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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 693 - November 20, 2000COMPUTER CRASHThe curmudgeon's computer crashed on Friday, wiping out the entire hard drive. Fortunately, most of my files were backed up - the major loss was a lot of e-mail. So if I owe you a reply, or if you fail to see your letter published, I hope you understand. AMERICA'S CUP Five challengers have taken the first big leap towards the next America's Cup and handed over $US150,000 for their spot on the startline in two years. But another potential starter, the Swiss Watch Out campaign, has leapt overboard. The Swiss syndicate - no relation to Russell Coutts' Geneva challenge - dissolved after failing to reach the $US30 million budget target they set themselves. But it is not all gloom down at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, home of the Auld Mug. So far the squadron has received entry fees from five strong syndicates - Prada, the Swiss Challenge, Seattle's OneWorld, the German Illbruck Challenge and the New York Yacht Club-Dennis Conner effort. Squadron commodore Peter Taylor is predicting nine challengers on the startline for the Louis Vuitton Cup in October 2002. There has been no sign yet of a cheque from Team Oracle, the San Francisco-based team led by Chris Dickson and software mogul Larry Ellison, even though the campaign is up and running, and already sailing out of Auckland. An entry is definitely expected from the Swedish Victory Challenge, who have sufficient finance in place. And talk continues of teams from Britain, France and a second Italian campaign. The squadron is still waiting to bank the cheque from Coutts' Swiss Challenge. A decision should be made next week on whether the entry is legitimate. An arbitration panel will decide if the syndicate meets the cup protocol, which states that a challenging yacht club must hold an annual regatta on an arm of the sea. The German campaign must also have its entry thoroughly checked, as the Dusseldorf Yacht Club is not based on the shores of a sea. However, it runs the historic North Sea Regatta every year. - Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/ VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot The providential trade winds have pushed the fleet towards the South but are now starting to get lighter for the leaders. Indeed, as the boats are following their course to the Southern Hemisphere, they are starting to arrive on the edge of the Azores high-pressure system. The wind will then progressively decrease and veer from the NorthEast to the East. Each sailor is spending a lot of time at his chart table working on the tactics to pass though the Doldrums area. Some of them had already prepared the approach before the start with weather forecast specialists and had fixed some waypoints. In these cases, the strategy is based on statistics. The experience shows that the best gateway is located between 25 and 30 West. The dead wind zone is bigger in the East and is forming a cone starting from Africa and heading West. If you go too far in the West, the area is narrower but the route is longer but then you have to sail upwind in the SouthEast trade winds created by the Ste Helen highs. It is a subtle mix that the competitors have to play with and there is no rule for the game. The one with the best tactic will get out the Doldrums in the first position. Today we can observe several strategies. Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) is deliberately going west: "I lost some miles when I did this tack in the West. But I hope I will have better winds than the others. At the moment I am doing well, we will see in two days time." Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB), Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear), Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagere), Thierry Dubois (Solidaires) and Josh Hall (EPB -Gartmore-Esprit PME) are following a middle route and should pass around 27 West. Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) is surprisingly going very far in the East and Michel Desjoyeaux was saying: "Yves is taking risks, he is gambling. I chose the shortest route and I will see the result tomorrow, it's only when you are on the other side that you can tell who was right or not." Standings on November 19 at 15:00 UT: 1 PRB (Desjoyeaux); 2 Aquitaine Innovations (Parlier) +7 miles; 3 Active Wear (Thiercelin) +62 miles; 4 SILL Matines La Potagere (Jourdain) +87 miles; 5 Solidaires (Dubois) +100 miles; 6 Sodebo (Coville) +141 miles; 7 EBP Esprit PME Gartmore (Hall) +149 miles; 8 Kingfisher (MacArthur) +166 miles. MORE VENDEE GLOBE Full of determination, but only just prepared, Mike Golding left Les Sables d'Olonne in the cold and dark of Friday night in lonely pursuit of the 22 competitors ahead of him in the Vendee Globe non-stop single-handed round-the-world yacht race. Golding had a deficit of eight days and four hours to make up after having to return to the French fishing port after only eight hours when his Open 60 Team Group 4 was dismasted. An earlier replacement mast was hurriedly transported from Southampton, but fitting was delayed by continuing bad weather. Yesterday, however, Golding had made an impressive start in perfect sailing conditions. He was also lifted by the hundreds who turned out to honk horns and flash lights on their cars to wish him the best of luck. Golding knows he has little chance of achieving his 10-year dream of winning the Vendee. Instead, he has set his sights on beating the record for the 26,000-mile circumnavigation of 105 days and 23 hours set by Christoph Augin in l996/97. - Stuart Alexander, Daily Telegraph, UK, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001648423620749&rtmo=lvbSzkvt&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/11/19/soyots19.html HOT GIFTS FOR UNDER $20! Great ideas for the sailor on your list: Ultimate Sailing Calendar, Ultimate Sailing 3 Screen Saver, America's Cup and Ultimate Cruising Adventures Screen Savers, T-shirts, note cards, and poster, all featuring the brilliant sailing photography of Sharon Green...each under $20.00. Shop online at www.ultimatesailing.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE In Amsterdam this week the Swedish-based Assa Abloy syndicate in next year's Volvo Ocean race (formerly the Whitbread), will name Roy Heiner, Olympic silver medallist in the Finn in 1996, as skipper. He was also skipper of Brunel Synergy in 1997/98. Alongside him as co-skipper and navigator will be Mark Rudiger, the American who did the same job for Paul Cayard's winning EF team in 1997/8. - Stuart Alexander, Daily Telegraph, UK, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001648423620749&rtmo=lvbSzkvt&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/11/19/soyots19.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- Chris Ericksen (In reply to Sean Paterson in 'Butt #691) - God forbid that the Etchells ever becomes an Olympic class! While I love my Etchells (formerly called the Etchells 22, but not for nearly a decade now, Sean), I can't see any advantage to making it an Olympic class--and see real bad things. The international strength of the Etchells class (except in continental Europe) and the relative weakness of the Soling class (except in continental Europe) are both tied to the Olympic status of the Soling--and lack of it in for the Etchells. Please don't try to do me and my class a favor!! And, thank God, it won't likely happen: the ISAF has made their decision, and that's that for the next set of Games. Maybe we'll all take the hint and stop talking about this for now--its old news. -- From Bill Munster - It sure seems strange that the ISAF chose to go from a 4-women boat to a 3-women boat ... and in the process drop the "Soling" [designed by Jan Linge] and then turn around and select the "Yingling" [ designed by Jan Linge]. You would think they might give someone else a chance like a Johnstone or an Etchells. It certainly appears that this group is more political than looking out for what is in the best interest of worldwide sailors. -- From Patrick Dore - Okay, so who said that Match Racing is the peak of our sport. Why does the America's Cup have to be raced in a Match Racing format. The media focused on the Cup because it was the biggest thing in our sport. At the time they were the biggest boats. And the media with the help from Dennis, Gary Jobson, Peter Isler, and ESPN focused on winning and losing the Cup. Understanding that money is no longer a problem. That we are now talking about full time AC programs. What if the America's Cup was raced as a Team Racing event. Three AC boats to a team, one team per country. Now think about it. You would have Blocking, Passing, and great luffing on the runs. A ton of action, a few crashes and maybe even some guy over the side. Even non-sailors can understand the sport when the red white and blue boats, are ahead of the red and white boats. Sailing can become a spectator sport. We just have to get away from the way that we have competed in the past. Thing change in sailing but very slowly. Has anyone sailed a triangle lately? -- From Toby Rowland-Jones - I was reading with interest the dialog about match racing. I was wondering if we are talking about physicality, then why not have an old style le Mans start to races, especially the America's Cup? Have each team (perhaps one in the boat as a safeguard) line up on a jetty or on shore and swim to the boats (a hundred yards or so?), climb in, change, and start racing? This would certainly have interest for the swimming fanatics/tri-athletes, and some of the general public, and who wouldn't want to see some of more renowned skippers flailing away after a night of port and cigars? -- From Andrew Troup - I wonder if some correspondents are unwittingly extrapolating from the undoubted excitement of participating in fleet racing to infer excitement (for a non-sailor) watching it on TV? It does occur to me that, even as a sailor, it is difficult to appreciate the drama of a fleet race as a spectator, whether on water or on TV, UNLESS ONE IS A PARTICIPANT. (Same can be said of match racing, on the water.) It is simply too hard to assess everything which feeds into that drama. Too many angles are involved, in too many different places at once. On TV (or big-screen), it has proved possible, in the case of match racing, to simplify the variables (and render them visible) to the extent that it is possible for the viewer to kid themselves that they know at any moment who is ahead, and why. The problems involved in doing this for fleet racing seem to me soluble, only given an audience of cognoscenti. Dumbing it down for non-sailors is unlikely to succeed, and is bound to destroy it for the sailors. Perhaps one channel of video and several of commentary might -- From Ed Trombley, Jr. - The recent decision to drop the Soling from the Olympics shows the management of ISAF to be out of their minds. Competing countries have built entire campaigns based on Solings with their three crewmembers disciplining themselves with both fleet and match racing skills, raising themselves far above average sailors in average boats. To tell these sailors that if they want to compete in a keel boat next Olympics, they must: do away with one of their crewmembers, gain more weight than they can stand, throw away their spinnaker-handling skills, forget their match racing talents, sell off their boats and equipment, then go ahead and buy new Stars and learn how to finesse them around the race course- is the largest slap in the face that I have ever seen in sailing at this level. There must be a way to keep the Solings in the next Olympic Games- figure it out! -- Luuk Wijers - Zack Leonard described a tremendous technique how to decrease the boat speed down wind by using the rudder but Zack Leonard forgot a few minor items. To make this a very effective technique you have to make at least one radical thrust of the tiller from one side to the other side. This all depending of the situation you are in and the boat you are sailing. This radical thrust of the tiller is obvious for "not steering" the boat but only for decreasing the speed of the boat. These are two important items because in my opinion it is clear that you are breaking rule 42.1 and 42.2(d). Rule 42.1 says that a boat shall compete by using "only" the wind and water to increase, maintain or DECREASE her speed. Rule 42.2(d) says that sculling is repeated movement of the helm "not necessary" for steering. Using the tiller by making a radical thrust from one side to the other side to stall the flow of water over the rudder is nothing more then sculling and as we all know sculling is a prohibited action. If I would have been in the Jury or would have been the Umpire I would have penalized this action. So be aware of using this technique. THE RACE * Rebuild work to extend the bows and transoms on skipper Steve Fossett's now 125' maxi catamaran PlayStation continues to progress on schedule and the team expect to re-launch and sail by the end of November. Chief boat builder Sean Regan and watch captain Ben Wright report from Southampton that the (total 20') extensions to bows and transoms are near completion, as is the refitting of the diesel engines, the fitting of new trampolines, B Sat and microwave telecoms gear and other computer equipment. Repainting and the application of vital PlayStation logos are the final steps in the process. Asked if he was concerned by the lack of additional ocean testing, Steve Fossett commented: "Time is short before The RACE, but we should be able to complete our testing and still get to Monaco on time for the prologue events.. The three Transatlantic crossings we sailed last summer should have established the reliability of rigging and other equipment." PlayStation will exit the boatyard on 27th November and, weather permitting, will have her 147' mast and rigging plus new lighter and stronger Cuben Fibre sails fitted within a couple of days and be sailing by the end of November. Shake down tests are planned in the Solent and English Channel area, before PlayStation heads to the Mediterranean (again, December weather permitting) for 'The RACE' prologue events in Monaco beginning on 15th December. 'The RACE' start itself is at 12 noon December 31st in Barcelona. - http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ * While the crew of Club Med have been training in the warmer waters off Vilamoura, Portugal they have taken the opportunity to capture some of the action with a series of new aerial and on-board photos taken by well-known marine photographer Carlo Borlenghi. With hulls flying, the images show Club Med being put through her paces as the crew keeps pushing the boat in preparation for The Race. http://www.therace.clubmed.com/press/themes.phtml EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT HERE! The last time you bought a sail did you ask about the cloth? Sailcloth.com is a new web site by Bainbridge International designed especially for the boat owner and sailor. It is packed full of easy to follow information and handy tips to explain why you should be talking to your sailmaker about a better quality cloth. http://www.sailcloth.com YNGLING (There are a lot of readers who have never seen a Yngling (which according to the class website is pronounced "ING-ling"). Here's an excerpt from information posted on that website.) The Yngling is a sleek and seaworthy small racing keelboat (21' LOA, 1390 lbs.), succinctly described as an agreeable cross between a planing dinghy and a keelboat. Its design is classic, and its construction is durable. One touch of the helm and you'll understand the loving loyalty of Yngling owners worldwide. The boat simply sails beautifully. Those familiar with the Olympic Soling will instantly recognize the Yngling as a "mini-Soling," a description which is quite apt. In the Yngling, designer Jan Linge basically duplicated his Soling, making it smaller, more suitable for average-sized people, easier to trail (behind even a four-cylinder car), and less expensive to own. The Yngling shares the Soling's sleek hull form, well-balanced rig, and responsive helm. While the Yngling is not as fast as the Soling, it is quicker, and more nimble. It turns more quickly and in less distance, and responds better to crew weight trim adjustments. The Yngling is designed to sail with three crew (although two can handle it easily). Optimal crew weight is 400 to 500 lbs., so the Yngling accommodates both juniors and normally sized adults, and it is the ideal women's racing boat (in fact, IYRU selected the Yngling for its first International Women's Championship in 1994, and the Yngling is the boat of choice for a proposed Olympic women's match-racing event). Sail controls on the Yngling are easy to manage, and the effects of small adjustments are felt by the crew. The Yngling sails in a delicate and fast upwind groove. In 1990 Jan Linge re-designed the interior of the Yngling, giving it a water-tight, raised, "double-bottom" cockpit sole. With Elvstrom bailers on port and starboard just above the waterline, the boat drains water quickly under sail, upwind and downwind. The Yngling is unsinkable: Class rules mandate that a boat have enough styrofoam flotation so that, if filled entirely with water, an Yngling can still float - with three crew aboard! Website: http://www.yngling.org/ SUNFISH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sarasota Sailing Squadron (104 boats) - Final results (with one throw out): 1 EDUARDO CORDERO, VEN (28 points) 2 OSKAR JOHANSSON, CAN (35) 3 JEFF "PELO RIZAO" LINTON, USA (50) 4 MALCOLM SMITH, BER (50) 5 DON MARTINBOROUGH, BAH (68) 6 DICK TILLMAN, USA (94) 7 3020 JO ANNE WEBERLEIN, USA (94.50) 8 DAMIAN PAYNE, BER (103) 9 EDUARDO GONZALEZ, VEN (107) 10 LUIS ALBERTO OLCESE, PERU (108) Event website: http://www.panamsail.com/sunfishworlds.htm FD / 505 WORLDS Durban, Republic of South Africa, November 19, 2000 - Once again 505 and FD competitors arrived at the Point Yacht Club Beach Site in time to rig and launch their boats for the 10:50 first signal, only to find that conditions were too extreme to race. The Race Committee first abandoned racing for the FDs and a little later made the same decision for the 505s. Today the wind is straight off the shore, and it is raining hard. The event tents were not withstanding the wind well, and were taken down several days ago. Sitting in the "internet cafe" a rented trailer with eight PCs and an internet connection, we can hear the wind whistling by us. Apparently the forecast is for conditions to improve for tomorrow. Three races are required for a valid series, and four are required for their to be a throwout race. The schedule does have a lay day built in which can be used to make up races, and if necessary the RC can run two races a day in order to get in enough races. - Ali Meller, VP International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association Website: http://www.int505.org/ THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why do people who only eat natural foods drink decaffeinated coffee? |
