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SCUTTLEBUTT 1583 - May 14, 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, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. CLEAR FAVORITES With top-four finishes in all five events they've entered, Australian Peter Gilmour and his Pizza-La Sailing Team have amassed 97 of a possible 125 points, and are the clear favorites to win the $60,000 bonus from Tour sponsor Swedish Match and Wedgwood-crafted championship trophy. Gilmour, a three-time match-racing world champion and veteran America's Cup campaigner, and his mixed Australian and Japanese crew have the Tour in a stranglehold. While Gilmour and crew are in line to become the fifth different Tour champion in its five years of existence, there's a mad scramble taking place for second through eighth to be eligible for parts of the $200,000 bonus purse from Swedish Match. Six points separate second through fourth on the leaderboard, and 18 points separate second through sixth. Three more events remain for competitors to solidify their standing. Sweden's Magnus Holmberg and his SeaLife Rangers team hold second, with 49 points. Holmberg, the 2000-'01 Tour champion, and crew are just 4 points ahead of New Zealander Gavin Brady and the Oracle BMW Racing crew. Consecutive third-place finishes at the Congressional Cup and Toscana Elba Cup have moved Brady, the silver medalist at the 2001 Star World Championship, up the ranks to third from seventh after the first three events. Jesper Radich, the reigning Tour champion, and his Team Denmark crew, who placed sixth at the Toscana Elba Cup, are fourth overall with 43 points. Gilmour and Brady are the only skippers in the top eight scheduled to compete at each of the three remaining Tour events. Next up is the 18th annual ACI HTmobile Cup (May 24-29) in Split, Croatia. The seventh annual Match Race Germany (June 8-14), on Lake Constance in Langenargen, Germany, is the penultimate event, followed by the season-ending 11th annual Swedish Match Cup (July 5-9), in Marstrand, Sweden. - Sean McNeill, www.SwedishMatchTour.com. A BIT OF HISTORY Newport, RI - Coronet - the world's only remaining Gilded Age vessel - was recently moved to the International Yacht Restoration School for complete restoration. Built in 1885 for New York Yacht Club member, Rufus T. Bush, Coronet is 192 feet overall and built entirely of wood, including wooden treenail fastenings. Her hull planking, frames and ceiling are all original and her Stanford White interior is 90% intact. Her history includes sailing around the world twice, rounding the Horn five times, and winning the third trans-Atlantic race in 1887. Amazingly, Coronet has been afloat for all of her 119 years. The restoration will return Coronet to her original, nineteenth-century configuration with no engine or electricity on board. We've just posted a number of Onne van der Wal photos of the boat and of the moving process: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/coronet/ TRIVIA QUESTION What does the following mean: "Wind before rain, let your topsail fill again. Rain before wind, sheets and topsails mind." (Answer below) PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER Requiring half the gripping force of other standard synthetic gloves, introducing the new Harken Black Magic Gloves. Why would anyone change the glove sailors around the world testify to as great fitting, quickly drying while staying soft and possessing simply the most superior holding power? What could possibly be new, you ask? Always on the leading edge of performance sailing gear, head to Annapolis Performance Sailing to find out and grab yourself a pair. Your hands will thank you. http://www.apsltd.com/scuttlebutt NOT A GOOD DAY Bitez, Turkey - Racing for the 2004 Harken Laser World Championships began Thursday with 143 competitors representing a total of 60 countries vying for the final 8 country allocations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The fleet saw a variety of wind strengths from 0 to 28 knots and directions from 060 to 190 degrees making the race committee work overtime setting and then re-setting the course for 5 hours trying to get a fair race. At their first attempt the start was postponed with 40 seconds to go before the start. A second attempt on a re-set course was recalled after the fleet pushed the line. After several further changes to the course and delays waiting for the wind to settle a third start was attempted 3 hours after the scheduled start time. The fleet got away to a clean start but within five minutes the wind shifted 60 degrees to the left and the race was abandoned. With no sign of the wind settling the fleet was sent home to prepare for three races tomorrow when the forecast is for a westerly wind which should be more stable than today's easterly. - http://www.laserinternational.org 470 WORLDS Zadar Croatia - The qualification series is over. Both US women's boats are in the Gold Fleet with Katie McDowell and Isabelle Kinsolving moving up to 17th and Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler 20th. Amazingly, the seven other unqualified countries are also in the Gold Fleet, so the battle for the last five Olympic spots will rage through the finals. Katie and Isabelle moved past the Austrians, and Swiss placing the US as the 5th country entering the Final Series. In the women's fleet, an amazing total of eight unqualified countries were in position to qualify for the 27 boat Gold Fleet. Nearly a third! It seemed that everyone was rising to the challenge of qualifying. In addition to the US; Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy were either above or just below the cut. - Rollin "Skip" Whyte * All countries in the Gold Fleet Men have already qualified for the Athens Games, so this will breathe new life into the Silver Fleet racing with the offer 6 places still on the table. Among the countries vying for the last Athens Spots are Turkey, Hungary, Belarus, India, Poland, Austria, Finland and Korea. With all these countries within 15 points of one another with 8 races left to run. The fleet was stunned today by the sudden withdrawal by Championship favorite Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa of Greece. Following yesterday's race, Sofia the 4 time World Champion and Athen's gold favorite returned to shore with terrible back pain and unable to use her legs correctly. The recuring injury, that has plagued the ISAF Sailor of the Year for more than 12 months was treated on scene but she was immediately airlifted by Medevac Liar Jet back to Greece for possible surgery. This obviously throws the Greek chances of home town Gold into crisis, but more over, Doctors are concerned about the long term damage Sofia may have suffered to her spine. - Darren Dunkley-Smith, http://www.uskok.biz.hr/470wc2004/index.htm ATLANTIC 1000 CATAMARAN RACE - Leg 4 In static conditions (15-20 ESE) but more moderate seas, 13 beach cats rounded Cape Canaveral: a couple torn sails and a boat careened into a finish-flag bearer, but no apparent security violations of the space center's strict limits. Top three remain close arriving within 5 minutes of each other in just under 5 hours. Cumulatives: Castrol (Casey/ Sonnenklar): 19:21:47; Tybee (Lohmeyer/ Pierce): 19:31:37; Oz (Rick Bliss/Brandy Wood): 20:27:27. Brazilian adventurers-racers Team SempToshiba are just five minutes behind the 3rd spot. Howard's Pub's Andy Herbick, who injured his shoulder at the start of leg 2, will have surgery next week while co-skipper Doug Kirby scrambles to stay in the race. Different fill-in crew results in time-penalties, however - 30 min.for each change after the initial one. Consequently, while the Pub was 5th team on the beach at both Cocoa and Ormond, added penalties push them farther down the roster. Diana Prentice, www.tybee500.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar JUST IN TIME Raider RIBs have a perfect yacht club tender. This 22-foot Raider 665 is the ultimate tender for a yacht club, a sailing program or a sail coach. The 665 is a center console, deep V hull with a 115 horsepower 4-stroke Yamaha engine, a galvanized trailer, towing post, and it even has an enclosed head. The Raider 665 is available for immediate delivery with special financing for a non-profit or yacht club junior program. Call for details at 1-877-7RAIDER, or check out the Raider 665 at our website. http://www.raiderboat.com FINN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP La Rochelle, France Day 4 Report - "It was puffy, shifty … a patient man's day", Richard Clarke taking second place, summarized today's shifty race by these simple words; but the race was far to be simple. Starting with 15 knots, the wind was going all over the place. Boats at each end of the line were sailing on different tack. "It was hard to know who was leading on the first beat" explained Guillaume Florent, 11th today. After 6 races (and 1 discard) Mateusz Kusznoerewocz (POL) s still in the lead with 16 points over Ben Ainslie (GBR) and 18 points over Sebastien Godefroid (BEL). Florent Guillaume (FRA) is in 4th place in front of Dean Barker (NZL) 5th. In the battle for Olympic qualification, the top 5 nations are: Austria (Florent Raudaschl, 26th), Argentina (Alejandro Colla, 31st), Russia (Vladimir Krutskikh 32nd), Italy (Michele Marchesini, 33rd) and Hungary (Balazs Hajdu, 35th). www.srr-sailing.com/divers/pagesiteeuropefinn.htm NEWS BRIEFS * After day 1 of the Hobie 16 Worlds finals in Barcelo Maya Beach Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico, Axel Silvy and Pauline Jupin have taken the lead with four incredible races. The French duo scored a 1,8,1,2 in the four races sailed on Thursday and have a solid lead going into the final day of the championship. Defending Champions from Australia, Gavin Colby and Simone Mattfield, have slipped to third. Six American teams made it into the finals. William Jeffers and Karen Grisko, from New York, are the top of the American group in 24th. - Bob Merrick, www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2004/default.asp *In the past twenty four hours the five Imoca 60's have been wrenched apart by a rather malicious zone of high pressure that has left the 1000 milles de Calais fleet strewn across the English Channel over nearly 200 miles as a result of the light fickle winds throughout the day. Standings at 01:40:00 GMT on May 14:1 Jean le Cam, Bonduelle, 39.3 miles from finish; 2 Mike Golding, Ecover, 24 mile behind leader; 3 Jean-Pierre Dick, Virbac, 120 mbl; 4 Vincent Riou, PRB, 159 mbl;.2; 5 Joé Seeten, Arcelor Dunkerque, 169; Retirement: Roland Jourdain, Sill. www.1000millesdecalais.com/indexuk.php * Skandia, the international long-term savings company, is further expanding its Set Sail portfolio of sailing sponsorships by supporting the British Paralympic Association with particular focus on the sailing team and their participation in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. This year's team, which includes John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas in the three-person Keelboat - Sonar, The race to become the representative in the single-handed 2.4mR class will be announced later this month. Skandia's support of the BPA will also include sponsorship of a BPA/ House of Commons entry in this year's Round the Island Race on June 26. www.skandiasetsail.com TRIVIA ANSWER The saying, "Wind before rain, let your topsail fill again. Rain before wind, sheets and topsails mind," means that if a squall is coming and it starts to blow before you feel any precipitation, the squall will be less severe and short duration. However, if you feel rain before the wind pipes up - precipitation is being thrown out of the storm cell violently; you're likely in for quite a ride! Be ready to shorten sails. ZUSE INC. Get the real gear for the real races with the real logos Zuse has got them all: Newport to Bermuda Race 2004, Block Island Race Week 2004, Newport Race Week and every Mount Gay Rum event ever. Get real gear for your crew. Contact Zuse today: 800-840-9335, ted@zuse.com, http://www.zuse.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 Andrew Bray, UK: Bruce Thompson (Scuttlebutt 1582) quite rightly recommends C.A. Marchaj's book Seaworthiness. But he is wrong when he talks of designers 'sacrificing safety for all out speed'. It was more a case of sacrificing safety to exploit loopholes in the IOR, encouraging such unhealthy trends as higher C of G. Today's race boats, apart from wooden keeled IMS freaks, are generally much safer, much easier to sail and much faster than their predecessors of 25 years ago. * From Andrew Troup, New Zealand: Bruce Thompson suggests Marchaj's Seaworthiness "provides a clear basis for deciding on what storm survival tactics will work best based on the actual conditions" Marchaj has a considerable grasp of the physics of sailing vessels, but his applied physics do not always seem to mesh entirely with reality. He contends that, all things being equal, a longer keel chord necessarily improves course-holding in survival conditions, and is indispensable for heaving-to. Most long-distance passage-makers seem to concur. In theory, possibly the first claim has limited validity, but all other things almost never are actually equal. In particular, long keels almost always accompany smaller, shallower rudders. Forced to choose between a long keel and a large deep rudder for course-keeping, in survival conditions, I'd go for the latter every time. A no-brainer. I've only ever felt seriously compromised by a fundamental design factor on occasions when a traditional underbody made course-holding so difficult, with large Southern Ocean swell trains crossing from two or three directions, that few helmsmen could manage any sort of course consistent with shaping a safe approach between offshore hazards while, say, broad-reaching towards a tricky landfall. Is making a landfall desirable in such conditions? The alternatives, in a sub-Antarctic context, are stark. An underbody of the type described does not support recovering lost weather gauge in a prolonged storm. As for heaving-to, I simply don't agree that it is difficult or impossible with "modern" underbodies, and I don't understand how these claims, so easy to disprove, persist. * From Antony Matusch, Chair of the ISAF Classification: Working Party, Mr. Van Gorkom has the right to appeal his decision. However, he and others may have several significant misunderstandings about the Code. Specifically: - The definitions have been devised in accordance with similar standards used in the US and RYA codes and have been made with close cooperation of the user classes and event organizers. - A decision to limit the participation of non-Group 1 sailors is made NOT by ISAF, but by the classes and/or event organizers. The Code is simply a tool available to them to construct the type of racing they wish to have. In fact, some classes (such as the Farr 40) use additional criteria beyond that outlined in the Code, which they administer themselves. - The rulings are not 'blind'. We have panel members from several countries and different levels on involvement in the sport: class and event organizers, pro sailors, judges, coaches, and industry players. - We work diligently with organizers to monitor and advise on the use and interpretation of the Code. The FAQ document in the Classification section of the ISAF website is an example of these interpretations. We urge all sailors, particularly those in the marine industry, to consult this document. The combined effort of our Working Party, class managers, and event organizers has resulted in the classification of nearly 11,000 sailors worldwide, and will be used for the first time at next week's IMS World Championship regatta in Italy, the Newport-Bermuda Race next month, and other high-profile events. * From Jay Bush: Thank you Geoff van Gorkom! I couldn't agree more about the sailor classifications. While I was in college, I worked at a sail loft putting sails together. By the nature of the job, I was class 3. I managed an appeal to get class 2 but the end result was that I couldn't sail with some friends of mine on their J105 because of rules limiting class 2 and class 3 sailors. I thought this sailing stuff was all about fun competition but I couldn't race on their boat. When they asked me to crew I had to tell them no because I was a "class 2". What a bunch of crap that was. The idea behind the rule is well intentioned but what it really does is limit the ability of sailors who have worked hard enough to be sought after to sail with from making a living. * From David Tabor: I find the (most) recent round of comments about Category 2 and 3 sailors most appropriate as just this week I was put in the position of registering my status for an upcoming event. Twenty years ago I worked in a boatyard for a year as lowest man on the totem pole. A year or so later when I finally got a real paying job (as opposed to the pay in the marine industry!) I picked up some varnishing jobs not so much to augment my pay, but to get outside and enjoy life around the marina and maybe hitch a ride one evening. I sailed mostly for fun and the vast majority of my sailing now is either low key frostbiting on a Laser, cruising, or offshore deliveries with the occasional race thrown in. If I was still varnishing or making sail covers and dodgers or lettering boat names I would be a Cat 2 sailor; how can that possibly be equated with being a "professional". Almost everyone I sail with has a real clear idea of what a Professional is, even if it does include builders, naval architects and sailmakers sailing on a boat they worked on and not just the Connors, Cayards, Dicksons. The worker bees are just a cog in the wheel. This rule needs to go. * From Mort Weintraub: Many years ago (40 at least) in the ILYRA, there was a movement to ban professionals from competing. The effort was aimed directly at Buddy Melges and a few other sail makers and scow builders. Maynard (Mike) Meyer, a great scow sailor, and probably the most likely beneficiary of the proposal, killed the idea by saying, "Fine, let's put Buddy and the rest of the 'pros' out. Then, when you win, figure out who you beat to win" Mike's reasoning is still eminently sound. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Old is when your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot. |
