October 1, 2002

Photo of the Day

October 1 – Auckland, NZ

Today’s Photo of the Day is of Larry Ellison’s
Oracle BMW Racing getting the better of the Italian entry Prada,
which made it all the way to the America’s Cup finals last time.

Photo Bob Grieser/Louis Vuitton

In this first day of the Louis Vuitton
Challenger Series to find out who goes up against the Kiwis in
February, American entries kicked ass. In addition to Oracle
BMW beating Prada’s Luna Rossa by 42 seconds, OneWorld
of Seattle clobbered the semi-serious Mascalzone Latino entry
from Italy, and Team Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes narrowly
edged Great Britain’s Wight Lightning. The excellent latter
match was the featured contest on the OLN network (channel 404
in Marin), and it looked to us as if Stars & Stripes
was a bit slower but had a more clever afterguard.

The OLN coverage was adequate but not inspired.
We can’t remember the name of the ‘anchor’, but Sausalito’s Dawn
Riley – who competed with her America True last time –
and Chris Law did a reasonably good job of providing color and
insight. The big problem with the broadcast – and it’s inexcusable
– is that they didn’t provide any coverage whatsoever of what
was going on in the other three contests. It was as if the announcers
in a 49ers game deliberately withheld the scores of the other
games around the league. Ridiculous. Furthermore, the coverage
and graphics weren’t as in depth as when ESPN did it last time.
More grousing. There have also been numerous complaints from
those who spent $25 to follow the races on Virtual Spectator.
And lastly, in today’s digital world, it took relatively forever
for the Louis Vuitton Web site to post the winners. Clearly,
the sailing is far superior to the coverage at this stage.

But what the heck, all the American teams
won, so it’s hard to be too unhappy. Today’s matches – which
start at about 5:10 p.m. local time and are broadcast on OLN
at 6 p.m. local time – will feature Stars & Stripes
(USA 66) versus Luna Rossa (ITA 74); OneWorld (USA
67) against Alinghi (SUI 64), in a battle that’s going
to be very revealing; Oracle BMW Racing (USA 76) in what
should be a beating of Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72); and
Orn (SWE 63), making her first appearance against Le
Defi (FRA 69), the slow but radioactive French entry. Wight
Lightning takes the day off.

For more detailed and formal coverage,
visit the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series site at www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com.

It Wasn’t the America’s Cup, but We Had
Fun

October 1 – Drake’s Bay

“Here’s a photo taken early Sunday
morning at Drake’s Bay,” writes Bob Johnston of the J/33
Troubadour.

Photo Bob Johnston

“James Coggin’s Schumacher 40 Auspice
looks lovely no matter where you see her, but especially so in
this setting. She placed first in the PHRO1 Division in the race
up and the race back, and leads the OYRA series by a wide margin.
The little yellow boat in the background is Mike Warren’s SC27
Andiamo, which placed first in the Shorthanders’ Division
in both races. Mike and crew are still asleep here, having partied
a bit later than the rest of us. It has been a superb series
out on the ocean. As skippers think about next season, I hope
they will consider the OYRA.”

Back to Costa Rica after 29 Years

October 1 – Costa Rica

Thirty-three years ago, Buzz Mitchell,
Billy Canty, and Jay Halvaty started what would be four years
of work in Marina del Rey on what would become the 42-ft Kantola
trimaran Mantra. Twenty-nine years ago, their cruising
dreams brought them and their boat to Costa Rica:

“We spent much of our time buddy-boating
with the vintage Alden schooner Dauntless (cover Latitude
38 May 2000), and have miles of great film footage from the
two boats sailing together down the coast of Mexico, Costa Rica,
and beyond. Fate took a turn while in Ecuador trying to get permission
to visit the Galapagos, as all the sails and lines were stolen
from the amas. This was the first night at anchor, and we had
six people and a dog sleeping onboard! The money in the cruising
kitty for a cruise to New Zealand went to have new sails and
lines shipped down. We spent several months exploring inland
Ecuador and then five months in the Galapagos.”

Starting in 1996, Buzz began restoring
Mantra at the Napa Valley Marina. In May of 2000, he finished
and took off with Penny Bracken. Now they report that after nearly
30 years, Buzz and Mantra have returned to Costa Rica.

Photo Latitude/Richard 

We’ll have more in the November issue of
Latitude 38.

The October Issue of Latitude 38
Is Out

October 1 –
San Francisco Bay Area

Here’s what the cover looks like.

 Photo Latitude/Chris

YOTREPS

October 1 – 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/

Weather Updates

October 1 – 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/.