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SCUTTLEBUTT #298 - March 26, 1999STEINLAGER LINE 7 CUP -- Report by Ivor WilkinsAUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, Friday, March 26 -- Of the four skippers who made it through to the semi-finals of the Steinlager Line 7 Cup in Auckland today, only Dean Barker of Team New Zealand has not won the title before. But, the 25-year-old showed the others the way by winning the double round robin with a 14-4 win-loss record. He was joined in the top four by Paul Cayard, Rolex Yachtsman of the year and winner of the 1996 Steinlager Line 7 Cup, Ed Baird, a double winner in 1991 and 1995, and Chris Dickson, who has held the title three times, in 1982, 1985 and 1989. AmericaOne skipper Cayard finished the double rounds on 13 wins, while Young America skipper Ed Baird was tied with Dickson on 12 wins each. Barker was runner-up to his boss, Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts in last year's regatta, narrowly losing in a remarkable debut year as a match race skipper. Now, sailing with Team New Zealand crewmates Hamish Pepper, Tony Rae, James Dagg and Chris Ward, he has emerged as the one to beat for the title. He has the right to choose his semi-final opponent, but was keeping his decision close to his chest. "I will have to consult the crew first and make sure they are comfortable with the choice," he said. "If I was Dean I would pick me," said Chris Dickson. "I am probably the easiest. We are lucky to be through and happy to be through." That modest assessment did not take account of the fact that Dickson was the clear winner of Round Robin Two, winning every match except the last one, when he fell to Barker. Dickson has been out of the match race circuit for nearly five years, but showed that while he may have lost some of the polish that led him to three world titles, he has not forgotten the basic skills and, even in a star-studded fleet, remains a dangerous and unpredictable opponent. Although the remaining six crews are out of the running for the title, they will continue sailing in a round robin race off for places 5-10. The semi finals will be decided tomorrow in a first-to-win-three (best of five) format. The finals will be on Sunday on the same format while the petite final (3rd & 4th) will be first to win two (best of three). Racing to complete the second Round Robin today took place in brisk 18-23 knot north-easterly winds, with a brief stand-down as sustained winds of over 25 knots, gusting to 31 knots, blasted down the course. Along with the shoreside spectators who watched the action from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, invited guests were also treated to a close view from the Line 7 floating grandstand, a barge complete with marquee, commentary, sit-down lunch and bar stationed next to the starting area. -- Ivor Wilkins Standings:
NEW ZEALAND ETCHELLS CHAMPIONSHIP 50 boats -- Standings after two races (Bonus Point Scoring System): 1. 1060 Quatas, Dennis Conner, Steve Jarvin, Allan Drinkow (3) 2. The Boat, Cameron Thorpe (15) 3. Va-Da-Dio, Barry Topple, AUS, (22.7) 4. The Grenade, Cameron Appleton (25) 5. Feng Shui, Andrew Perkins AUS, (27.7) 6. Pacesetter, Jon Scholton, AUS, (29) SNIPE PAN-AM GAME TRIALS - Report by Alex Pline Thursday, March 25, 1999 -- The Snipe Pan Am Games Trials kicked off today at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans with two races in a breeze that was, well, a little of everything. We saw some typical Lake Pontchartrain conditions. In the race packet there was a writeup by Johnny Lovell talking about the local conditions and his quote "There is not much I can tell y u that will be helpful. To be honest, the lake is one of the most unpredictable places I have ever sailed" really rang true. The forecast for the day was SW 10 going to north 15-20 with the approach of a cold front. When we arrived at the club, the breeze was already NW, so we figured great, the cold front is here and we'll have some big air/big lumps. Well, one out of two ain't bad. At the start of the first of two scheduled races, the breeze was at full hiking strength and picking the shifts was key (and difficult) on the first beat of the 5 leg W/L course. By the end of the second beat, all we had was lump. The breeze got very light and the left over chop was madning. On the last beat, there were some huge shifts and differences in pressure, so you really had to be in the right place at the right time, as those that went to the same side of the course sometimes made out and sometimes didn't. In the end, Henry Filter/Lorie Stout from Annapolis held on to win the race with Pedro Lorson/Mimi Berry of New York in second and Jim Bowers/Myrna Chan MacRae in third. It was a long race as the first boat made the 2 1/2 hour time limit with not too much to spare. The breeze picked back up for the second race, and thankfully held throughout the race despite some pressure ups and downs to go along with shifts and lumps. George Szabo/Carol Newman Cronin, fresh from their domination of the Midwinter Circuit, showed their high gear that no one else has by solidly winning the race. Alex Pline/Sherry Eldridge hovered in the top 5, working up to and holding onto second about halfway through the W/L course. Filter/Stout were right there again finishing a very close third. Filter/Stout finish the day with a 1,3 at the top of the scoresheet followed by Jibe Tech builder Andrew Pimental in second with a consistent 4,4 and Bowers/MacRae with a 3,7. Unfortunately an OCS in race 1 kept Pline/Eldridge down on the score sheet. -Alex Pline Regatta Standings:
Complete Results: http://snipe.org/regattas/results/1999/PanAmGames99/ LIFETIME GUARANTEE Douglas Gill guarantees ALL of their products against defects in material and workmanship for the lifetime of the product. PERIOD. And their sailing apparel is the most comfortable you can buy. With something as important as this, why would you settle for anything less? http://www.douglasgill.com AMERICA'S CUP (The following is a brief excerpt from a story by Barbara Lloyd in the New York Times on March 21.) New York (YC's) first new (America's Cup) boat is expected to be finished in June, and the second, which has not been started yet, is apt to take another five months to build. Both are designed by Bruce Farr & Associates, the race-boat firm in Annapolis, Md. South of Bristol (at New England Boatworks), also in Rhode Island, the new cup contender for Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes syndicate is under construction. It was designed by Reichel/Pugh, a naval architectural firm in San Diego. The boats need to be shipped to Auckland, New Zealand, for the Oct. 18 start of the Louis Vuitton Challengers Series. New Zealand's defense team is not under the same time constraints. It plans no in-house trials, just testing. That also means New Zealand could gain from any inside knowledge of its opponents. "It would do them a lot of good to see what each challenge boat looks like," said Turtle Telfeyan, the general manager of Eric Goetz Custom Sailboats. For the full story: http://www.nytimes.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON We read all of your e-mail (except jokes), but simply can't publish every submission. Those that are published are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. -- From Chris Welsh - Here's another one to add to the qualifying list for a sailing bum: -- You consider it acceptable to give your girlfriend a new jib for her birthday for your Snipe! (John Drayton actually pulled that off several years ago.) -- From Alexander "Ali" Meller -- Attn: ISAF - According to <297.html">Scuttlebutt #297, ISAF is soliciting feedback on whether "Making Waves" should continue to be printed and mailed, or simply published on the web. For me, there are no advantages to the printed/mailed approach. The only reason I continue to read print (sailing) media is in case they have something I have not already read about on the web. Indeed most of what is included in print sailing media is long out of date (I have followed all the events daily via web and e-mail) that I simply ignore them in the magazines and look for information that is not already on the web. To me the key thing is timeliness; and the web and e-mail have significant advantages over print/mail in this regard. -- From Mark McCrindle -- Just a sad note. George Hinterholler, creator of Shark, C&C, Nonesuch, Niagara boats, died Tuesday March 16th, 1999. -- From Peter Huston -- Nice to see a report on the US SAILING meeting. This is probably the most in-depth, timely such report on a Semi/AGM sent via email to date; a sign of communication progress. However, I find it sadly ironic that an organization founded by and for, and still overwhelming run by racing sailors, needs to change it's by-laws so that "world class" sailors can be more included on the Board. Isn't this a slap in the face to many great world class sailors who already serve the organization? Why make yet another by-law amendment for a limited purpose? Is it not time to revisit the entire question of Board composition? Times change, and so too should the distribution of seats on the Board. The only thing wrong with the "people" of US SAILING, are the handful of "people" who would prevent a wholesale review of the reasons for certain groups having a disproportionate number of Board seats relative to the changing times and changing importance of those groups in relation to the ever evolving structure of the sport. Nothing wrong with adding a few Olympian's and International Class World Champions to the Board - but at the same time, let's look at the manner of inclusion and entire structure of the Board. AWARDS Mike Derusha (Menominee, Mich.) was named recipient of the US SAILING One-Design Leadership Award Saturday, March 20, in a gala dinner that crowned the three-day US SAILING Spring Meeting in Dallas. US SAILING President James P. Muldoon made the award presentation. Part of a series of awards that highlight role models of creative leadership in one-design sailing, the Leadership Award recognizes individual initiative, enthusiasm and organizational ability in building a one-design fleet. Since 1992, Derusha has been a major force in the building of the Ensign fleet at the M&M (Menominee & Michigan) Yacht Club. He obtained one of the original three boats in the fleet. Since then, he has introduced the Ensign and one-design racing to many local sailors by taking them for their first sail and their first race on his boat. Derusha, who served two years as fleet captain, has also helped to locate and inspect many of the boats currently sailing in his fleet. Through his efforts, Derusha helped build the fleet so it could host the 1998 Ensign National Championship, an event that Derusha worked on as regatta chairman. Derusha is also founder of the local Menekaunee Ice Boat Club, past Commodore of the One-Design International Renegade Association, and a three-time Renegade Ice Boat National Champion. US SAILING grants a series of five one-design awards. To nominate potential candidates for future one-design awards, visit the US SAILING Webster, HTTP://www.ussailing.org. CMAC (Following item was excerpted from stories by Bob Fischer and Dave Reed in Grand Prix Sailor.) The British (Champagne Mumm Admirals Cup) Team Captain Stephen Bailey issued a specific warning to those teams which will be chartering Sydney 40s. "These are not easy boats to sail well," he said, "They do not get into a "groove" as readily as some others." Nick Griffith, the Managing Director of Ancasta, the company, which handles Sydney Yachts in Europe, backed his warning. "They are challenging boats, as one would expect for a grand prix event. The guys who spend the most time in them on the water will have an advantage." Many other teams, including the Italians and the Australians have already logged hours of practice time with the 40-footers. (American CMAC skipper Bob Towse's) chartered Sydney 40 will be shipped to the U.S., and is due to arrive by mid-April, where they will sail several regattas in the Northeast before shipping the boat to England in time for the Worlds. To read the full stories, check Grand Prix Sailor after 9AM PST: http://www.sailingworld.com SPEED RECORD American adventurer Steve Fossett will put his 105 foot catamaran Playstation on the clock for the first time in an attempt to break the record for distance sailed in a 24 hour period. Fossett and 8 crewmembers, including the cat's builder Mick Cookson, left Auckland yesterday. They headed for Great Barrier Island which is approximately 80 miles east of Auckland. Once on station off Great Barrier Island they will attempt to find a steady easterly breeze hopefully in the 20 to 25 knot range. Although there have been no reports from Playstation winds in the area seem to be favourable. Reports from ship observations taken at 1200 GMT include an observed wind of 19 knots from the east at 34 degrees south 174 degrees east and 24 knots blowing North east by east reported from a postion of 33 degrees south 176 dgress west. These observatrions come from the area Playstation will be in. Once underway Playsation will head north towards Fiji hoping to cover 550 miles in 24 hours. 550 miles would mean averaging 23 knots. Playstation will spend 3 days at sea in this attempt. The current holder of the 24 hour record is Laurent Bourgnon of France who sailed 540.0 miles in June of 1994. -- Ike Stephenson, Torresen Sailing Site For the full story: http://www.torresen.com/therace/24hr1.htm SPECIAL REPORT -- TORNADO TRIALS We are writing you from Santa Cruz, California, the site of our 1999 Pre- Trials and Olympic Trials. We have been here since Sunday practicing for our Pre-Trials which started today. Santa Cruz is a beautiful little surf town where the people are super friendly the life style is laid back. The sailing conditions here are excellent. Santa Cruz is known for its big surf and big wind. We sail out into the ocean through a channel that is about 100 feet wide. This small entrance is hairy with huge swells breaking every 20 seconds. We sailed yesterday in 20 to 25 knot winds and the outer surf buoy recorded 22 foot swells! Quite a rush just to leave the channel. Once outside the channel, we sail in the open Pacific Ocean. The water temperature is a balmy 50 degrees and there is tons of sea life. We have seen whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters and lots of birds. We haven't seen any sharks yet, which is the other thing Santa Cruz is known for. On to the racing. Today was day one. We had two races scheduled and completed both. Race one was sailed in 12 to 16 knots. We started first and tacked on the perceived layline only to learn that Santa Cruz has a pretty big wind line and lift near the weather mark. We ended up over standing and rounded second to Lars Guck and PJ Schaeffer. We sailed a great run and passed them to round the next two marks first. On the next run, however, Lars a caught one of those huge swells and rode it past us. We passed him on the last beat when he overstood the windward mark! He was able to pass us again on the last run to win the race with us finishing in second. Race two started the same way and we rounded second, but Lars rounded fourth. After what we learned in race one, we were able to round the leeward mark first and extend our lead to win the race. Lars passed one boat to finish third. So after day one, we are in first with Lars in second, one point behind. It is shaping up to be a good battle. Our own version of "March Madness." -- Charlie Ogletree and Johnny Lovell THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL Never laugh at someone's dreams. |
