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SCUTTLEBUTT #218 -- November 16, 1998FARR 40 WORLDSJim Richardson and the crew of Barking Mad are the World Champions of the Farr 40 class. They achieved no more than seventh place in the final race, but that was more than enough to add to their solid consistency in the other seven races to take the title. Richardson grinned, as he arrived ashore and promised, 'I will be grinning for quite some time.' On the final day, he hung on doggedly to the leaders, occasionally checking in with Steve Garland's Wired, the closest boat to him in the points table with one race to go, and Barking Mad finished one place ahead of her close rival. Richardson was unstinting in his praise for the crew, 'They have dragged me round the race course and kept me at it the whole time,' he said, 'I have not been allowed to waver in my concentration.' -- Bob Fisher Final Results: 1. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson (39 points) 2. Southern Star John Calvert-Jones (AUS) (44) 3. Wired, Steve Garland (47) 4. Hissar, Edgar Cato (49) 5. Solution, John Thomson (59) 6. Alliance, Skip Purcell (60) 7. Gem, William Ziegler (62) 8. Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy (63) 9. Phish Food, Alexis Michas (65) 10. Atalanti XI, George Andreadis (70). For the full story: http://sailing.org/regattas/farr40worlds/ THE PREZ SAYS The following is an excerpt from "The President's Update," issued by ISAF President Paul Henderson on Saturday, November 14: We have now have embarked on a short two year term having had the first open democratic election of ISAF. New ExecCom will address the situation and hopefully fine-tune the process for 2000. IOC DOPING IF MEETING: Will be held in Lausanne Nov. 27 to prepare for a Doping Congress in Feb. of all members of the Olympic Family. Drugs are a very serious challenge to modern society and when used as performance-enhancing stimulants in sport is a curse. It will be necessary for all Int. Sport Fed. to support the IOC as the only body capable of addressing this issue. It will have to be funded to the level of $15 million US per yr. ISAF will agree that up to 5% of the gross TV revenue from Sydney be used in this fight. MULTI-CREWED SAILING: This area appears to have the most positive growth in Sailing. Keelboats, which last, women participating, day racing, out of Yacht Clubs is the now wave and ISAF must encourage it. The Empirical Handicapping Forum and the ORC/ISAF alliance should provide the support structure required. Along with the Oceanic Committee ISAF is sending a strong message of encouragement to this very dynamic part of Sailing. MEASUREMENT: Over the last few years there has been growing pressure from the Int. Classes for ISAF to provide more leadership in the area of Measurement and especially to expand the Staff technical services. The ExecCom will make this a priority. INFORMATION: ISAF for the last 4 years led by Bernie Stegmeier have addressed the needs for having a database capability which compiles all the various needs of Sailing which is essential to operate in this modern World of Information Technology. ISAF will continue on this course upgrading its computer capabilities and supplying the information to the sailors through the Internet www.sailing.org The measure of the need for this direction is when a major regatta is not supplying the information within 15 minutes of the end of a race all hell breaks lose and everyone accuses ISAF and especially McCreary of not performing when it is the individual regattas responsibility to supply the data so ISAF can disseminate it. 4 years ago everyone would have to wait a month till the Sailing Journals came out to find the results. Nobody ever said sailors were rational!! DINGHIES AND ONE-DESIGNS: Having always considered myself a dinghy sailor it was encouraging to see the focus on dinghy sailing where the traditional classes are so enthusiastic. I was lobbied very strongly by a consortium of independent builders who want to give a worldwide alternative to the recent trend of monopoly manufacturers classes. I gave them all the encouragement ISAF can as the health of Sailing is dependent on these builders also. NOFEET: You all know the very sad story of the great Gold Medallist from Brazil Lars Grael who lost a leg and almost his life when hit by an out of control motor boat while training in his Tornado. His brother Axel contacted me asking if I knew of some disabled sailor who might advise Lars. A few years ago the same thing happened to a sailing friend in Rochester USA who in saving his two young daughters lost both his legs when a motor boat hit him also. I was pleased to see him sailing again on his new legs at the NYYC Disabled Worlds. Keith Burnhann is working with Lars and to show you the attitude of these dedicated sailors his E-Mail address is: KMBNOFEET@aol.com To read President Henderson's complete update: http://www.sailing.org/iyru/presmessage14.html AMERICA'S CUP Pierre Fehlmann was part of the FAST 2000 Swiss challenge team since the start of the project. Since then, his priorities have changed. As a consequence of his total commitment to his Maxi One Design project (formerly Grand Mistral), the FAST 2000 Board of Directors decided it would be preferable for both projects to have clearly separated management and, to avoid further conflicts of interest, asked Pierre Fehlmann to resign from his position. The team working since the first days of the project otherwise remains unchanged and in high spirits for achieving a successful Swiss challenge to the XXX America's Cup. -- Hans U. Bernhard, FAST 2000 Mktg & Communication MATCH RACING Peter Gilmour successfully defended his World Champion's crown on Sunday, beating Bertrand Pace 2 - 0 in the final. In the match for the bronze medal, Gavin Brady beat Marcus Weiser 2 - 0, and the match for fifth place was settled in one race, Chris Law winning this against Peter Holmberg. The schedule had been shortened because of no wind on Saturday, when the semi-finals were abandoned, so the top two in the double round robin got their places in the final without a fight. -- Iain MacDonald-Smith, ISAF Sailing Manager Final results of the World Championships of Match Race Sailing/ Nippon Cup '98, Hayama, Japan: 1. Peter Gilmour , 2. Bertrand Pace, 3. Gavin Brady, 4. Marcus Weiser, 5. Chris Law, 6. Peter Holmberg, 7. Sten Mohr, 8. Jochen Schuman, 9. Magnus Holmberg, 10. Luc Pillot. Event website: http://www.hmyc.org/nipponcup/ OH MY The curmudgeon just got a sample of the new Scuttlebutt tee shirts from Frank Whitton at Pacific Yacht Embroidery. It's obvious Frank is showing off all of his skills on this product. Amazingly, each of the nine tiny sailboats embroidered on the front has a different colored chute. Something tells me Frank would sell one of these official Scuttlebutt tee shirts to bona fide 'Butt-heads or design a shirt that showcases your own spinnaker colors. Get in touch with him to learn how affordable quality crew apparel can be. Frank delivers: Pacyacht@aol.com / 619-226-8033 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters may be edited for space (250 words max) and clarity and anything resembling a personal attack will quickly disappear!) >> From Terry Harper, Executive Director, US Sailing -- The recent comments by sailors about PFDs lead me to believe that some have not read the prescription. If you read the prescription, the answer to what you do if it is 100 degrees and there is no wind is pretty clear. >> From Chuck Simmons -- The PCIYRA North vs. South has only been around for three years (I know 'cause I think I'm the only idiot to have done all three) so the North's record is 2-1. >> From Chris Welsh -- Re: "One of the greatest achievements of the week has to be the inclusion of women in all ISAF Committees." One of the greatest achievements of the week will be when the inclusion of deserving people, rather than categories therein, will be considered the appropriate standard for success in making up a committee. No kudos from me to ISAF for diminishing the status of the women committee members from "participant" to "token" in their press release. In regard to all of the Appendix R / ISAF fees / committees / political correctness / PFD's / rating systems etc, I am reminded of the quote "Just be glad you aren't getting all the government you are paying for". In Sailing, it appears we may be starting to get our money's worth. Unfortunately. >> From Jay Sinclair -- The major problem lying between the amateur and professional definitions are the amount of different jobs that get thrown into the mix. For instance, as a manufacturer of soccer balls one would most likely be considered as a professional in the soccer industry, yet one would not likely be on the field playing. Even if one was on the sidelines coaching or helping one could not give any advantages to the players playing the game. If, on the other hand, one was a sailmaker in the same position, the story is completely different. You manufacture equipment for a sport, but your input regarding the equipment is essentially better that anybody else's. You give your team a distinct advantage over the rest by being there. It is not as simple as black and white as far as the sailing industry is concerned. A definition is needed as far as professionalism is concerned in sailing. But most of all I think that it should not be implemented until it is accepted by the masses. As of right now, the rules are penalizing some people but not others, and that does not seem fair. To increase potential racers in the sailing community, we the sailing community have to make it exciting and challenging for the new comers, yet offer them some kind of reward. Who in their right mind would start playing tennis by going out and getting killed by Andre Agassi? >> From Jon Dekker -- I would think that Paul Cayard should be the hands down winner of the "Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award". As the underdog for the Whitbread he won this grueling race by a considerable margin taking on the Southern Ocean and top Whitbread experienced competitors. I think this should be enough to win the watch. However, is it takes a campaign, I encourage everyone who reads this to vote for Paul through US Sailing Nomination site at: http://www.ussailing.org/nomination.html >> From Jeff Trask -- Where would Paul Cayard be with out the worlds best Ocean Navigator, Mark Rudiger and Program Manager, Kimo Worthington? Remember, there is no "I" in Rolex! Team EFL wins the watch(s)! >> From Mike Guccione -- I applaud California Yacht Club for their innovative thinking in bringing Americap to Marina Del Rey. DRYC offered it in the Berger Series two years ago but found no interest. The members of the PHRF committee in Marina Del Rey are all tireless, selfless workers that are doing a great job keeping racing going while you all try to find a rating system that works better. Members of the PHRF committee in MDR may not have their rating improved while on the board and all members of the board may be reviewed and lowered during their turn on the board. So I don't understand how anyone can say "PHRF has serious limitations, mostly due to the self-serving type of people who administer it for their own personal benefit". It just ain't so. >> From John Mooney-- In answer to Mr. Hampikian's letter about PHRF & Americap: To suggest that (to say) the "type" of people who administer PHRF fleets do so to serve their own interests exclusively is both unjust and ridiculous. Committees certainly make mistakes occasionally, and it's true that the PHRF system is sometimes susceptible to lobbying influence by interested competitors, but none of that is the result of PHRF committees' being "self-interested". I'm sorry that Mr. Hampikian got a rating he doesn't like, but I don't see what insults do to advance the debate. As to the imminent demise that Mr. Hampikian predicts for PHRF as a result of this "fatal flaw", I don't see how growing participation relative to other parts of the sport constitutes self-destruction. I submit that PHRF serves more sailors than any other rule because it's cheap, it's readily understandable, it's locally controlled, and it's sufficiently flexible to respond to boats that "beat" measurement rules, thereby preventing "checkbook wars" from permanently sabotaging a given fleet's competition. Americap relies on the IMS database to rate production yachts, something most PHRF fleets already do well. If there isn't a measured sample of your boat's type already in the database, you have to get an IMS-type measurement to get an Americap rating. So much for cheap. Your Americap rating will come from US Sailing in Portsmouth, not from your home waters. So much for local control and the responsiveness it generates. Does any of this sound familiar??? Since I disagree that PHRF is broken, my question is - What does Americap fix? >> From Art Engel -- In thinking about the PFD issue it is important to remember a few facts as given by the CG. (1) Virtually all people who fall overboard and die while boating are as a result of drowning. (2) Some people who fall overboard and die are wearing PFD's of some kind. (3) A whoppingly high percentage (I think it was in the high 80's but I am going from memory) of people who aren't wearing PFD's and drown DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM. Let me repeat that: The vast majority of people who drown while boating do so because they simply don't know how to swim (and not because they were unconscious or fatigued or too cold or whatever). I don't have any proof, but I suspect that the number of "racers" who don't know who to swim is less than 20% (actually, I would be surprised if it is higher than 7 or 8%). If that is all true then we could eliminate almost 90% of the "problem" by imposing the PFD requirement on only a small percentage of the people. Why not take that approach? Because somebody thinks it would be hard to implement. Personally, I wouldn't impose a rule on 100% of the people when the "bad" behavior is only being exhibited by a few people. Instead, I would try other approaches, like education. While I think the USSA prescription to the ORC Special Regs is well intentioned I do resent "big brother" telling me how I must run my life. I wear a PFD when it's appropriate and don't think I need USSA to act as my mother. KEY WEST RACE WEEK With more than 100 entries received already, the 12th annual GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week is shaping up to be the best on record. The event organizer predicts that 1999's fleet size will threaten '97's record 264 entries. Already, entries have been received from Holland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Brazil, England, France, Canada, Antigua, and the Cayman Islands for the January 18 to 22, 1999 event. Along with strong foreign representation, a number of new boats are expected to debut from top designers like Nelson/Marek, Farr & Associates, Jim Taylor, Rod Johnstone, Judel/Vrolijk, and Tony Castro. IMS 1 headlines the competition with a projected 12-boat class. A star-studded roster including Olympic medal winners, America's Cup victors, world champions, and around the world race winners might be the deepest ever at Race Week. Boosting the talent level are a number of entries gunning for July's Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup. At least seven 50-footers are on tap for IMS 1, including American George David's new Idler (N/M), and Nick Lamm's new Exposure (Castro) from Holland. Both carbon fiber machines, Idler, led by U.S. Olympic silver medallist Jim Brady ('92), hopes to gain the big-boat berth for the U.S. CMAC team, while Exposure hopes to prove its worth for charter. They'll face America's Cup champion Russell Coutts aboard John Risley's Numbers, six-time J/24 World Champion and two-time former Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Ken Read aboard Helmut Jahn's Flash Gordon 3, and Paolo Gaia's Italian Breeze, helmed by Tommaso Chieffi. Karl Kwok's Beau Geste, with America True afterguard member Gavin Brady aboard, and German CMAC veteran Hans Otto Schumann's new Rubin are also expected to compete. IMS 2 features a pair of Italian Sydney 40s led by the Merit Cup Pro Racing Team aboard Marco Greggio's Osama, and Gualberto Gualtieri's Blue Storm. Designed by Murray, Burns & Dovell, the Sydney 40 gained selection last year as the mid-size one-design for the CMAC. Big-boat one-designs have boomed lately, and the trend continues in '99 with the Key West debut of the 1D35, designed by Nelson/Marek. Like some other classes, the 1D35 Class requires the helmsman to be Category 1, as defined by Appendix R, a US SAILING prescription to the International Yacht Racing Rules. Up to fifteen 1D35s are expected. The Farr 40 and Mumm 30 classes are expecting around 20 and 40 boats, respectively, with large foreign representation due to each class hosting its world championship on the U.S. East Coast in November. The J/80 (Johnstone design) returns with more than 12 boats expected to qualify for its own start. The Melges 24 (Reichel/Pugh design) will conduct its midwinter championship with more than 50 boats expected for the fourth consecutive year. Former Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Dave Ullman returns riding a three-year winning streak, but he'll have to overcome the top three from last September's world championship - American Vince Brun, Italian Giorgio Zuccolli and American Brian Porter -- if he hopes to make it four straight. Along with the bevy of rock stars in IMS, nearly half the total fleet faces stiff competition aboard PHRF-rated boats ranging from Santa Cruz 52s to Sabre 42s to Carerra 290s. New boats are expected in these classes as well including three new Johnstone-designed J/125s, fitted with a massive asymmetric spinnaker, at least two J/120s, and the new Mount Gay 30. Coinciding with the projected record fleet there's a prominent modification on tap for Race Week '99. The relocation of race operations to the Historic Seaport at the Key West Bight features in the five-day series. Race Week headquarters and the evening reception tent will be located at the historic Old Town waterfront area. Racing at GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week takes place Monday to Friday, January 18 to 22. Registration begins at 1300 on Sunday, January 17. -- Sean McNeill Race Week website: http://www.yachtingnet.com/calendar/raceweek/ THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Tell a man there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it. |
