(Note to readers: This ‘Lectronic was written
on Wednesday, but due to Telecom France crashing on that day,
could not be sent. In any event, it’s slightly dated.)
Thanks to our reader mandate – see Monday’s ‘Lectronic – we’re back
aboard Profligate in St. Barth, and we’re loving it. One
reason why is that the biggest thought wandering around in our
mind yesterday [Tuesday] was not who was going to win the Democratic
primary in New Hampshire, but whether to sail clockwise or counterclockwise
around St. Barth. We chose clockwise, thank you, and had the
fastest of our four circumnavigations of the island this year.
When we were arriving Monday afternoon
from St. Martin by Winair puddle jumper, nobody needed a chart
to tell where we were. All we had to do is look down in the water
below and see the size of the yachts riding on the hook. It was
impossible to miss the biggest of them all, Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen’s curiously named Octopus, a spanking new 413
footer. If you look closely, this monster not only has a huge
helicopter landing pad on the back of the boat, but another helicopter
sitting on the bow. Trust us, in the Med, you are nobody unless
there are at least two helicopters on your yacht.
The Gustavia ‘little boat’ anchorage as seen through airplane
windows while dive bombing to land at the little airport squeezed
in between a ridge and the sea. Profligate is the boat
highest in the photo in the outer anchorage, pretty much by herself.
Sorry about the photo quality, as those airplane windows are
a little lacking in optical quality.
Power & Motoryacht magazine has reported that Octopus is the
largest privately-owned yacht in the world. That is, of course,
until Larry Ellison launches his new motoryacht, which is expected
to be about 425 feet. You didn’t think that the Oracle honcho
could build a yacht smaller than his Microsoft rival, did you?
Octopus from the air. Check out the helicopter on the
bow. Then imagine how big the chopper is that lands on the big
pad aft.
In the mega motoryacht wars, it’s important
to remember that Allen reportedly owns three of them in excess
of 197 feet, and is rumored to have long been paying some or
all of the bill on another 354-footer. Yes, in addition to Octopus,
Allen has long owned the 201-ft Meduse, which has a recording
studio that has reportedly been used by the likes of U2. He also
owns the 301-ft Tatoosh, which was briefly owned by Craig
McCaw before his cellular phone empire hit the skids. In addition,
there was a report in Power & Motoryacht that Allen
has been paying the bills on Le Grand Bleu, which was
formerly John McCaw’s 354-footer. That report may now be out
of date, however, as the yacht has more recently been seen in
the hands of some Russian friend of Vladimir Putin. In any event,
our best sources indicate that Allen at least owns the biggest,
12th biggest, and 65th biggest privately owned yachts in the
world.
As for the rest of Ellison’s fleet, it
consists of the 192-ft Ronin, often moored at Schoonmaker
Yacht Harbor in Sausalito, and the 234-ft Katana. In addition,
Ellison has his America’s Cup campaign fleet. So we’ll let you
decide whether it’s Allen or Ellison who ought to be crowned
the king of megayachts.
To give you an idea of what kind of money
we’re talking about, Katana, which is at least 10 years
old, is for sale for $68 million. And the not yet finished 400-ft Sultan is being offered for sale at a mere $200 million.
What, we wonder, was Allen – who has his
fingers in scores of businesses – thinking about when he named
his largest yacht Octopus? Wasn’t that the title of the
famous book in the ’30s that railed against the abuse of workers
by capitalist owners? On the other hand, we suppose that Allen
and Gates have been pretty good to their employees. How else
could you explain Skat, the 233-footer anchored next to Octopus? She’s reportedly owned by Charles Simonyi, the
guy who headed up the Excel project at Microsoft. True, his yacht
only has one helicopter, but she’s still five feet longer than
golfer Greg Norman’s new Aussie Rules, which is 15 miles
away in St. Martin. There’s that much money in golf?
A side view of Skat, the excess funded by the success
of Excel. Note the big hatch open up forward. We’re guessing
that’s where they lower in all the royalty checks. Photos Above Latitude/Richard
Skat from the back. She’s an unusual color, supposedly
picked to match the color of the owner’s house. Photo Latitude/Doña de Mallorca
Some women readers might be tempted to
say that only men would be involved in such on-the-water wretched
excess. But that’s not true. Savarona, the private yacht
that Octopus edged to be the largest in the world, is
a 408-footer built for an ‘American divorcée’. Of course,
that was back in 1931, which if we recall correctly was the height
of the Depression.
It’s surprising who can afford these megayachts.
For example, there’s a new Paraffin that must be 200 feet
long. She’s owned by the couple who reportedly made all their
money by founding the Yankee Candle Company. There’s that much
money in wax and wicks? Who would have thought.
That’s the end of our mega motoryacht reporting
from St. Barth. Maybe next week we’ll tell you about the mega
sailing yachts. Meanwhile, we’re slated to take a bunch of new
and old friends – including Mike Sheats and Hillaire Bell of
the Sausalito-based Sceptre 41 Indigo – out for our fifth
circumnavigation of the season of this sweet little island. Wish
us fair winds, won’t you?
In crime news, the scandal of the island
is that the Donna del Sol – no relation to Doña de Mallorca
– jewelry store was broken into during lunch, and over $1 million
worth of shiny stuff taken. On a more personal note, our beloved
Fujifilm 3800 digital camera, a real favorite of ours, has disappeared.
Doña suspects theft. We think it was more likely misplaced.
Anyway, it only cost $300. But what a great camera its been!
Sailors Mix It Up at Rolex Miami OCR
January 30 – Miami, FL
The Rolex Miami OCR will crown its champions
today, and some leaders in the 11 Olympic and Paralympic classes
competing are holding their breath. Thursday’s light breezes,
shifty like Wednesday’s, provided plenty of power for several
races on each of six courses, but scrambled the standings and,
in some cases, left very little room for mistakes today.
After two races yesterday, USA’s team of
Mark Reynolds and Steve Erickson from San Diego has a seven-point
lead in the 58-boat Star fleet. The margin is anything but comfortable,
however, since the team sailed its throw-out race – a 46th (after
six races, sailors are allowed to discard their worst race).
Reynolds and Erickson in the Star Class
In Tornados, Puerto Rico’s Olympic representative
Enrique Figueroa saved his lead from Wednesday, but Austria’s Roman Hagara is closing
in, only three points behind.
San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez
on their Tornado
In Finns, USA’s Geoff Ewenson (pictured above) sits in third,
only two points behind Denmark’s Jonas Hoegh Christensen in second,
with 1996 Finn Gold medalist Mateus Kusznierewicz of Poland (pictured
below) in first place. Kevin Hall of Ventura is in fourth. Photos Courtesy Rolex Miami OCR
National Sailing Symposium – Five Great
Days in Oakland
January 30 – Oakland
Just like the ‘in-flight’ publications
that tempt you with “Three Great Days in New Orleans”
(or wherever), US Sailing has put together the National Sailing
Programs Symposium held this week at the Oakland Marriott. The
seminar series covers all aspects of organizing and operating
a sailing program. The program has run annually for 21 years
and only reaches the West Coast every few years. It’s an outstanding
opportunity for anyone involved in sailing programs, including
yacht club junior program directors, instructors, board members
and parents, to learn, understand and improve the intricacies
of sailing programs.
Subject matters include Setting Up and
Maintaining a Non-Profit Organization, Hiring and Managing the
Instructor Team, Developing a Keelboat Program, Teaching Kids,
Running a Green Sailing Program and so on.
“This is a collection of the most
prolific programs supporting the development of sailing in the
U.S.,” said Sean Svendsen, attending as a sponsor with Vanguard
Sailboats. Indeed it’s a cornucopia of great people, great ideas
and great programs created by a very creative and dedicated group
of volunteers and staff. All of them work hard at the ‘front
end’ of running diverse programs which range from inner city
youth programs to adult and Olympic training programs.
As you can see from the pictures below
people came from all over (some perhaps to escape the freezing
temperatures in the Northeast). In short order we had spoken
with people from New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont
and more. If you’re involved in any kind of sailing program and
didn’t get the National Sailing Program Symposium on your schedule
this time around keep an eye out for it in US Sailing’s 2005
schedule.
Pictures from the ‘Welcome Cocktail
Party’ put on by Presenting Sponsor Vanguard Sailboats:
Ward Latimer, San Francisco State Sailing Program Director; Mat
MacDonald, Volunteer; Catherine Bartinik; Pam Benjamin, Volunteer
Virginia Howard, Del Rey YC Jr. Program Director; Jeff Grange,
Santa Barbara YC Race Director
Lee Comerford, MYC, NJ; Bridgitte Hoey, Beachwood YC, NJ
Rich Jepsen, OCSC, Volunteer Chairman of the Symposium, member
of US Sailing’s Training Committee; Sean Svendsen, Svendsen’s
Boatworks, event sponsor
Rob Bey, Dallas, TX, Parks & Recreation; Howard Haines, Lake
Thunderbird Education Foundation, OK; Lester Cummings, Lake Thunderbird
From Vanguard Sailboats: Chip Johns, President; Dave Kirkpatrick,
One Design Services Manager; Ned Jones, West Coast Rep; Martine
Rawlings, Southeast Rep
Janine Ahmed Connelly, US Sailing Training Director; Simon Carey,
OCSC Fleet Manager; Antonia Hare, Communications/Environmental
Initiatives, OCSC; Jim Muldoon, Chairman of US Sailing’s Training
Committee and US Sailing Vice President; Joni Palmer, NSPS Agenda
Coordinator and US Sailing VP; Saul Schumsky, Commodore, Cal
Sailing Club
Pirates Shoot Italian Sailor
January 30 – Caracas, Venezuela
Fabio Maino of Palo Alto alerted us this
story making the rounds of the Italian press: “A sailor
from Falconara, Italy, was killed on his catamaran while sailing
the Venezuelan coast.
“According to the press report, Bruno
Bianchella, 46, was sailing from Trinidad to Venezuela with two
friends, when pirates from a boat carrying at least eight people
boarded the vessel. They were armed, and while Bruno’s two friends
went below to get the money, the pirates shot the Italian sailor
and fled the scene. The two friends were not harmed.”
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.
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.
