June 28, 2002

“Alchera Log: 6/27/02 1456 Hours, Position N22 35
W157 04. Last night was a good sailing night for everyone in
the fleet – even Eric on Rusalka was beginning to see
the end of the ordeal. When you’re only moving a couple of knots,
the GPS tells you some very depressing things about your arrival
date – like that you are going to run out of food and water first!
But now the winds have filled back in and the sailors are happy
to be moving along. And today is magnificent as well. Clear blue
skies, winds are in the 16-18 knot range, and the swells are
large enough to surf on. So Alchera has been surfin’ to
Kauai, with 135 miles left to go. I suppose this will be Alchera‘s
last full day and night of the race. It will be good to finish.
Two weeks being in ‘race mode’ is very fatiguing. I’ve got to
recharge on my sleep today so that I can make landfall in reasonable
mental and physical condition. But now comes another fun part
of the race – hanging with all the skippers as they come in one
by one and recounting everyone’s wild experiences on the way
over.”

The biggest thing in sailing on the West Coast this week is North
Sails Race Week in Long Beach, which includes over 30 boats from
Northern California – and some of the best sailors in the world.
Rich Roberts explains:

“Mix a probable record number of entries with a flock of
celebrity sailors and a favorable weather forecast and you have
the 18th edition of North Sails Race Week, the West Coast’s largest
inshore regatta. Dennis Conner, Dave Ullman, Paul Cayard and
Dee Smith will be calling tactics on some of the larger boats
competing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, along with Olympic medallists
Jeff Madrigali, Steve Benjamin and Ross Macdonald and America’s
Cup veteran Ed Baird.

“The entry list—all keelboats from 20 feet up, topped
by 29 J/105s—had climbed to 168 Thursday and was expected to
surpass the record of 170 boats that sailed in 2000. Conner will
sail on Dale Williams’ ILC 46, Wasabi, from San Francisco.
Ullman, whose Melges 24 was Boat of the Week last year, will
be on Brack Duker’s Farr 40, Revolution. Cayard will complement
the crack crew of John Kilroy’s defending Farr 40 winner, Samba
Pa Ti. Smith, who just finished the Volvo Ocean Race on Amer
Sports One, will be on Mary Coleman’s Farr 40, Astra,
from San Francisco. The three-day event will be run on three
courses: one inside the Long Beach outer harbor, one outside
the federal breakwater and another to the east off Seal Beach.
Classes will include five PHRF and eight one-design: Farr 40,
J/120, 1D35, Schock 35, J/105, J/24, Melges 24 and Santana 20.
In-class competitions will include the J/120 North American Championships,
Farr 40 Pacific Coast Championships, Schock 35 Pacific Coast
Championships and the J/24 Western Regionals, which is a J/24
world championships qualifier.

Tracy Edward’s maxi-cat Maiden II (ex-Club Med)
has been confirmed by the World Speed Sailing Record Council
as turning in the fastest ever 24-hour run – but not quite the
697 miles originally claimed. According to the council, they
were only able to identify a 24-hour run of 694.78 miles. Still,
that’s not bad at all, as it means an average of 28.9 knots.

Edwards wasn’t aboard for the 24-hour record run, and a sick
child kept her home last weekend when Maiden won the Around
Isle of Wight Race. So who runs the big cat? Despite Helena Darvelid
being listed as skipper and Adrienne Cahalan being listed as
navigator, it’s reportedly Brian Thompson – who kicked around
Sausalito when working on Steve Fossett’s trimaran Lakota
– who plays the role of skipper in all but name. “Brian
is responsible for everything,” said Sam Davies – who despite
her name is an attractive young blonde with a technical degree
from Cambridge – a mainstay crew aboard Maiden. Thompson’s
ultra relaxed karma is said to permeate the boat.