Today’s Photo of the Day is of Sausalito’s
Dawn Riley holding up the One Ton Cup.
She explains what she’s so happy about:
“I just returned from St. Tropez, France, where the first
real test of the coed and multinational team concept proved a
huge success. The One Ton Cup is the second oldest trophy in
the sport – just behind the America’s Cup – and as trophies go,
it might be more beautiful. It has been contested for over 130
years. I have been consulting for K-Challenge, which is preparing
for the America’s Cup in 2006. We have been sailing a 50-footer
and two ILC 45s. Last week’s One Ton Cup was the end of the season
championship, and the competition was stiff, with sailing legends
like Paul Cayard, Robbie Haines, Thierry Pepponet, and Chris
Larson in the fleet. It was a very challenging event and the
St. Tropez weather provided a little of everything.
The first day was canceled due to 45-50
knot winds that had waves breaking over a 10-foot breakwater
and onto the bevy of mega-yachts that hang out in St. Tropez.
The second day featured big seas and 20 knots of wind that made
for some great pictures [see www.adrenalinimages.com
for more]. The third day was light wind, flat water, and overcast
with crazy shifts as we sailed under the mountains surrounding
the bay. The final day started out sunny with the promise of
a mistral. We were in first overall, and personally I was very
nervous because we only had one way to go. An unstable seabreeze
came in for the first race and a half, with huge holes that spread
the fleet out and 20 minutes separating the first and last place
boat in the second race. Toward the end of the race, the mistral
came in hard! The final two races were sailed in 25-30 knots
of wind. We were trying to sail conservatively because we had
a good lead, but we learned a lesson – it is easier to sail fast
and in front. When we were leading the race, we put up a small
spinnaker to be safe, but it just allowed the other boats to
catch up to us and make it dangerous. Our lead shrank to one
point, but it was still a win!
“The other K-Y team finished third,
so overall a very successful regatta for the K-Challenge 2006
team. The team will now concentrate on match racing. I will be
back at OLN starting Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton Round Robin
covering America’s Cup 2003. See you on television!”
Photos Tom Zinn
Beneteau Boat Sales Up 8.5% over Last
Year
October 15 – Annapolis, MD
French boatbuilder Beneteau reported annual
sales through August of 619 million euros – a euro being very
roughly equal to the dollar. 387 million of that came from sales
of Beneteaus and Jeanneaus. Obviously, they are no backyard boatbuilders.
Speaking of boat sales, three of our staff
attended last week’s Annapolis Boat Show. They reported that
some businesses were doing well and others not so well, and that
the show was good – despite bad weather – but not great.
New ‘Yacht Club’ in La Paz?
October 15 – La Paz, BCS
“For several years now, Paradise Found
Restaurant and Bar has been the unofficial gathering place for
the cruisers in La Paz,” reports Slade Ogletree of the San
Francisco-based Moonshadow. “But now Clark and Yuli
are transforming their place into an official yacht club to better
serve their customers. They have installed a shower facility
for members, and created an office for book and video exchange,
free Internet use, and fax receiving capabilities. There will
be mail drop off and an address to receive mail from home. Downwind
and other ‘care packages’ will be accepted in accordance with
Mexican law. In addition to those services, they have expanded
their menu to include daily home-style buffets, breakfast buffets,
meat loaf night, prime rib Sundays, and periodic Chinese buffets.
Their fast food kitchen is now open late in the evening. They
have a big-screen TV for sporting events, including the America’s
Cup. The Paradise Found Yacht Club will also sponsor an annual
spring racer/cruiser gathering at Ensenada Grande. The club is
currently gearing up to be ready for arrival of many of the boats
that will do the Ha-Ha before heading up to La Paz.”
There’s a membership fee of $35 U.S. a
year.
Two Deaths in South Florida’s Columbus
Day Regatta
October 15 – Florida Keys
Back in ’54, a Columbus Day Regatta – which
takes sailors from the east end of Miami’s Dinner Key to overnight
anchorages off Elliott Key and Sand Key – was begun in South
Florida. Over the years it’s evolved into a giant party, with
hundreds of participating boats, many more spectator boats, lots
of booze, and not very much clothing. Yesterday’s event, which
included 600 entries, was marred when two men in a spectator
powerboat smashed into the mangroves. So far only one body has
been found. Some racers complain that it’s the spectators that
cause all the trouble.
Cal 40s to Help Revive the TransPac?
October 15 – Los Angeles
In an attempt to renew interest in next
July’s Los Angeles to Honolulu TransPac, the TransPac Board of
Directors is supporting a campaign to establish a Cal 40 one
design class in the 42nd running of the event. To many sailors
from the ’60s, the Cal 40 is synonymous with the TransPac, as
it totally dominated the event during those years. Many years
later Cal 40s made strong performances, and in the ’90s Montgomery
Street managed to win it all.
Long Beach schoolteacher Wendy Siegel,
who had TransPac’d in a Cal 40, reports she has a list of 10
Cal 40 owners who might be interested in participating. Stan
Honey, famed navigator on some of the fastest boats in the world,
says that he’ll probably take his Illusion if a class
forms. Dennis Conner recently bought Persephone, Cal 40
#1 – although there’s no word on whether he’d race her to Hawaii.
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/
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.
