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SCUTTLEBUTT 1293 - March 25, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. IT'S OFFICIAL US Sailing's Safety at Sea Committee has added or modified US Prescriptions to three of the Special Regulations Governing Offshore and Oceanic Racing. Here's a change that will be of interest to all offshore racers: PFD's and Harnesses - 5.02.5 "US SAILING prescribes that harnesses and PFD's shall be worn by all crew members in Category 0 and 1 races from sunset to sunrise while on deck." While nearly all of the responses to the advertised "request for comments" on this proposal were supportive, they were evenly divided on the question of whether to require such equipment or to leave it up to each sailor or skipper. The majority of organizers of Category 1 and 0 races who responded favored adopting the prescription as a requirement. - www.sailrater.com/newsarchive/03192003.htm RACING TRENDS Many yachtsmen in Melbourne, Australia have 'seen the light' and are now racing their yachts in shorthanded mode. The long standing Melbourne to Hobart 'West Coaster' has had a shorthanded division for many years and the ORCV (Offshore Racing Club of Victoria) had 60 odd entries in their shorthanded race held on 19th May last year. The interesting thing here is the type of yacht participating in these events - they are the usual club racers, largely comprising a variety of production yachts, with a few potent dedicated shorthanders in the fleets too. The race is being held again this year starting on the 19th May. With the growth of interest in this dimension of yachting, Brighton Yacht Club are also offering a five race Shorthanded Winter Series with Race 1 scheduled on 6th April. - Excerpts from a story by Rob Drury on the Sail World website in Australia, full story: www.sail-world.com/ KINETICS Concluded Sunday in Southampton, ISAF hosted the first International Judges conference with the primary focus at leveling the playing field with regards to the application and policing of RRS 42 (Propulsion). Following the conference, ISAF Vice President Ken Ryan commented, "We are delighted not only by the reaction to developing more consistency in the application of RRS 42, and the commitment from delegates to educate, but also the level of constructive discussion on the future of the rule, that came out on Sunday." John Doerr went on to say "This conference has proved to be the first step to a universal understanding and application of a vitally important area of our sport, and will lead to a responsible evolution of RRS 42, based on that understanding." - Excerpts from a story on the ISAF website, full story: www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=4160 WEATHER ADVISORY Available seats for Commander's Weather and Ockam U Seminars, co-sponsored by Blue Water Sailing Magazine, are filling up fast. Chicago's March 29 and 30 dates are near capacity - so don't miss the opportunity (registration by email is easy, see below). Sessions are scheduled in Annapolis, Marblehead and Newport as well, with early registration strongly advised. For Weather Seminar details visit http://www.WxAdvantage.com or e-mail billbiewenga@compuserve.com. For Ockam U information, email tom@ockam.com. FOR THE RECORD With spring upon us, the Windjet team has suspended operations in Canada and are returning to the UK without officially challenging the Ice record of 143 mph. The team has been in Canada for three months, testing the all-new ice craft at a number of locations from Alberta through to Ontario, in search of the perfect conditions. However, despite traveling over 3000 miles and visiting numerous lakes, the right combination of smooth ice and strong wind did not coincide for the team this winter. The fastest speed reached was just shy of 90 mph at Ghost Lake, near Calgary Alberta, but large snow drifts and lumpy ice prevented going any faster. Huge lessons were learnt from the expedition and large amounts of data were collected on wind and ice conditions, and also from the new Windjet ice craft, which handled superbly, from the first day out of its box! A full summary of the Canada story and the lessons learnt will be revealed shortly, once the team has settled back in the UK. The Windjet ice vehicle will now be shipped back to the UK, and transformed into land record mode. It will then be stationed back at our Land record location, RAF Waddington, in readiness for appropriate conditions to challenge the land record. However, as RAF Waddington is an active and busy RAF station, this schedule may be affected by the military action currently taking place. During the summer, the team will be back to work on the top-secret water craft, which is progressing well. All details will remain confidential at this time. - Windjet website, www.windjet.co.uk/ STAR OLYMPIC PRE-TRIALS US Sailing Center & Coral Reef Yacht Club - Final results, seven races with one discard (31 boats): 1. Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 27; 2. Paul Cayard & Phil Trinter, USA, 32; 3. Peter Bromby & Andrew Palfrey, BER, 34; 4. Colin Beashel & David Giles, AUS, 34; 5. Terry Hutchinson & Andrew Scott, USA, 35; 6. George Szabo & Darin Jensen, USA, 38; 7. Rick Merriman & Bill Bennett, USA; 49; 8. Howie Shiebler & Rick Peters, USA, 51; 9. Mark Reynolds & Magnus Liljedahl, USA, 52; 10. Andy Lovell & Eric Oetgen, USA, 57. - Complete results: www.ussailing.org/Olympics/2004Trials/StarPreTresults.htm AROUND ALONE So, now that Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America race boat is safely in harbor, what does Brad Van Liew do after 34 days alone at sea? He has been trying to sleep, but his nights have been interrupted with fits of unwelcome and unwarranted demands. Radar alarms, chores on deck, and sail changes haunt him as he makes the transition to a warm, homey, and comfortable bed. "The sleep deprivation takes its toll on me physically and mentally," explained Van Liew. "My catnaps onboard of 25 minutes limit my REM sleep which is something the body can only take for so long. Being able to crash for hours once on land is a jolt to the body after so many weeks at sea living on the edge." Van Liew's routine onshore quickly moved to inspecting the Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America race boat with his crew, attending press conferences and sharing his arrival with local and international media through one-on-one interviews. * Only Alan Paris on BTC Velocity remains sailing. Light headwinds and fickle sailing conditions are conspiring to keep BTC Velocity's progress slow, and the boat is still more than 600 miles from the finish. * Derek Hatfield still in Ushuaia. This upcoming week will be a big one for Spirit of Canada as the new mast arrives along with an army of riggers, sailmakers and electronics experts. * Graham Dalton's dismasted Open 60 Hexagon has been hauled out in Argentina. Reportedly Dalton is in New Zealand with his mother who is very ill. - www.aroundalone.com CAMET PADDED SAILING SHORTS The Camet 3000 Shorts come in seven different colors. The two newest designs are the Cargo Shorts that come with those extra big pockets to store more of those things you always wish you could have while sitting on the rail, and the longer Bermuda style and women's Ocean Shorts. Take a look at the Camet web site where you'll find the shorts and all their performance gear. http://www.camet.com SAILOR OF THE MONTH Very soon now, Seahorse magazine in the UK will declare that either Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts or Alinghi's lead designer Rolf Vrolijk will be their Sailor of the Month. You can help with that decision by casting a ballot at: http://seahorsemagazine.com/sailor_month/sailormonth.php LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Jim Champ: Oh no, not the one-design is fairest sailing myth *again*. One design racing tests only the sailors skills. If that's all you want to test then I'm happy for you, but a handicap rule or even better to my way of thinking a box rule test so much more. To win in a one design all you have to do is sail well and get lucky in the windshifts. In a box rule event the team has to succeed at the whole range of he sport from design, build, project management etc etc. Get any one of them wrong and you fail. I've got no problem with those who want to sail one design, but don't kid yourselves that its the whole of the sport - its just a subset. * From Colin Case: Enough of the discussion of handicap vs. one design! Better take up chicken and egg... or was it egg and chicken... or.... CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: We've been down this path too many times to shed any new light. This thread is officially dead - again! * From Steve Greene: How dare Mr. McKeag's suggest that the sport of sailing be reserved only for "us". The last time I checked, very few of us were born with a silver mainsheet in our hands, and certainly none of us with the divine right to exclude anyone from sailing. Those comments are without merit, and certainly without thought. Would you rather the sport die than have fresh participants? I run a small sailing business that sees novice sailors comprise over half our customer base. Within this, I teach sailing and try to foster participation in organized events, as well as encourage simply messing about in boats for family and individual recreation. We are also organizing a local Sea Scout Ship in hopes of bringing up a new generation of young sailors in our area. Part of that is finding funding. We will approach many local businesses for grants, donations, and support so that the kids can have a fighting chance. Adding a logo to a sail in return is not only fair play, but a necessity for those of us without the silver mainsheet. And if you have truly "spent a life on the foreshore", your only obligation before you depart this world is to give something back by passing along the knowledge, skills, hopes, and dreams you've accumulated through the years to the next generation of sailors. * From Don Goyette: As principally a spectator, usually from a mark set boat, of a lot of racing, I have to disagree with Tom Donlan's ('Butt #1290) "...nuts to professional sailboat racing." Without those professional sailors raising the bar and keeping it there, the sport would be a lot less interesting and exciting. Those sailors would have to be spending their time behind a desk, or in some other way providing for their families and selves, and wouldn't be putting in the hours honing their amazing skills. I'm quite happy to put up with "the trashy addition of ads on so many racing boats" in order to enjoy the high level of racing the ads support. * From George Bailey: To the extent that the vast majority of people actually racing sailboats are not and do not intend to become professionals, they can agree with Olin Stephens and Tom Donlan when these two fellows lament where our national and international organizations are trying to push amateur racing. In addition to problems with advertising and racing-for-pay, where did they get this idea that racing sailors should be providing excitement to anyone other than themselves? Who says? Consider the wind-rowing debate. The reason provided for allowing wind-rowing in college racing is that it makes the racing more exciting to watch. As a racer, my response to that is, who cares? Does college racing really want to be just another spectator sport like football and basketball, with all that this implies? And are some people overlooking that sailboat racing is exciting for the participants mainly because of the interactions between the boats on the course, regardless of how "exciting" any given boat is to sail on its own? Sailboat racing's unique virtue is that it is a test of mental agility that, unlike football and basketball, for the most part does not require extraordinary physical ability. Sailboat racing used to be a great thing. It still is to those of us for whom having exceptional physical ability and a bunch of spectators is irrelevant. * From Chris Lewis: Some of the comments being made with regards to the re-evaluation of Rule 42 I think are a bit too harsh. The Volvo Race CEO said the inconsistency of Rule 42 was "denigrating" the sport. While I agree that consitency needs to be applied to an extent, I don't think that every boat from Lasers and 420's up to Farr's and the Volvo needs to have the same enforcement. Part of dinghy racing is that it's a far more athletic endeavor than the big boats. It requires the use of the entire body and while rocking incessantly should not be allowed I would argue that Rule 42 should be far more liberal in dinghies than in bigger boats. * From Peter Godfrey: Second Peter Commette's comments in 'Butt 1289 re rule 42. abandon rule 42 and install minimum wind speed requirements for racing as appropriate by class. More fun. Less rancor. Bury the issue. * From Mike Schaumburg: I am surprised to see that 'counting' throwouts has re-entered the rules again: Years ago in the case of Hana Pau vs Loafer, it was ruled that a throwout could not be counted - because it was 'gone' from the scoring. In today's Scuttlebutt the 'throwout' was used to determine a winner. Last weekend, the same thing happened in our local regatta. In my opinion a throwout is a throwout and should NOT be scored - no matter what the throwout was. * From Paul Notary: Reynald Neron, Butt 1292, "appears" to have spun a good yarn, but let's look at history, when the Kilroys & Turners invaded the ozzie "Cruising" Yacht Club race to Hobart? In the early 70`s some noise was heard, however the little half tonners like Plum Crazy & ZeusII had good results, larger guns like the one ton & two ton classes also had a sniff at winning, all went south for their own agendas. 2002 was memorable by a little yacht (ZeusII) having a chance, Toecutter 30`Hick Design almost took the handicap .Being able to watch the progress on the web site made interesting viewing for the Yotties. For the Sponsors the fast blast of Maxi`s make a viable media event, shame the Marie Cha 3 time is not recorded! Imagine in the 70`s, through red tape, no Windward Passage or Greybeard, American Eagle ,Condor etc. What would today's event really rate as apart from the obvious blue water challenge south ? THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Why doesn't superglue stick to its container? |
