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SCUTTLEBUTT 2047 – March 9, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
TP52 GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP
In a class as competitive as the TP52, it is typical to have a different
winner in every race. However, Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 52 won two of
three races Tuesday, and Wednesday it was Eamon Conneely's Patches, from
Ireland, sweeping all three races to take a commanding lead at the Rolex
TP52 Global Championship, sailed as part of Acura Miami Race Week. Three
races were held out in the Gulf Stream, off of Miami's South Beach and
with the exception of the last race, the wind was much more stable than
yesterday, settling in from the northeast and ranging from 10-20 knots.
Elsewhere in the fleet Thomas Stark's Rush (Riverside, Conn.) was forced
to pull out of today's first race when a batten end fitting exploded
requiring the boat's shore crew to rush a spare mainsail out to the race
course. Solid performances in races 2 and 3, enabled Rush to hold onto
fourth place overall. In the second race, Charles Burnett's Braveheart
(Seattle, Wash.) was also forced to withdraw after becoming entangled
with the lines from a lobster pot.
Thursday the goalposts will change massively in the Rolex TP52 Global
Championship when the boats are sent off on an 18-24 hour long distance
race on a course expected to take the boats across to the Bahamas and
back. While the last two days have been windward-leeward courses, this
course is likely to see more reaching in a lumpy Gulf Stream. The
results for this race, scored 1.5 times the windward-leeward race
results, could cause a shake-up to the overall results. ~ Full story:
http://tinyurl.com/l7f5o
Standing after six races with no discards:
1. Patches, Eamon Conneely, (IRL) 1-6-3-1-1-1, 13 points
2. Pegasus 52, Philippe Kahn, 6-1-1-5-4-3, 20
3. Beau Geste, Kark Kwok, (CHN) 4-3-6-4-2-5, 24
4. Rush, Thomas Stark, 2-4-2-10[DNF]-5-2, 25
5. Stay Calm, Stuart Robinson, UK, 3-7-5-2-3-6, 26
6. Bambakou, John G. Coumantaros, 5-8-4-6-7-4, 34
7. Sjambok, Michael Brennan, 7-2-8-3-8-8, 36
8. Glory, John Buchan, 9-5-7-8-6-7, 42
9. Braveheart, Charles Burnett, 8-9-9-7[DNF]-9, 52
FRONT RUNNERS STUMBLE
With some of the front runners faltering on day four, John Dane and crew
Austin Sperry won Wednesday’s fourth race at the 2006 Bacardi Cup Star
Class Regatta to regain the overall lead heading into the final two
races of the regatta. They had lost the overall lead Tuesday with a 17th
place finish, and hope to be able to drop that race in their quest for
what would be the first Trofeo Bacardi for both sailors. Sailors drop
their worst finish of the regatta, such that the teams’ best five races
will be used to determine the overall winner.
Shifty 18-20 mile-per-hour winds and choppy waters carried the duo to an
early lead rounding the windward mark. Once out in front, Dane and
Sperry leveraged strong winds again on the left side to build a
commanding 10-boat-length lead at the second mark - a lead they never
surrendered. Erik Lidecis and Marzahl Michael finished second but a
disqualification after a post-race protest dropped them deep into the
standings.
Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Reynolds of San Diego and crew
Christian Finnsgard, the overall leaders going into the fourth race,
finished 27th Wednesday and fall to fifth overall, while the Portuguese
team of Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos, the 2004 Bacardi Cup
champions, finished 9th and climb to second overall. ~ Janet Maizner,
complete story and results: http://tinyurl.com/p2c6r
Standings after four races with no discard)
1. John Dane/Austin Sperry, 22 points
2. Afonso Domingos/Bernardo Santos (POR) 38
3. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/ Dominick Zycki (POL) 41
4. Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada (BRA) 44
5. Mark Reynolds/Christian Finnsgard, 45
6. Mark Mendelblatt/Mark Strube, 49
7. Iain Murray/Andrew Palfrey (AUS) 50
8. Rick Merriman/Rick Peters, 63
9. Peter Vessella/Darrell Hiatt, 64
10. Andy Beadsworth/ David Carr (GBR) 79
Curmudgeon’s Comment: Read Bacardi reports from 2005 Star North American
champion George Szabo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog
ISAF RANKINGS
As the Olympic Classes gear up for the start of the European season,
Spain is the big winner in this release of the ISAF World Sailing
Rankings, with New Zealand also maintaining their success from the start
of the year, but Great Britain losing two of its top spots. The Brits
have long been the dominant force on the Rankings, and still have more
crews than any other nation in the top three spots. However with Bryony
Shaw (GBR) losing out in the chopping and change of the formative RS:X
Rankings, and Ben Ainslie (GBR) dropping down to fourth place after a
long period of inactivity in the Finn, suddenly 49er sailors Chris
Draper and Simon Hiscocks (GBR) are their sole remaining representatives
at the top.
The USA have also made big strides, with Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) joining
Paige Railey (USA) in the top three of the Laser Radial Rankings and
George Szabo and Eric Monroe (USA) moving up in the Star class to third
place. Sally Barkow (USA) holds the fourth spot on the Yngling rankings
while Canada’s Lisa Ross is now the fifth ranked Laser Radial sailor. ~
Full story: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j62Fh/~qB
"FASTEST SAILS ON THE PLANET" JUST GOT FASTER!
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waiting months for new sails. Are you ready for the "Fastest Sails on
the Planet?" To learn more about FiberPath sails, visit
http://www.ullmansails.com/fiberpath.html
LOOKING FOR PRESSURE
If it wasn’t for the fact that the fleet is going nowhere fast, the
crews onboard the fleet of Volvo Open 70s would actually be enjoying
themselves. Clean clothes are being dragged out of kit bags long
forgotten and Southern Ocean gear has been consigned to old food bags to
contain the smell. Bodies are clean as showers in the rain squalls have
even been possible and having clean hair is something most people have
not experienced since this leg began in Wellington nearly three weeks
ago.
ABN Amro One (Mike Sanderson) is now heading away from Rio in a bid to
find more pressure. He may well be lucky. There is a band of wind ahead
and ABN1 will start to feel the benefit of this in about two hour’s
time. The prospects for the rest of the fleet are not so bright. Second
placed Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) is furthest west, just 165
nautical miles from the coast, but their current wind speed is just
seven knots and the Pirates have lost 17 miles to ABN Amro One in the
last six hours. “Numbers games are what we play out here,” skipper Paul
Cayard commented. “It’s all about numbers! Pressures, angles, days,
grams, minutes, calories, codes, watches, deniers, millibars, legs,
degrees....you name it we count it, graph it, record it, bag it,
everything it.”
Third placed ABN Amro Two (Sebastien Josse) has lost 10 miles and Brasil
1 (Torben Grael) in fourth, has lost five miles. The winner in the fleet
tonight is Ericsson Racing Team who is continuing to make small gains,
this time five miles. It doesn’t do that much to ease the pain as they
are still 138 nautical miles behind ABN Amro One, but it will certainly
lift morale, and they are sailing the fastest in the fleet at present. ~
www.volvooceanrace.org
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Wednesday
1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 470 miles to finish
2. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +80 miles
3. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +103 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +111 miles
5. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, +138 miles
6. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +1222 miles
QUOTES FROM THE BOATS
“I can't honestly confess to ever having had a real job and, as I go
through my love / hate relationship with this Volvo Race, I occasionally
find myself very jealous of anyone who gets to see their family on a
daily basis and who can walk away, even if only for a few short hours,
from the stress of their job and workplace.” ~ Steve Hayles, Ericsson
Racing Team navigator
“Pollution on board is reaching Geiger level as the warm conditions are
igniting cultures and blending bouquets into gagging fumes. Our mid boat
is every bit the dog pound and words cannot describe the ablution
amenities.” ~ Paul Cayard, Pirates of the Caribbean skipper
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine)
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
INSPIRED INSANITY
As this season’s cohort of Southern Ocean sailors leave or are on a
countdown to depart, one lone woman has entered. American sailor Donna
Lange, a 42-year-old former nurse and mother of three, rounded the Cape
of Good Hope on 16 February and is heading towards New Zealand. Donna is
sailing a diminutive 28ft double-ender named Inspired Insanity and was
about 450 miles NNW of the Kerguelen Islands on 4 March. She left
Bristol, Rhode Island in November and has not stopped, and her plan is
to continue to New Zealand for the summer and a refit, and continue
round Cape Horn to the east coast of the US next season.
It would be fair to say that Donna’s voyage is a journey of personal and
spiritual enlightenment. After surviving a hideous car accident in which
a number of people died, she decided to learn to sail and later to sail
alone round the world. By coincidence, within the next week she should
pass north the only other female solo circumnavigator out there. Until
yesterday, neither she nor Dee Caffari knew about each other.As well as
sharing the same tract of the Southern Indian Ocean, Dee and Donna may
be about to share the dilemma of how to tackle a tropical storm brewing
north of the Kerguelen Islands. If this slips south it will affect Dee;
if not, it will be in Donna’s path this weekend. ~
www.elainebunting.blogspot.com
For more info on Donna Lange, see www.donnalange.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* The 470 Internationale has allocated this year’s Junior World
Championships to the Lübeck Yacht Club. It will take place during the
117th edition of the Travemünde Week - the world’s second largest
sailing regatta week, where more than a 1,000 boats from 37 classes are
expected. More than 100 470s from up to 20 nations are expected to enter
the competitions with ten races plus finals (July 22 - 30). The 470s
will be allocated their own course.
* Fred Barrett, the Australian Technical Shore Manager of the
beleaguered Spanish VOR yacht movistar, has been sacked. Barrett, a
naval architect with an impressive CV including time with Sparkman &
Stephens in New York, had project managed the Spanish Volvo Open 70's
build at Boat Speed in Australia. Despite being competitive - movistar
won the Melbourne-Wellington fourth leg of the race - the boat has been
beset with problems with her keel structure, the titanium rods in her
canting keel hydraulic system and also with delaminating of her bomb bay
doors beneath the hull. ~ www.thedailysail.com
* An Australian yachtswoman who was swept out to sea in her tender south
of Langkawi in the Andaman Sea after failing to make it back to her
yacht after a night out ashore, drank her own urine in a five-day ordeal
in intense heat before being rescued by local fishermen. Dominique
Courteille, a 57-year-old mother of four, was attempting to return to
her 11m yacht Sonnet after an evening ashore with friends in the Butang
islands, but strong tidal streams and a fresh breeze were too much for
her outboard-powered boat and she was swept seawards. ~ David
Glenn/Yachting World, full story:
http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060208102717ywnews.html
* As a precursor to the Antarctica Cup Ocean Race for existing classes
of ocean racing monohulls and multihulls during the southern summer of
2007/2008, the race organizers have commenced planning for an individual
ocean racing monohull and/or maxi multihull to sail the Antarctica Cup
Racetrack and set the inaugural elapsed time record for the first
non-stop circumnavigation of Antarctica below latitude 45 South. ~
www.antarcticacup.com
* US Sailing and their Official Insurance Carrier - the Chubb Group of
Insurance Companies - have extended and expanded their partnership.
Under the new partnership, Chubb becomes the title sponsor of US
Sailing’s three U.S. Junior Sailing Championships (the U.S. Junior
Single-, Double- and Triplehanded Championships) and the Championships'
regional qualifying events. In addition, Chubb will provide educational
racing clinics for the young sailors participating at up to 22 regional
qualifying events for the Championships, which will enable more junior
sailors to have access to top level coaches. ~ www.ussailing.org
* There is an interesting website that has map of most of the marinas
across the USA, along with information about available services. Check
it out: www.Mapmuse.com
THE WORD ON THE STREET
Two-thirds of the TP 52 Global Championship fleet. Four America’s Cup
teams. The first three GP42s under construction. The top three finishers
in the Heineken Regatta Spinnaker 1 Class. All fierce competitors - all
with carbon-fiber spars from Hall Spars & Rigging. What’s the story? The
top teams trust our approach - a scientific method tempered by the
street smarts that come from a habit of winning. Add the fact that we’re
always developing new products and techniques, and you have a very
compelling story. Read more about Hall’s latest developments at
http://www.hallspars.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may
be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter
per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others
disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for
elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at
the Scuttlebutt website:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi)
* From Olaf Harken: In reference to yesterday’s trivia question and as
the leader of the Procyon project I would like to add that the yacht
also had the first hydraulically driven canting keel. It has never had a
failure even after frequent groundings with her original eleven foot
draft. A seven foot keel with a large wing and bulb that canted 35
degrees to either side was later designed and installed by O.H. Rodgers.
The wings eliminated the need for additional foils. It had remarkably
good performance. Van Allen Clark had the first manually operated
canting keel on his unique and very fast "Red Herring".
* From Brian Eiland (re the Amoco Procyon): You might have included that
Amoco Procyon also had a canting (swing) keel as well as other
innovations. Procyon was truly an innovative vessel. I was particularly
interested in her sailing rig. If someone is interested in more
information on this vessel I have decided to dedicate a whole subject
thread to her at with pictures and illustrations:
http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10771
* From Donald Brewster: Television is an entertainment medium driven by
advertising revenue, scaled to audience size (mostly), factored by
demographics (partially). Larger audience size (upon which mass media
like TV usually focus) drives demographics down. Sailing offers
outstandingly high demographics (income and discretionary spending, in
particular, at the expense of bypassing the famous 18-34 age range where
most marketers expect to foster buying patterns) and, consequently,
conspicuously small potential viewership. "Crash and burn" scenes,
"tarted up" formats and "life or death" action might increase the
entertainment value -although that is hardly certain- but sour new
prospect participants in our sport. So, feeding our sport into
TV-worthiness risks driving it further into more reckless behavior and
eventual commercial decline. What would you rather have: a few moments
of exposure on TV or a few more boats coming to your starting line?
* From Geoff Newbury: I feel great when a Canadian wins an Olympic medal
(in any sport) but overall the Olympics are bad for the sport of yacht
racing. The IOC cares not about particular sports, but the spectacle of
all the sports, and the ability to sell the TV rights. The ISAF tends to
fall over backwards to go along. (Example, the ridiculous change in
country designations to conform to IOC demands when only the Olympic
competitors actually needed to change). We get a few moments, not even
minutes, of TV coverage, and little else useful from the Olympics.
Being designated an Olympic Class is not necessarily an advantage to the
class. And we have to spend grassroots time and effort fighting
impractical suggestions such as the recent scoring change debacle and
the unlamented drugging proposals which would have had every sailor,
everywhere peeing in a bottle. Collectively we do not need this. The
money spent on Olympic-focused training schemes and regimes would be
better spent on general grassroots especially youth sailing programs.
* From Jim Fulton: Why is it important that sailing be televised? I have
hesitated to ask this question because, with so many people trying so
hard to find ways to make it attractive to a large, and presumably
uninitiated audience, the answer must be obvious. But I just don't get
it. Although I love to sail and always have, sailing is usually not
particularly interesting to watch--it's a participant sport. Yes,
cameras on board, intelligent commentary, and personalities will all
help some, but they will never make a light air race something that any
but the hardest core will want to see. (Granted, a heavy air race might
be a different matter.) So, why are so many people turning back flips to
try to make sailing more telegenic? Is there money involved?
* From George McCroskey: All this back and forth about what "we" can do
to make sailing more viewable for television audiences is wearing me
down. The more sailing is tinkered with, the more sailing will lose its
appeal for those who do it now. As Terry Bischoff suggested in his guest
commentary, sailors and others who actually understand what happens on a
race course aren't all that interested in watching a boat race. I
suppose one might say that if you are interested at all you are probably
on a boat that's in the competition. Sure I'm disappointed that the
major sailing events aren't on TV in the states but I'll live. Then too,
I get to go racing every summer and being there will always beat
watching it anyway! Come on, summer!
* From Scott Brown: As a television advertiser, this thread needs to
end. But first this important message:
-- Broadcast television is not viewed by people who participate in like
events. If it was, then there would be 30 million people dressed like
tramps singing in amateur shows across America every week.
-- Advertisers care very little about the content of programming. What
they do care about is the content of the audience. And please, don't
lump sailors into one large group of Rolex-wearing rum drinkers.
-- The Grow Boating program is not a success. Good for them for trying,
but when they measure the number of new boats sold to "first time
buyers", there's going to be some explaining to do.
-- Sailboat racing will continue to slowly gain coverage, but it will
be on the internet.
Bottom line -- Don't balance the validity of our great sport on whether
we're on TV. Just go sailing and be glad you're not home watching the
tube . . . unless my ad is on.
* From David Doody: Please, please, please kill the thread on TV
coverage for sailing-talk about a dead horse! Yes, it would be nice (or
would it?) to have sailing become this huge mainstream sport, but do we
have to hear nothing except ideas as to how to do so everyday? I think
that for a lot of sailors TV coverage and all it entails is opposite of
the reason they go sailing-to be closer to the nature and all that
entails. Lots of people will continue to try and make sailing more
palatable for mainstream TV-good for them I say, but can we talk about
something else?
Curmudgeon’s Comment: Yes - indeed we can. This thread is now officially
dead!
CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION
My wife says I never listen to her. At least I think that's what she
said.
Special thanks to Ullman Sails and Hall Spars & Rigging.
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