Liz Baylis

The team from E.T. is racing in the 2010 Pacific Cup on Buzz Blackett’s Antrim Class 40 - California Condor.

Follow the action here:

The California Condor blog:
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/cacondor/

or here:

I On Earth Tracking:
http://www.ionearth.com/2010/pacific-cup/

The Problem

In the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, on a tiny island 1,000 miles from the nearest big city, many Laysan albatross chicks die each year because their bellies are full of bottle caps, toothbrushes and other plastic. One study found that 97.5% of chicks had plastic in their stomachs. Many people think that the biggest source of pollution in the oceans is oil spilled from ships, but most marine pollution is litter that starts out on land.

To read more, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium website:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/oceanissues/plastics_albatross/

If you are wondering why there has been so little activity on this website, it’s because I’ve been SO busy updating Facebook, Twitter, and the WIMRA website with new posts!

So, if you want to see what I’ve been up to check out:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1430458124&ref=mf

http://twitter.com/LizBaylis

http://www.wimra.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-International-Match-Racing-Association-WIMRA/96370131218

http://twitter.com/wimra

January 12, 2010

Derelict fishing gear snagged on a coral reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (Credit: NOAA PIFSC CRED.)

Today, NOAA and several partners in Hawaii announced a comprehensive long-term plan to actively assess and remove plastics, derelict fishing gear, and other human sources of marine debris from coastal waters and coral reefs along the island chain. The plan, a first of its kind for the nation, will be instrumental in protecting the state’s coastal communities and marine life from the thousands of pounds of marine debris that wash ashore each year.

“For too long marine debris has marred the natural beauty of our ocean and threatened our marine ecosystem,” said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. “I have long championed a coordinated effort to mitigate the many tons of debris that suffocate our coral, kill our fish and aquatic mammals and blanket our coastlines. This is a critical issue for our state and I am proud that Hawaii is taking the lead in finding a solution to this global problem.”

To read the entire article, please visit the NOAA website: www.noaanews.gov

We’re moving into a more modern social networking mode:

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LizBaylis

or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Liz-Baylis/1430458124

Tuesday was kind of a brutal day on the water for the San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team.  We ended the round robin with a scorecard of 5-6 and the round robin racing included a run-in with a large anchored seaweed farm during the pre-start with Leroy (ask Liz how the water is for swimming at Haeundae Beach next time you see her).  Needless to say we are not in the semi-finals and feel a little frustrated with how we sailed, but as always we are taking away some valuable lessons which we hope to apply in future events.

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!

Liz will stay in Korea for the next week or so for the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) Annual Conference then return home on the 14th.  The rest of the crew will return home soon!

Cheers,
Liz, Katie, Shala, Lesa, and Karen
The San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team

~~~~~~~~~~~
Busan Cup - Day Four

Racing continued in Busan, South Korea. The round robin was finished and the semi-finals were sailed in shifty and puffy conditions off of Hundae Beach amongst the fish nets and crab pots.

The semi-finals saw Lucy Macgregor (GBR) face Ann-Claire Le Berre (FRA) and Clair Leroy (FRA) face Sally Barkow (USA). Macgregor won her semi-final 3-0 and Barkow won hers 3-1.

This sets up a finals pairing of Macgregor and Barkow.  The petit-finals will see Leroy and Le Berre meet.

Results after Round Robin:
Macgregor (GBR): 11-0
Leroy (FRA) : 10-1
Barkow (USA): 8-3
Le Berre (FRA): 8-3
Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN): 6-5
Ward (DEN): 5-6
Tylinska (POL): 5-6
Baylis (USA): 5-6
Thies (NED):5-6
Urara (JPN): 2-9
Karlemo (FIN): 2-9
Lim (KOR): 0-11

Visit www.busanmatch.com <http://www.busanmatch.com>  for more information.

After two days of racing at the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, Claire Leroy (FRA) and Lucy Macgregor (GBR) sit on top of the leaderboard with 5 wins and no losses.

The San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team had an up and down first day of racing. The win was very shifty sailing near the beach at Haendae. We won our first match against Anne-Claire Le Berre (FRA), then were safely leading the 2nd match until the 2nd beat when the Polish team, Tylinska, got a puff that no one els on the race course got and sailed up and around us.  After a two hour delay waiting for wind, the course was moved offshore and we won the next match against the Korean team, Lim.  The next two matches were losses to Macgregor (GBR) and Ward (DEN).  It seemed like a day we couldn’t catch a break, but we also identified some areas for improvement, so onward and upward tomorrow.
Round Robin racing continues tomorrow for the 12 teams from ten countries.  The forecast is for substantially more breeze and cold (43 F).

Results after 10 flights (out of 22 flights in the round robin):
Leroy (FRA) : 5-0
Macgregor (GBR): 5-0
Barkow (USA): 4-1
Le Berre (FRA): 3-2
Ward (DEN): 3-2
Thies (NED): 3-2
Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN): 2-3
Tylinska (POL): 2-3
Baylis (USA): 2-3
Urara (JPN): 2-3
Karlemo (FIN): 0-5
Lim (KOR): 0-5

Visit www.busanmatch.com for more information.

Racing started today for the Busan Cup (http://www.busanmatch.com) - The San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team did not get to race today as the light wind in the morning delayed things. Group A sailed 5 flights - Claire Leroy (FRA) won all 5 matches, Sally Barkow (USA) won 4 and lost the last match to Leroy. Not sure how the other scores went in that group.

Racing starts today for the Busan Cup (http://www.busanmatch.com) - The San Francisco Women’s Match Racing Team (Liz, Shala Lawrence, Katie Pettibone, Lesa Gutenkunst, and Karen Loutzenheiser) is one of 12 teams competing. We are in “Group B”, so no sailing for us until later this afternoon.