'Lectronic Index

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Woman on the Water Day

January 31 - Los Angeles

Friday, February 9, 2007, will be designated Woman on the Water Day at the 51st Los Angeles Boat Show, announced Dave Geoffroy, Executive Director of the Southern California Marine Association.

All women will get into the show for free on the ninth. Woman on the Water (WOW) activities can be found in Kentia Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center 1-9 p.m. Special activities include Nordstrom's Spa with free skin care treatments, seminars taught by woman, women's boating organizations, and demonstrations for female show-goers.

For more information, contact Suzanne O'Rourke at (949) 280-2312.

- latitude / cw

More on Eos and Groovy

January 31 - St. Barth, French West Indies

Eos at anchor

On Monday we wrote that the recently-launched sailing yacht Eos, often reported to be 93 meters, and often reported to be owned by a German, is now the largest privately-owned sailing yacht in the world. Well, we made at least one mistake. According to Tom Perkins, owner of Maltese Falcon, the recently-launched Eos is not owned by a German, but rather Barry Diller. Who's he? Diller began his career in the mail room of William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills after dropping out of school, and, after a series of major successes, became the media executive who created the Fox television network. Diller is currently the Chairman of Expedia and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp, an interactive commerce conglomerate and the parent of companies including Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, Match.com and Citysearch. In 2005, IAC/InterActiveCorp acquired Ask.com, marking a strategic move into the Internet search category. In 2005, Diller received $295 million in compensation, the highest of any executive in the United States. That's who he is.

Unfortunately, we mistakenly zorched Perkins' email after just scanning it, so we can't say for sure, but believe Perkins said that Eos actually isn't the largest sailing yacht in the world. Hopefully we'll get another copy of that email so we can report the correct information.

In that same Monday 'Lectronic, we noted that Jimmy Buffett took delivery of a new sailboat down here in St. Barth but we didn't know what kind she is. Several readers have written in to report that she's a Tofinou 9.50, designed by Michel Joubert, and said to be as fast as she is expensive. Be that as it may, there was a humorous hiccup to the launch, as the boat somehow became stuck to the cradle and couldn't be lifted off. After some prying, she was released. Once that was done, Buffett and friends, including 83-year-old Marius Stackelbough of Le Select, enjoyed a brief christening, then he went out for an afternoon sail. Since Groovy sailed right past where we were anchored, we took the accompanying photograph.

Groovy sails by.
Photos Latitude/Richard

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- latitude / rs

Don't Call the Ship Ishmael

January 31 - Off the California-Oregon Coast

"Here's an interesting photo of a large whale, presumably a Blue, that was T-boned across the bow of Matson containership Kauai," reports Skip Allan of the Capitola-based Wylie 28 Wildflower.

Photo Courtesy Skip Allan

"The ship was southbound yesterday evening off the coast of Oregon and Northern California en route from Seattle to Oakland, when the bridge watch noticed the rpms had dropped from 100 to 90, with a subsequent drop in speed from 22 to 20 knots. There was also an abnormal wake pattern astern.  At daybreak the whale was spotted just above the bulb on the bow. The ship was backed down to clear the whale."

- skip allan