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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 856 - July 13 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; 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.
GUEST EDITOR SPEAKS!
COLLISION AT SEA- INTENTIONAL? Half an hour later, as Ron and his captain came back on deck, the freighter had turned 180 degrees and come back at them head-on at a speed of 15 to 20 knots. The freighter and Foxglove collided, with Foxglove sustaining severe damage but no personal injuries. Both masts came down, a 10 foot section of the bow was torn away and there is severe structural damage to bulkheads and the deck. The captain of the freighter reportedly did not contact the Coast Guard as requested, the Mexican Navy arrived on the scene 18 hours later and took the captain and crew of the Foxglove aboard and towed the boat to a boatyard in Cabo. Ron believes that the collision was the result of an intentional act by whomever was at the helm of the freighter. After the first collision, the freighter circled and was approaching again, for what was thought by the Foxglove crew to be a second attempt at sinking the Foxglove (120 miles out there would be no traces left and no witnesses), but then stopped short. The captain of the freighter finally answered radio hails (he had reportedly not done so prior to or immediately after the collision) and offered the Foxglove a towing line, which Ron's captain declined to accept. The conclusion drawn by Ron and his crew is that the freighter's crew wanted to run up close to the Foxglove, scare them, but misguessed their closing speed and distance, hitting the boat. A game of chicken with a 600 foot freighter. The freighter captain's story? That he saw the Foxglove signalling SOS with their lights, did not receive a reply to his radio hail, and turned to provide assistance. One problem with that story: at 7 AM in the morning this time of year it's broad daylight . It's hard to see SOS lights from 6 miles out in daylight. Ron says the freighter never contacted them on Channel 16 as claimed, and of course he did not signal SOS, they were under full sail and doing just fine, thank you. Ron's concern at this point is that the freighter's insurance company will pay off Mexican authorities and release the freighter's owners from any liability for the $300,000 to $500,000 in damage sustained. The freighter is owned by a Singapore company, registered in the Bahamas and has a Croatian captain. It's a nearly hopeless legal case for Ron, as Singapore's judicial system is unlikely to levy damages against a Singaporean company in an incident on the high seas where there was no injury or loss of life. His hope is that his insurance company will compensate him, then will sue the freighter's insurance company (reportedly Lloyd's of London). Ron has been advised that one of the best things he can do is to get this story out into the US mainstream press. The freighter's insurance company and owners won't like the publicity and may act responsibly. So far they have given little indication of that: they hired the Port Captain of Cabo to inspect and report on damages (he is not trained as an adjuster). The Port Captain is the official whose job it is to make an impartial report to Mexican authorities on the incident. That report is expected in 4 to 5 weeks. While I will not give out Ron's email address here, I will forward along to him constructive advice, particularly from maritime law attorneys. And by all means feel free to get a conversation thread going in the letters section here. -- David McCreary
COLORCRAFT OPENS THE DOOR TO NEWCOMERS "This is one of the few match race events in the world where a college sailor or an up-and-coming amateur can go head to head with America's Cup champions like Russell Coutts or Dennis Conner," said RBYC Commodore Somers Cooper. "This week we invited eight of the world's best match racers to compete in Bermuda as a seeded skipper. Now we're looking for 16 unseeded skippers who will race in the preliminaries. The eight best will race against the invited seeds in Round One of the Colorcraft Gold Cup." The Colorcraft Gold Cup is the third event on this season's Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour, which has taken on new intensity as America's Cup syndicates around the world step up their training for the next challenge. Last year the unseeded ranks ranged from Dalton Bergan, a Seattle skipper fresh out of collegiate sailing and unranked in world match racing, to Denmark's Sten Mohr, at the time the world's number three-ranked match racer. For a Notice of Race and an invitation form, unseeded skippers should contact Kevin Blee, sailing manager, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda, Tel, (441) 295-2214, extension #105, email, rbycsail@ibl.bm. The website for the event is www.bermudagoldcup.com (The invitation for unseeded skippers is available at the website).
WEEKEND WARRIORS
EDS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE Shortly after midnight race officials received a call from Loic Pochet, skipper of La Rage de Vivre. "We are retiring from the race and heading for Calais in France," Pochet said. "We have serious problems with our keel. Some of the bolts have broken and we cannot continue." With their retirement the EDS Atlantic Challenge fleet has been reduced to six boats. Meanwhile it's still a close race for third place between Gartmore (Josh Hall) and Ecover (Mike Golding). At 05:00 GMT Gartmore held a five mile lead with 45 miles to go. Fila (Andrea Scarabelli) was 8 miles behind Ecover. All three yachts are expected to arrive early Thursday afternoon. This second leg of the EDS Atlantic Challenge started from Cuxhaven, Germany on July 9. Leg three sails across the Atlantic to Baltimore in the United States, and from there to Boston. The final leg returns to St. Malo, France. Event site: www.edsatlanticchallenge.com
SWAN AMERICAN REGATTA For Lolita the overall win is secure, but the two divisional titles are still to be decided.Ê The two contenders in the small boat fleet are Galadriel, the Swan 51 owned by John Santa (Bridgeport, Conn.), currently on 8.5 points overall and the Swan 44 Vixen, owned by John and Bunny Wayt (Jamestown, R.I.) that is close behind with 12.75 points.Ê "We have the best Swan record in the world right now," said Savage (Stamford, Conn.) about his chances in the Swan Cup in Porto Cervo next year. "We've beaten every other top Swan in the world, whether in the Caribbean or racing on the East Coast. We'll be at the Swan Cup in Porto Cervo, where we'll have the same crew to go for the world title." The final race is scheduled for Friday, with the final Awards Ceremony to be held at the New York Yacht Club. Event site: www.swanregattas.com
MARBLEHEAD TO HALIFAX RACE With 93 finishers and 11 official withdrawals, the 104 boats that competed in the 29th Biennial Marblehead to Halifax Race were all accounted for. Winners were announced this afternoon at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax. Line honors went to Bright Star, a 75-foot Reichel/Pugh monohull skippered by Richard Breeden of the New York Yacht Club, Trike, a 40-foot trimaran sailed by Terenece Britton of Blue Hill, Maine, Blue Yankee, a 66-foot Reichel/Pugh IMS racer skippered by Bob Towse of Stamford, CT and Asolare, a Tartan 41, William Marsh, Chatham MA . None of these boats won their classes on corrected time however. - Keith Taylor Complete results are available at www.rnsys.com or www.bostonyc.com.
IACC INSTRUMENTS
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From David Millett: In your story in Butt 848 you state that the crew of Medicine Man fended off Merlin with it's hands at the Division 1 and 2 start of Transpac. I was sitting at the grinder in the middle of the Medicine Man cockpit at the start so let me set the record straight. AT NO TIME did the crew of Medicine Man touch Merlin nor did the boats ever touch. The boats, while close together, were never close enough to physically reach out and touch. It was a tight moment to be sure and members of our crew, as seen in Rich Roberts picture were ready should the moment have gotten tighter but it didn't. Merlin went dead in the water and lost their steerage trying to force us up because they were early to the leeward pin. They drifted down in the current that was their and hit the mark, fouled their rudder on the mark anchor line, and we sailed clear, end of story. * From David Doody: I must agree with the lady who dislikes that silly phrase (blowing like stink) - especially when used to describe what is merely a fresh breeze. ÊWhen it truly does blow, there is nothing like the old adage of "Blowing the Dogs off their Chains" for an accurate and thought provoking description. * From Richard Slater: Our Kiwi mates seem to like the saying "Plenty of sheep in the top paddock", referring to the white caps on a windy day!
TWO LIGHTHOUSE TROPHIES FOR 2002 NEWPORT-BERMUDA The pair of sterling silver trophies will be the major "keeper" prizes for the 635-mile ocean challenge.Ê The IMS Racing Division will sail for the Gibb's Hill Trophy and the IMS Cruiser/Racer Division will sail for the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy. The 43rd biennial Newport to Bermuda Race will start off Castle Hill, Newport, RI on June 14, 2002. - Talbot Wilson See www.bermudarace.com for full details.
2001 NEWPORT REGATTA Twenty-four classes will race on four circles inside and out of Narragansett Bay.Ê Three new classes are joining the competition. They are 505's, the Sunfish, and the Vector, the new one design sailboat by Vanguard Sailboats, named Best Performance Dinghy in Sailing World magazine's prestigious Boat of The Year contest for 2001. All of the three new classes to the Newport Regatta promise to have strong fleets on the starting line on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the returning classes to this year's Regatta are the Vanguard 15, the Laser, Etchells, and J/22's. All of which are anticipating tough competition in their respective fleets. For more information on the Newport Regatta and all the classes competing, go to www.sailnewport.org.
29er WORLDS The webmaster for the event clearly knows his (or her) stuff: great design, lots of information, and a promised update every few minutes during the event. Check it out at 29erworlds.org/01/
THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS |
