June 16, 2003

Photos of the Day

June 16 – San Francisco Bay

It was a beautiful weekend to be out sailing
in Northern California. Here are some Photos of the Day to prove
it.

Photos Latitude/Richard

Latitude
Web Site Server Down, Now Up; Classy Deadline Extended

June 16 – Seattle, WA

The massive server up in Washington that
carries Latitude’s Web site crashed over the weekend and
had to be sent out for “emergency disaster recovery services”,
so anyone who tried to log on got one of those wonderful “Forbidden”
messages. The site is up once again, and the Classy Classified
deadline has been extended to Thursday the 19th at 5:00 p.m.
We apologize for any inconvenience.

Kahn’s Pegasus Smashes Coastal
Cup Record

June 16 – San Francisco

In a tune up for next month’s TransPac,
Philippe Kahn’s R/P 77 Pegasus bested Roy Disney’s near
sistership Pyewacket in the Encinal YC’s wild 360-mile,
43 boat Coastal Cup Race from San Francisco to Catalina. Although
no results have been posted, Kahn reports that with the wind
blowing up to 37 knots, they crushed the previous record by 6.5
hours to finish in around 26 hours. Although Pyewacket
had the early lead, Pegasus, sailing for the first time
in full turbo mode, pulled ahead. Both boats hit high speeds,
with many drivers on Pegasus hitting 28s and 29s. In fact,
after blowing one chute, they hit 22 knots under main and staysail
alone. We’ll have more to come and a full story in the July issue
of Latitude 38.

Despite all the boats that have hit rocks inside Mile Rock, almost
the entire Coastal Cup fleet dared to sail inside – and very
close to Seal Rocks.

Having darn near put their bows on the beach, a group of four
boats tacked out to round a rock with a big hole in it.

Delightful Delta Ditch Run

June 16 – Stockton

The delightfully easy 13th annual Delta
Ditch Run featured 132 starters out of 140 sign-ups. The fleet
rode a flood the whole way. Don Jesberg and Zarko Draganic teamed
up to win first overall for the third time in a row – different
Melges, same result. We’ll have more in the July issue of Latitude 38, but
for now here are the top finishers and some photos:

EXPRESS 27 – Swamp Donkey, Scott
Sellers
MELGES 24 – Ego, Don Jesberg
MOORE 24 – Eclipse, Brad Butler
WYLIE WABBIT – Kwazy, Colin Moore
J/22 – Tinseltown Rebellion, Cam Lewis
LIGHT I – Shop Girl, Sierra 26, Kim Desenberg
LIGHT II – Moonshine, Dogpatch 26, R.B. Ward
HEAVY I – Yucca, 8-Meter, Hank Easom
HEAVY II – Cowabunga, Schock 34-PC, Pat & Marilyn
Brown
HEAVY III – Happy Houka, Cal 27, Greg Goodman
HEAVY IV – Valkyrie, Peterson Quarter Ton, Michael Tosse
MULTIHULL – Hobie 21, George Pedrick
OVERALL – Ego

The fleet parades through Carquinez Strait.

A trio of Melgi looking patriotic

Ed Almaas’ Maria finished
second in Heavy III.

Hank Easom’s Yucca won Heavy-I.

Another Reason to Wear Your PFD

June 16 – Garibaldi, OR

After leaving Garibaldi, Oregon, with 19
people aboard last weekend, the 32-ft charter fishing vessel
Taki Tooo capsized when hit by a large wave. The eight
people wearing PFDs all survived by swimming 100 yards or so
to shore. The 11 people who weren’t wearing PFDs died. We repeat,
all who were wearing PFDs survived, all who didn’t, died.

DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge
Underway

June 16 – Newport, RI

With a dramatic cannon blast – and smoke
ring! – from the starting line at Fort Adams on the shores of
Newport, Rhode Island, the first fleet of 58 yachts set off on
the North Atlantic Challenge to a 3,600-mile distant Cuxhaven,
Germany. Ten countries are represented in the fleet: Antigua,
Belgium, Canada, Grand Cayman, Czech Republic, Great Britain,
Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and United States. The second fleet
of five yachts will start on June 21, a group that includes Mill
Valley’s Bob McNeil, whose bad boy Zephyrus V, an R/P
84, should shine.

Just Hanging Out on the Boat on a Father’s
Day

June 16 – San Francisco Bay

With big wakes from tugs and ships a constant
danger, this guy probably wasn’t sitting in the safest place
on a moving sailboat.

Photo Latitude/Richard

YOTREPS

June 16 – 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 Updates

June 16 – 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

Check out the Pacific Ocean sea states
at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.

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