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SCUTTLEBUTT 2075 - April 18, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.AND THE WINNER IS . . . Monday at 1857 GMT, 1457 local, after 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 52 seconds, skipper Mike Sanderson steered ABN AMRO ONE, the Dutch yacht affectionately known as ‘Black Betty’, under the Annapolis Bridge and across the finish line south east of Sandy Point, 18 nautical miles from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, to add another leg win to their tally of three wins and a second place in the Volvo Ocean Race so far. Finishing in almost drifting conditions, at one point having us a kedge anchor to prevent the boat drifting backwards on the outgoing tide, Mike Sanderson was relieved to have kept the lead from movistar who was challenging them right to the very end. “This leg I thought this is what the boat is designed for. We didn’t get as much of it as we hoped but we managed to hang on in the light which was great," Sanderson said. “Of course we can be beaten. Between here and New York if we get all light airs we are going to come last. Certainly our Achilles heel is going to be the short legs. We just need to keep it in one piece, keep in some breeze and keep doing what we are doing.” ABN Amro One heads the overall leaderboard with 62.5 points, 22 points ahead of movistar in second position overall, who was just 17 miles behind ABN Amro One when she crossed the finish line. Bouwe Bekking’s movistar finished second on Leg 5 at 0014 and 15 seconds GMT. After leading to the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha and then only being bested by the superior power of the boat they call the Volvo Open 80. Six and a half points to add to the three they took at the scoring gate, giving them 43.5. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Monday 1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, Finished 2. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +7 miles 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +89 miles 4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +159 miles 5. Ericsson Racing Team, John Kostecki, +160 miles 6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +176 miles COMMENTARY This victory underlines ABN Amro One’s impregnable position in the overall standings and nothing bar a sinking on the remaining stages to the finish at Gothenburg in mid-June can now stop him and his team claiming the title. Sanderson has won four out of five of the offshore legs, three out of four of the in-port races and he has been first at four of the five mid-leg scoring gates. As far as the battle of the designers goes, it has been a comprehensive thrashing of Bruce Farr, who designed Movistar, Brasil 1, Pirates of the Caribbean and Ericsson, by ABN’s designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian. -- Edward Gorman, The Times, full story: http://tinyurl.com/gyn5l MORE COMMENTARY Just as on 11 occasions from 14 opportunities already in the Volvo Ocean Race so far, Mike Sanderson's ABN Amro One took another assured and impressive victory in Baltimore yesterday. Sanderson's team have been challenged by their six rivals but remained matchless on this 5,000-mile Rio de Janeiro-Baltimore stage as previously. Yet for all of ABN Amro One's iron grip on the race, the overall race leader is still a long way from being crowned. The boat has now scooped up 62.5 of the 89.5 points needed before the mathematical chance of being overtaken is finally eliminated. Another four legs remain, which count for full points, plus a further four in-port races and scoring gates, which score half points. The harsh fact facing Sanderson's rivals is that the overall race leader has an edge which is not going to be blunted now and that not one of them is likely to scoop up maximum points from here until the finish in Gothenburg on June 15. -- Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/e9hyp TRIVIA QUESTION In the history of the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race, it was in the 1951 event when Ted Sierks fell off the ‘L’Apace’ approximately eight hundred eighty miles from Hawaii. He went overboard at dusk and couldn’t be found by his crewman, but he was later found alive after being in the water for thirty hours. Who found him? (Answer below) MALTESE FALCON LAUNCHED The Dijkstra-designed Maltese Falcon was launched on Friday April 14th. The three 188-foot tall masts will be stepped next month, and the yacht will be sailing by mid-May. The complex but simple to operate rig is the result of wind tunnel testing, finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics and 3d modeling. View the first photos of the innovatively designed yacht at http://www.doylesails.com/news.htm FOR THE RECORD At 09:47:40 local Honolulu, Hawaii time Monday, Geronimo passed the Diamond Head buoy. Skip Winterbottom, WRSSC delegate and recognized timekeeper, tracked and recorded the boat's position. News from navigator, Larry Rosenfeld, confirmed that Geronimo has bested her own record from LA-Honolulu established in November 2005 by 24 minutes, 39 seconds. "Yesterday we had an idea that since we were going so close to Hawaii, we might as well get three records in one," says Rosenfeld. "Our plan was to sail through the finish/start line at Diamond Head and have Skip Winterbottom, the independent timekeeper, take our time as we crossed. If we could keep up our speed, not only might we might beat our own LA-Honolulu time of 4 days 19 hours 31 min 37 sec, we'd set a good benchmark for the Pacific Cup coming in July," he adds. Of course, there is another Steve Fossett record from Honolulu to Yokohama of 13 days 20 hours 9 min 22 sec which Geronimo and her crew would love also to break. "We're having a little tussle with the World Record Speed Sailing Council about whether they will allow intermediate records on the way to getting a longer record," says Rosenfeld, adding, "It's done on the round-the-world course every time, but they seem to have changed their rules recently. No matter, we will know we did it and Honolulu is not really too much out of the way in these wind conditions." With a jibe south and then west, the next destination for Geronimo and her dedicated crew is Yokohama, Japan. -- http://www.superyachting.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK With Geronimo, the 110-foot Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran, in the midst of a Pacific Ocean record attempt from San Francisco (USA) to Yokohama (Japan), we thought you might enjoy this video of another maxi multihull, Orange, as they provide a peak into what is like on these giants when they are at speed. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for the video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/#media HOW TO DO A LEGAL (AND FAST!) 720 The 720 rule is a great alternative to retiring from the race, but it also requires that you make a quicker decision about what to do. With the 720, you can’t take a lot of time to think about whether your were right or wrong. You have a short window of opportunity right after the incident, and then the 720 option is no longer available. US Appeal 60 provides a good summary of how quickly you must do a 720. It says, “Rule 44.1 permits a boat to take a penalty ‘at the time of the incident.’ Rule 44.2 requires the boat to sail well clear of other boats as soon as possible after the incident and ‘promptly’ complete two 360 degree turns. Together these rules require a boat that decides to take a penalty to do so as soon as possible after the incident. The rule does not provide for time for a boat to deliberate whether she has broken a rule. If she delays in doing her 720 penalty, she is still liable to be disqualified.” Tack or Jibe first? The question of which way to make your turns has been debated ever since the 720 rule was first included in the rulebook. Of course, you might base this decision on which is the better way to keep clear of other boats. But it that’s not an issue, is it faster to tack or jibe first? I think it’s probably better to start with a jibe. The slowest part of doing a circle is bearing off after a tack. If you tack first, you will twice have to bear off dead downwind after tacking, which is slow. But it you jibe first, you’ll be able to come out of your second tack and build speed on your original course. One exception to this is when you begin your penalty on a run, in which case it may not matter whether you tack or jibe first. According to US Sailing Appeal 46, a boat’s “failure to do a proper and timely 720 turn broke no rule; it meant only that she failed to take a penalty.” In other words, you can’t break rule 44. If your 720 turn is done improperly or too late, it is just as if you didn’t make any penalty turns at all. – Excerpts from a story by David Dellenbaugh posted on the Sailing Breezes website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/ko6hv PERFORM TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS! All over the world, you will find Camet Padded Sailing Shorts. The leading teams are using the combination of our Code Zero shirts and sailing shorts made out of a breathable fast drying fabric with a UVA certification (97.5%) for sun protection. With our closed cell foam inserts available for a variety of different styles of shorts, we have redesigned comfort to give you the ability to hike hard without losing feeling in your legs. This will allow you to go longer and not suffer from fatigue, helping you to think clearly and perform to your expectations! http://www.camet.com NATIONS CUP The Virgin Islands Sailing Association announced that Tag-Heuer will be the title sponsor of the Nations Cup Regional Final in St. Thomas June 8-11. Plans includes seating on the waterfront and announcers giving a minute-by-minute update of the action. Match racing in the harbor often brings the sailing within meters of the waterfront, giving spectators an intimate appreciation of the intensity of the competition. Only one open and one woman’s team will be going to the grand final in Ireland. Top women’s teams will include Sally Barkow (USA) and Paula Lewin (Bermuda) ranked #3 and # 26 in the world respectively. The open division pre-race favorite would have to be Brian Angel (USA) ranked # 64, but teams from both the USVI and BVI are expected to be very strong due to extensive experience in the IC-24 class boat being used for the event. Mike Green of St. Lucia is another force to be reckoned with, due to his extensive match race experience. In addition to qualifying for the Nation Cup finals in Ireland, the winning sailors at the St. Thomas Tag-Heuer Nations Cup Regional Final will also win a Tag-Heuer precision watch. WHERE WILL THE MONEY BE SPENT? (Yesterday we ran an excerpt from a story on thedailynews subscription website about the £494,000 increase in this year's funding for British Olympic sailing team. The following excerpt from the same story explains how those funds will be used.) So where will the new money be spent? John Derbyshire says that the money will be spread throughout the program and this doesn't just mean more wedge for the high fliers in the Performance Squad. "A key area will be to help the transition to senior [squads] and to Olympic – so the top of the 420, the Laser Standard making the jump into Olympic classes. It’s hard to make that commitment and it is the time the sailors want to go to university and have lots of pressures on them." Derbyshire says he'd also like to see this money being used to marginally increase squad sizes throughout their program. "What we want to do is to retain the Ben Ainslies, but have the Giles Scotts pushing them in the Finn class. So we need to be able to support more sailors and this money will allow us to do that. And the first sign of that will be at the Youth Squads at the Youth Nationals this year, so we have already taken the decision to increase the size of the youth squad slightly and try and support the really talented ones in there to a greater degree in anticipation of this funding." -- http://www.thedailysail.com NEWS BRIEFS * The storm that pummeled Aqualand Marina on Georgia's Lake Lanier on Saturday night caused about US$250,000 in damage to boats and marina docks, according to local officials. Local media reports don't say how many boats in the country's largest inland water marina, with 2,250 slips, were damaged by the storm, which had wind speeds of 45 mph. But pictures show toppled awnings lying atop boats. Scott Cagle, Hall County's fire marshall, said that damage to four marina docks was estimated at about US$50,000 and that an "unknown" number of boats sustained about US$200,000 in damage. No injuries were reported. -- IBI Magazine/ Michael Verdon, http://tinyurl.com/pjtts * On her recent stopover in Qingdao, China, Ellen MacArthur (GBR), took the time out to join a local group of Optimist sailors on the Community Sailing Project. With the Olympic Sailing Competition heading to Qingdao in a little over two years time, and MacArthur’s recent stopover on the Asian Record Circuit was the perfect opportunity to further impress upon the local youngster the joys of the sport. With the rapid construction of the venue for the Olympic Sailing Competition in Qingdao, the locals are already beginning to see the changes that the Olympic Games will bring in two years time. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j17Fh`j1r * In an unusually cold and cloudy spring day in Valencia, the Italian America's Cup challenger defied the awful meteorological forecast and went off Valencia's Malvarosa beach for a day of testing and training with their boat ITA-77. Unfortunately, conditions were less than ideal, with dark threatening clouds, light rain and extremely strong gusts. One of the weather buoys in the south race course was even whipped during 20 minutes by a mini tornado with winds that reached an incredible 65 knots!! Despite the challenging weather pattern an additional three teams shared the north race course, all within close distance of each other. -- Story and photos: http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ * The 11th China International Boat Show (CIBS) closed its doors to the public on Sunday, having registered a record-breaking level of attendance over its four-day run. According to show organizer CMP Sinoexpo, visitor numbers were up 30 per cent over the previous year to 21,000, with wealthy end-users and industry professionals leaving exhibitors more than satisfied. Around 320 companies exhibited at CIBS 2006. Total exhibition floor space was up by 40 per cent to around 23,000m3. -- IBI Magazine, http://tinyurl.com/zv575 NEWPORT TO BERMUDA RACE 2006: The 100th anniversary Newport-to-Bermuda Race is bigger than ever; is your yacht ready for the race challenges? Experienced staff at Rig Pro can make sure your mast, rigging and sail-handling systems are ready to get you to Bermuda as fast and as safely as possible. Phone 401-683-6966 or visit http://www.southernspars.com/rigpro TRIVIA ANSWER In the 1951 Transpac Race, Ted Sierks fell off the ‘L’Apace’ approximately eight hundred eighty miles from Hawaii. After being in the water for thirty hours, he was found by two off-watch sailors on the USS Douglas A. Munro after the 306-foot destroyer had been asked to participate in the search. (This trivia question came courtesy of the book, “Name That Boat” by Carol Lea Mueller. Book details are available at http://tinyurl.com/jbjeh) 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 Doran Cushing: Isn't it a crime that the winning team in a professional sailing venue like the Congressional Cup in California gets to split $10,000 while the last place finisher in the most recent PGA event in the Carolinas gets to keep a similar amount...no split...and one person finished last, the other finished first. Sports and politics have a lot in common - the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Sign on a house’s fence: "Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive." Special thanks to Doyle Sails, Camet International, and Southern Spars. |
