November 30, 2000

Photo of the Day

Standing Out in the Crowd

November 30 – Isle of Wight, UK

Steve Fossett stands out in a crowd – just as his now 125-foot catamaran ‘PlayStation’ stood out among the rest of the fleet at the Hoya Around the Isle of Wight Race June 10 in England. For while about six other skippers are feverishly working to get their cats ready for the December 31 start of The Race, Fossett has been down in Cabo San Lucas. Twice, actually. No, he wasn’t sailing, and no, he wasn’t hanging out at Squid Roe. In fact. he was at the Los Cabos airport with his twin engine Citation X private jet getting ready to attempt a new westbound around-the-world global speed record for medium-weight aircraft. Two days later he and his two-man crew were back, having flown around the world in the record time of 51 hours and 35 minutes. In fact, they only broke the old record by three minutes. They had stopped nine times, at Kona, Majuro, Palau, Singapore, Maldives, Nairobi, Abidjan, Fortaleza, Brazil, and Barranquila, Colombia. Each time they had between 23 and 35 minutes to load six tons of fuel and clear customs. That they could clear customs in Baranquilla in less than two hours was a miracle in itself.

Photo Courtesy Hoya What makes Steve run? According to his Web site, he’s trying to ‘expand the boundaries of the possible’ – which he certainly has done. Others have speculated that his quest of global achievements is also an attempt to achieve a type of immortality. No matter if either or both are true, it’s better than hanging around the bar in some country club.

---

Cruising

Boat Shuffle Update

November 30 – Alameda

“Having just read the recent ‘Lectronic Latitude, I guess
I’ve been outted,” emails Chris Maher. “Yes, it’s true
about our selling ‘Blarney3’ and buying a Beneteau First 42 in
Puerto Rico. But that’s just the start of the story. As you know,
I’ve been involved with the Ha-Ha since its humble beginnings,
and have sailed in three of them. When the Ha-Ha left this year
without me and I started seeing the photos posted on the ‘Lectronic
Web site, I went into my winter funk early. My wife Sheila had
no trouble noticing. So while the Ha-Ha fleet was sailing down
the coast, I decided that my Ha-Ha veteran Morgan 38 ‘Blarney3’
had become too small for my family, so I decided to try and find
a bigger boat. I had sailed on Hall Palmer’s First 42 in the ’95
Cabo Race and in the MEXORC, and he’d let my family use the boat
for two weeks in the Sea of Cortez. I liked the boat and the way
it sailed, but never considered it for our next boat because it
was a two-cabin model – and our sons Patrick and Thomas, now 12
and 10, each need a cabin of their own. But as if by divine intervention,
I learned about a rare three-cabin model in Puerto Rico. So while
the fleet was coming around Cabo Falso, Sheila and I were flying
out to look at the new boat. This is where my good friend Adam
Sadeg at California Cruising Yachts got involved. In order to
buy the new boat, I had to sell ‘Blarney3’ – so I listed the boat
with Adam’s California Cruising Yachts. He gave me a ‘to do’ list
so the boat would show better. So for the next two weeks I did
everything on the list and the boat looked fantastic. So good,
in fact, that Adam my yacht broker friend bought the boat for
himself!”

Injured in the ARC

November 30 – Atlantic Ocean

Ernst Benda, the German owner and skipper of the Wauquiez Pretorian
‘Half & Half’, is reported in good condition at a hospital
at the Cape Verde Islands after being airlifted there on Thursday
night. Benda had been knocked unconscious by the boom during an
involuntary jibe in an unexpected line squall. Thanks to the on-board
safety equipment required of all ARC boats and a quick thinking
crew – two of whom are doctors – Benda could be airlifted to the
hospital where he is in good condition.

According to reports, a call was made to the U.S. Coast Guard
in Norfolk, Virginia, to coordinate a rescue. The cruise ship
‘Marco Polo’ soon closed on the yacht’s position. Because of a
large sea running, Benda was transferred from the small boat to
the cruise ship aboard an inflatable. He was then taken to the
Cape Verdes.

‘Half & Half’ and her remaining crew are 1,950 miles from
St. Lucia. The ARC is currently being led by ‘Milene’, an IOR
maxi from Norway.

YOTREPS

November 30 – 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

America’s Cup

November 30, New York

You win some and you lose some. Team Dennis Conner, the New
York YC challenge for the 2003 America’s Cup in Auckland, are
delighted to have signed on Computer Associates as a $10 million
platinum sponsor. They’re also glad to have helmsman Ken Read
and most of the old crew back to race the two boats that are to
be designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by New England Boat Works.
On the debit side, the word is that Peter Holmberg, a Virgin Islander
who was a key member of the Team DC afterguard, is heading for
Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing Syndicate at the St. Francis YC.
The America’s Cup world is a small one, and it’s common for rivals
to become teammates and then go back to being rivals again. Rarely
are there any hard feelings, particularly since the money has
gotten so much better.

The Race

November 30 – Planet Earth

The fleet for December 31’s The Race appears to be filling out
better than expected. Tony Bullimore’s ‘Team Legato’, the old
‘ENZA’ stretched to 110 feet, is about to get her new mast and
looks as though she’ll be at the starting line. In addition, Roman
Paske’s ‘Polpharma-Warta’, the old ‘Commodore Explorer’, which
hasn’t been heard from much since she lost her mast, is back in
the water in Brittany. Lastly, the much troubled ‘Team Phillips’
is about to set off on a 2,500-mile qualifier.

---

Weather Updates

November 30 – Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

Hurricane Season Comes to a Close

Prior to the start of the Atlantic/Caribbean hurricane season,
NOAA and Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University both predicted
there would be seven hurricanes, three of which would feature
winds in excess of 110 knots. Now that the season is over, the
results are in: Eight hurricanes, three of which were in excess
of 110 knots. That’s close, damn close. Having said that, anyone
who thinks they can predict the number and location of any hurricanes
within a season is being awfully presumptuous. There are just
far too many variables. This year, for example, NOAA and Gray
came up with about the same prediction – but for entirely different
reasons.

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.

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.