Looking Back: America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Record-Setting

In a tribute to the 4000th edition of the Scuttlebutt newsletter, here were the lead stories in the century milestones that preceded it…

SCUTTLEBUTT 3000 – Tuesday, January 5, 2010
When the New York Yacht Club held the America’s Cup for twenty four successful defenses (and one not so successful), they were not beyond an occasional tilt of the playing field to help their cause. But the latest move by defender Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) may have set a new precedent in how to fluster a challenger.

How about a Notice of Race that requires the challenger Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) to moor their boat in a harbor that they can’t get into? Now that both the Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing teams have arrived with their boats in Valencia, Spain, Tom Ehman, Director of External Affairs for the challenger, comments on the latest event debacle:

“They are trying to force us to dock in the Darsena (harbor used for the 32nd America’s Cup), which they say is for the ‘sake of the event’ when they know full well we can’t get into the canal safely with the wing up, and, of course, we cannot take it down until we are in the harbour and at the mooring.” – Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt, read on

SCUTTLEBUTT 2000 – Tuesday, January 3, 2006
The second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race got under way in very light and shifty conditions off Table Bay in Cape Town, South Africa. The seven boat fleet now have 6,100 nautical miles to go to Melbourne, Australia through some of the most dangerous and treacherous waters of the world. There was little wind at the start, but place changes, protests and frayed tempers made for plenty of drama at the start.

According to a statement issued by Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Glenn Bourke, the three offending boats made their penalty turns, 720 degree turns for collisions for ABN Amro One and Brasil 1, and a 360 degree turn for hitting the mark for Pirates. “As far as we can tell, all of the boats that had an incident at the first mark exonerated themselves with the correct action.” – VOR media, read on

SCUTTLEBUTT 1000 – Tuesday, February 5, 2002
Aboard a 110-foot trimaran named after an American Indian, Geronimo, 11 French sailors are preparing for one wild ride. Fittingly, Geronimo’s captain – the five-time circumnavigator and the former French radio personality Olivier de Kersauson – has a bit of cowboy in him. “I like Geronimo; he would never accept surrender,” said de Kersauson from Paris in a telephone interview last week. “I think this value is a good one for me. I like people who don’t surrender.”

Later this month, de Kersauson and his crew will set out from France to compete again for the Trophe Jules Verne, an award emblematic of the fastest nonstop voyage around the world beginning and ending at the French port of Brest. De Kersauson, the current record holder for the passage, in 1997 circled the globe in 71 days 14 hours aboard a trimaran. His plan is not only to better that mark, but also to obliterate it. “Maybe we can make something around 60 days,” he said. – Herb McCormick, New York Times, read on

Family:  Congratulations to sister publication Scuttlebutt Europe, which publishes its 3000th newsletter on January 16, 2014.