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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 745 - February 6, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome. VENDEE GLOBE "I've got no wind," said MacArthur of the conditions overnight on Sunday. "I spent the whole night in these light airs trying to get the boat moving." By the afternoon the breeze rose above a whisper and MacArthur was setting her gennaker, the sail damaged before Cape Horn which was laboriously repaired in an 18-hour effort two weeks ago. "The gennaker isn't 100 per cent but I can use it," added MacArthur, who also used the light conditions to swap her one good daggerboard to the optimum side of Kingfisher. The loss of its twin in last week's collision with what appeared to be a
semi-submerged container looks like having a negligible effect on
Kingfisher's performance as the final charge will be downwind, when the
boards would normally be raised. - Tim Jeffery, Daily Telegraph, UK. STANDINGS - February 5 at 15:00 UT: 1. PRB (Desjoyeaux) 1744miles to go, 2. Kingfisher (MacArthur) +82 miles, 3. SILL Matines La Potagere (Jourdain) +290, 4. Active Wear (Thiercelin) +458, 5. Sodebo (Coville) +1241 6. Union Bancaire Privee (Wavre) +1261. http://www.vendeeglobe.com WORLD'S LARGEST ONLINE SAILING EVENT By logging on to www.vizzavivendeeglobe.co.uk from 10th February, 2001, people can expect to see live and exclusive coverage of the race's finish. This webcast will allow people from all over the world to join the anticipated two million spectators as they watch the leaders cross the finish line in Sable d'Olonne in VendŽe on the west coast of France. All visitors to the site will have access to the webcast, as well as interviews with the skippers on the pontoon as they step ashore, with commentary in both English and French. In addition, there will be exclusive preview footage of the story of the race with the highs and lows of the past 100 days sailing. There will also be a live news update at 12 GMT every day from the finish line as well as live coverage of the yachts arriving in the harbour and interviews with the project teams and organisers. - Mark Bullingham THE RACE Grant Dalton's Club Med leads the charge east, and is pushing deep into southern latitudes. While they rarely dipped as low as 50 S in the South Indian Ocean, now Dalton feels compelled to push down to the Great Circle Route. "It's really windy, it seems we are destined to sail in strong winds all the time, all the way around the world. Right now there are 40 to 50 knots out here, the waves are not too bad yet," Dalton said today. "We wanted the south and we have kept going south. Right now we are at 52 South and it isn't over yet, we'll be going deeper still." Shore-based router Roger "Clouds" Badham explained the team's rationale for the different theories. "We believe that this section of The Race is different from the Indian Ocean. In the Indian Ocean you avoid the south but in the Pacific you need the south," said Badham. "Yes, it is colder; yes, it is windier, but the miles are just so much shorter that you just have to bite the bullet and head on down." Badham added, "We pushed down hard a couple of days ago and then we've took another stab at it yesterday. Innovation Explorer can't get down here at the moment. Their route is blocked by a little system that they have to deal with first. Our position should pay off nicely for us over the next few days." - Sean McNeill, for Quokka Sports POSITIONS - 1900 GMT: 1. Club Med, 9,894.2 miles to the finish, 2. Innovation Explorer, +660.0 miles, 3. Team Adventure, +4,471.4 miles, 4. Warta-Polpharma, +5,186.7 miles 5. Team Legato, +6,373.1 miles, Full story: SEATTLE TO KEY WEST AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN OLYMPICS The funding must be used to purchase a new Yngling, which must be ordered by March 5, 2001. This timetable will enable the three teams to receive their new boats in time to participate in the 2001 Yngling World Championships, set for July 15-21 in Newport, R.I. Grant recipients will also receive a guaranteed entry to the Worlds. Women skippers with serious Olympic campaign plans should submit a request
for consideration, along with a sailing resume, to the OSC. Selection will
be based on the strength of the skipper's sailing experience and
commitment, as well as that of the named crew. As a condition of receiving
the grant, the skipper will agree to compete in the Yngling 2001, 2002 and
2003 ranking events for the U.S. Sailing Team, as well as the world
championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Interested skippers should make their
submission by Friday, February 16, 2001, via email to: A four-person panel appointed by the OSC, including representatives from US SAILING's Board of Directors and Women's Committee, will review the resumes. A decision will be announced on Friday, February 23, 2001. The three skippers will then have until Friday, March 2, 2001 to accept the terms and conditions of the OSC. A fourth skipper will be offered the use of an OSC-chartered Yngling for the World Championships. "The OSC hopes these grants will make possible a strong turnout of U.S. women's teams working toward the Olympics in this event," said Olympic Director Jonathan Harley (Middletown, R.I.). "With the Yngling's late selection for the 2004 Olympics, this opportunity will enable our most promising women sailors to jumpstart their campaigns in time to compete at this summer's world championships." - Jan Harley LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) * From: "Craig Fletcher" <sailfletch@email.msn.com> Racing around the world has been referred to as the Mt. Everest of sailing. This comparison is no compliment. The climbers have turned Everest into a junkyard. Sailors are now littering the oceans with catamaran parts. I call on the race organizers to stop the race or start picking up their trash. Polluting the ocean should not be tolerated. From: Patricia Seidenspinner, Chair, US SAILING Race Administration Committee <patseidenspinner@mindspring.com> The "new" starting system is the only one that will be included in the 2001-2004 rulebook. It is a variation on System 3 which appears in the current rulebook, and has been used by many race committees for several years. The reason for it is to make things simpler for both sailors and race committees. Sailors are smart. They get it immediately. Race committee volunteers do too. The system has many plus factors. It reduces the number of flags (to two) needed to execute a starting sequence, thus lessening the chance of confusion. A sound accompanies every action. The time between the warning and the preparatory signals can be altered to fit the circumstances (bigger fleets, more time; smaller fleets, less time). Multiple fleets can be started on an individual basis further lessening the chance of confusion and allowing the race committee flexibility. It is THIS simple: * or as stated in the sailing instructions US SAILING's Executive Committee discussed the possibility of including a prescription regarding System 2 in the 2000-2004 rulebook and concluded that the simplicity of the new system clearly outweighed any argument for System 2. This is not just different, it's better! From: "Mike Hobson" <mike@jportannapolis.com> In Butt 741 Mike Hunt asks why we aren't using IRC here in the US. He correctly points out that over 5000 IRC certificates were issued worldwide in 2000. IRC is the latest generation of Channel Handicap, a rule that has been used all over the World field for years. During Ford Cork week, one of the hottest European regattas in 2000, "Pyewacket" (70 foot Sled) fought it out with "Barlow Plastics" a boat almost half her size. They traded positions for the week until the last race when "Pyewacket" ultimately won. In another class a 27-year-old Swan 48 "Jacobite" was trading places with the brand new one off "Shakermaker". Clearly IRC provides close racing between very different boats with no one type of boat dominating. IRC is a "measurement rule" that has a secret formula. It is scientific, but much simpler than IMS and therefore less prone to flaws. Because the rule is a secret you don't have Designers bombarding every loophole, allowing rule makers to stay ahead. We have IMS for grand prix, and we have PHRF for local club racing. IMS is too complicated. PHRF is a performance handicap based on results, so you cannot get an accurate rating until you have many races under your belt. We need a rule that can accurately handicap boats without great expense. IRC is already doing that in the rest of the World, so why not introduce it here? AC JUBILEE Australia II's Syndicate head, Warren Jones, is keeping his hopes high that the yacht that transfixed a nation and stunned the world of yachting in 1983 will once again race for her country. With a very tight deadline to raise $AUD750, 000 (PND270,000, $USD400,000) by mid-April, her original (1983) crew and support team are working flat-out to try to turn the dream into reality. An Australian icon that has spent the past 12 years on display in Sydney's National Maritime Museum, Australia II needs a mast, new sails and new rigging to ensure she can sail competitively. According to Warren Jones, Chairman of Australia II Jubilee Challenge 2001 Inc., what is really needed is a major sponsor or benefactor who realises that it would be an international sporting tragedy to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the America's Cup without the first yacht to break the USA's 132 year hold on the Cup. "It's widely understood that the two key participants for this important anniversary Regatta are America (the first winner of the America's Cup in 1851, of which a replica is entered) and the original Australia II," Warren Jones said. "The victory of the Ben Lexcen-designed winged-keel Australian yacht over Dennis Conner's Liberty in 1983 had an enormous impact on the sport of yachting," said Jones. PINEAPPLE CUP EASIER SAIL HANDLING QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Grant Dalton (Club Med) US SAILING COMMENTS ON THE NEW ELIGIBILITY CODE The 1997-2000 Racing Rules of Sailing are still in effect until April 1, 2001. However, on January 1, 2001 the current rules were modified by the introduction of the three new ISAF Codes. While we are waiting for the new rules to go into effect, we must still compete and judge events under the old rules and the new codes. The new ISAF Eligibility Code creates a problem for some US sailors. The code is generally the same wording as the appendix (K) it is replacing with one major difference. Effective immediately, in order to compete in almost any race, a sailor must be a member of his or her national governing body (US SAILING) or an affiliated club or other organization. This rule effectively prohibits a boat from taking on a crewmember that is not a card-carrying member of a club or US SAILING. In early regattas this year, we certainly do not want to penalize a boat for breaking a rule that will likely be a surprise to many sailors. While protests under this rule are not likely, judges would have no choice but disqualify a boat protested under this rule if any crew were not members in an appropriate organization. There may still be a change to the wording to Regulation 21. ISAF has received a number of complaints and the language in this code will be discussed within ISAF at a meeting in early February. The rulebook is still being adjusted to account for the new code. In the meantime, we must acknowledge that many U.S. competitors will find themselves in breach of Regulation 21. Race officials can make a temporary adjustment in sailing instructions to handle the technical protest under this rule while ISAF and US SAILING look into the consequences of the code. The US SAILING Judges and Race Management Committees recommend that Sailing Instructions include the following language: "A boat may not protest a boat for an alleged breach of RRS 75.2 with respect to ISAF Regulation 21.1(b). This changes rule 60.1(a)." This language denies protests by a boat only under the rule requiring US SAILING or club membership. This suggested wording still permits protests for other parts of the Eligibility Code, which may be needed, such as ISAF Eligibility at an Olympic-qualifying event. The Judges and Race Management Committees looked into a number of possible solutions, none of which were perfect. We decided that this proposed change in the SIs was the least objectionable. - Penny Piva Rego, www.ussailing.org CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: I've got a better idea. Go to the homepage of the
Scuttlebutt Sailing Club; print a B&W SSC membership card; Xerox a couple
of dozen copies and keep a supply on or near your boat. That way, anyone
who steps aboard your boat can become an instant member of the SSC (which
is a bona fide member of US Sailing) and you and your crew are totally
protected from fangs of the new Eligibility Code. It's totally free: LASER MASTER MIDWINTERS THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM |
