Around the World of Sailing

14 November 2001

This weeks features:

Finish Line

November 12th French soloist Jean Luc Van Den Heede
rounded Cape Horn, the first great cape on his east
to west circumnavigation.

At that point he was 4 days 1 hour/623 miles ahead
of the current record held by Frenchman Philiipe Monnet.

Shortly after he suffered damage to his keel, which caused
Adrien to take on water. Therefore he is abandoning
his record attempt, but plans a 3rd attempt in the
near future.

Water Level Update

Weekly Water Level Update
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/atwos/2001/oc/1024/frw.htm

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.
For information on other lakes see:
http://huron.lre.usace.army.mil/levels/weekly.html

Reference Point
Difference from Chart Datum +1
Difference from last month +2
Difference from last year +6
Difference from long term average for November -15
Difference from Record High -52
Difference from Record Low +16
Forecast for 9 December 2001 -3

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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A Note On Coincidence
Great Lakes sailor Stu Argo (an MSU graduate for you
UM/MSU conspiracy theorists) was on board Young America
during it's crack during the last America's Cup. He was
then on board Oracle Racing's USA 61 during its keel
loss in 2000. Stu is still with Oracle Racing and so
could have been on board USA 49 when it lost it's keel.
******************
Readers Write
We begin with a note of correction from Leonard
Bohmann, "You've misquoted the Corps of Engineers. That
should read "Difference from Chart Datum". As you have
it written it is 1" below the datum when in reality it
is 1" above the datum." Indeed Leonard is correct.
I guess the low water times have gotten me into the habit
of writing below datum.
Indeed the water is 1 inch above chart datum and
even better 6 inches above last years mark. You'll note
above the correction has been made.
Reader Al writes, " I love receiving the emails
from your company. I read them almost entirely and have
found many other great sites and information. Keep up the
good work, and hope to see you on the water some day."
Thanks Al who appears to hail from Ohio. So, there's a
chance we'll speak each other at sea someday.
*******************
2002 Great Lakes Sailing Calendar
With the rows of boats transformed from floating
objects to stationary objects, most Great Lakes sailors
are looking to season '02 in one form or another. It's
not a question of if we'll sail it's a question of when.
Each year Torresen Sailing Site tries to answer
the question of when with the free Great Lakes Sailing
Calendar. Last years calendars featured 53 events from
33 different groups.
There will be 13 events that will not be relisted
as they were one time occurrences. This leaves many open
spots for your classes, club or groups sailing event.
We list events of interest to racers and cruisers.
Email events you want to see listed to ike@torresen.com.
We especially need help with events such as one design
class championships that are visiting the great lakes.
Also rhondevous of cruising boats of different types and
shore side festivals that would make a good destination
for cruising.
To see the calendar's format visit
http://www.torresen.com/calendar/c1.htm and
http://www.torresen.com/calendar/c2.htm.
You'll be able to pick up a free 2002 Great Lakes
Sailing Calendar beginning 31 January at the 2002 Strictly
Sail Chicago Boat Show.
*******************
Muskegon- Cloud Season Coming
To date November has not been wintry. To the
months mid point temperatures have been 2° above norm.
There has been snow to help deer hunters in tracking
their prey.
Winter will come though and along with it cloud
season. From November to April Muskegon has a majority
of overcast days. It begins in November with 67.8%
overcast days rising to over 75% in December and January
and then declining to 65% in February and ending at an
even 50% in April.
During this same period Lake Michigan is not
nearly as cloudy. The high point is 48.9% of observations
showing overcast in December.
Only Erie PA shows a cloud percentage anywhere
near Muskegon's. Erie has a 72.6% cloud percentage in
January. Like Muskegon, Erie is on the downwind side
of a great lake.
Clouds often carry moisture. Perhaps this
explains why Muskegon's 97.9 inches of snow rank 7th
in the nation. For people in Marquette MI (130.6 inches)
and Sault Ste. Marie (117.1 inches) that qualifies as good news!
********************
Around Alone Goes Home
The 20th anniversary/6th edition of Around Alone
will once again start from Newport Rhode Island. Around
Alone started from Newport in 1982, '86 and 1990.
From Newport it's a transat to England, thence
to Cape Town. A Southern Ocean leg to New Zealand and
then past Cape Horn to Salvador Brazil.
This will give Around Alone a paper distance of
28,800 miles. The new 1st leg essentially a west to east
trans at will add around 11 to 17 days of sailing. The
rest of the course is pretty well known. England to
South Africa around 30 to 35 days, Cape Town to New
Zealand 28 days, New Zealand to Brazil 27 to 28 days
and Brazil to Newport around 25 days. Total winning
elapsed time should be around 127 days still less
than Phillipe Jeanot's winning time in the '82 and
'86 races.
A more minor note, the new Around Alone
organizers seem to be off on a bit of a different
marketing/linguistic tangent. They are referring to
competitors as 'lone sailors' rather than single handers
or solo sailors.
Great Lakes Around Alone entry Everest Horizontal
is enroute to a winter base in Charleston South Carolina.
The Open 50 has traveled on her own bottom through the
Great Lakes. This winter Tim Kent will undertake his
official 2,000 mile qualifying sail.
Another American entry Mission America headed
by veteran Brad Van Liew is also at sea. He is
delivering his recently acquired Finot Open 50 across
the Atlantic.