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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 538 - March 30, 2000CHANGE OF PACEThe following excerpts were pulled from a story by Bob Fisher presently posted on the Sailing Source website) Lest we should lose the plot altogether, it is worthwhile every so often to remember that sailing is pleasurable and to be enjoyed, no matter whether it is racing or cruising. There are those who seek to change the attitude and who adopt the 'sailboat racing is not a matter of life and death, it is far more serious than that' attitude, and while they may laugh at this, deep inside themselves they regard it as the modus operandi. If they want to change the face of sailing, we should all resist their efforts; it is up to the right minded among us to maintain an honest and pleasurable attitude to the sport. One needs to go no further in the search for the ideal regatta than the Caribbean, where the essence of all the events is 'rum, sun and fun.' You don't see anything but smiling faces at the regattas and that is totally understandable - people are having a good time and the organisers do everything they can to help them by providing the necessary ingredients - the spirit from a sponsor, the weather by an unsurpassed regularity and the fun by providing excellent courses and parties to die for. First, it has to be explained that it is not necessary to have a new boat to take part, in fact any move in that direction would be positively frowned upon, although the latest in sail technology appears to be encouraged. There is an almost total absence of Category 3 sailors, although no one raised an eyebrow at the odd one who appeared. There has to be a place for "experienced" boats and the Caribbean regattas attract the owners of the boats which have, in a previous era, been at the front of the grand prix fleets and are now having a second chance to excel. -- Bob Fisher Full story: http://www.sailingsource.com/fisher/default.html EXTREME SAILING A giant L4m catamaran built by maritime hero Pete Goss for round the world races has been towed to the Isles of Scilly after being badly damaged. The 120-foot-long Team Philips craft, designed to slice through the water at 40 knots, was on the third day of sea trials when disaster struck. Falmouth Coastguard confirmed that a 25ft section of the port bow had broken off, and that the boat's starboard hull had also been damaged. The state-of-the-art boat, unveiled by the Queen earlier this month, left Dartmouth three days ago for sea trials. Vicky Bartholemew, from the Team Philips headquarters, said a call had been received from the craft at 0745 BST stating there had been a "significant structural failure" of both port and starboard bows. At the time Team Philips was 26 miles east of the Isles of Scilly. Miss Bartholemew said: "All the crew, while deeply disappointed, are well and safe." 'Setback - not disaster' Team Philips' Nick Booth, at the Totnes build headquarters, said: "We now have a huge amount of work to do to find out the cause of the problems. "Our next problem is how do we make this good again, whether we need to strengthen the bows and then we will carry on from there." But he added that the vessel was still aiming to win the event for which she was originally built - The Race, a round the world dash starting from Barcelona on 31 December. -- BBC News Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_694000/694613.stm IT NEVER STOPS An April 3 deadline is looming for recreational boaters and other interested parties to submit comments on whether the U.S. Coast Guard should propose federal rules that might mandate the wearing of personal flotation devices. When the agency asked whether there should be a national requirement for all boaters to wear personal flotation devices at all times on the water, the response was overwhelmingly negative. * While no public hearing is planned on any recommendation, the Coast Guard has written a questionnaire which could provide answers to many of the issues involved in offering a recommendation. That questionnaire is part of the request for comments published in the Federal Register (Vol. 64, No. 192, Oct. 5, 1999). Here's the text: Please consider and respond to the following questions: 1. Several states have imposed various requirements for wearing lifejackets --- by children, during water skiing, aboard PWC, canoes and kayaks, and sailboards, and so on. Should we continue to let individual states determine their own requirements for wearing lifejackets? Or should we propose Federal rules to: a. Ensure that, if states do issue requirements for wearing lifejackets, those requirements be consistent with one another? b. Preempt the several states from issuing any such requirements at all? c. Apply only on those navigable waters where no state has issued requirements for wearing lifejackets? 2. Should we propose Federal rules requiring that any or all of the following recreational boaters wear lifejackets while underway? If so, which? b. Any boater on a recreational vessel less than 16 feet in length, less than 20 feet in length, or some other length?* c. Any boater on a recreational vessel defined by a specific combination of the boaters age, the vessels type and size, its operation, and the prevailing water or weather? 3. Should we propose any Federal rules that allow alternatives to wearing Coast Guard approved lifejackets? If so, which alternatives? And if so, for which vessels, activities, water or weather, or boaters? 4. Please describe any non-regulatory ways to reduce the number of deaths by drowning, that are achievable at lower cost or with less burden than by Federal rules for wearing lifejackets. Responses and comments may be sent: By mail to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202/493-2251. Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management System at http://dms.dot.gov.Lifejackets.doc -- Water Safety Journal CHARTING YOUR COURSE Sailors who want to update their nautical charts can now do it via the Internet. The National Ocean Service said that mariners can arrange to get weekly updates delivered by e-mail. The service is a joint effort between the Ocean Service and Maptech Inc., the company that handles marketing for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's electronic charts. Maptech's latest edition raster charts, or charts for use on a computer, are a commercial product produced under a cooperative research and development agreement with NOAA. The optional update package that will provide small patch files delivered by e-mail. Purchasers can have the patches automatically applied to screen versions of the charts, or they may be used to create new chart editions on their computer hard drive. Currently the digital computer charts outsell paper charts two-to-one, the agency said. In the past, charts were updated when there were 50 or so changes to be made. With the new system updates can occur every week, including notices from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Critical Correction Database, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and the Canadian Hydrographic Service. National Ocean Service website: http://www.nos.noaa.gov Maptech website: http://www.maptech.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE Major television deals on both sides of the Atlantic will guarantee increased exposure for next year's Volvo Ocean Race. Programming produced by United Sport, Volvo's media partner in the round-the-world event, will be carried in the UK by the commercial operator ITV and its digital channel ITV2. In the States, a deal is being finalised with the national cable sports channel ESPN to feature the race in programmes put together by experienced sailing producer Gary Jobson. In addition ESPN International will distribute programmes to broadcasters worldwide. The proposed television deals this time offer more exposure through better time slots. ESPN plan to run the monthly series on weekend afternoons. Last time they carried The Whitbread late at night. Volvo Ocean Race will start from Southampton, England on September 23rd 2001. This professionally crewed event will cover 32,250 nm in approximately ten months, circumnavigating the world with the prevailing winds. The nine-leg race will visit 10 ports, racing through four oceans, and finish in Kiel, Germany in June 2002. -- Lizzie Green Event website: http://www.VolvoOceanRace.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Steve Moore -- Norry Hoyt's book "Addicted To Sail" contains this quote, which seems worth sharing. It was spoken by Olin Stephens aboard the 73 ft. maxi boat Bolero (his design) in the 1950 Bermuda Race. Bolero had heavy displacement, at least by today's standards. Even with some pretty rough conditions on deck, the off watch was well insulated, sleeping comfortably, when Olin came down the companionway to call all hands on deck in his wonderfully reserved style. "From the peace and quiet that reigns below here, you get no conception of the emergency of the situation on deck." -- From Scott Mason -- Peter Bentley brings up a valid point--that on the water judges ought to be qualified for the events they judge. While juries in protest rooms need to know more about gathering facts and applying law than hands-on knowledge of a particular boat's handling characteristics, many individuals qualified to run a jury have no place on a RIB observing and officiating competitors on the water. The NFL and MLB do not invite fans out of the stands to officiate a game, and we (the governing bodies, fellow sailors, club officials, etc) owe our competitors the same. Judgement calls are part of any sport where on-field officiating takes place, and those doing the judging should know the boats, the competitors, the standard applied in various classes, and be in close enough touch themselves that they are qualified to judge others. -- From Peter Godfrey (re Bentley's story) -- Another solution would be to chuck rule 42. Who cares how a sailor pumps, ooches, rocks or otherwise maneuvers his/her boat around the course? Isn't this an athletic event? Why wouldn't we allow sailors to get their boats around the course in the fastest possible manner? Eliminate the pumping etc. problem in light air by not racing in breezes under, say 6-8k. Don't skiers pump their skis in a downhill race? Don't racecar drivers pump their brakes when they have to? -- From Mark Gaudio -- The example Peter Bentley used is unfortunately a situation that has plagued the growth of yacht racing everywhere. The inequity between the competitors talent and that of the organizers... It's not only about the selection of jurors/the quality of the RC members, or the freebies given out in some two-bit kevlar bag. etc. etc. Its also about time. Time is like $, you only get the chance to spend it once! When you show up to a regatta whether it be at the 'club' level, or the world class level, the administrators should all have one common goal...To make it a great experience for the competitors. If not your wasting our time... The time for self-serving, stubborn, unknowledgable race organizers has passed. The savy, time conscious competitor is in search of better value, not only for his $, but for his time... -- From James Nichols -- The discussion re: closed vs. open one-designs is hardly "pointless"; there may be exceptions, but very few Olympic sports that I'm aware of are monopolized by one provider of equipment. OK, there's really only one manufacturer of world-class diving boards, which happens to be located in Sparks, Nevada, but that's what I call REALLY pointless. -- From Charlie Shumway -- In my mind, what the pro's and the amateurs should be promoting is Team Racing, Team Racing, Team Racing. One, you have identical one design boats, and can put some restrictions on changing standing rigging, etc, so that the emphasis is on sail handling, boat handling, tactics and finally team racing tactics. If each team had different colored sails, and the races were held in close quarters, not only would this venue generate more interest, the cost of producing the live TV would be relatively inexpensive, since you would not need to rent helocopters nor have the chace boats. Other advantages are more races over shorter time frames, more team work, etc.. Additionally, now even at the interscholastic level as well as the intercollegiate level team racing is growing. This allows for a natural progression of sailors, and would keep a greater number of young sailors interested in racing and sailing. If we ever really want to have pros in the sport, we must generalte TV revenue, A Team is easier to find sponsorship for than a Single Boat, there is less politics, etc.. While the Volvo, AC are great events, Team Racing could do a lot more for the sport,and I think draw amuch greater audience and general interest. -- From William F. Cook-- I would disagree with Christian Fevrier's assessment that knowing the location of the racecourse was not an advantage for Team New Zealand. I was on AmericaOne's tender/weather boat every day, and from my seat the difference between read, green, and blue courses was dramatic. I know for a fact that there was a fairly intense discussion at one point amongst the challengers and PRO Vince Cooke about the need to race on the red course more (where the Kiwis were sailing every day), because the wind is quite different over there. The fact that the Hauraki gulf is a small place surrounded by islands, hills, volcanoes, and other obstructions (headlands?) is precisely why it was so different from place to place. Having said all that, the simple fact of the matter is that it is one of the advantages of being the defender. So What? We all dealt with it. We will deal with it again. Curmudgeon's Comment: Enough already. While I'm not going to kill the AC thread completely, until there's a new wrinkle that demands discussion, it will be dormant. VERY DORMANT! SWEDISH MATCH TOUR. Frenchman Bertrand Pace and his Le Defi Francais team, have taken over the top spot on the scoreboard after the third day of the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup. Bertrand and his crew almost had a dream day today (Thursday) winning six out of the seven races they sailed, and just missing out on a Aus$10,000 bonus. The bonus was payable to the first skipper to win ten consecutive races, with the French winning ten races over the past two days, but split in the middle by a loss to James Spithill of Australia. After a late start to the day, as the crews waited ashore for some breeze to ruffle the glassey Swan River, the action came thick and fast when the fabled Fremantle Doctor seabreeze arrived. Peter Gilmour and his Japanese Pizz LA team, currently second on the scoreboard, suffered a gash in the side of their boat when he collided with Peter Holmberg's Starsail team. Gilmour protested the umpires' decision to penalize him, but this was dismissed, though the jury recommended that the cost of the damage be shared between the two teams. The last race of the day turned into a thriller, with the two "young guns" of the series, Team New Zealand's Dean Barker and James Spithill of Team Young Australia having a dead-heat. This puts Barker and his crew in third place, half a point behind Gilmour, and looking good to make the cut into the semi-finals. In fourth place is Peter Holmberg's Starsail team, but it is very tight around this area of the scoreboard, with three skippers all having seven wins, but with Holmberg having sailed less races, and therefore having fewer losses. The other two skippers currently vying for the fourth semi-finals place are Sweden's Bjorn Hansen and local veteran Gordon Lucas, each with seven wins. Though it is early days, with the double round robin elimination series only just past the halfway mark, Pace is looking likely to take a big points lead in the Swedish Match Tour. Having won last week's opening event, the Steinlager Line 7 Cup in Auckland, he got a head start on the championship leaderboard, and another good result here in Perth will strengthen his position to take the US$50,000 first prize. -- John Roberson
Event website: http://www.rpyc.com.au CROSS TRAINING (The following is a brief excerpt from a story by Dan Dickison on the SailNet website.) When I raced in the J/24 class, I used to get laughed at by our crew for proffering the idea of rotating positions after each mark rounding during our weekly Thursday night races. I even went so far as to suggest that race organizers mandate this practice for at least one race during a given regatta. My thinking was-and still is-that we would all end up as better boathandlers and sailboat racers if we made the effort to broaden our set of crewing skills by spending time in other positions on the boat. When you consider who the most valuable players are in almost any team sport, it's always those who are the most versatile. In the National Basketball Association, guys like the L.A. Lakers' Kobe Bryant make the All-Star Team each year because they can hit the outside shot, drive the lane, score from the low post, and defend with equal ability. The same concept applies in sailboat racing, whether you're talking about a two-person crew on a Snipe or a 16-person group on an America's Cup boat. This doesn't mean that the mast person on a Farr 40 shouldn't develop specialized skills for that position, but he or she will be a much more valuable and effective crew if they also understand what's happening on the bow, in the pit, and further aft as well. Once you get into it, cross-training can be a lot of fun. And rotating positions among the crew isn't the only form of cross-training that can benefit racers. You can also add new dimensions to your abilities by spending time aboard different kinds of boats. The sailing characteristics of a moderate-displacement Sabre 362 will teach you things that time spent aboard a more lively Melges 24 won't, but that's fodder for a different article some other time. For now, the next time you're out for a fun race or a practice session, try rotating the crew around. You're guaranteed to have some initial problems as these people familiarize themselves with the duties and timing of new positions on the boat, but that guarantee also extends to having a more capable and knowledgeable crew in short order. -- Dan Dickison, SailNet website Full story: http://www.sailnet.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=ddcksn077 CONGRESSIONAL CUP LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Bertrand Pace will try to become the first Frenchman to win the Congressional Cup when he leads an all-out Gallic assault on the 36th edition of sailing's most venerable match-racing event April 8-14. Pace is on the crest of his victory in the Steinlager/Line 7 Cup at Auckland, where he turned away some of the same world-class sailors he will face in the Congressional. A fleet of 10 will sail Catalina 37s in competition for a total purse of $25,000. The Congressional Cup is the only Grade 1 match-racing event scheduled in the U.S. this year. Racing is scheduled Monday through Friday, April 10-14. At Long Beach Pace' will lead a French flotilla that also will include Luc Pillot, Damien Iehl and Sebastian Destremau, although the latter will represent the Fremantle Sailing Club from his new home in Western Australia. They won't have any trouble recognizing the rest of their high-profile competition, especially Peter Holmberg, James Spithill and the one-race wonder, Dean Barker. The field of 10 will also include Denmark's Sten Mohr, currently ranked No. 1 on the world circuit, and the last two runners-up: Germany's Markus Wieser in 1999 and the host Long Beach Yacht Club's Scott Dickson in '98. -- Rich Roberts Event website: http://www.lbyc.org TO THE VICTOR Russell Coutts, skipper of Team New Zealand, will appear at the Stamford (Connecticut) Yacht Club on Sunday, April 9, at 5 p.m. All 'Buttheads in the area are invited to attend. Coutts and his co-author, Paul Larsen will be autographing their book America's Cup 2000, the profusely illustrated pre-race account of yachting's most famous and celebrated event. Coutts will speak about the recent Cup event and will address many of the issues that have been debated in Scuttlebutt over the past month, as well as outline early plans for America's Cup 2003. 'Buttheads can call 203/323-3161 to reserve your seat (or an autographed book). Out of area 'Buttheads can email for an autographed copy of the book: Larsenmedia@compuserve.com. OUTTA HERE The curmudgeon is about to jump on the 405 and head South to Orange County to serve as a judge at the Newport Harbor YC's US Yacht Club Challenge. Tomorrow's issue of 'Butt will originate from behind the 'Orange Curtain.' THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS One of the benefits of growing older is that your secrets are safe with your friends - they can't remember them either. |
