ABN AMRO One continues to outclass the competition in the Volvo Ocean Race, most recently taking first in the leg from Wellington to Rio de Janeiro (finish pictured at right), and then winning the Rio in-port race. The latter win was especially impressive in that the race took place in light winds, which up until now had been viewed as the boat’s only weakness.

More detail is available from the official VOR site: ABN AMRO One dominates in Rio.

Here’s an image of the crew collecting the tropy for the Rio in-port race:

Get used to that picture. Barring an act of God, that’s what the trophy presentation at the end of the competition is going to look like.

Images courtesy of the official ABN AMRO site.

I learned today from an article in the Los Angeles Times that the National Park Service is once again allowing landings and overnight camping on Santa Cruz: Camping ban on Santa Cruz Island is lifted.

According to the Times:

The National Park Service has lifted a temporary ban on camping on Santa Cruz Island, imposed in November to ensure public safety while hunters taking aim at the island’s feral pigs focused their efforts near camping areas.

The park service said the $5-million pig hunt was necessary to protect the endangered Santa Cruz Island fox. Since last April, a New Zealand-based hunting company that it hired has killed about 4,800 pigs and cleared an estimated 85% of the island, said Yvonne Menard, a park service spokeswoman.

Boaters should note that restrictions on travelling inland on the island are still in effect throughout the western two-thirds of the island (that is, the part controlled by the Nature Conservancy). In that part of the island, landings require obtaining a per-vessel permit in advance from the Nature Conservancy, you are restricted (through June 2007) to visiting only beach areas, and certain beaches are completely closed. (See the Nature Conservancy’s beach closures page for details.)