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SCUTTLEBUTT 1780 - February 22, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. EAT MY WAKE The preferred sport of father-son team Philippe and Samuel Kahn isn't sailing. It's beating each other's brains out. It was the moment every parent dreads. Philippe Kahn watched, crestfallen, as his son committed a transgression so grave, so obvious, that he had no choice but to administer drastic punishment. So Kahn flew a red protest flag from the stern of his racing yacht and forced his son Samuel (Shark) Kahn to forfeit a first-place position in the Mumm 30 World Championship in Toronto last September. Shark, all of 15, was helming his own $100,000 yacht with a crew of five. He had tried to sneak in front of his dad but fouled him instead. Kahn thought about letting the offense pass--what father wouldn't?--but under the strict rules of yacht racing he was obliged to require his son to perform two 360-degree turns as a penalty. Shark went from the front of the fleet to the back and finished fourth. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done," says Kahn, 52, a beefy French-born software magnate who in January sold LightSurf, his latest company, to VeriSign for $270 million in stock. "But everybody else was watching. What could I do?" The snarling, hypercompetitive dad who seeks to realize his own frustrated ambitions through his kid is a cliché. But that's not Kahn. Yes, he foots the bill for an outrageously expensive sailing program that has helped transform Shark into one of the world's best racing skippers. But what he wants isn't a surrogate. It's a sparring partner. Kahn spends $1 million to $2 million a year hiring sailors to coach himself and Shark, while also bankrolling those sailors' Olympic campaigns. Racing with Kahn & son these days are: Kevin Burnham, gold medalist in the 2004 Olympics; Jeff Madrigali, two-time Olympic medalist and 1990 world champion in the Soling (a 24-foot keelboat) class; Fredrik (Freddy) Loof, Swedish champion in the Finn and Star classes; and William Hardesty, 1998 College Sailor of the Year and an Olympic hopeful. - Daniel Fisher, Forbes, full story, http://www.forbes.com/global/2005/0228/060.html WEAPONS CHARGE After three months in a hot Bali jail, a beer had never tasted so good for millionaire yachtsman Christopher Packer, who yesterday toasted his imminent freedom with an ice-cold can of VB. He had just learned that he could be free from prison as early as tomorrow after judges sentenced him to three months' jail for failing to declare weapons on board his boat. Taking into account time already served, Mr Packer is due to be freed within days. His decision not to declare to Indonesian authorities that he was carrying six weapons and more than 2000 bullets on board the vessel ended up costing him three months in jail. The weapons included rifles and pistols, which he said were for self-defence and sport. As Judge Gede Damendra announced the three-month sentence, noting that the sailor was guilty of a violation rather than a criminal act, Mr Packer smiled with relief. Mr Packer had initially faced a charge under Indonesia's strict emergency law, which carries the death penalty for trafficking in weapons. - Cindy Wockner, The Advertiser, full story, http://tinyurl.com/49mlb NUMBER SEVEN Sweden's Victory Challenge announced that it is the seventh team to have its challenge accepted for the 32nd America's Cup. This marks the fifth time a Swedish team has challenged for the America's Cup, and it is the second consecutive campaign for Victory Challenge. The team, representing the Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap, was accepted as a challenger by the Defending Yacht Club the Swiss Société Nautique de Genève prior to the initial challenge deadline of the 17th December, 2004. It was not announced as a Challenger until today at the request of the team. Victory Challenge made its public presentation of the team on Friday in Skeppsbrokajen, Stockholm, from its home Yacht Club. Victory Challenge was founded by the late Jan Stenbeck in 2001 to compete in the 31st America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. Stenbeck, the syndicate head, passed away just prior to the first races of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series, but the team continued in his honour, with his son Hugo Stenbeck taking a leadership role on the team. It is Hugo Stenbeck who initiated this new challenge. Victory Challenge will make its debut in Valencia at the Louis Vuitton Acts 4 and 5, joining seven other official Challengers along with the Defender, the Swiss Team Alinghi. - America's Cup website, full story, http://tinyurl.com/4kknw NEWPORT WINTERFEST SALE AT TEAM ONE NEWPORT We are so sorry that not all of you will be able to make it to Newport's Winterfest and Team One Newport's Sale. So we decided to put the sale items on our website. This is the first of the big celebrations for Team One Newport's 20th Anniversary. We have Henri-Lloyd, Musto, Patagonia, Gill, Dubarry, Kavu, Horny Toad, and much more on drastic sale! Team One Newport's 2005 catalog will be out in about 3 weeks, so be sure to email us with your address, so you don't miss this awesome catalog. Call 800-VIP-GEAR or http://www.team1newport.com ORANGE II An express Pacific crossing for Orange II which has been racking up 600 nautical mile days on its course towards Cape Horn. The average speed of Bruno Peyron's charge since the departure of the maxi-catamaran from Quessant has even increased over the weekend, as the speed has gone from 23 to 24.4 knots since last Friday. Hooked well onto the northern edges of the depression situated to the south of it, Orange II is really making the most of its potential to extend its lead. Though the average speed over a half hour period has dropped slightly in the early hours of this Monday 21 February, the team has been making 28 to 29 knots for a large part of the time, with an instantaneous speed of between 30 and 35 knots. The record in mind for Bruno Peyron and his thirteen men is indeed the one that was set a year ago by Cheyenne of between Tasmania and Cape Horn of 11 days, 20 hours and 18 minutes though. Such a time would give Orange II a lead of at least five days on passing the Southern tip of the South America! - Sail-World, full story, http://tinyurl.com/4dbx7 Monday at 04:00 GMT, the distance covered in the previous 24 hours was 584 nm, with 9,963.30 nm to go. Orange II is 2,827 ahead of the Jules Verne record, and 2,303 ahead of the absolute record held by Cheyenne. - http://www.maxicatamaran-orange.com ORYX QUEST 2005 (Monday, February 21st) When Olivier de Kersauson stated two days ago that it was a "hard slog" as his giant trimaran pounded upwind, he was not choosing his words carefully. The boat had been leaping from wave crest to trough, crashing down into the deep voids between cresting waves. No one is quite sure which crash did the damage, but unfortunately Geronimo has sustained damage to the forward starboard beam and is heading for Perth in Western Australia for repairs. "The damage is centred on the curve of the forward starboard beam," de Kersauson said. "The split measures about 30 centimetres where the two skins have separated and the surrounding damage shows quite clearly that this was an impact and not a stress-related problem." The problem does not spell the end of the race for the French team. There is a provision in the notice of race that allows a yacht to stop for repairs and suffer no penalty other than a forced stop of at least 24 hours. The good news is that the wind is from astern and the boat is continuing at a good rate of knots. - Event website, full story, http://tinyurl.com/67yto What a difference a few days makes. Less than four days ago the Oryx Quest 2005 yachts were sailing upwind in boat break conditions. They were still in the trade winds of the Indian Ocean in blazing sun with shade at a premium. Now all the boats, with the exception of Geronimo, are in the deep south pounding downwind at breakneck speeds. For the last 72 hours the speed on Doha 2006 has not dropped below 22 knots as the Qatari catamaran dives deeper into more hostile territory. It's sailboat racing at its finest and it's going to remain this way for another 6,000 miles until the first boat reaches Cape Horn. At the 07:00 GMT poll on Monday morning Doha 2006 was sailing at 27 knots. They are about to hit the Furious Fifties where life on board becomes a constant battle just to stand upright say nothing of trying to eat and sleep. Olivier de Kersauson and his crew on Geronimo are 300 miles west of Fremantle where they will stop for repairs to the starboard beam. They are expected to reach land sometime Monday night and will start the repair immediately. - Event website, full story, http://tinyurl.com/4lwse VENDÉE GLOBE 2004 It was at 02 hours 34 minutes and 24 seconds GMT this Sunday 20th February 2005 that the 60-foot monohull Hellomoto skippered by Conrad Humphreys crossed the finish line seventh of the Vendée Globe 2004, a single-handed race, without stopovers and without assistance departing and finishing in Les Sables d'Olonne (France). Just 30 miles behind the British skipper, Joe Seeten chose to wait until later in the morning for his passage of the line, so as to give his vast crowd of fans the chance to arrive on zone. He finally crossed the finish line of the Vendee Globe at 11 hours 04 minutes and 45 seconds GMT this Sunday 20th February 2005 aboard 60-foot monohull Arcelor Dunkerque. Next to finish should be Bruce Schwab, who is hoping to become the first American skipper to complete the Vendée Globe. Given the latest weather information, Bruce sees his most likely ETA to be late Thursday or Friday of this week. - Event website, full story, http://www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk ANNOUNCING RIG PRO BY SOUTHERN SPARS AT SORC 2005 Passion. Technology. Design. Performance. Simply put the Rig Pro team of rigging experts is like no other. Experience true experience. Visit our black rigging trailer in Monty's lot pre-race on March 8th for all of your rigging needs. Consult with the pros at 401-683-6966, onsite in Miami 401-662-0353. http://www.southernspars.com 2005 STAR WORLDS The sixth and final race saw 8 knots at the start, building to 14 knots, with the English team of Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell winning their 2nd race in a row. However, the 2nd place finishers, Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau are the 2005 World Champions in the Star. Finishing third today were Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira, who ended up second overall. The three teams were far ahead of the rest of the fleet except for the Swedish team of Loof/ Eckstrom who had a extraordinary race, rounding the 1st mark at 23rd position and ending the race in fourth. All four teams have previously won a Star World championship. 1. Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau (FRA) (6)-1-3-2-2-2, 16 points 2. Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira (BRA) 1-6-(8)-1-4-3, 15 3. Iain Percy/Steve Mitchell (GBR) (DNF/53)-2-2-13-1-1, 19 4. Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom (SWE), 2-4-6-6-(7)-4, 22 5. Philippe Presti /Jean-Phillipe Saliou (FRA) 5-9-4-3-6-(10), 27 9. Mark Reynolds/Phil Trinter (USA) 7-3-11-(16)-16-5, 42 27. Brian Cramer/Iain Greensmith (CAN) 26-19-24-(DNF/53)-25-29, 123 Event website: http://www.starworld2005.com/en Star class website: http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_167.shtml IN MEMORIAM For those who have been sailing Snipes for many years, Lowry (Buzz) Lamb, Executive Secretary of the International Snipe Class from 1970 through 1988, passed away at his Punta Gorda, Florida home February 19. He was 79. His wife Marge and son Stewart were with him. Buzz assumed the class administration following Snipe designer William Crosby (1935-1953) and Birney Mills (1953-1970), and was instrumental in revising and updating the bible for small boat sailing, "Scientific Sailboat Racing" by Ted Wells in 1979. Buzz and Marge were fixtures at the Snipe Winter Circuit, Nationals and all international events. Donations in his memory can be made to the Snipe US Perpetual Fund c/o Don Hackbarth, mailto:dhackbar@bellsouth.net NEWS BRIEFS * Auckland, New Zealand- A final race marked by comebacks and conflict led to the International Jury deciding the outcome of the 2005 International 14 Worlds. When overall points leader Lindsay Irwin and Andrew Perry (AUS) found themselves being held back in the race by RMW Marine sailors, Alister Richardson and Ian Barker (GBR), while the RMW team of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes (GBR) was ahead with enough boats in between to secure the victory, Irwin/ Perry claimed foul and filed protest. The jury agreed, upholding their protest, and providing sufficient redress to give the Australians the crown. - http://tinyurl.com/3tfb9 * St. Petersburg, FL - The inaugural event of the 2005 Lands' End National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta series came to a close in the waters off St. Petersburg on Sunday with 221 sailboats competing in 21 divisions. Former Olympic and America's Cup sailor John Bertrand dominated the 44-boat Melges 24 class, plus was deemed the top performing boat of the regatta, earning him one of the nine spots for the year-end NOOD Caribbean Rendezvous, an event for the top boats from all nine NOOD events in 2005, held at Sunsail's Club Colonna Resort in Antigua. Complete results: http://www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=35917&typeID=403&catID=597 * A cyclist is suing Hampshire double Olympic gold medal winning yachtsman Ben Ainslie for more than £50,000 damages ($94,800 USD) after he was seriously hurt in a car crash with the sailor. Ian Ray, 41, is claiming he suffered serious head injuries in the collision on a roundabout in January 2003, and now needs intensive rehabilitation for a brain injury. The writ adds that Ainslie, 27, has admitted liability for the crash in a letter to Ray's solicitors in December 2003, but that the two sides are thought to be unable to agree how much compensation he should receive. - Sarah Lefebve, Daily Echo, full story, http://tinyurl.com/63dhs J BOATS MIDWINTER RENDEZVOUS Every March for the past 8 years, J owners have gathered in Warren, RI for a fun day of J-oriented seminars, factory tours and owner networking. This year's Rendezvous is Saturday, March 5th, 10am-4pm. The only prerequisite is that you own a J and reserve a spot! Please contact mailto:Kendra@jboats.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. This is not a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Rick Van Mell, Chicago/San Francisco Bay: (edited to our 250 word limit) When I grew up, a long time ago, I was taught to belay a line on a cleat with: 1) a full round turn, 2) a figure eight, and 3) a final round turn. I was also specifically taught that putting a half hitch on the cleat was a sure way to court disaster. But today it seems all the sailing schools are teaching folks to cleat a line with a half hitch at the end (albeit done the right way and not crossed). I have personally stood on Pier 40 in San Francisco and watched as one of the Hornblower 80' cruise yachts' deck hand cast off the bow line on the dock (it had a half hitch), then went aft to release the stern. With 20+ knots blowing the bow off the dock, the bow started across the narrow slip. Unfortunately there was so much strain on the stern line that the hitch had pulled tight and could not be budged, exacerbated by the skipper trying to control the swing the engines. When the bow reached the other side of the slip, with the stern line still locked by its half hitch, a nice tall concrete piling cleanly pierced the windows in the hull. If that cleat had been tied "the old fashioned way" there would have been no problem. I've tied mine the "old fashioned way" for 40 years and never had one slip. So why the half hitch? * From Cliff Bradford: It may be true that short handed sailors are breaking the letter of the colregs. Since many cruisers sail with 2 people they're probably breaking the letter of the law at some point too. However, how many vessels at sea have been seriously damaged by being run over by sailboats? Even a small freighter would run over B&Q like it was matchsticks so in reality the merchant navies and cruise ships of the world have nothing to fear from shorthanded sailboats. * From E. Eric Matus: I've contemplated doing some Single Handed Racing for several years. One of my concerns is how I can assure safe passage when I sleep? The science & technology of sensors has matured to the point that it's time to develop compact sensors to meet the needs of small boats to detect CBDR objects on and below the surface. With hundreds of containers washing overboard each year, melting icecaps, and increasing traffic from shipping and recreational boating we need more options to monitor for hazards. * From Carol Boe: Re Adrian Morgan's view on Shosholoza hitting whales (in Issue 1779) - As one of many who inquired (sincerely) how the whale made out, I laughed out loud reading Adrian's take on the issue. Now, if we could only teach them to retrieve golf balls... * From Fred Ploetz: Regarding Adrian Morgan's comments in Scuttlebutt 1779, the news of a sailboat hitting a whale makes big news. Of course, big, fast ships will probably have as many encounters with whales, given the large numbers of ships plying the waters around the clock and all year round. The difference is that these ships would never notice such a collision; same as when they hit a sailing vessel. I guess the only solution would be to ban all ships from the oceans, including the whale- watching vessels and Mr. Morgan's boat included. * From Kyle Clark: I can't do anything about the whales, so I will just continue sleeping and reading with my feet facing forward and hang on. Curmudgeon's Comment: I think we have caught our limit on the whale thread - time to cut bait and move on. CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATION "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -Robert A. Heinlein |
