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SCUTTLEBUTT 2026 - February 8, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing
news, commentary, opinions, features and dock
talk . . . with a North American focus.
FINALLY . . .
Bristol, Rhode Island -- Legends of America's Cup
sailing - Ben Lexcen (born Robert Miller, New
South Wales, Australia) and Stephen A. Van Dyck
(Clearwater, Fla., USA), have been named as the
2006 inductees to the America's Cup Hall of Fame.
The inductees, who exemplify the best in both the
design and tactical aspects of racing for the
Cup, will be honored at the Rolex America's Cup
Hall of Fame 14th Annual Induction Ceremony to be
held Thursday, October 26, at the Union League Club in New York, N.Y.
The man whose name is synonymous with the winged
keel, Ben Lexcen was the most prolific Cup
designer over the five-match period that ran from
1974 through 1987. Of the six 12-Meter boats that
he designed, three sailed in Cup matches. Most
important, one of those boats, Australia II,
became the first challenger ever to win the
America's Cup. People who worked with Lexcen have
described him as brilliantly intuitive. Bob
Fisher, a British yachting journalist and new
member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame
Selection Committee, has described his talent as
"outrageous in its naiveté, fundamental in its
approach, and gloriously effective in its
delivery." His premature death from a heart
attack left a vacuum in Australian yachting, and the entire America's Cup.
Stephen Van Dyck epitomizes the skilled and
successful Corinthian yachtsmen who crewed Cup
boats during most of the 12-Meter era (1958-1987)
as well as a new breed of tactician. Born in
Rochester, N.Y., he grew up sailing in Southport,
Conn. and as a youth learned extensively from
involvement with America's Cup Hall of Fame
member Briggs Cunningham who sailed the 1958
defender, Columbia. Van Dyck sailed on two Cup
defenders: Constellation as a trimmer in 1964
when a college student and Intrepid in 1970 as
tactician for skipper Bill Ficker. While Ficker
concentrated on steering the small-ruddered boat
and never looked at the competition, Van Dyck
called the tactics and directed the sail
trimmers. This was in part necessitated by
Intrepid's deck-sweeping boom (grinders were
below deck), which prevented the skipper from
seeing to leeward when steering upwind. - Media Pro Int'l, www.herreshoff.org
AMERICA'S CUP HALL OF FAME HONOREES
Charles Francis Adams, James L. Ashbury, Charles
Barr, J. Burr Bartram, Robert N. Bavier Jr., John
Bertrand, Baron Marcel Bich, Sir Peter Blake,
Alan Bond, Dick Brown, Edward Burgess, W.
Starling Burgess, Malin Burnham, Bradley W.
Butterworth OBE, James E. Buttersworth, William
F. Carstens, Dennis Conner, Russell Coutts,
Briggs S. Cunningham, Edward I. du Moulin, Sir
Michael Fay, William P. Ficker, William Fife III,
Henry Coleman Haff, Sir James Hardy, Nathanael G.
Herreshoff, F.E. 'Ted' Hood, Chandler Hovey,
Sherman Hoyt, C. Oliver Iselin, George 'Fritz'
Jewett Jr., Gary Jobson, Arthur Knapp Jr.,
William I. Koch, Ben Lexcen, Sir Thomas J.
Lipton, Harry 'Buddy' Melges, E.D. Morgan, Henry
Sturgis Morgan, Emil 'Bus' Mosbacher Jr., Frank
J. Murdoch, Charles E. Nicholson, Sir Frank
Packer, General Charles J. Paine, Alan Payne,
Victor A. Romagna, Morris Rosenfeld, Stanley
Rosenfeld, Tom Schnackenberg, George L. Schuyler,
Henry Sears, T.O.M. Sopwith, George Steers, John
Cox Stevens, Olin J. Stephens II, Roderick
Stephens Jr., Jack Sutphen, R.E. 'Ted' Turner,
Stephen A. Van Dyck, Harold S.Vanderbilt,
Gertrude Vanderbilt, George L. Watson, Thomas A.
Whidden, The Earl of Wilton. - As posted on the
Sail-World website, http://www.sail-world.com/
CREAM OF THE CROP
Well over 700 sailors from more than 60 nations
and all continents have already registered to
take part in the festival of sailing that will be
the ISAF World Sailing Games in Lake Neusiedl,
Austria, on May10-20. Olympic and World Champions
abound in a line up featuring the very cream of
the sailing crop along with entrants from less
well known sailing nations like Ecuador and
Tunisia. As well as the 578 named sailors already
set to contest the ten World Championships, major
sailing powers such as the USA and Australia have
confirmed multiple entries across all events,
meaning the number of competitors is still set to
swell massively. Raced in supplied equipment
(with the exception of the 49er), the ISAF World
Sailing Games gives sailors from all nations and
backgrounds the chance to compete against the
very best on a completely level playing field. --
http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6fFh/z/w
Men's One Person Dinghy -- Laser
Women's One Person Dinghy -- Laser Radial
Men's Two Person Dinghy -- 470
Women's Two Person Dinghy -- 470
Men's Windsurfing -- Neil Pryde RS:X
Women's Windsurfing -- Neil Pryde RS:X
Men's Multihull -- Hobie Tiger WSG Edition
Women's Multihull -- Hobie 16 with spinnaker
Skiff -- 49er
Team Sailing -- 420
Event website: http://www.worldsailinggames2006.at/index_en.php
WAY TO GO, SALLY, CARRIE, AND DEBBIE!
After nine bullets in 12 races, the Yngling team
of Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe, and Debbie Capozzi
had a lead of 23 points over their closest
competitors going into the Medal Race at the
recent Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.
Sally, Carrie, and Debbie were mathematically
untouchable, but in a show of good sportsmanship
and in support of the new rules, chose to sail
the final race. Doyle Sailmakers is proud to
support sailors who sail fast, fair, and friendly. http://www.doylesails.com
THE 'SAILING' GODS MUST BE CRAZY - Rich Roberts
This being the season for state of the union and
other such declarations, here is the state of
sailboat racing based on its three major events,
as seen from here. The International Sailing
Federation (ISAF), fearing that sailing would be
dumped from the Olympic Games unless it crawled
before the deity of television, rules that
suspense will be sustained by compelling class
leaders---even those with insurmountable
leads---to sail a final race among the top 10.
They don't have to win, just sail.
With the 32nd America's Cup coming on next year,
Spain's new government remains less than
enchanted with paying the bill. Why can't
Socialists and billionaires get along? As the
seven Volvo Ocean Race teams prepare to start Leg
3 on Feb. 12, one boat had arrived in Melbourne
by land, another by ship. During Leg 1 one
reached Cape Town by ship and yet another by air.
If the sailing gods aren't crazy, they're at least scratching their heads.
In the good old days when the Volvo was the
Whitbread Round the World Race there were also
stops along the way, but the standings were
determined strictly on total elapsed time. There
were also a lot more boats---as many as 29. As
Volvo moved into the picture in the 1997-98 race,
the race was turning totally professional---also
smaller---and Paul Cayard's EF Language from
Sweden wrapped up the win with a leg or two to
spare. Volvo didn't like what it saw. Who would
pay attention with the game already over?
Thus, in 2001-02 time was thrown out in favor of
a points-per-leg system, hoping to keep the
outcome in question until the end. Still, it was
apparent for weeks that John Kostecki's illbruck
from Germany was going to win, so this time the
system was further refined by awarding points not
only for each leg but for "pit stops," "scoring
gates" and inshore races at several ports. It's a
questionable concept, especially when you compare
it to cycling's version of the event: the Tour de
France. Even though it became more the Tour de
Lance the last seven years, Armstrong's dominance
only enhanced interest---and suspense---worldwide
as he rode to achieve the unthinkable. Would he
crash? Would he break? He won, and he did it on
time, not a contrived points system too confusing
to follow and more likely to turn off interest
than sustain it. - Brief excerpt from a 'must
read' posting by Rich Roberts on the new Inside
Yachting website, full story: http://www.insideyachting.com/
ROCKET RIDE
According to initial weather routing being done
by team navigators, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet
looks set for a rocket ride to Wellington next
week, riding a 40-knot front all the way from the
Bass Strait, across the Tasman Sea to the Cook
Strait between New Zealand's North and South
islands. movistar navigator Andrew Cape and ABN
Amro Two navigator Simon Fisher today each agreed
there were prospects of a very fast passage
across the Tasman courtesy of the front. Cape
said that although it was early days, the
predicted passage of the cold front would
virtually match the speed of the boats so they
would ride it, or the back of it, for most of the
passage to New Zealand. Fisher said the situation
was still dynamic, but predicted much the same
weather as Cape, "Even if the front goes through,
there should be fast, broad-reaching conditions
behind it as we close on Cook Strait and
Wellington," Fisher said. The fleet sets sail
from Melbourne at 1300 local time (0200GMT) on
Sunday on this, the third leg of the round the
world race. - www.volvooceanrace.org
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE
Brasil 1 Skipper Torben Grael announced that the
team's technical coordinator, Horácio Carabelli,
will be part of the sailing crew during the next
two legs, between Melbourne and Wellington and
between New Zealand and Rio de Janeiro. Two-time
Olympic champion Marcelo Ferreira, Torben Grael's
20-year partner in the Star Class, will
temporarily give up his crew position. Grael,
upset for not being able to count on Marcelo
Ferreira in such an important leg, made sure to
emphasize that he will be back onboard in Rio de
Janeiro. "Marcelo will be back on the team when
we arrive at home. With the problems we have had
in the last leg and in the in-port race, it'll be
important to have Horácio onboard. We will once
again have little time for testing everything and
he will be our guarantee that we will be able to
fix most of the problems that we are likely to
encounter," he explained. - www.brasil1.com.br
NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE
There was a buzz last week in the Scuttlebutt
Forums for the Newport Bermuda Race, so we now
have a special forum for the event. Comments
about canting boats from both the competitor and
race organizer perspective, in addition to a
thread requesting race stories. We posted our
story from the '84 race with Bill Shore, and have
now turned this thread into a contest, wherein
the best tale earns some schwag. Guest usage is
permitted (for now), though we encourage you to
sign-up to have access to all the forum threads:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi
B&G CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
B&G, the Performance Sailing Division of Simrad,
is celebrating 50 years of innovation and meeting
the needs of the world's most successful sailors,
boats and teams. Every single Volvo Ocean Race
and America's Cup boat utilizes B&G equipment,
with kit lists ranging from RaceVision2 to
waterproof on-deck PC with Deckman Software to
full h2000 integrated systems with WTP processing
power. But don't expect B&G to rest on its
laurels as the company begins its second
half-decade. B&G is stronger than ever and ready
to defend its rightful position as the leader in
high-performance autopilots and instruments. Visit http://www.BandG.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* The countdown to Louis Vuitton Acts 10 started
on Monday with the beginning of the joint
training sessions of United Internet Team Germany
and +39 Challenge. The German and Italian teams
meet each morning off the Malvarosa beach and
carry out a full day of match racing in order to
fine-tune their techniques, in the area that
roughly corresponds to the North Race Course. -
Valencia Sailing, check out the images: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/
* The Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race
Team has arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippines
where initial inspections of the fleet of Clipper
68s is taking place. Whilst the crew take some
time to relax in the stunning surroundings of
Subic Bay, the serious matter of assessing and
repairing the keel problems has begun. Glasgow
Clipper was the first to be hoisted out of the
water and with the designers and boat builders on
their way to the Philippines it is hoped that
before long the race organizers will get a
clearer picture on the situation. -- http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006/
* Solo sailors, Mike Golding and Bernard Stamm,
today, both confirmed their entry in the 2006/7
Velux 5 Oceans. The commitments from Golding and
Stamm follow announcements in 2005 from Alex
Thomson, Conrad Humphreys. Golding, the 2005
IMOCA and FICO World Champion, will enter the
race onboard his current Open 60 sponsored by
Belgian-based Ecover. Stamm, the defending
champion as winner of the previous incarnation of
this event, the Around Alone race in 2002/2003,
will again enter the race with his Open 60 boat
sponsored by Cheminées Poujoulat of France. -- www.velux5oceans.com
* A lineup of some 20 marine companies from
throughout New England will attend the
International Yacht Restoration School's first
Marine Industry Career Day, to be held Saturday,
February 11 at the school's Newport campus.
Sponsored by the Rhode Island Foundation's
Newport County Fund, the one-day event will
connect individuals looking for career
opportunities with leading boat builders, boat
yards, and marine manufacturers. This is the
first Career Day to be held in the state in a
number of years that focuses solely on
opportunities in the marine industry-a field
where jobs are in high demand in the region. -- www.iyrs.org
* Last weekend, Scuttlebutt publisher Craig
Leweck joined a group of San Diego sailors to try
out the blokart, which is a small, highly
portable land sailing kart that is gaining some
traction in the US. Very popular in New Zealand,
the blokart is geared for closed course track
racing, and proved to be pretty fun. See his
comments, photos and video on Scuttleblog:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2006/02/blokarting.html
A TOUCH OF GREY
It is time again for Vanguard to break from
tradition and produce a limited number of Fog
Grey Lasers. Orders for these boats must be
placed with your Vanguard dealer by 2/28/06. They
won't last long, so don't delay for a touch of
grey. http://www.teamvanguard.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: Ron Baerwitz (re the story, 'Done in by
Olympic Scoring): Bogus Bogus Bogus -- These
results are completely bogus! Do I sound upset?
Yes! In an ill-fated attempt at marketing racing
to average Joe, (who will never understand it),
you have caused a rightful champion to lose: Red
tape thwarted sportsmanship and talent:
Bureaucrats laid road blocks at the podium. Are
any of those decision makers racers? My God
people! The reason sailing differs so much from
other sports is because "Mother Nature" plays a
major role in the outcome of any single race. Our
sport relies on the old saying, "the cream always
rises to the top". Any corner banger can win a
single race. Run enough races and the true
champions will rise. Strip away the politics and
that last race was the same as the previous -- it
has a start, wind shifts, waves, current and
competition. Why in the WORLD should it be
weighted more than any other race. It makes no
common sense in the real world of yacht racing.
No disrespect to our friends from Spain but the
real champions were robbed! Please -- fix this before the games!
* From Magnus Wheatley: Goran Petersson's reign
at the ISAF will be marked by this absolute
bodge-job of an Olympic scoring system. Clearly
the committees were asleep at the wheel and I
urge everyone to look at the utter drivel on the
ISAF website and do everything they can to stop
this brigade from ruining sailing from the ground
up. They are farcical in the extreme and
laughably they say that they had "unanimous
support from the representatives of all Olympic
classes, who directly represent the sailors."
What this means in effect is that Petersson
slipped submission 025 into the proceedings and
hoped to get away with it by not encouraging
debate. As soon as the scoring was aired in the
press everyone went ballistic and forced a late
'friendly amendment.' This is a joke. How long is
this sport going to put up with this? Kick them
out after 2008 and get some sailors on the
committee who both care for the sport and have
the guts to call a spade a spade.
* From Bill Munster: It seams to be coming
"commonplace" for ISAF to try and raise fees for
their own coffers..... and when the parties
involved want more time or have questions
regarding the $, they step in and pull out the
rug from countries or cities that want to promote
sailing...ie San Diego and now Annapolis. Any
bets on what city in Europe will get the event ?
I feel its time for the US to apply some pressure
and new methods of handling ISAF events....they
want all their $ and what do we get in return?
Grief and a lot of work by volunteers down the drain.
* From Craig Chamberlain (edited to our 250-word
limit): I have to take exception to Mr. Brown's
assertion that "west coast insurance companies
won't cover anything other than a sail to
Avalon". Our firm has specialized in marine
insurance since 1959. I know the current racing
sailboat insurance climate can be very
frustrating for boat owners. Yacht insurance
represents a miniscule part of an insurer's
portfolio. From an insurance company perspective,
writing offshore racing yachts is time consuming,
and takes a fair amount of underwriting
expertise. The premium base is very small which
means the money pool dries up very quickly when a
large loss occurs. Crew injuries alone have been
settled in the millions of dollars.
Also, insurers found that many people chose to
insure with low cost companies for local
coverage, switched to an insurer willing to take
on the offshore racing, delivery, and crew
liability exposures, then switched back after
they returned to the comfort of their marina.
Most insurers now require that they insure a boat
for the year prior to an offshore event. My
recommendation is to one insure with a
knowledgeable yacht insurance specialist with
direct insurance company appointments, disclose
future sailing plans up front, and view insurance
as a long term relationship rather than a one
time purchase of a commodity. Then the phone call
to add coverage for the next Transpac Race will go much smoother.
* From Hans la Cour: I have worked with sailing
tv for many years, including America's Cup,
Olympics, Swedish Match, Around Alone, TP52
MedCup and many other events. Most of the crew
working on these events have huge experience from
many regattas, and know the boats, the marine
environment and the racing inside out. Wouldn't
we all love to have unlimited resources and time
for our productions? Of course, but reality sometimes bites.
Sailing is an incredibly expensive and
complicated sport to cover well, especially if it
has to be done live. Not a single cable to the
cameras on chase boats and helicopters. Special
gyrostabilized cameras and operators.
Installations and crews to maintain and operate
the microwave links from the race course back to
shore. Remote controlled cameras on board the
boats, operators ashore to man them. But many
times there are not enough resources to ensure
the 'full monty' coverage, and we just have to do
the best we can. Then we get hammered by people
who missed a close-up of Ben Ainslee. Well, we
can't always get a camera into the best position,
because we would be obstructing the sailors some
way or another. Don't compare with motor racing
or golf where everything is predictable and where
cameras are on terra firma. Event organizers of
the high profile events are getting the best in
the business to produce the best they can with
the resources available, and of course they are
constantly working to improve what they do.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Brainstorming: Sitting around in a group,
discussing why a deadline was missed or a project
failed, and who was responsible.
Special thanks to Doyle Sailmakers. B&G Instruments and Vanguard Sailboats.
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