Panama, are right on the nose. Between Cartagena
and Cabo Vela, where the seas are often very sloppy, their speed
was often down to four or five knots.

Map Latitude/Annie & Chris

As the crow flies, it’s about 500 more
upwind miles against a strong current to Antigua. They are now
trying to decide whether to rhumbline it across the Caribbean,
which could result in very nasty conditions and almost zero progress
if the reinforced trades kick in, or make their way to Grenada
and then up the Antilles chain. The latter is almost twice as
long, but is potentially much faster and easier.

Leaving Cabo on November 7

Hauled out at a little yard in Vocamante,
Panama, to replace the saildrives

Flamenco Marina outside of Panama City

 
What it’s looked like most of the time
Photos Sarah Owings

Latitude
Hits the Streets Today!

December 1 – San Francisco Bay Area

Photo Latitude/Annie

YOTREPS

December 1 – 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 Links

December 1 – Pacific
Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay
Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states
has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.

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