February 27, 2002

High and Dry

February 27 – Richmond

Climb Every Mountain would be a good theme song for today’s Photo of
the Day. Earlier this week the operator of the motoryacht in
the photo had a little problem navigating his/her way out of
the Richmond Channel. “I find it hard to figure out how
this happened,” says photographer Glenn Fagerlin. “The
boat is perched atop the riprap and looks like someone couldn’t
wait to clear the breakwater. There is about 2 to 3 feet of the
breakwater showing at high tide, and a lot more at low tide –
when I took this. The boat was not adrift from the Bay or the
channel to get this high up. It must have been under power.”

Geronimo
Has the Slows; Orange Has the Goes

February 27 – Atlantic Ocean

After enjoying excellent sailing conditions
for a week, it looked almost certain that Olivier de Kersauson’s
110-ft trimaran Geronimo would break the France to equator
record of 7 days 4 hours in the first segment of the Jules Verne
Around the World quest. But the big tri then got caught in the
doldrums, so that she didn’t actually cross the line until 9
days 7 hours. It’s disappointing to be sure, but de Kersauson
is still 43 hours ahead of the Jules Verne record he established
with Sport Elec.

Meanwhile, back at the Multiplast yard
in France, the mast for Bruno Peyron’s 110-foot maxi cat Orange
is almost repaired. Thanks to ’round the clock efforts, the repairs
took 12 days rather than the expected 18 days. A new four-meter
carbon masthead was built from the original molds. The mast should
be restepped on Friday, and then Orange – if the current
weather pattern holds – should leave the next morning in pursuit
of Geronimo. What fun!

Have You Gone Mad?

February 27 – Bristol, UK

Madforsailing.com, surely one of the best sailing sites on the Web,
has made a tack. Having always been free, on March 25 they are
going to make the risky business move of trying to charge for
it. Why?

“Simple economics. Unlike other sailing
Web sites, we employ top yachting journalists to write original
copy to bring you the best coverage of sailing worldwide, period.
These journalists like to eat, so we have to pay them. The revenue
generated through advertising sales and commissions on merchandise
sales through the site don’t get anywhere near covering the costs.
Madforsailing.com has always believed in editorial independence
and that our knowledgeable audience demands quality content delivered
when it happens, and the move to subscription will enable us
to continue to uphold these values and deliver even better coverage.
So it is to you, dear reader, that we turn. We are asking you
to put your hands in your pockets to ensure the world’s best
sailing Web site continues to deliver 365 days a year (no we
don’t get Christmas Day off – someone has to do the Sydney-Hobart
preview!) £14.99 per year, or less than the price of one
rum and coke per month. Cancel that magazine subscription that
Granny bought you – who reads sailing magazines anymore anyway?
– sign up for madforsailing.com and go and spend the rest in
the pub.”

Madforsailing does provide great sailing
photos and coverage, but in our mind, the question is whether
there are enough people who have enough time for such detailed
race coverage. The market will, as it always does, make the decision.
Say, if ‘Lectronic Latitude could get its nearly 4,000 unique
visitors a day to each pony up $20 bucks for a subscription .
. .

Puerto Vallarta Race

February 27 – Pacific Ocean

With the lead boats less than 200 miles
to the finish, and the later starting faster boats sailing at
twice the speed, it looks as though it could be a major group
finish at Punta de Mita tomorrow. John Garrison’s Peterson 50
Checkmate, the only varnished hull in the fleet, has only
178 miles to go, but is only averaging 5.3 knots. On the other
hand, Doug Baker’s Andrews 70 Magnitude, the leader of
the AA class, is 316 miles out, but is rocketing along at 10.1
knots. Magnitude is the overall leader, followed by Al
Micallef’s Lee 68 Merlin’s Reata. For the current standings,
visit www.sdyc.org.

Hey, That’s My Boat!

February 27 – Isla Grande, Mexico

“Having just gotten back from my boat
in Acapulco, I happened to check out ‘Lectronic
Latitude on the 25th – and saw the photo that included my
boat, a guy doing a flip into the water, and a woman in the water,”
reports Carl Schiele of the Valiant 42 Querencia. “We
were anchored at Isla Grande near Ixtapa at the time.
Here’s the latest on the Acapulco YC. Berthing is about $1/ft/day,
plus 20% tax – although you get 20% off if you belong to a reciprocating
yacht club. I’m glad to hear that your surfboard wasn’t stolen
from your boat after all. Somebody boarded my boat in Acapulco
and unbolted my rod holders. When I reported it to the harbormaster,
he said that ‘we will investigate.’

“We’ll be headed to Texas soon.”

Biggest Boats Ever for the Vallejo Race?

February 27 –
San Francisco Bay

Paul Kaplan, who drove one of the three
IACC boats in last weekend’s Corinthian Midwinters, said he had
such a great time that he and at least one other skipper will
be driving IACC boats in the Vallejo Race. They’ll just have
to be careful what part of the Richmond Bridge they duck through.

Currently there are four IACC boats owned
on San Francisco Bay. If you want to join the fun, you can pick
one up for about $250,000. That’s about the price of a Farr 40.
But as Kaplan noted, there’s greater expense involved with the
“care and feeding” of an IACC boat.

For photo essays on the Corinthian Midwinters
and the IACC division that weekend, see the March issue of Latitude 38, to
hit the streets Friday. For more of Tom Zinn’s excellent photographs,
see www.iaccsf.com/photos.html

Photos Tom Zinn Photography
http://adrenalinimages.com

Monterey Chuffed by the Torch

February 27 – Monterey Bay

“While we don’t do things here on
Monterey Bay on quite the same scale as you do on San Francisco
Bay, we still know how to celebrate a special event on the water,”
advises Fire Captain Barry Perkins, Shoreline Operations, Monterey
Fire Department. “The accompanying photo is of Monterey
Bay Aquarist Todd Love paddling Dr. Steve Webster, the aquarium’s
senior marine biologist and cofounder – who is carrying the Olympic
Torch – past Monterey’s fireboat carrying California State Park
lifeguards Eric Strum and Jeff Field, along with the crew of
Jim Courtney and Barry Perkins. The kayak was launched from Stanford’s
Hopkins Marine Station en route to a spectator-packed Monterey
Bay Aquarium for the hand-off of the Olympic Torch.”

YOTREPS

February 27 – 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

February 27 – 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 has moved
to 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/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.