May 28, 2003

Photos of the Day: Master Mariners Regatta

May 28 – San Francisco Bay

Today’s Photos of the Day are from Saturday’s
windy, foggy Master Mariners Regatta. For more photos, a full
report and results, see the June issue of Latitude
38, hitting the streets on Friday.

Photos Latitude/JR

One Area Where the French and Brits Lead
the U.S.

May 28 – United Kingdom

You can say this for the French and Brits,
they haven’t been afraid to support their women sailors with
the best boats at the highest levels of sailing competition.
It’s old hat with the French, who have been giving the top boats
to the likes of Frances Arthaud and Isabelle Autissier for many
years – and gotten spectacular results. More recently, the Brits
have supported their women sailors, most noticeably Ellen MacArthur,
who responded by becoming the ‘Queen of the Seas’ for her tremendous
singlehanded performances. So it’s no small surprise that Emma
Richards, another Brit, has just now been able to acquire Graham
Dalton’s Open 60 Hexagon for the upcoming seasons of competition.
Nice going to the Brits, and good luck to Emma.

Aurora
Crosses Atlantic to Lisbon

May 28 – Lisbon, Portugal

Mark and David Bernhard, and parts of their
families, plus crew, have just arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, from
Antigua via the Azores aboard their Northern California-based
Catana 582 catamaran Aurora. They started the 2,335-passage
on May 5, and, after a 24-hour stop in the Azores, arrived in
Lisbon on May 25. They had some good days – 256 miles on the
second day – but some fairly windless days also. The two families
had bought the cat from the factory last year, sailed across
the Atlantic in the ARC, and are now headed back to the Med.

Not All Who Go to Antigua Sailing Week
Go to Race

May 28 – Antigua

Although the above mentioned Mark and David
raced aboard an X-452 belonging to some Europeans during Antigua
Sailing Week, others just came to watch and enjoy more leisurely
fun. These included Devan Mullins of Newport Beach and his charter
group aboard an F/P 46 catamaran.

As you can see from the photos, while they
enjoyed looking at the big yachts – including at least one J
Class boat – at Falmouth Harbor, they mostly enjoyed just kicking
back in the ideal sailing conditions. But what’s the deal with
the Latitude toenail polish?

YOTREPS

May 28 – 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

May 28 – 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.