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SCUTTLEBUTT 1217 - December 11, 2002Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news ofmajor 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. ONEWORLD VS. PRADA OneWorld will be kicking themselves after throwing away the lead in their second semifinal clash with Prada on Wednesday. The American crew left themselves no choice but to watch in dismay as the defending champions crossed the line 20 seconds ahead. Unnecessary risk taking and failure to cover by the Seattle syndicate saw the trailing Italian syndicate able to cash in on a left hand shift, and pass OneWorld up the final upwind leg. Taking risks is a strange move for somebody in the leading position and even stranger for a syndicate who are already on a backfoot, thanks to the one-point penalty imposed by the arbitration panel on Monday. But Peter Gilmour's crew threw caution to the wind, after leading around the first four legs and rounding mark four 38 seconds ahead, heading out to the right hand side of the temperamental Hauraki Gulf and leaving Prada in fresh breeze on the left. - Fiona McIlroy, nzoom website, full story: http://americascup.nzoom.com/americascup_detail/0,2523,154912-296-297,00.html ALINGHI VS. ORACLE BMW RACING Alinghi proved clearly superior to San Francisco's Oracle for the second day in succession in today's second semifinal of the America's Cup challenger series on the Hauraki Gulf. In the contest between the two top-ranked teams, both with New Zealand skippers, the Swiss boat, skippered by Russell Coutts, led throughout to win by 29sec. They looked to be even more in control over the Chris Dickson-skippered Oracle than they had been yesterday when the winning margin was one minute 11sec. Today, Alinghi extended their lead on each of the first four legs to be 1min 5sec up at the fourth mark. While the margin closed on the last two legs, Alinghi never looked in danger. Alinghi, who now lead 2-0, need just two more wins to go through to the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. If they achieved that, Oracle would go into a semifinal repechage with the winners of the contest between the lower-ranked Prada and OneWorld. - NZPA, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/americascup/acstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3008951&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup RACE RESULTS Prada defeated OneWorld Challenge by 20 seconds Alinghi defeated Oracle BMW Racing by 29 seconds STANDINGS Prada and OneWorld are sort of tied at 1-1* Alinghi leads Oracle BMW Racing 2-0 * OneWorld will be penalized one point by the ACAP at the end of the Semi-Finals THE PENALTY The (one point) penalty (against OneWorld handed down by the Arbitration Panel) caused some concerns for regatta organisers, because of the potential for extra races. The rules state teams advance if they get four wins (in the challenger semifinals) or five wins (in the challenger finals and America's Cup match), which may mean the various series have to be extended if the teams end up tied on points after seven or nine races. Organisers have now asked the panel to amend its penalty, and instead award a point to OneWorld's opponents. The Seattle syndicate opposes the move. Two members of the arbitration panel were not due to arrive back in Europe until today, so arrangements for the five members to consider the application, probably by conference call, have not yet been arranged. . - Helen Tunnah, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/sportsstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3008877&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup&thesecondsubsection=challengers THE PROTEST OneWorld's rivals have given up the chance to lodge an immediate protest against the Seattle syndicate under yachting's "fair play" rules after the team was caught breaking America's Cup rules twice. OneWorld avoided being disqualified for their second admission they had other teams' design secrets, but were punished on Monday with a hefty fine and the docking of competition points. Last night the other America's Cup syndicates decided not to take their protests against OneWorld any further, for now, with Team Dennis Conner formally withdrawing a protest to the event's international jury. The other syndicates could have made submissions on the case, but none did. - Helen Tunnah, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/sportsstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3008877&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup&thesecondsubsection=challengers AC'S BEST CHOOSE HARKEN - FIND OUT WHY Get the inside stories as seen through the eyes of Harken's AC team. Read insightful interviews, download free Bob Greiser racing pictures, and find other behind-the-scenes "scuttlebutt" on the Harken America's Cup page. It's well worth your time. http://www.harken.com/acup/acdefault.php LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) (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 Fred Cross: So who's going to sit down with Peter Gilmour to explain the concept of 'staying between the man and the hoop?' * From Mark Schipper (edited to our 250-word limit): While I'd like to express my gratitude for OLN's Louis Vuitton Cup coverage, I must briefly rant in hope that it may improve the coverage. Imagine World Cup coverage where the return from a commercial break shows a goal was scored during the break..... but no mention of which player scored, how they did it or even a replay. Viewers just have to accept that someone scored ... somehow. Monday's LV Cup coverage of the semis #1 is a perfect example. On leg 1 One World beat Prada to the weather mark. On leg 2 Prada passed One World .... during a commercial break. No details on how. On leg 3 One World passed Prada again. No details on how. Later on leg 4, Prada again passed One World. No details either ... but the return from another commercial break showed the tail end of a luffing match that broke Prada's spinnaker pole. Sure would have been interesting to see the luff. But wait, there's more! On the last leg One World once again enjoyed a comfortable lead (somehow) but destroyed their spinnaker during the set. Thankfully they were able to set another kite … during the commercial break. Whomever OLN has chosen to produce the LV Cup coverage is probably quite experienced and believes they are covering what the widest audience will respond to. Perhaps they are correct, but personally I am far more interested in pre-start sequences, mark roundings, lead changes as they occur and recoveries * From Lance Staughton: Wow! What a great race one! I'm so glad I saw OLN's coverage of "every tack and jibe" during their "300" hours of "live" coverage. Here on the west coast the coverage is on from 6-8 p.m. then replayed 9-11 p.m., then twice again the next morning. Please OLN - you've got the N.Z. feed - show us the sailing! We're down to two races, you can fit it in-sure it'll run 2, 3, or 4 hours. Fill the down time with replays, strategies and travel in N.Z. (or show it on laydays). But show the sailing when they're sailing. They basically show mark roundings and announcers. I thought the boat ahead at the first mark usually led all the way and it was hard to pass. Whatever drama there was (it seemed jam packed)-was totally ruined! Examples- "18 -19 tacks on this leg-we saw only 5 or 6, "Can One World cross?"/ oops missed it-showing a replay. The last straw was the final rounding where One World tore their chute and had "trouble" getting up the new one with Prada barreling down/ insert commercial here/ other race finish here/ and One World is 40 seconds from the finish line. Yikes! What happened? There's more holes in OLN's coverage than in America One's old yellow spinnakers. I'm sure OLN has commercial obligations-can't those be fullfilled during live coverage-instead of during 4 reruns? * From John Glynn On Sunday, I watched Gary Jobson's Rolex International Year in Sailing on ESPN. And while I enjoyed seeing clips from a variety of events--particularly the College Nationals and Volvo Around the World Race, I got the sense that this was not really a re-cap of the year in sailing at all--rather things they just happened to have footage of. Unless I missed something, where was the mention/footage of Roy Disney's Pyewacket breaking a bunch of line honors records, en-route to one of the most successful years in ocean racing history. And did I miss the star-laden Star Worlds when I blinked. There is a lot going on in the wonderful world of sailing, and I realize it's hard to cover it all. But re-cap shows (or at least ones billed as such) should hit as many of the highlights as possible. Over on another network, an hour earlier, the was the Sports Illustrated "Sports Year in Review." I was amazed at how much they managed to cover is a very short time--but alas, no sailing. * From Dick Enersen (edited to our 250-word limit): The arbitration panel has outdone themselves. To review: For a variety of confessed and vetted infractions of the (absurd) "intellectual property migration" protocol they fined OneWorld a total of 1 point in the 16 race round robin. Big deal, if they are good, they go to the A group anyway; if they are slow, who cares? Yesterday, for a 486 computer (wow, does it run Windows 95, or 3.1?), a single zip drive and a file of unknown contents, dating to the last event in San Diego, they penalize OneWorld one race in each round in which they sail hereafter. Note that these heinous infractions were uncovered and reported by OneWorld. Sean Reeves and his volumes of "new and damning evidence" were not a factor. Not only is the current penalty horribly inconsistent, it puts an additional burden on Race Chair Peter Reggio and his committee, to wit: OneWorld has to win five races to shoot through. If the boat is fast, it will take one more day to complete every round in which it competes, a tougher task in this year of wild weather and narrow parameters. If there is to be another America's Cup event after this one, let's simplify the conditions and create a more even handed system of "justice." In closing, I noted with pleasure DC's comments as he sought to withdraw his team's Rule 2 protest. I have not always agreed with Dennis in the past 38 years, but I applaud him for today's remarks. * From Beau Vrolyk (edited to our 250-word limit): I completely support Dennis Connors in his responses to the current nonsense surrounding the America's Cup. Dennis is too polite to say it, but exactly how much cheating does a team have to indulge in to get tossed out? Are there rules that can be a little bit broken? Can other team's secret information be a little bit stolen? Who are we kidding here? When someone steals stuff from another team, they should get tossed out of the race. This is getting really really really discouraging. How hard is that to understand? What has happened to our sport? How can someone cheat in such a blatant way, and keep sailing in the regatta? How do I explain this to a group of Youth sailors at our Yacht Club, who are looking to the leaders in our sport to set the moral tone. I propose that we sailors have really lost control of our sport. If we have the guts to take it back, then real sailors who care about wining real sailboat races out on the water should make it clear to the folks running this circus, that cheating like this doesn't result in a monetary fine and a one or two point penalty. It should, quite appropriately, result in the team that has committed the offense being asked to leave both the event and possibly the sport. Our Corinthian sport has never been more embarrassed. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Tim Jeffery has done a very thoughtful story on the Yachting World website about the ruling of the Arbitration Panel. From this point forward, it will be "required reading" for anyone who wants to send Scuttlebutt a letter on this subject. http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20021110110527amcuptim.html * From Larry Suter (edited to our 250-word limit): Paul Henderson states that US Sailors have a "special deal" in getting US sailors to the Olympics, that is just not true. The USOC has a policy of sending the US Sailing Team that wins the US Olympic Trials to the Olympics if that class has met the ISAF qualifying standard for that class. The US does not take extra places. ISAF has designated how many countries per class go to the Olympics to keep the 400 athlete total. The US Teams that go have to finish ahead of other countries or they would not qualify. Forty Lasers (one Laser per country), 15 Tornados, 15 Stars, and 15 49ers are allowed in to the Olympics. You have three World Championships to qualify, close to equal amounts of countries qualifying each year, with previously qualified countries not counting, so it is possible in the 3rd year to finish 15th country in the Star World Championship and qualify, but many countries have country standards that are more stringent allowing countries that finish lower than 15th country to qualify. For example, in the 2000 49er World Championships, the CAN 49er Team of Tina and Trevor Baylis qualified 12th country and thus was ISAF qualified into the Sydney Olympics, but Canada has a country standard of 10th at the Worlds for a CAN Team to qualify for the Olympics, so CAN declined their spot, which was given to a country that finished below 15th country and did not have a country standard. FASTEST SAILS ON THE PLANET - PHASE 2 While the competition is attempting to duplicate our winning 2002 sail designs, Ullman Sails has improved our J/105 sails to be stronger and faster for 2003! The national J/105 class rules allow 89Mtr2 spinnakers to be purchased till the end of the year with no sail purchase penalty. Ullman Sails is offering an excellent opportunity to purchase 2003 sails at unbelievably low prices. If you and your crew are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet - Phase 2" contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft or visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE The fragile future of the Volvo Ocean Race now rests in the hands of its new Australian chief executive, Glenn Bourke. His mission is to repair the damage done by the regime led by his predecessor, Helge Alten, during which the former Whitbread Race shot up in cost for the competitors and plummeted in public interest. Bourke, a three-time Laser world champion, managed sailing at the Sydney Olympics and the winning Illbruck entry in the Volvo event which finished last June. He chaired meetings at race HQ near Fareham yesterday with competitors from the last event. Alten's departure has left a void to be filled. No course or class of boats has been determined for 2005-06 other than an ill-considered proposal to switch to a 70ft boat and cut crew to an absurdly low complement of six or seven. Volvo face credible opposition from France's Bruno Peyron, organiser of The Race two years ago, a non-stop circumnavigation using giant multihulls. Peyron not only has plans for The Race mark two, starting from Marseilles in February 2004, but also The Race Tour the following year with stops in the Mediterranean, south-east Asia, California and western Europe. These plans have the backing of past Volvo winners, including Grant Dalton, Ross Field, Paul Cayard and John Kostecki, and veterans such as Neal McDonald and Roger Nilson. Nilson was among those meeting Bourke yesterday, continuing his efforts of the past 18 months to persuade Volvo to adopt multihulls and possibly broker a merger between the two events. - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK, full story: http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;$sessionid$1DZVBK5M5C3HTQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/sport/2002/12/11/soyots11.xml&sSheet=/sport/2002/12/11/ixothspt.html 505 WORLDS After a postponement, the Grolsch International 505 Worlds went with a gate start in very light air. A number of teams were trying to gate early and several of these were caught a little high as the pathfinder started its run. Something like six teams were disqualified for hitting the gate launch or the pathfinder. Incredibly the teams disqualified include 1st race winners Dave Smithwhite/ Neal Fulcher; event leaders after three races, Ian Barker/ Dan Cripps and 1999 World Champions Howard Hamlin/ Mike Martin. - On the third beat, after the two reaching legs, the easterly died out, leaving most of the fleet barely moving, and the Fremantle Doctor breeze filled in from the opposite direction. At this point the Race Committee abandoned the race, and moved into position for another start, setting the course for the new wind direction. Since it was late in the afternoon for The Doctor, it did not fill in all that strongly, perhaps to 14 knots, though there were some higher puffs. - Alexander Meller Alexander Meller Standings after four races (with one throwout): 1. Ian Barker/ Daniel Cripps, GBR, 10; 2. Andrew Beeckman /Ben Benjamin,USA, 12; 3. Krister Bergstrom/ Thomas Moss, SWE, 12; 4. Dan Thompson/ Andrew Zinn, USA, 13; 5. Howard Hamlin/ Mike Martin, USA, 16. - www.505.com.au MISTRAL WORLDS Barbara Kendall comes back with a bang! Two years off since Sydney certainly has not dulled her competitive instincts. This all time legendary performer from New Zealand popped in a 1st and a 3rd to top the leader board after the first day's racing of the Mistral World Championship now being staged in Pattaya, Thailand. Bryony Shaw (GBR) had an excellent first day with a 3rd and a 7th to take second spot overall with Alessandra Sensini (ITA) 3rd overall just two points behind. The leaders after two races - Men: 1. Nicolas Kaklamanakis, GRE, 8 points; 2. Mariano Reutemann, ARG, 9; 3. Gao Chuanwei, CHN, 13; 4. Marcos Galvan, ARG, 14; 5. Samuel Launay, FRA, 14; Women - 1. Barbara Kendall, NZL, 4 points; 2. Bryony Shaw, GBR, 10; 3. Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 12; 4. Sandrine Nuvolone, FRA, 15; 5. Faustine Merret, 15. More wind is forecast for tomorrow so the Race Committee have scheduled 3 races on what was to be the reserve day. - www.windsurfingthailand.com/200212mistral/1210men.htm THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Many people quit looking for work when they find a job. |
