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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 868 - July 31 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major 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.
AMERICA'S CUP JUBILEE Over the next two days, the cradles will be welded to the ship's deck, and the yachts, masts stepped, will be strapped into place. On Thursday, August 2, at 1 p.m., the semi-submersible Super Servant 3 will depart Newport with its deck cargo of yachts that measures 1,800 linear feet, or one-third of a mile. The low tide then will allow six feet of clearance under the Newport Bridge for the mast of a 118-foot "superyacht." The voyage will take about 11 days. The yachts include 12 America's Cup 12-Meters: Columbia, Intrepid, Freedom, Fiddler (America II), Hissar (KZ-5), American Eagle, Gleam, Valiant, Northern Light, Nefertiti, Onawa and Lionheart. The first three successfully defended the Cup: Columbia in 1958, Intrepid in 1967 and 70 and Freedom in 1980. Also there are such well-known yachts as Ticonderoga, Black Knight, Nirvana and Marilee. For most of these yachts, this is their first trip outside the United States. Following the festivities in Cowes, many of these yachts will go on the "Grand Tour." A number of them will board the same DYT ship for the trip to the Mediterranean. Four events will comprise the Grand Tour: Prada Veteran Boat Rally (Sardinia), Monaco Classic Week, Regates Royales (Cannes) and Les Violes de St. Tropez. - Michael Levitt, NYYC. Event website: www.americascupjubilee.com
AMERICA'S CUP The activities began on Thursday when the barge came alongside the GBR Challenge base in Cowes. GBR44 was launched and towed to Souters where she was lifted into the cradle and strapped to the barge, along with the mast and rib. Today the barge leaves for Tilbury, where the equipment will be loaded onto a P&O ship bound for Auckland. The British America's Cup team finish their preparations in the UK for the year with the America's Cup Jubilee at the end of August. GBR52 will then follow GBR44 over to New Zealand at the beginning of September, with the Sailing Team making the journey at the end of the month for the training period in the Haruki Gulf. * An intense week to come for Team Prada, whose last day of sailing in Tuscan waters is scheduled for Saturday 4 August. Francesco de Angelis and his crew will be training on Luna Rossa ITA 48 and Young America. Luna Rossa ITA 45 is being shipped over to Cowes, UK, where she will be competing in the America's Cup Jubilee (18-25 August). From next Sunday the team will begin the demobilization work of the compound in Punta Ala which will be shut down as the team will relocate to Auckland, New Zealand, in September. - Hauraki News, www.chez.com/hauraki/LatestNews/AmericasCup-LN.htm
JUST FOR YOU
HIGH PERFORMANCE A two man hiking boat, with generous asymmetric spinnaker, the 39er is aimed firmly at the mass market. The partner companies believe there is a niche for a boat aimed at two medium to large adults, which is easy to sail with no trapeze, yet capable of true high performance. So the 39er is being developed for a broad weight range of 145 to 180 kg. It will fit in between the ultra high performance 49er, a boat whose demands put it beyond most ordinary sailors, and the increasingly popular 29er youth boat. But it will be much easier to sail than either of these, potentially giving it that magic combination of high performance and ease of sailing which could turn it into a runaway success. - Madforsailing website. There's much more to this story: www.madforsailing.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Cam Lewis: Some of your readers might be interested in a first-hand report about what happened to Team Adventure last week. The boat's leeward daggerboard touched bottom on the starting line of the Cablevision Around Long Island Regatta near the entrance to New York Harbor, on Thursday afternoon. We had just finished tacking around the committee boat and as we accelerated through 20 knots right on the starting line, the board scraped a sandbank. The board is designed to fracture in situations like this, to minimize chances of damage to the boat's hull. It performed exactly as it was designed to do and broke just below the hull. There was no damage to the hull or the daggerboard trunk. We will need a new board and we are still exploring options that will allow us to leave on a record run as soon as the weather is favorable. However, our routers at Commanders' Weather tell us they do not see any suitable pattern in the next week. No one was hurt and no one fell overboard. We did go swimming afterwards to retrieve the broken board. * From Grant Davidson, Facilities Manager Americas Cup Village: (edited to our 250-word limit) Geoff Newbury should take a look at the Swiss building under construction at the Americas Cup village in Auckland. The building houses two boat sheds, a workshop between on mezzanine floor, separate full length mast shop, a sail Drying loft, a full size sail loft and that only covers 1/2 the building. The rest comprises of offices and more offices, meeting rooms for every department, Changing rooms Full commercial kitchen, lounges for crew, lounges for guests and sponsors/supporters, a Kids Creche, restaurant, a deck area 10 meters in the air, and a public auditorium. Total Floor area is close to 80,000 sq ft. See how that fits into your average disused freighter. From Peter Harken's comments on the barge berth in the middle of the action, The organisers of the last regatta [ACVL] wanted to include as many challengers as possible within the facilities they had developed specifically to house Americas Cup Syndicates. Sure the Aussies were strapped for cash however, those kids did themselves proud sailing a secondhand boat, getting $20.00 Kiwi per day allowance, and competing against the legends of their sport. Was it an eyesore? No! it served that team a purpose, included them in the worlds oldest sporting competition and continued that Corinthian spirit of the Americas Cup. Le Defi have not yet confirmed a base area for the next cup. Maybe they will request the organisers of the next event, Team New Zealand, if they can help them out? * From Buddy Byington: I sail aboard the Santa Cruz 50 Passion in Corpus Christi Bay (Texas) and we occasionally find ourselves dragging through mud in areas of race committee-designated courses, so I can empathize with the "Dock Talk" article on Cam Lewis' Team Adventure running aground at the start of the ALIR. This incident is a perfect example of how race committees should be sensitive to the needs and, most particularly, "SAFETY" of yachts participating in races/regattas. The simple act of picking up the line and relocating to a sensible location, in an effort to maintain concern for race participants, should trump race committee convenience. Certainly, and I do agree, there are RC considerations and decisions to be made, yet anytime someone goes overboard there is a potential for drowning. I would hang my head in shame and have to live with a huge burden if I were the race committee and a death resulted from my refusal to move to "safer" water (if it was feasible). This is something over which the RC (usually) has direct control. Respectfully, RC's may not be solely responsible in such cases, as each skipper is the ultimate decision-maker as to his yacht's participation in a race/ regatta. Yet, anytime it is made known to the RC there is/ are hazards, due consideration should be given in the name of safety. * From John Winder, Chairman, 2002 Newport Bermuda Race Organizing Committee: It was interesting to see the article from Brad Kellett in Scuttlebutt #861 concerning the Australian Yachting Federation's new Safety and Sea Survival Course. For the past several races, the CCA/RBYC-sponsored Newport Bermuda Race has required attendance at sanctioned Safety at Sea Seminars by "25% of all crew members including at least two (2) of the following (captain, navigator, port and starboard watch captains)...within three years prior to the start of the race." In addition, we have recommended in our Notice of Race that the entire crew attend a sanctioned seminar and this has been observed in numerous cases. For the 2002 race, we have raised the requirement to include 30% of all crew, with the continued recommendation that the entire crew attend. We are pleased to see the standard being adopted as a requirement elsewhere, knowing that it will better prepare sailors internationally for the rigors of offshore sailing. * From Bruce Hollis, Sydney Australia: I believe the required strengths for kiddy classes are good local fleets, mono rigged, easy boats to sail so the child learns racing skills, as sail handling skills are easily acquired later, and some development/ maintenance requirements so as a sense of responsibility is helped along, (as opposed to the laser "technique" of purchasing a part number) Well organised, multi level training classes are important and a regatta program encouraging family involvement should be catered for. The contest for the hearts of said kiddies should not in any way involve the denigration of someone else's choice of boat, and most classes of this ilk seem to provide a reasonable hardware solution to get the kids going along. Further to defining the "success" of one class or another, I would not like the Optimist on the east coast of Australia as it would compromise our hugely popular local Sabot variant, and with Aussie so far away, the prize of travelling to a world title may just divide the youngsters into an elite, or haves and have nots, situation before they will really benefit from the opportunity. So in our situation, I would like to see us put whatever funding and energy is available back into broadening the participation base at this young age, rather than a turf war between kiddy classes that serve the same purpose. * From Mark Green: Regarding the debate about junior trainers: As a former junior sailing instructor, I recall that our lesson plans rarely involved any boat-specific speed tactics. The lessons we taught were transferable to any boat: seamanship, sail controls and trim, starting tactics, wind shifts, roll tacks, mark roundings, racing rules, match racing, and lots of practice, practice, practice. The other invaluable thing was competition at regional regattas with other kids your crew hadn't sailed against. (There is nothing like getting trounced by a few kids at the neighboring harbor to bring up the level of your best kids when they have grown complacent). This was only accomplished because regionally we all sailed the same boats. Strict one-design rules are the key. So what if 8-foot prams are slow? They are all slow together and this places the emphasis on the skills of the sailor. You don't need the fastest boat to win: It is more important to nail the start, hit the first shift and sail your boat well. * From Colin Case: Regarding the pro / con on Optimists, I have several observations: A. Remember the late Bob Smith, who wrote the column "A Boat Is A Boat" for "One Design & Offshore Yachtsman ?" That sort of says it all about discussions concerning which boat is better. B. The United States' various yacht clubs' junior programs have far too many different kinds of boats. Clubs should buy, when the time comes, those boats which will get their sailors into better (and ultimately) international competition. This means Optimist, Laser, 420, 29er. [What have I left out ?] The results shall send more, better-prepared kids farther. They won't have to learn a new boat over and over and over, thereby being hindered by other kids who sailed in the Whatever Class all their careers. C. End ANY thread about one boat being better than another. Rule 90: ABSOLUTELY! There have always been only two rules on my boats when racing; #1) Concentrate, and #2) Have Fun. When cruising the order is reversed. * Ron Baerwitz (Re: Optis vs. El Toros vs. Blue Jays ): This may be the most ridiculous argument ever presented on "Butt". Let's just throw the kids in an IACC boat straight out. Then, they are learning the boat they will eventually really want to race when they all growed up! Racing is racing and the experience of large fleets, whatever type of boat it is, will transfer to any yacht on any course around the world. My GOD Crum, please cut this ridiculous thread! CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: And that's the final word - this thread is now officially dead.
BOOK REVIEW Few are more qualified to offer interesting antidotes and perspective about the America's Cup than Edward du Moulin. And he does exactly that with articulate candor and unusual insight. For me, reading this book was a bit like having dinner with the author, and listening to his fascinating tales of past America's Cup campaigns. It appears he has no axe to grind, or scores to settle. Instead, du Moulin provides the lucid perspective that only a true insider can offer. Through these memoirs, the reader becomes more familiar with some of the greatest contributors to the America's Cup. Included in that group is, of course, Dennis Conner, with whom du Moulin has had a close working and a personal relationship that spans a quarter of a century. You can sense the enormous respect that du Moulin has for DC, but that does not prevent him from commenting frankly on Conner's weaknesses along with his obvious strengths. It's unlikely that I'll ever have the privilege of dining with Ed du Moulin. If the same applies to you, picking up a copy of 'The America's Cup and Me' is probably the next best alternative. That's easy to do: https://secure.herreshoff.org/giftstoreframe.htm
EDS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE Ecover (Mike Golding) finished second. What a bitter moment for the crew of Sill Plein Fruit. After dominating this leg for more than 3,000 miles, and losing first to Kingfisher, ECOVER screamed past them as well. - www.edsatlanticchallenge.com/positions ADDENDUM: Gartmore lodged the protest, alleging that Kingfisher and Sill had obtained Water Current information outside of that allowed by the race rules, and as such they should be penalized. We shall have to wait and see. - Rachel Anning, BoatMagic Website www.boatmagic.com)
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Russell Coutts
QUIZ
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * August 5-10: Naples Sabots Junior National Championship Regatta, Alamitos Bay YC. www.abyc.org
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS |
