Something about the words “Pirate” and “Volvo” just dont’ go together, but nonetheless the media mogul Disney has entered their billboard into the famous round-the-world race. Early images of what real Pirates should look forward to in their waters indicate a flashy black and red cartoon character. I can just imagine being sleep-deprived in high seas during the middle of the night and staring at the eerie glow of a giant skull on the foresail. No word on the specifics yet, but the 70-footer will probably be outfitted with some of Harken’s latest wenches. Har har!

Nov 14th update: Hall Spars is apparently doing the rigging. Congrats Ben!

Happy Birthday A Team! It’s been far too long since I last wrote an entry. Hello to everyone out in Internet land. Have you heard the story of Dan Eldon? I am not fond of the site, but you can get an idea of what an amazing photographer and artist he was before his untimely death.

Racing my cat in the Kickoff regatta was great. Rob Howe took a photo of me outpacing a Prindle 19 in flat water and a stiff breeze (that’s me on the right). You can see the BIG version of the photo here. I also found a photo that shows me preparing to round the leeward mark. In the end, the race committee was smoking crack and robbed Julian of a first place, but the conditions were ideal. Division Three [used to have] more information online.

I sent a message to Sailing Anarchy asking if they had any articles on the A-Class cats…they responded by asking me if I wanted to write one for them. They MUST be anarchists.

Do you care what the weather is up to o’er ‘ere? Check out the local met station webpage. Julian and I discovered yesterday it is fairly easy handle the cats in fierce conditions, although I confess we had the sails completely de-powered. The wind was similar to today’s reading:

   $ finger met@sealion.ucsc.edu 
        Wind Speed:             +14.592 m/s     (+32.642 mph)
        Maximum Wind Gust:      +16.376 m/s     (+36.633 mph)

Whoa Bessie!

The weather in the Comoros looks pleasant. Almost a constant 28° C. I fly out tomorrow and meet Loubnat in Paris. I hope to update this page as I go, but if not, see you all when I return.