November 22, 2000
Photo of the Day
Only as Strong as It Needed to Be
November 22 – Auckland, New Zealand
The photo of the day is Oracle Racing’s America’s Cup boat
USA 61, lying on her side in the Hauraki Gulf after her keel fell
off yesterday during two-boat testing. But to see it, you have
to visit the New Zealand Herald’s Web site at: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/.
While the crew had to scramble to safety, none of them were hurt.
The 21-ton keel sheered off in about 22 knots of wind and a flattish
sea while Chris Dickson and crew were racing against Paul Cayard
who was on USA 49. Both IAAC boats, of course, belonged to Cayard’s
AmericaOne syndicate in the last Cup, and were then sold to Larry
Ellison’s Oracle Racing. USA 61, which lost her keel, was the
boat Cayard sailed in his narrow loss to ‘Prada’ in the Louis
Vuitton Challenger Finals.
The last time a keel fell off an America’s Cup boat was back in
’95 when the French boat lost its lead. As Buddy Melges once famously
noted, the ideal America’s Cup boat is built only as strong as
it needs to be to cross the finish in the last race.
Even though Ellison and therefore Oracle Racing have all the money
in the world, you can’t buy time. So even if the keel could be
recovered – it’s in about 120 feet of water – and the boat put
back together, there is no way the syndicate can make up for lost
two-boat testing during prime time – this being spring in New
Zealand. Oracle Racing does own two more America’s Cup boats,
the Hawaiian ‘Abracadabras’, which are in Richmond, California.
One of them is for sail on eBay for less than $90,000.
Weather Updates
November 22 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
Tropical Weather
Once again it’s quiet in the tropics regions of the entire
world.
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/.
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/stuff/southwest/swstmap.shtml.
Also check out http://facs.scripps.edu/surf/buoylist.html
(but note that the Java Applet is still not working with some
browsers on Macs – including your Webmistress’s Netscape Communicator!)
Pacific Ocean Weather
You can view the University of Hawaii Department of Meteorology
satellite picture by clicking
here.
Pacific Sea State
Seas are normal in the Pacific. But you might check at: http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/RSSA/PacRegSSA.html.
For another view, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data/global.html.
Cruising
Another Shattered Memory
November 22 – Zihuatanejo, Mexico
| You may recall that yesterday we asked if the famous Z-town footbridge in the accompanying photograph still stood. In only a matter of hours we had our response from Craig Gottschalk of Scorpion: “It has been quite awhile since anyone had the pleasure of crossing the rickety Zihuatanejo footbridge. It was ceremoniously replaced with a more permanent cement version, obviously constructed by the lowest bidder. About half of the old bridge, the two ends, remain. The center span was removed to allow the passage of occasional flybridge power boats into what has now become a muddy water boatyard and panga anchorage. The dreams of a grand marina complex there are just another shattered memory.” |
 |
West Marine Caribbean 1500Having been on the Ha-Ha, we’re a little late reporting this, |
|
YOTREPS
November 22 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace
Who is out making passages in the Pacific and what kind of
weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS – ‘yacht reports’ –
at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/
Racing
Vendée Globe Update
November 22 – Atlantic Ocean
While most of us will be at home or over at relatives enjoying
a big turkey dinner tomorrow, the Vendée Globe fleet will
be trying to work their way through the doldrums in the Atlantic.
As of yesterday, these incredibly fast monohulls might as well
have been glued in place as they weren’t making much more than
two knots. The current leaders are: 1) ‘Aquitaine Innovations’,
Yves Parlier; 3) ‘PRB’, Michel Desjoyeaux (+20 miles); 3) ‘Sill
Matines La Potagère’, Roland Jourdain (+45m); 4) ‘Active
Wear’, Marc Thiercelin (+45m); 5) ‘Solidaires’, Thierry Dubois
(+46m); 6) ‘Kingfisher’, Ellen MacArthur (+50m); 7) ‘Sodebo Savourons
la Vie’, Thomas Coville (+57m); 8) ‘EBP’ – Esprit PME – Gartmore,
Josh Hall (+112m). You can access the Vendée Globe Web
site at: http://www.vendeeglobe.com.
From
the crew here at the ‘Lectronic Latitude house to the crew there
at your house, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, which we are
officially declaring a four-day holiday. We’ll be back Monday!
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