February 1, 2001

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Photo of the Day

February 1 – Banderas Bay, Mexico

“Red sky at night, sailors’ delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” We took this photo while at anchor off Punta Mita, Banderas Bay, Mexico, last week, during our quick trip south to check to see that the ocean was still blue and the sun still warm in mañanaland. The ocean was still blue – and chock ‘a block with whales – and the sun was still warm. But as for the “red sky at morning” warning, baloney! Despite the brilliant red sky, it turned out to be yet another beautiful day off mainland Mexico.

Red Sky at Morning Photo Latitude/Richard

Yo Ho Ho, and a Bottle of Rum!

February 1 – Mill Valley to Mexico

It’s sundowner time aboard ‘Profligate’ in tropical Mexico. So there’s guacamole and chips with extra hot sauce and limes. Doña de Mallorca has her bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir out, while the Wanderer would be sipping some ‘Extra Old’ – in more ways than one – Mt. Gay Dark Rum. Which brings to mind a mildly amusing story about the rum. A few months ago we were visiting with the legendary Warwick ‘Commodore’ Tompkins, as he was rummaging around a decade’s worth of sailing bits and pieces in the garage of his Mill Valley home. As we poked around the stuff, he’d say stuff like, “You want some of those shackles? They’re left over from the St. Francis Six Meter campaigns.” The stuff was always the wrong size or something we didn’t need, so we declined. Then we saw a dust drenched bottle of dark liquid in the back recesses of the garage where the spider webs were thick. As we looked closer, it was a bottle of something we’d never seen before: Mt. Gay Extra Old Dark Rum. Mt. Gay light rum, of course, is a staple at sailing events around the world, but we’d never seen the dark stuff. Upon closer inspection, the Old Dark was described as being made up of “old and older rums,” some of which were twice distilled. Whatever that meant. We asked Commodore how long the bottle had been there. “I don’t know, maybe 20 or 30 years,” he replied. Commodore, as you may have guessed, is not a big drinker. “The heck with Six Meter shackles, can we have the bottle of rum?” He said sure.

Still Life with Sundowners Photo Latitude/Richard The decade’s worth of dust over the not very modern label was really cool looking, so it was with great care that we brought it back to our office. We gently set the dusty bottle of rum on our shelf for all to admire. But you know what happens to the best made plans of mice and men, don’t you? Yes, a week or so later the cleaning guy came by . . . and wiped away the decades of dust on the bottle we’d treasured so much! After we got done cursing, we figured we might as well take the bottle down to the boat and drink it. Which is what we’re in the process of doing. We drink more than Commodore, but we’re not big drinkers either. At least not on a regular basis. Anyway, the stuff tastes really good – so good that we’d like to find some more. Anybody know where to get Mt. Gay ‘Extra Old’ Dark Rum?

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Racing

The Race Update

February 1 – Southern Ocean

“Ten years from now there will be huge multihulls skimming
across the oceans at 40 knots and more, and we’ll chuckle at how
primitive current boats such as ‘PlayStation’ and ‘Club Med’ will
look – as they take tourists out on day charters.” So said
Stan Honey, navigator of ‘PlayStation’, during a phone conversation
with ‘Lectronic Latitude yesterday. Honey admits to be very frustrated
at ‘PlayStation’ having to drop out of The Race because of sail
problems, but is looking forward to the boat’s assault on the
TransAtlantic record this summer. Honey thinks there will be lots
more maxi multihull ocean racing in the future, and but that it’s
entirely different from world class monohull racing, where the
competitive edge is so narrow and the boats sail so much closer
together. Meanwhile, in the Southern Ocean . . .

At noon today the ‘Club Med’ catamaran led The Race by over
820 miles and was just 150 miles from Cape Farewell and the long
sandy peninsula that the boats must pass as they turn into the
Cook Straits. ‘Club Med’ is expected to turn the corner and sail
between the North and South Islands of New Zealand past the capital,
Wellington, from about 2000 GMT today. Skipper Grant Dalton sounded
upbeat and enthusiastic about the new sailing conditions and the
proximity to his homeland: “We are really smoking here, picked
up the perfect breeze and we are heading fast for the Cook Straits…
It has all changed very quickly. The layers of clothing are coming
off fast, the sun is out, everything feels good, we must be approaching
a nice place.”

For the first time in many thousands of miles the giant ‘Club
Med’ catamaran is sailing with all sails set, full main and the
maximum area spinnaker. Dalton was elated to steer the boat again
in this configuration after cautiously nursing the boat through
the Southern Ocean over the past 10 days: “The big kite is
up with full main set and we reached over 40 knots a few hours
ago. I was helming, and at one point it just started to go faster
and faster, and I looked down and saw the speedo hover over 40
for a bit.”

Even though the psychological relief of approaching the halfway
stage with a significant lead is everywhere, the crew aren’t resting
on their laurels. Already the next stage of The Race is firmly
in their minds. After the Cook Straits it is straight back south
again on the leg to Cape Horn: “Now that the conditions are
better, with a flatter sea and it is warmer, the ‘worker bees’
have come out and are checking every component on the boat. Sails,
deck fittings, rig, hulls and beams, everything is getting a thorough
spring cleaning and check out because we really don’t have much
time before we head back into the dirty bad South again.”
See www.clubmed.com for
more.

Meanwhile, the boys – and Elena Caputo – aboard ‘Innovation
Explorer’, 827 miles behind ‘Club Med’, haven’t decided if they’ll
make a pit-stop in New Zealand to repair a daggerboard and take
on much needed sails. But they’ll have to decide soon, as they’re
not far away. A pit-stop, of course, must be no shorter than 48
hours. A couple of days ago ‘Innovation Explorer’ had a broken
halyard atop the mast and had to send somebody aloft. The way
they do it with the big wing masts is send the guy up inside the
mast. How would you like that job while the boat is rocking down
waves at 35 knots?

Cam Lewis and ‘Team Adventure’ are currently 4,330 miles off
the pace – and having to sail upwind! It’s been problem after
problem for ‘Cowboy’ Cam, but he’s keeping the faith. If he continues
to do so, we wouldn’t be surprised if things don’t turn around
at least a little for him. After all, there’s still half the course
and half the Southern Ocean ahead of the two leaders, and anything
could happen. Interestingly enough, a few days back Skip Novak
of ‘Innovation Explorer’ had a few harsh words for Cam, saying
he was prone to take too many risks – including perhaps pushing
‘Team Adventure’ so hard that it busted up the main beam, requiring
the boat’s pit stop in South Africa that dropped her so far behind.
It reminds us of two years ago, when Cam and Skip were on the
Bay with Bruno Peyron’s 86-ft ‘Explorer’ – now stretched and renamed
‘Legato’ – putting on a dog and pony show for the press and potential
investors in ‘Team Adventure’. It was Cam’s gig, and Skip was
just along to help and check out maxi multihulls. Cam was indeed
a cowboy that day, slashing across the Bay at speeds in excess
of 30 knots – which was really cool. Unfortunately, in the process,
he did a few silly things such as deliberately sailing over racing
buoys for the Citibank 11:Metre Cup off Pier 39, and repeatedly
sailing around Pier 39, stealing the thunder from the other event.
As embarassing as that all was, we’re gaining more respect for
Cam based on his perseverance.

Ranking, 11:00 GMT:

1. Club Med / dtf 11,649.5 miles
2. Innovation Explorer / dtl 827.6 miles
3. Team Adventure / dtl 4,331.2 miles
4. Warta Polpharma / dtl 4,915.3 miles
5. Team Legato / dtl 6,294.6 miles

Vendée Globe Update

February 1 – Atlantic Ocean

Philippe Jeantot reports that, “The battle for the crown
continues between the two leaders of the Vendée Globe,
Michel Desjoyeaux (‘PRB’) and Ellen MacArthur (‘Kingfisher’),
both probably unaware that, because of their incredibly close
match after 84 days circumnavigating the planet, the Vendée
Globe has come under the microscope of thousands more people worldwide.

“Michel Desjoyeaux (‘PRB’) has squeezed out a few more
precious miles over Ellen in the same 15-kt northeasterly breeze,
showing that even his fractionally superior speed of 0.8 knots
can make a difference over 12 hours. Who will have the last word?
Desjoyeaux indeed told the Race HQ that he had one final weapon
in the shape of a headsail specially tailored for this upwind
stretch. ‘PRB’s skipper has kept this sail in his hold all the
way round wisely waiting for the moment to hoist and hopefully
accelerate away from any potential rival. Ellen did a while back
admit to having lost certain sails, notably the use of her gennaker,
which she hoped to repair at the time. However, since this incident
we have heard no news on the state of this sail, the young British
skipper probably not wanting to divulge such information to her
rivals. The current difference in their boat speeds is perhaps
showing these first indications of the condition and effectiveness
of their respective sail inventory.”

Standings as of February 1 at 1500hrs (GMT): 1. ‘PRB’ (Desjoyeaux);
2. ‘Kingfisher’ (MacArthur); 3. ‘SILL Matines La Potagère’
(Jourdain); 4. ‘Active Wear’ (Thiercelin); 5. ‘Union Bancaire
Privée’ (Wavre); 6. ‘Sodebo’ (Coville). See www.vendeeglobe.com.

Sexism and Sailing

February 1 – UK

Yes, it’s there. And on rare occasions, it actually works in
the favor of women. We’ve forgotten where we read this, but just
the other day somebody had asked how the young and inexperienced
Ellen MacArthur had managed to get such excellent sponsorship
and backing from ‘Kingfisher’. The answer was simple: She got
the big sponsorship because she was a young woman who would attract
attention. The irony is that there is no way that the sponsor
– or anybody else – could have predicted what a terrific sailor
and courageous seawoman Ellen would become.

Cruising Yachtie Bars February 1 – Puget Sound, WA “Regarding ‘yachtie bars’, writes Carl Harrington of the Yankee Dolphin 24 ‘Poisson d’Avril’ of Edmonds, Washington, there is a nice compilation of ‘sailboat-accessible bars’ in Puget Sound that can be found at www.hallman.org/loulabay/. It seems well researched and compiled, although I know there are more. I’ve been to about four myself. Also a gushing ‘thank you’ for putting out such a great magazine – which I read faithfully every month. Max Ebb is the best!” The site, created by John Endreson and Bruce Hallman – see photo – is really great. The perfect example of how precious time and the potential of the Internet can be misused. Congratulations, guys!

It’s a tough job… Photo Courtesy Sailboat Accessible Bar Research Team

YOTREPS

February 1 – 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 www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/

Answer to the Photo Quiz February 1 – San Francisco Bay Last week we ran the accompanying photo and asked readers to identify the record-holding boat. One reader guessed ‘Windward Passage’. Alas, that great 72-footer hasn’t been a ketch in ages, and her hull had much lower freeboard. About 10 other readers guessed that it was the Briand 144 ‘Mari-Cha III’, holder of the TransAtlantic monohull record and the Sydney to Hobart course record. Photo Latitude/Richard

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Weather Updates

February 1 – 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 Ocean Weather

Today’s University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology satellite
was not available again this morning. You can try it yourself
at http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/cgi-bin/satview.cgi?sat=g10&region=hus&channel=uI4&anim=no&size=large.

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.