'Lectronic Index

Previous 'Lectronic Edition

Baja Ha-Ha Update

November 6 - Bahia Santa Maria, BCS

As the Baja Ha-Ha 2003 fleet approaches Cabo San Lucas, this report was sent to us via our onboard Globalstar satellite phone.

Leg Two of this year's event was one of the best ever in terms of steady winds. Most boats arrived at Bahia Santa Maria some time during the second night after leaving Turtle Bay. While crews rested safely on the hook in the expansive bay, however, the wind piped up to 30 knots during the wee hours of the morning and continued to blast all the next day. Unfortunately, it was the smallest boats in the fleet which got caught in the heavy blow as they struggled to reach the shelter of the bay. At least one broached, and several others finally arrived with leaks they'd never experienced previously.

Bahia Santa Maria serves as the Ha-Ha's surf spot for those so inclined.
Photo Latitude

The traditional Beach party - hosted by Victor and his crew of local fishermen - was a welcome respite from long hours on the ocean. Amazingly, Victor brought a three-piece rock and roll band and an enormous sound system across the desert and up the estuary through the mangroves - a 14-hour trip - in order to entertain the masses. A good time was had by all.

Multihulls Off to a Good Start in Transat Jacques Vabre

November 6 - Atlantic Ocean

Yesterday's Open 60 multihull Transat Jacques Vabre start featured 20 knots from the SSE, fluctuating from the land, with smooth seas. After more than 24 hours of racing the multihulls are already halfway across the Bay of Biscay. The current leader of the fleet is Belgacom, followed about six and seven miles back respectively by Banque Populaire and Groupama. After being in the top three for most of the race, Italian trimaran TIM has slipped to fifth behind Géant.

Open 60 multihull leader Belgacom
Photo Courtesy Transat Jacques Vabre

The 14 Open 60s are in their fifth day of racing, to the northeast of the Canary Islands off the Portuguese coast. Despite another rough, uncomfortable night on the race course, the winds are changing and so are the rankings. As the last cold front passes through the fleet, leading boat, Ecover, has now dived south on starboard tack, but staying to the west of rivals Virbac, as British skipper Mike Golding explained: "We're quite happy where we are, but Virbac is obviously a fast boat and a very strong contender. We want to be in the west to get the new winds and better sailing conditions first on the other side of the front. Then the breeze will slowly ease and that begins our long run to the trade winds."

The 50-ft multihull Mollymawk, skippered by British duo Ross Hobson and Andi Newman, has re-entered the race! After hitting a UFO off Ushant on Monday, the trimaran limped to Plymouth, and Ross announced on the satellite phone that they were abandoning the race. However, they hadn't had a chance to send through an official declaration of their abandon, and once they reached port they soon realized that they might be able to repair and restart before yesterday's 60-ft multihull start. The jury gave their authorization for the team to re-enter the race, and Ross and Andi were able to restart overnight.

Storagetek, sailed by Frenchmen Régis Guillemot & Olivier Salnelle, leads the four Open 50 monohulls.

For complete reports, more photos and to follow the action, see www.jacques-vabre.com.

Missing Sailor

November 6 - Hawaii

"My name is Kimm Glander. It's been almost two years this Thanksgiving since anyone has heard from David R. Glander. He's a professional sailor and delivery person. The last known contact was a phone call to his mother from Hawaii. He's 46 years old, 5'8", 165 pounds. He was in very poor health last time we heard from him, with extensive liver damage. He is the father of my two children. It's been three years since they talked to him.

"If someone out there has seen him, we'd like to know if he is well and still with us. I write to you because he has always had a Latitude 38 in his hand ever since I've known him."

If anyone knows of the fate of this missing sailor, please call Kimm at (541) 736-8745.

YOTREPS

November 6 - 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 Links

November 6 - Pacific Ocean

San Francisco Bay Weather

Check out this guide to San Francisco Bay Navigational Aids: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/sfports.html.

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

The site for the Pacific Ocean sea states has moved to http://www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/PacRegSSA.shtml.
For views of sea states anywhere in the world, see http://www.oceanweather.com/data.