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SCUTTLEBUTT 1539 - March 15, 2004Powered 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. WEIGHT REDUCTION PROGRAM Bruce Schwab, the Californian rigger turned solo sailor is currently looking to make Ocean Planet his Tom Wylie-designed Open 60 even lighter, trying to shave 500 pounds off before the start of the Vendee Globe, non-stop round the world race. The weight that is coming off is coming from unlikely areas. For instance the jib leads on the boat are being converted to floating jib lead with barbarhaulers. The jib lead tracks, cars, bolts, and the backing blocks beneath the deck are coming out, lightening the boat. The same line of thinking has been applied to the engine instrument panel. Formerly mounted in the cockpit, the panel will now be mounted below, closer to the engine. Some 37 feet of wire came out and was replaced by six and a non-essential step was removed in the process. Up in the bow, a bulkhead is being replaced with a carbon fiber one, with an eye on keeping the bow lighter in the hopes of driving it over waves rather than through them as large sheets of crashing sea water on the deck has the tendency to slow the boat down. They've also added a true-false bow, designed to break away in case of a collision with an iceberg or another navigational hazard. The boom is getting a redesign as well, and will emerge as a shorter one, which means less weight higher up on the boat, as well as make it less likely to drag in the water when the going gets rough. The electronics have also gotten an overhaul, some 37 pounds of computer equipment has come out in the aim of producing a leaner, meaner, sailing machine. "The worst part was that we even had to weigh the dust from our cutting/sanding/grinding efforts (46.2 lbs!)," noted Andy Evans who spent a week working on the boat as a volunteer. "I am amazed that a knee made of solid wood and fiberglass can be replaced with six ounces of carbon and foam." Having already raced around the world once has its advantages. Schwab has been conferring with designer Tom Wylie throughout on how much to take off and where to take it from. "Sometimes, it's a judgment call that comes down to Tom asking me, 'Well, did you ever see it flex there?'" Keeping up with electrical consumption on this extreme sailing machine is another area where the interests of energy hungry cruising sailors and long distance speed junkies overlap. There are two 360-amp hour 12-volt batteries hooked up as one 24 volt bank, configured to allow both 12 and 24 volt usage. The 240-amp alternator at 24 volts is big enough to put a significant load on the engine, a 27-horsepower Yanmar. A big alternator puts a load on the engine which will be running in neutral for the duration of the race, bringing it up to a temperature that makes it burn diesel more efficiently. "A lot of French boats use a Nanni diesel engine, which is 60 pounds lighter, but then you're talking about spending $10,000 to $20,000 to save 60 pounds." - Mark Mattews, SailNet.com website, full story: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/articles/index.cfm?articleid=matthe1007 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "Sailing the 2000 Trials was very important for me. Seeing the McKee's and Larson/ Hall battle it out helped me understand what it would take to win the Trials. We also learned an incredible amount from the McKee's, who were very open about sharing information with up and coming teams (certainly not always the case in Olympic sailing!). We essentially used their ideas about tuning, boat handling and campaigning as a starting point for our campaign, and then tried to improve on them. A lot of "their knowledge" was taught to us by US Sailing Team coach Luther Carpenter, who was their coach and our coach." - Tim Wadlow, who will represent the United States in the Olympics sailing with Pete Spaulding in the 49er class. http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/SailingMedallist/04v3/page4.htm WEATHER ADVISORY! Catch the wind shift! Improve your inshore and offshore sailing skills with the help of www.WxAdvantage.com - a comprehensive weather information resource and North U. offering this spring's new weather seminar series! Cutting edge graphics will bring the lessons alive. Aboard your boat or ashore from his office, Bill Biewenga, veteran ocean racer and weather router is also available to work with you, your crew, or club. Bill brings 320,000 ocean miles and 17 years of weather routing experience to every project. For information, email billbiewenga@compuserve.com today or visit us at North U: http://www.northu.com FOR THE RECORD * - 1170 nautical miles west/nor-west of Cape Horn: American skipper Steve Fossett and his international crew of 12 pressed on despite another serious breakage - one which could threaten their Round The World Sailing record attempt, currently 2050 miles ahead of the successful 2002 RTW record pace of Orange after five weeks at sea. A section of mainsail track pulled out of the mast at the first reef. The headboard car, carrying the weight of the mainsail, was torn from the mast track along with the reinforced section of track upon which it was riding. Provisional plans are to effect repairs at sea next week (taking up to a day's time) after crossing Cape Horn, perhaps in the shelter of the Falkland Islands. Although unable to hoist the main either to full height or to the first reef, Cheyenne continued into Sunday morning on a planned tactical positioning to the north east using only a second reef and headsail, logging a useful 438 miles across the water over the past 24 hours. As winds continued from the West at 20-25 knots, Cheyenne and crew conserved their safer northerly position for the run east and south-east towards Cape Horn, which is yet to come. - Excerpt from a story on the Sail-World website, full story: http://www.sail-world.com/ * Sunday 14 March 2004 - 1710 GMT - 1000 miles W/NW of Cape Horn: Although restricted to 2nd reef in the mainsail due to yesterday's damaged mast track (until calmer waters for a repair day are available - certainly after Cape Horn), Steve Fossett and crew aboard Cheyenne logged 167 nm over the past 12 hours in lighter NW winds, making progress to the Cape and maintaining their lead over the 2002 RTW record track of Orange at just over 2000 miles. - http://www.fossettchallenge.com * Day 16 - The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran is closing on the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope, which she should cross on Sunday. Day 16 ended with a total of 523 nautical miles covered at an average speed of 21.80 knots, putting the 11-man crew 657 nautical miles ahead of Bruno Peyron's record. - http://www.trimaran-geronimo.com BACARDI CUP Miami, FL Mar.12, 2004 It's official. Without sailing the final race in the six race series, the Portuguese Star Class team of Afonso Domingos and crew Bernardo Santos have won the 2004 Bacardi Cup. They are the first Europeans to win this prestigious sailing regatta since the race first sailed with 10 boats in Havana, Cuba in 1927. - Janet Maizner Final Results - 94 boats, six races with one discard: 1. Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos, POR, 24 2. Ross Macdonald & Mike Wolfs, CAN, 37 3. Howie Shiebler & Will Stout, USA, 47.5 4. Colin Beashel & David Giles, AUS, 49 5. Peter Bromby & Lee White, BER, 52 6. Iain Percy & Steve Mitchell, GBR, 54 7. John Maccausland & Brad Nichol, USA, 60 8. Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau, FRA, 60.5 9. Hans Spitzauer & Andreas Hanakamp, AUT, 65 10. Flavio Marazzi & Enrico De Maria, SUI, 67 11. George Szabo & Mark Staube, USA, 79 Full results: http://www.bacardicup.com/press.asp MAN OVERBOARD Racing to Bermuda or Hawaii? Coastwise cruising? Regardless of your challenge, the ability to locate a man-overboard victim is greatly enhanced by SeaMarshall marine rescue beacons and homing receivers. Automatically activated SeaMarshall gear can mean the difference between a successful recovery and tragedy. Contact Chip Barber at admin@chbarber.com or http://www.seamarshall-us.com 2005 YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) of US Sailing has announced the qualifying events to select the team which will represent the U.S.A. at the 2005 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF (International Sailing Federation) World Championships. The championships, open to sailors who will not have reached their 19th birthday in 2005, will feature competition in four classes (six events): Laser (boys singlehanded) and Laser Radial (girls singlehanded)+ADs- International 420 (boys and girls doublehanded)+ADs- and Mistral (boys and girls boardsailing). Qualifying Events for USA+IBk-s 2005 Youth World Team: - Girls Singlehanded Entrant: The 2004 U.S. Jr. Women+IBk-s Singlehanded Championship (Leiter Cup), July 31-August 6, 2004, at Bay Head and Mantoloking Yacht Clubs, Bay Head, N.J. - Boys Singlehanded Entrant: The 2005 Laser Midwinters West, March, 2005, in San Diego, Calif. - Girls Doublehanded Entrants: The 2005 Club 420 Midwinters, dates and location t.b.a. - Boys Doublehanded Entrants: The 2005 Club 420 Midwinters, dates and location t.b.a. - Open Multihull Entrants: The 2004 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship (Hoyt-Jolley Cup) scheduled for June 24-27, 2004, to be sailed in Hobie 16s at Sea Cliff Yacht Club, Sea Cliff, N.Y. - Boys and Girls Boardsailing Entrants: Qualifying event to be held at the US Sailing Center-Martin County in 2005 using equipment determined at the November 2004 ISAF Annual Meeting. For additional information: www.ussailing.org/Olympics/YouthWorld/ NEWS BRIEFS * US Sailing has awarded its Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy to William C. (Bill) Martin (Ann Arbor, MI) for his outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing. Martin is a past president of US Sailing (1995-1998) and currently the Acting President of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and Director of Athletics at the University of Michigan. Katie Richardson, US Sailing's Olympic Programs Manager, has received the C.R.E.W. Award which recognizes the organization's staff and volunteers who effectively set clear expectations, show mutual respect, and are committed to collaboration within the organization. - www.ussailing.org/ * Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medallists and current Tornado class world champions Darren Bundock and John Forbes sailed consistently throughout the Tornado European Championship regatta to win the Open Division (Mats Nyberg trophy) with a race to spare. The Dutch team of Mitch Booth and Herbert Dercksen finished second and won the Europeans Tornado championship. Olivier Backes and Laurent Voiron (France) took third in the 51-boat regatta sailed at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. http://www.rcngc.com/europeo_04/ * Poland's Karol Jablonski overcame both a slow start earlier in the week and the regatta's hottest skipper Bertrand Pacé, to win his second Marseille International Match Race in a row. In the petit finals, the young French match racer Matthieu Richard defeated his fellow countryman Luc Pillot to finish third. In the sail-off, New Zealand's Kelvin Harrap swept past native son Dimitri Deruelle to finish fifth. - Cup in Europe website, www.cupineurope.com/MatchRace/04MarseilleEN2.htm, Event website: - www.ycpr.com/ WEATHER ADVISORY! Catch the wind shift! Improve your inshore and offshore sailing skills with the help of www.WxAdvantage.com - a comprehensive weather information resource and North U. offering this spring's new weather seminar series! Cutting edge graphics will bring the lessons alive. Aboard your boat or ashore from his office, Bill Biewenga, veteran ocean racer and weather router is also available to work with you, your crew, or club. Bill brings 320,000 ocean miles and 17 years of weather routing experience to every project. For information, email billbiewenga@compuserve.com today or visit us at North U: http://www.northu.com 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 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 Gonzo Diaz: I have had the privilege to have Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter at my house for most of the winter. The commitment to sailing by these two is unbelievable. They are a fine example, like other Olympic trial sailors, for any of us, kids included. Paul is away from his wife and teenage kids and misses them unbelievable. Phil recently married and has spent more time away from than at home. I'd see their car gone about 7 am every morning and sometimes it is 9 PM and they are still at the club working on the boat or in meetings with their coach. Paul told me he had to leave the Bacardi before the regatta started. Conditions and position had nothing to do with his departure. Curmudgeon's Comment: Be assured that Mr. Diaz understands what it takes to become a champion. His brother, Augie, is the current Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. (Paul Cayard was the 1998 recipient of that award.) Readers who want to know about Cayard's campaign will enjoy a recent AP story by Bernie Wilson: http://tinyurl.com/yuzk5 * From Rich Roberts: Here's an excerpt from Cayard's report on March 6, the day before the Bacardi started: "I am not planning on sailing all of the races as I want to go back to California for a visit with my family before the trials. So we will do the first few races and then leave." * From: Austin Sperry (In response to Ed Furry's comments about the disappointment he has in Freddy Loof and Paul Cayard for leaving the Bacardi Cup early): I am not sure if anybody knows but Freddy's Partner is about to give birth to their first born child, Ed where were you when your first child was born I am sure you were not sailing a regatta. Secondly Freddy has been training for 6 months non-stop he has not been home in Europe in just as many months so I would say he is a bit burnt on star sailing. Paul Cayard is about to sail the Olympic Trials next week, he too has not been home for quite some time he has kids and a wife. There is more to life than you getting all bunched on why Paul and Freddy are not sailing. * From Cory E. Friedman: With all due respect for Mr. Furry (#1538), I know of only three reasons to race sailboats: 1) you're having fun; 2) you're not having that much fun, but your crew/fleet mates are and you understand that maintaining a crew/ fleet involves mutual obligations; and 3) someone is paying you to race. If Paul Cayard decides he has better (family) things to do or Freddy Loof decides that the frustration level is just too high, I don't see how anyone can criticize them for calling it a day. There was still plenty of competition. The really interesting question raised by this year's Bacardi conditions is whether, given our single regatta selection system (which I agree with; why should a US sailor need to leave the US to qualify for the team?), is Biscayne Bay with its shallow water induced chop and lack of a reliable thermal the appropriate venue for the trials? As nice as Biscayne Bay, its sailors and its facilities are, if it's like Greece, it's the right place. If it's not, it's not. * From Mike Ingham (re the weight issue): It seems that the Star class's weight limit was exclusionary before favoring a heavy crew. Now it is exclusionary against a heavy crew. All this discussion tells us on the outside is they got the new weight ratios and combined weight wrong. These are smart guys and have been running a successful class for a long time, and if the class wants to be competitive for more body types, the obvious thing to do is to tweak the weights again so that no mater what your weight, you can find a partner the right size. If that's not going to happen, and a competitor feels they are the wrong size, then they should not be sailing a Star. We all are the wrong weight for some boats, that's one of the reasons we have so many different classes of boats. * From Norman Davant: Hey what about the little guy, I demand equal time, I feel so left out because I cannot be competitive in a Star because I am 5'6" and weigh 160 lbs. And frankly Joe McCoy is really not that fit, he just thinks he is. * From John Skinner: Shame on you Curmudgeon for not following your own rules. Joe McCoy's comments did very little to add to the debate over crew weight limits in the Star Class and was instead just an insensitive personal attack on large people. You should follow your own rules regarding personal attacks and let Joe McCoy post his attacks on other Forums so that it can be properly flamed. * From Enrico Ferrari: Paul France from NZ has the correct idea on sailing. Enjoy it at your own level! I just rebuilt my 1962 Windmill and had my first sail on it. The exhilaration of that sail had very little to do with winning or even how fast I was going in 4-7 knots of wind. It was all about appreciating my own work and preparation that actually worked and looked great. My 45 minute outing adjusted my attitude for days and allowed me to deal with more mundane issues like rain here in the Seattle area. Keep smiling while sailing and it is all good! * From Steve Shaw: It is great to see William Fife III's entry into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Just to point out that William Fife III was Scotland's and not England's (as the introduction incorrectly states, although the biography piece does state the truth). A small but crucial point. * From Neil Harvey: It is with interest I read that William Fife III has been nominated as an inductee into the America's Cup Hall of Fame for 2004, by designing just two challengers, neither of which were successful, when Ben Lexcen [aka Bob Miller] designed four challengers that I know of, including the first boat ever to wrest the "Auld Mug" out of the clutches of the New York Yacht Club, and I still don't see his name on the list ! My congratulations to Brad & Tom on their nominations - two most worthy candidates. * From Frank Sticovich (re the America's Cup Hall of Fame): What sticks out like dogs' "cojones" is the absence of Ben Lexcen from the America's Cup Hall of Fame - an inexcusable oversight. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM If athletes get athlete's foot, do astronauts get mistletoe? |
