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Around the World of Sailing
21 February 2001
This weeks features:
- Finish Line
- Rowing Reporter
- Watery World News
Finish Line
001 DN North American Championships- Saginaw MI
Gold Fleet Winner: Karol Joblonski, Poland
Silver Fleet Winner: Jim Grogan, USA
2001 DN Gold Cup Regatta
Gold Fleet Winner: Karol Joblonski, Poland
Silver Fleet Winner: Johan Tolsma
Bronze Fleet Winner: Jan Eindenhoven
Rowing Reporter
The Rowing Reporter is a weekly column of commentary and observations
by Ike Stephenson, Marine Informationist. It concentrates on the home waters
of Around the World of Sailing-- Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake.
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Sailing Terms: Barquentine
This week's term also pertains to the summer's visit by the Tall
Ships, which will be here 9-13 August. One of the ships scheduled to visit
Muskegon is the Barquentine "Concordia". She is 183 feet long, and steps
three masts.
The first requirement for a Barquentine vessel is that it must have
at least three masts. Check mark for the "Concordia". Next is fore and aft
rigging. Another check. Then comes what makes a barquentine the foremost
of the three masts is not fore and aft rigged, but rather square rigged. In
other words the sails are set perpendicular to the keel on the forward
square rigged mast.
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Readers Write
It is still winter, actually about a month from the official start of
spring. To thaw out, sailors schedule regattas this time of year. All the
planning and organization keeps the body warm.
We received word this week that Macatawa Bay Yacht Club will be
hosting the Etchells class North American championships. The event will be
sailed 11-14 September. The Etchells is a prestigious small keelboat one-
design class. Sailors such as Vince Brun, Dennis Conner, and Russell Coutts
compete in this class. Maybe they will try some fresh water racing later
this year.
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Link of the Week
In this week's report on The Race, Grant Dalton described how sat-
ellite images are used in routing through the Doldrums. Often times the
satellite images that appear during TV weather casts cover whole countries
or swaths of the globe. While this is useful, how might one get the sat-
ellite specifics for their sailing area?
With Internet access such as Club Med has, custom satellite images
can be created at the following website:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/expert.html
At this site you can enter latitude and longitude numbers to gain
a view of the area you wish. Once you have the right area, you can then
zoom the image. You can generate an image from as little 6 miles above
the location.
Looking at Club Med's ocean from this view, there is a variety of
cloud temperatures shown as one would expect in the Doldrums. The east side
seems to have colder clouds, which might mean more wind.
Visit this site and try the role of Doldrums weather router.
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Weather Observations
The Muskegon area has assumed the pose of iceboater's paradise the
last few days. Since Saturday, temperatures have been at or near freezing
during the day and always below freezing at night. This keeps the ice frozen.
This four-day period has seen consecutive days of double digit
average wind speed. Although ice boats do not require a lot of wind, more
is always better, especially when the ice is partially snow covered. This
builds up friction, requiring more wind to sail.
The wind speeds have been from 11.6 to 17 knots. The wind has blown
from the western side of the compass.
Reports indicate sailing is occurring on White Lake to the north of
Muskegon and on Spring Lake to the south. Scuttlebutt further indicates
sailing will commence on Muskegon Lake around 1200 today.
A cold front is chilling Muskegon today. The temperature is 14°. The
cold front is a dry one,, meaning that the ice should not get large amounts
of snow dumped on it.
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Rowing Reporter Interactive- The Rowing reporter seeks
comments, questions and suggestions. Send email in a bottle to
ike@torresen.com. If readers write we can start a dialogue about
rowing reporter writing. Send challenges, remarks, queries and they
will make you a part of this column.
Watery World News]
Watery World News is dedicated to our watery planet and the things
that people do on the water other than sail. Whether it is tug-barges,
kayaks, rowing shells, PWC's, swimming or other water activities, Watery
World News will attempt to give the sailing audience of ATWOS a look at
other water activities.
Last time Sir Peter Blake was mentioned it was in connection with the
America's Cup. He was heading Team New Zealand's successful campaign.
Next up for him was a position with the Cousteau Society. This
didn't come to pass. However, Blake has found a way to continue sailing now
with a special concern for the environment. He is now head of Blake Expedi-
tions, with an objective of protecting all forms of life related to water.
Currently he and a crew are voyaging on "Seamaster", a 36 M metal
hulled yacht. They have been at sea since November. Blake and crew are
currently at Peterman Island in Antarctica. On this expedition Blake has
sailed to areas not previously visited,and his discoveries have been unusual.
Earlier this month "Seamaster" was in the King George VI sound.
According to Blake there was less ice than expected. While the reason for
this is not clear, Blake had this to say: "The main ice shelf used to be here
25 years ago, but it is moving back at around a mile a year. Scientists have
told us that it's normally hard ice here. No one can ever remember it being
like this before. We've talked to scientists and sea captains who have been
coming here since the 1970's, and they say it is markedly different now. The
average temperature has increased about 1.4 degrees Celsius."
In a report from "Seamaster" filed yesterday, Blake said: "It is
February 20, the same time of year the British Base of Wordie House that we
visited yesterday had a week of southeasterly gales back in 1958, followed
by another of northerly gales - with severe icing and the sea frozen solid.
Is the climate different now?I think I know the answer."
Blake has an ambitious schedule of observation set for his team.
Included are more time in Antarctica, an Amazon river trip, and a voyage
through the Northwest Passage.
Blake hopes to protect the watery environment through a variety
of communications projects. Examples include a website, TV programs, and
educational programs.
You can follow Blake Expeditions at:http://www.blakexpeditions.com/