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SCUTTLEBUTT 2005 - January 10, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.THE BATTLE IS FOR SECOND PLACE There are huge losses in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet tonight as ABN Amro One (Mike Sanderson) continues to streak towards Melbourne at a comforting 18 knots, 365 miles ahead of the pack, while the rest of the fleet is barely managing 10 knots. The rest, that is, with the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard), who has hit the wall. Hard. They have forfeited 69 nautical miles in the last six hours to the leaders, and, worse still, have lost their grip on second place. At 1800 tonight, Cayard wrote, "We just spotted a light in the mast ahead. It is either ABN Amro Two (Sebastien Josse) that has now passed us, a fishing boat or a real Pirate ship. Not sure yet, we will let you know." The bad news for the Pirates is that this was, almost certainly, ABN Amro Two, who is now sailing at twice their speed, and has pulled out a 30 mile lead as they set up to pass neatly through the scoring gate at the Kerguelen Islands in second position. Cayard now has to concern himself with the spectre of the Spanish boat looming. Movistar (Bouwe Bekking) is sailing at over twice the speed of the Black Pearl and has closed the gap to 45 nm. On this leg, ABN Amro One is the only boat to have managed a more than 500 mile 24 hour run, and how has a comfortable 365 mile lead. Meanwhile, Ericsson was loaded onto the Wallenius Wilhelmsen cargo ship Targus that left Port Elizabeth on Monday, January 9. She will sail through Durban and Mauritius before heading to Melbourne, where she is due to arrive on January 26. And Brasil 1 is has been repaired and re-provisioned and will leave early Tuesday morning to rejoin the race. Watch leader Knut Frostad reports that the boat is stronger than ever before. "It's really not realistic to catch anyone in front of us, but for sure we will enjoy any mile we can gain. The goal is to get Brasil 1 safely to Melbourne, and learn as much as possible on the way." Brasil 1 should arrive in Melbourne before the end of the month, a few days before the in-port race, which is scheduled for the 4th of February. Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Monday 1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 3699 miles to finish 2. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +365 miles 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +395 miles 4. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +440 miles 5. ING Real Estate Brunel, Grant Wharington, +675 miles 6. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, Will leave Africa (again) on Tuesday 7. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, officially retired Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ For a free download of Virtual Spectator for the Volvo Ocean Race: http://www.virtualspectator.com/index2.html RACING RULES QUIZ True or False? The 'buoy room' rule (18) may begin to apply between boats before they reach the two-length zone around a mark. (See answer later in this issue.) GOT SHORE CREW? Rig Pro / Southern Spars is on site at Key West: Our fully staffed mobile rigging shop with a complete inventory of top quality cordage, hardware, and hydraulic service will be on station across the street from regatta headquarters. On the water, three race favorites - the JV66 Bella Mente and two Farr 60s - Hissar and Numbers, feature Southern's Element C6 Plus continuous carbon fiber standing rigging. If you need some help at Key West, drop by the shop or phone the Rig Pro trailer direct on 1-401-366-0503. For more information visit http://www.southernspars.com IS THE THIRD TIME THE CHARM? Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge is the eldest brother of the three Italian challenges at the 32nd America's Cup, the third consecutive attempt at capturing the 'Auld Mug' by owner and project instigator Patrizio Bertelli and his skipper Francesco de Angelis. After two challenges in Auckland flying the Prada banner, the team has branched out in terms of sponsorship and support as well broadening its outlook with a more international sailing team, led by Australian helmsman James Spithill. And the early results are encouraging. "This Luna Rossa is a different group in the sense that each challenge is its own story and this one is really a new team. I've always operated like this is a different group," says skipper de Angelis. "The first challenge was really interesting because we started from nothing in 1997 and then raced in the Cup in 2000. But the second was very complicated. It was a very good, talented group but we didn't produce. "With this one we're still writing the story. We have a good group with a lot of ideas and a common goal. We have enough experience but also a lot of youth (Spithill is just 26 but on his third Cup campaign) and enthusiasm." Luna Rossa was the first team to set up shop in Valencia, before any of the other challengers or the Defender, although it didn't officially lodge its challenge until later in 2004. The Italians built a training facility at the local Yacht Club and started getting time on the water during the months the Louis Vuitton Cup would be contested before anyone else did. The team didn't race in the opening Louis Vuitton Act in Marseille, but sailed well in the Valencia Acts in 2004 and has had a good season in 2005, staking its ground firmly amongst the 'big four'. Of course the next step for Luna Rossa, as with all of the challengers, is to figure out how to beat Alinghi. The Defender was perfect in match racing until the last day of the year, and despite losing a couple of matches, posted a 31 and 2 record. Unless the challengers improve as a group, the Cup is going to be safe with Alinghi. According to de Angelis, at least part of this advantage is a holdover from the last Cup, but it's clear to him that Luna Rossa, indeed all of the challengers, have to improve. The advantage of the Louis Vuitton Acts is that the racing gives the team that opportunity. Luna Rossa will also have a new boat in 2006, but de Angelis isn't fully committed to when it might be launched or whether it will be raced in the Louis Vuitton Acts next year. The sailing team is currently off-site sailing in various events around the world and will meet up again in Valencia in March. Meanwhile, the design and boat-building teams continue to work through the winter while the stylish new base is being completed at the Port America's Cup. -- Excerpts from a story posted on the America's Cup website, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/d7xlc ROSE BOWL REGATTA Many of America's best young sailors representing 23 colleges and 61 high schools shone through light winds and fog in the 21st annual Rose Bowl Regatta Saturday and Sunday. Freshman Adam Roberts, with crew Justine O'Conner, led Boston College to first place in the collegiate group while his older sister Melanie, a junior at USC, crewed for Greg Helias for third place behind the University of Hawaii, led by Bryan Lake with crew Meredith Adams. The latter pair won the first five of eight races in the collegiate A division---nobody else won more than one---but the combined A and B boat scores put Boston College on top with 51 (27-24) total points to Hawaii's 60 (15-45) and USC's 70 (44-26). Reed Johnson and Julie Howe sailed BC's B boat, alternating with Roberts and O'Conner. College sailor of the year Mikee Anderson, who led USC's win last year but will not sail for the Trojans this spring, nevertheless took Helias' place in the last two races and placed first and second. Newport Harbor High School swept the high school honors, led by junior Charlie Buckingham with senior crew Marla Menninger in the Gold division and JV freshman Wade Hatton and junior Lindsay Beavers in Silver. Defending champion Point Loma was second in both groups. The two-day event was organized by the US Sailing Center with support from the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The USC sailing team was the official host. Winds were 3-7 knots Saturday and about 5 knots Sunday when a dense fog inundated the two bay race courses early on. All teams sailed two-person CFJ dinghies in the two venues. - Rich Roberts, Complete results: www.pcisa.org and www.collegesailing.org DO IT ALL ON-LINE FOR ULLMAN SAILS LONG BEACH RACE WEEK It's not too soon to start getting your act together for Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week June 23-25, and you can do it from where you're sitting. Register online for the West's largest inshore regatta, purchase event merchandise and review last year's results to figure out the boats to beat. The Long Beach and Alamitos Bay Yacht Clubs are co-organizers again. New this year, with the City of Long Beach on board as a sponsor: free docking for out-of-town competitors. http://www.lbrw.org NEWS BRIEFS * John Kostecki and Austin Sperry dominated the 52-boat Star Class Levin Cup Regatta at the Coral Reef YC, but only one point separated the next four boats. Final Results (3 races without a discard): 1. John Kostecki/ Austin Sperry, 14pts; 2. Will Stout/ D. Hiatt, 26pts; 3. FRA Phillipe Presti/ Jean Phillipe Saliou, 26pts; 4. Augie Diaz/ Bruce Hadfield, 27pts; 5. Rick Merriman/ Rick Peters, 27pts; 6. Mark Mendelblatt/ Mark Strube, 34pts; 7. 8162 Macdonald, Andy/ Fatih, Brian, 35pts; 8. ZNL Pepper, Hammish/ Giles, David, 35pts; 9. Filter, Henry/ Wagner, Will, 36pts; 10. Lovell, Andy/ Liljedahl, Magnus, 39pts. -- http://tinyurl.com/a3sfr * Skandia will be the first-ever title sponsor of the British sailing team preparing for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. The sole and exclusive partnership will commence with immediate effect, providing vital funding for sailors in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The team will be referred to from now on as Skandia Team GBR 2008. -- http://www.skandiateamgbr.com/ *The US state of Rhode Island's boatbuilding industry is "alive and well," according to a story in the Providence Business News. According to a 2004 study, the state has seen the average wage of those employed in the boatbuilding industry rise from US$24,129 in 1985 to US$42,050 in 2004--and that is about 19 per cent higher than the wage for an average private sector job. The state department of labor says that there were 3,616 workers in the industry in 2004, and that number is expected to rise through 2012, compared to expected declines in other manufacturing sectors. -- IBI Magazine/Michael Verdon, http://tinyurl.com/8mmal * The Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race fleet has experienced a varied weekend of sailing conditions as they limped through the monsoon trough towards the Sunda Straits. However, the two leaders -- Durban and westernaustralia.com (just 15 miles astern) -- are still managing to set a fierce pace at the head of the fleet, now some sixty miles ahead of New York in third place, followed by Liverpool, Victoria and Uniquely Singapore. -- http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006/ * Amundsen Oslo has joined forces with the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans Race as the Official Race Timekeeper. They will supply timekeeping equipment for the race (in accordance with ISAF/IMOCA regulations), and equip each skipper with a custom made timepiece prior to the start of the race. In 2006, the race's 25th Jubilee year, this Clipper Ventures' single-handed round the world race (formerly called 'Around Alone' and 'BOC Challenge') is getting even tougher. The legs between ports are now longer and the stopovers fewer and more compact - with a shorter window of preparation for the next leg. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com * Sail.tv is a new UK internet-based TV station and the first 24-hour channel available globally that is devoted to sailing and watersports. It goes live on Wednesday 11 January at www.sail.tv * Correction: Yesterday's issue of Scuttlebutt included information on how to post to Scuttleblog by email. Unfortunately, this was not intended for publication, and the blog email address has since been changed. If you are interested in posting comments regarding what you read in Scuttleblog, click on the comments link under each post: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog ANSWER TO RACING RULES QUIZ True. According to ISAF Case 84, "Almost always, a boat two hull lengths from a mark is 'about to round or pass' it, but this is sometimes so at a greater distance too." For example, when boats are going fast in rough and windy conditions, rule 18 almost always turns on before either of them reaches the two-length zone. -- See how well you really know the new 2005-2008 racing rules, there are 99 more questions like this; check out the Racing Rules IQ Test. -- www.SpeedandSmarts.com SEE FOR YOURSELF IN KEY WEST Going to be at the Acura Key West Race Week? If so, come by and check out the Ribcraft 2570 Mitigator Model after each day of racing down on the docks. See first hand, how a Ribcraft RIB can meet your racing program's every need. http://www.ribcraftusa.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Stevan Johnson: Just a note to "Big Mikey Howard": I would be very surprised if Columbus had a sextant. An astrolab was the high tech navigation tool of choice in 1492. It was a couple of hundred years before chronometers were developed that let octants, then sextants, be of much use navigating except for defining latitude. Which is what the astrolab did "to a degree." * From Donald Brewster (Re Big Mickey Howard letter @ #2004): Columbus couldn't have sailed with a sextant, even if asked for: not invented. He did have an astrolabe - the latest "stuff." Portuguese mariners had already proven the Earth wasn't flat. And Columbus' ships were not platforms to advance any performance technologies. He sailed for fame (well, that's parallel to our Ocean 70 folks) and to make money, albeit from silks and spices not media exposure. And, if we keep events like the VOR as the focus of sailing's promotion, we'll get more of them, edging ever closer to the catastrophe that keeps us anxious but spectating. * From Michael E. Blecher: Columbus didn't have an EPIRB or the other marvels of modern day safety and navigation. But that doesn't mean that he sailed without regard for his or the crew's safety-as a matter of fact, staying safe and healthy was paramount, because if they risked injury, their future would surely be jeopardized. In those days there was no New Zealand Navy to rescue them. The Volvo 70's are not out "to prove the world is round" (that was not what Columbus' voyage was about, either, but never mind…) This is competition for our entertainment with an undercurrent of commercial advertising woven in, the winner proving virtually nothing-we already know the world is round. Nothing beneficial comes from this sort of thing except that the "boys" get another entry in their resume, making it that much easier for them to get someone else to pay for their sailing habit. Meanwhile, they risk serious accidents which involve lawyers and insurance companies, ultimately making it much more difficult and expensive for the rest of us to enjoy going to sea in yachts. I would rather read about a guy crossing to Hawaii for the first time in his vintage Alberg 35 than one more word about professional sailors in the southern ocean, equipped with space age everything (including communications so they can read this), laughing in the face of danger while busily breaking up someone else's expensive boat and gear. * From Denise Paige: I really enjoy tracking the big ocean races and single hand achievements on a daily basis. I have often wondered why the sailing industry has been unable to capitalize on such an exciting and challenging sport and create broader interest. News and event coverage has never been a highlight of the sport- note the last America's Cup. (I believe the thread of this topic may have been extinguished more than once by the editor with respect to specific events.) To my great surprise, I tuned into ITV1 in the UK to watch Volvo Ocean Race Coverage on Sunday at noon. Granted the events depicted were old news, but I really enjoyed seeing the actual events pictured after having read about them on Scuttlebutt. The start of the race in Capetown was much better to see after having read about the issues. Seeing the actual damage to the boats and keels in particular, really put some the issues into persepctive. The coverage was fantastic - very exciting, onshore and offshore - and managed to tie the whole effort of a race campaign together. Hats off to ITV1 for getting it right. Hopefully this will bode well for European coverage of the next Cup. * From Malcolm McKeag: Andrew Dickinson suggested that to encourage building stronger boats and more responsible seamanship, race organizers should invoke a stiffer penalty in the scoring to a boat that has to retire. I have a better idea -- how about making it a requirement that the designers do the race? * From George Bailey: It is interesting for PHRF racers to review the last few racing seasons they did, using Portsmouth ratings instead of PHRF for the boats in your class (you need to be able to recall the wind conditions for accuracy). Doing this for a two year period, I found my Freedom 21, racing with a very small (60 sq ft) jib, was slightly better off using the PHRF ratings for my area (NC) rather than her Portsmouth rating (in this case determined by formula from PHRF rating). Usually my place in a given race was not worse with Portsmouth, but the difference between the me and the boats I managed to beat was much closer. Nor did I move up any places in any of the races using Portsmouth. I think in the long run Portsmouth is a more fair since ratings change with wind velocity. * From Dan Nowlan, Offshore Director, US Sailing: In Scuttlebutt number 2004 Michael W. Fortenbaugh asked if a system existed that could meet Philippe Kahn's desire for a "high tech over early" system. The answer is yes, but in its current form it is expensive. Stan Honey (Navigator extraordinaire) working with his company Sportvision not only gave TV football the yellow stripe at the first down line, they also developed a way for NASCAR to track and highlight any car on the track. The basics are simple. An on-board modified GPS pinpoints each car's position to a few centimeters (at 200 mph), that data is telemetered (relayed) to a command center that calculates where every car is on the race track. Further electronic wizardry "paints" a highlight on any car of interest. The next step could be to get some smart guys (like Stan and Philippe) to re-engineer this technology and see if they can achieve an affordable cost package for the start line over early environment. * From Bruce Thompson: I have several suggestions for Michael W. Fortenbaugh. The hi-tech way would be to use a stabilized laser to shoot down the line. Any boat caught OCS would have a burn mark indicating their offense. A lower tech way would be to shoot tracers from a .50 caliber machine gun down the line, starting from 10 seconds before the start. The bullet holes would give definitive proof of OCS. But at least the competitors could see the line! The lowest tech would be to shoot a flare gun down the line. If your boat catches fire, you lose. Of course the sissy competitors might object! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." -- Henny Youngman Special thanks to Southern Spars, Ullman Sails Long Beach RW, and Ribcraft |
