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SCUTTLEBUTT 1375 - July 21, 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 focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. ADMIRALS CUP Monday 21st July 2003 - 0330 - The Australian team from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney, have just been declared winners of the 2003 Admiral's Cup, after a somewhat nerve wracking wait for boats to finish, and points to be calculated. Bob Oatley, whose boat Wild Oats had stormed home to win the final race, and snatch the trophy from the hands of the Spanish team, was almost overcome with pride when he got the news. "It's really special, we're just so happy," enthused Oatley, "we just can't believe it, people are waking up everywhere and coming in the door, it's absolutely unbelievable, the thrill of a lifetime. To win it on the last race, and in a pretty convincing fashion, also top boat of the regatta, it's really spectacular." Owner of Aftershock, the other boat in the team, Colin O'Neil was equally overwhelmed by the occasion, "this is wonderful, unbelievable," was his emotional summing up of the achievement, "it's been a long night waiting, a lot of combinations had to come our way, but it finally did." The series of nine races has been pretty much a two horse race from the start, between Spain's Real Club Nautico de Sangenjo, and the Australians, with the Spanish going into the final race with a one point lead. Aftershock was the first of the two Australian boats to finish, at 19:16:27 on Sunday evening, and it soon became evident that they were third on handicap, with the Spanish boat Telefonica Movistar winning the small boat class. This meant that Wild Oats had to win the big boat class, with their Spanish rivals on the King of Spain's Bribon Telefonica Movistar in fourth place or worse, an unlikely scenario considering her seven first places and one second in the series to date. Mark Richards steered Wild Oats across the finishing line at 22:07:37, and the long and agonizing wait began for the other big boats to finish. The minutes and hours ticked by, and eventually the race organizers worked out the handicaps and Australia were declared provisional winners, which will be confirmed provided no protests are submitted. Helmsman of Wild Oats, Mark Richards, broke the news to his team mates, "It's 2 am here in England, and the Australian Admiral's Cup team has just been informed that they've just won the Admiral's Cup, and we are very proud, the convicts have come through." - Susan McKeag, www.rorc.org OPTI NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP Valle de Bravo, México - Twelve year-old Sean Bouchard produced an impeccable win in the final race to take the 2003 IODA North American Championship. And Bermuda's 1-2-3 in the continental event coupled with their victory in the Team Racing Championship showed total domination of the week. (Although Armando Zulian from Argentina finished third in the 'open' regatta, only the results of North American sailors figured in the standings for the North American Championship.) OK, so this is their first team in competition with the second teams of most of the other countries. But it is a fantastic performance for a fleet which numbers just 75 boats and maybe half that number competing in the national trials. Bermuda only started to compete internationally in 1998 but an open-house policy giving access to all, 12- month a year sailing and good sponsorship of their programme have led quickly to the highest levels. - Robert Wilkes, Final Results - Open (122-boats) 1. Sean Bouchard, Bermuda 2. Jesse Kirkland, Bermuda 3. Armando Zulian, Argentina 4. Elijah Simmons, Bermuda 5. Marc Salvisberg, Venezuela 6. Sasagawa,Masao, Japan 7. Baepi Lacativa, Brasil 8. Isozaki,Yuya, Japan 9. Zeke Horrowitz, U.S.A. 10. Sam Williams, U.S.A. Website: http://www.optinam2003.com/iresults.html J/24 SILVER ANNIVERSARY REGATTA Brad Read and Tim Healy* in the 52-boat Silver Fleet and Chris and Vicki Field in the Regatta Fleet (for competitors who didn't have to meet the crew weight requirements) won their respective divisions in the J/24 Silver Anniversary Regatta. Each crew snared the silverware by completing the regatta with two top three finishes. The final two races were held Saturday in southerly winds between 8 and 12 knots. Read and Healy's day was made easier when their main competition had to perform a penalty turn in the day's first race. Scott Milnes, racing his family's long-owned Sugar Plum, trailed Read and Healy by just 4 points. But they were involved in a pile-up at the committee boat end and had to perform a 720-degree penalty turn to exonerate the infraction. Then they picked the wrong side of the beat. They finished 40th in the race - their only double digit finish in the regatta - and Read and Healy placed second. Joining Read and Healy on US Watercraft were Gordon Borges, Dave Crocker and Nick Judson. The big movers on the day were Waldek and Kris Zaleski (Norwalk, CT) and their boat Twins. The Zaleskis, winners of the J/24 East Coast Championship last fall, finished 1-2 to move up to second overall, two points ahead of Milnes. The Fields weren't on hand to collect their trophies. They celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary during the regatta (they've owned their J/24 longer) and after dropping the crew ashore they sailed out to Block Island for some quiet time. - Sean McNeill Complete results: http://www.j24silver.org/j24silver/m/_general/fleet.asp * CORRECTION: It was reported in Scuttlebutt 1374 that J/24 Silver Anniversary Regatta competitor Tim Healy was a three-time All American sailor at the University of Rhode Island. In fact, his collegiate sailing accomplishments occurred at St Mary's College. 2003 KEANE SNIPE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Andrew Pimental and Kathleen Tocke bested a fleet of fifty-one boats to win the 2003 Keane Snipe National Championship last week at Beverly YC in Marion, MA. Pimental and Tocke also won the Crosby qualification series, overcoming the superstition which holds that the winner of the Crosby will not go on to win the championship. The weeklong event also included the Womens and Junior Championships and a new Partnership competition that paired teams up from different parts of the country to increase learning and comraderie. Results, photos and info on the 2004 National Championships in Cleveland, OH. at http://www.snipeus.org Curmudgeon's comment: Photos of the trophy winners at Snipe Nationals are posted on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/ 420 WORLDS The International 420 world qualifiers have been completed separating the men's and women's fleet into gold and silver. Team USA faired well in the qualifiers with five of seven men's teams making the gold fleet cut and two of three women's teams going on to the gold fleet finals. Team racing will be held July 21. Four days of world championships begin on Tuesday July 22. The US team is being coached by Zachary Leonard who is the head coach at Yale University. Team USA is partially funded by Roy Disney through the California International Sailing Association (CISA). The world championship is staged on Hayling Island, England with racing on the Solent. - The Boyds, www.420worlds.com YNGLING WORLDS Sunday, July 20, Warnemünder Segel-Club - Team USA set the standard Sunday in our first chance to line up with the Europeans since Kiel. With finishes of 2,3,4,5,6 for the five American women's teams, we couldn't have showed off better. Team Cronin was smack in the middle of the US pack with a fourth. We are currently in the middle of a European heat wave with temps in the 90s and no air conditioning to be found. Hopefully tomorrow's cold front will bring some relief, as well as a bit more wind for the first races of the regatta. - Carol Cronin, Team Atkins (Carol Cronin, Liz Filter & Bridget Hallawell), http://www.teamatkins.com/ Event website: http://www.yngling-worlds.de/ YOUTH WORLDS Yesterday saw the first day of racing from the world's pinnacle event for youth sailors which is underway in Madeira, Portugal, the 33rd ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. Unlike the Olympics that is held every four years, this annual event first held in 1971 is the pinnacle of youth sailing and development in our sport. No other ISAF event touches the Member National Authorities like this one. It drives the domestic program of most of the Nationals Authorities around the word and it symbolizes the next generation of Olympic and World Champion sailors. Past champions are impressive and reflect a roll call of today's elite Olympic, America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and other sailors. The offshore wind of 15-20 knots, brought very shifty conditions, testing the sailors on the first day. Such conditions clearly appealed to some of the sailors, with some early leads being carved out. Being an island in the Atlantic, Madeira has a very steeply shelving coastline, and as a result it can be difficult to lay marks in the 150 metre depth. Consequently, the PRO took the decision yesterday to bring all the course areas inshore, and with the limitations on area, make the courses windward/leeward rather than the anticipated trapezoid. However, this did not seem to bother the sailors who particularly enjoyed the first day's sailing. - ISAF website, full story: http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=4968 Event website: http://www.isafyouthworld2003.com/ EMPLOYMENT AVAILABLE Townsend Bay Marine in the state of Washington is looking for a boat savvy trainee to become Marketing Manager of our growing custom yacht business. Please do not call but email your resume to dking@townsendbay.com. NEWS BRIEFS * Mike Mottl has received Transpac's top individual award - the selection by his mates on Pegasus 77 for the Don Vaughn Memorial Trophy as the most valuable crew member on the boat. An Australian among five nationalities on Pegasus 77, Mottl was involved in the sail development program and was a trimmer and a driver. Also, Dan Doyle and Bruce Burgess, Two Guys On the Edge, were awarded the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Gary Jobson Perpetual Trophy for first doublehanded on corrected time. www.transpacificyc.org * There are pictures of the Barn Door winners of lots of other TP images on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/Transpac2003/ * A cohort of New Zealand marine industry companies have agreed to combine to deliver 10 Antarctica Cup Class 25m Maxi-Boats boat prior to the race, now scheduled to begin on February 12, 2005. Details will be announced in the coming weeks. - http://antarcticacup.com/ * It is now possible to buy a copy of Seahorse magazine at a large number of West Marine stores. If your local West Marine outlet does not have a copy, they will happily get one for you in short order. * Having lost the Volvo round-the-world-yacht race to Melbourne, the Auckland City Council is preparing a $1.5 million bid to lure another international yachting event. Auckland is competing with Tauranga and Wellington to host the 2004-2005 Global Challenge, in which 12 identical yachts, crewed by amateur sailors, sail around the world "the wrong way" - against prevailing winds and currents. The loss of the America's Cup to Switzerland and the Volvo race change have left a big hole in the City of Sails' international yachting calendar. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/marine/marinestorydisplay.cfm?storyid=3513624&reportid=57034 CLIPPER 2002 At 01:28 GMT Friday, skipper Ross Daniel and the crew of New York Clipper sailed over the Salvador finish line to victory, winning Race 13 of the Clipper 2002 Round the World Series from Cape Town to Brazil. After a tactical decision to dash to the North thus avoiding the calms of the South Atlantic High, New York Clipper has proved to be unstoppable. For the last 10 days of the 3,375 nautical mile race, the New Yorkers have led the fleet as they raced across the Southern Atlantic. This has not been a straightforward race for the crew of the New York Clipper. They managed to keep the opposition at bay despite suffering some serious damage to both their heavy and medium weight spinnakers. As they approached the coast of Brazil, wind conditions towards the coast became increasingly squally and variable, resulting in some tough sailing and much sewing time below decks in order to maintain their lead. Bristol Clipper finished at 06:10 taking second place with Cape Town less than an hour and a half behind in third place for the leg. - Loretta Spridgeon Overall standings after 13 races: 1. Bristol, 75 2. Jersey, 72 3. Liverpool, 54.5 4. Hong Kong, 54 5. London, 52 6. Glasgow, 48 7. New York, 46 8. Cape Town, 22 Website: www.clipper-ventures.com MARI CHA AND MUSTO The Mari Cha team has once again chosen Musto to supply the crew protection for Mari Cha IV. Musto also supplied the technical clothing to Mari Cha III, which has done some real damage to the record book over the past few years. Teams like this only come back to a supplier if the product has done its job well the first time around. At Musto it is a compliment we are very used to. You don't need to attempt to break transatlantic records to experience Musto. Give it a try next time. http://www.musto.co.uk MATCH RACING St. Moritz, ISAF Grade 3 Match Race - Another great sailing day with excellent matches and a big crowd ashore following the event. The fast-turning small boats, the complexity with spinnaker and trapez, the good breeze and the attractive winner's price money (10000 Euro or US$12,000) inevitably created a very heated-up atmosphere. The umpires were more than busy. Mark Mendelblatt (USA, OneWorld), who joined the finalist thru the repechage, not only defeated Jesper Bank (DEN, Victory) in the semi-final, but he also succeeded to beat the "local" favorite Murray Jones (SUI, Alinghi) in the final to win the event. Thierry Peponnet (FRA, K-Challenge) won the petite final against Jesper Bank. http://www.stmoritz-matchrace.ch/ FINN NORTH AMERICANS CORK, Kingston, Canada - Final results: 1. Christopher Cook, CAN, 7; 2. Kevin Hall, USA, 12; Geoff Ewenson, USA, 22; 4. Andy Kern, USA, 25; 5. Jon Clark, USA, 25. http://www.cork.org/FNQ.HTM 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 Duncan Nevard: That wireless instrument stuff sounds great. I can't wait for the hackers to figure out how to intercept the information from all the other boats during the race! Who needs a laser range finder if you can "see" where they are in realtime. * From R. Geoffrey Newbury (re using wireless technology) Lets consider: Is it a breach of Rule 41, for the crew of Yacht 'A' to review after racing has concluded for the day, the downloaded data of yacht 'B', obtained for 'A' from 'B' while racing so as to advantage Yacht 'A' during future racing? I think it clear that 'A' could not intercept these transmissions herself, and use them in real time. As presently written, having the coach boat do it does not breach Rule 41, since Rule 41 (interacting with Rule 1) does not deal with situations outside the racing time-frame. Yet this is clearly 'outside assistance' (a phrase which no longer appears in the rules), in that 'A' is benefiting by information obtained while both 'A' and 'B' are racing. Rule 41 needs to be updated. And wireless instruments need strong encryption enabled at all times. * From Steve Silverman: Like to thank you for opening my eyes to racing. Having been only a cruiser I'd ignored racing assuming it was all pro's in specially designed & built boats, but the Transpac showed me that even modest cruisers can have fun and possibly win in their class. * From John Winder, Chairman, Newport to Bermuda Race 2004 Organizing Committee: The Hall Spars & Rigging July 17th ad was incorrect. In 2000, Eric Crawford in 'Restless' was first on corrected time in the IMS C/R Division and won the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy. 'Zaraffa' was first to finish in the IMS C/R Division and won the Herbert L. Stone Memorial Trophy. On corrected time, 'Zaraffa' was 17th in Class 7 and 131st in the IMS C/R Fleet. Zaraffa's performance has been absolutely phenomenal but we want to be sure "the little guy" gets his proper recognition. Editor's note- We were provided the following by Kristan McClintock, Director of Marketing, Hall Spars & Rigging: "Our sincere apologizes for the error, and our congratulations to Restless in their victory. Thank you also to all Bermuda Race veterans who thankfully provided the correct information." CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The only sport that is like life is bullfighting - but only for the bull. |
