March 10, 2003

Photos of the Day:
Heineken Regatta

March 10 – St. Martin/St. Maarten

Today’s Photos of the Day are of the recently
completed three-day Heineken Regatta in St. Martin/Sint Maarten,
and were taken by the talented and ubiquitous Tim Wright.

This year’s 23rd annual ‘Heinie’ attracted
more than 200 entries, including Steve Fossett’s maxi-cat PlayStation,
fresh from smashing the east to west transatlantic record.

For those who haven’t done a Heinie before,
it’s strictly a Caribbean style event – which means everybody
is welcome, from the smallest and oldest boats to those with
trick racing programs; the enthusiasm is very high; and the post
race drinking and partying are very hard core. In fact, the day
after, lots of participants were seen with their livers in a
sling.

Dick Johnson reports: “More blue sky,
wind northeast at 15 knots, warm water, little white fluffy clouds,
and a stinking hangover from the previous night’s ravin’ on the
waterfront at Marigot intertwine – it must be St Maarten and
it must be the 23rd Heineken Regatta. One great thing about St
Maarten’s three day regatta format is that you – if you are little
younger than your reporter – race your ears off all day and party
all night for the whole three days, and can still be poured aboard
the plane home on Monday. What you will be like back at work
on Wednesday, however, is anybody’s guess.”

Steve Fossett and PlayStation tried
to break the two-hour mark in the 37-mile around the island race,
but fell short by 4 minutes and 36 seconds. They were a victim
of the dying winds on the east coast.

More on this event in the April issue of
Latitude 38.

Photos Tim Wright/www.photoaction.com

Hatfield Dismasted in 70-Knot Winds and
40-ft Seas

March 10 – Ushuaia, Argentina

On March 7, Canadian Around Alone skipper
Derek Hatfield reported that his Open 40 Spirit of Canada
had been dismasted 30 miles to the ENE of Cape Horn. The captain
of a cruise ship confirmed that winds had been around 70 knots
and waves 40 feet tall. Here’s Hatfield’s story as appeared on
www.aroundalone.com:

“I was so exhausted that I could hardly
think, but when I heard the wave I knew that I was in trouble.
It was not as big as some of the others, but it was breaking
and it made a huge roar as it approached the boat. In seconds
we were falling down the face of it until the bow dug in, and
then we pitch-poled. The boat went straight up and then fell
over sideways. I was at the back of the boat and got flung forward.
The next thing I knew I was in the water under the boat. I heard
the water gurgling and knew that I was under the boat, then all
of a sudden I heard explosions – loud explosions that reverberated
through the water. I knew in that instant that the mast was breaking.
It was unreal. Gurgling water and huge bangs. Suddenly, without
the mast the boat came back upright and I was dragged back on
deck.”

Spirit of Canada at the start
Photo Joyce Black
Courtesy www.aroundalone.com

Dismasted and with a loose keel, Hatfield
and Spirit of Canada have made it safely to Ushuaia in
southern Argentina. With so much wrecked on his boat, Hatfield
assumed he was out of the race for good. However, lots of supporting
emails have him wavering.

Just under four hours after Bernard Stamm
crossed the finish line in Salvador, at 16:23:30 GMT to be exact,
Thierry Dubois sailed into port on Solidaires to take
first place for the leg. The French skipper had led on the water
until yesterday morning, but a final push by Stamm thwarted his
chances of taking line honors. He does however take overall honors
for the leg because Stamm will be assessed a 48-hour penalty
for stopping in the Falklands for repairs.

Pacific Puddle Jump

March 10 –
Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

For generations courageous ocean voyagers
have set sail in early spring from the Mexican coast to the storied
isles of the South Pacific. In recent years, as the cruising
phenomenon has grown, the annual westward migration has taken
on a new character. Roughly 50 boats now typically make the 2,800-mile
crossing to French Polynesia, with their first possible landfall
in the Marquesas. Although each boat will ultimately be on its
own during the crossing, many crews get to know each other before
setting sail, and stay in touch via a daily radio sched.

For the past six seasons, Latitude 38
has acknowledged their bold undertaking – which we’ve dubbed
the Pacific Puddle Jump – by throwing a kickoff party in their
honor at the Paradise Village Resort and Marina on Banderas Bay.
This year’s event, held March 4, drew about 60 Puddle Jumpers
for an afternoon of fun and games. Check out the April issue
of Latitude 38
for a full report, complete with photos and interviews.

 Photos Latitude/Andy

John Kostecki in Stellar Star Performance

March 10 – Miami, FL

Having recently won the prestigious Rolex
Yachtsman of the Year award for skippering the winner in the
Volvo Around the World Race, Marin resident John Kostecki has
set his next goal as winning the difficult Star Class in the
Athens Olympics. New to the class, he’s obviously a quick study,
as he and crew Austin Sperry got third in the big deal Bacardi
Cup Star Class regatta just finished on Biscayne Bay. Peter Bromby
and Martin Siese of Bermuda won the event for the second time
in a row while current world champions Ian Percy and Steve Mitchell
took second overall.

Geronimo
in a Nail-Biter as Around the World Effort Nears the Finish

March 10 – North Atlantic Ocean

After 58 days and with less than a week
left in his Jules Verne around the world attempt with his maxi-tri
Geronimo, Olivier de Kersauson is slightly ahead of Orange’s
record pace – but he’s nonetheless gloomy. The problem is that
the weather between him and the finish off France is ‘spasmodic’
and mostly light, and that on days 58, 59, and 60, rival Orange
turned in days of 411, 518, and 496 miles – all excellent for
that part of the world. Geronimo, on the other hand, covered
just 358 miles in the last 24 hours. De Kersauson moans they
haven’t had a decent wind since rounding Cape Horn and that a
catamaran, which doesn’t point as high or sail as fast in light
weather, wouldn’t even have made it to the equator by then.

Swiss Defy Stereotype as Cup Arrives in
Geneva

March 10 – Geneva, Switzerland

The Swiss, generally considered to be low
in passion, turned out a crowd of 40,000 on an icy day when Ernesto
Bertarelli and the Alinghi crew showed up with the America’s
Cup. Few experts anticipated such enthusiasm.

Ellison Steps Down as CEO of Oracle BMW
Racing – Not Oracle

March 10 – San Francisco

In other America’s Cup news, Larry Ellison
has stepped down as CEO of the Oracle BMW Racing Team, appointing
the sometimes mercurial Chris Dickson to take over that role.
Dickson’s first task is to plan the strategy, budget, management
structure and program for the next challenge. Oracle BMW races
under the burgee of the Golden Gate YC, the Challenger of Record
for the next America’s Cup, likely to be held in 2007.

YOTREPS

March 10 – 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

March 10 – 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 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.