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SCUTTLEBUTT 1763 - January 27, 2005
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talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press
releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always
welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere.
PROFESSIONAL SAILORS
(Tom Meade interviewed Ken Read for a story in the Providence Journal. Here
are a couple of brief excerpts.)
Tm Meade: What does a professional crew bring to a racing boat?
Ken Read: Owners have become increasingly used to paying half the crew
because -- and it's not taking anything away from amateur sailors -- pros
are always there on time; typically, they're not out partying all night;
they stay late to clean up the boat; and the boat gets handled far more
efficiently. So, for somebody who can afford it, it makes the whole racing
experience less frustrating.
Meade: What traits are you looking for when you're hiring a racing crew?
Read: I'm looking for people who are really proactive in their jobs, who
are constantly trying to make their performance better, to make their parts
of the boat better, to make their trimming more efficient. To me,
professionalism means the ability to go the extra yard, to show up a little
early and leave as you have to, and to want to win as much as I do.
Meade: How much do professional sailors make?
Read: Well, the young whipper-snapper just out of college, is probably in
the $200 to $300 a day range. He's trying to hook up with as many programs
as possible, and he's probably giving his time away 30 percent of the time,
just to get good rides. That would be in the trimmer's position. Also in
that position, a more seasoned vet is making anywhere from $500 a day to
$750 or $800 when he commits to one single program. If you're a tactician
or driver, it's the same thing: The young whipper-snapper is getting up to
maybe $450, where the America's Cup veteran is probably making $1,500 to
$2,000 a day. In an America's Cup program, grinders are making about $8,000
a month. Trimmers are getting between $12,000 and $15,000 a month.
America's Cup drivers are making anywhere between $250,000 a year to . . .
$500,000-plus for the seasoned guy . . . and it's rumored that [three-time
Cup winner] Russell Coutts got well over $1 million. It's like any other
team. It's like the New England Patriots: You want the best and you're
willing to pay for it.
Meade: But for Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, football is a
for-profit business. What's in it for Mr. Uematsu or [Oracle software
tycoon] Larry Ellison, both of whom you've sailed for?
Read: It's simple: They're in it to win.
Full story: www.projo.com/sailing/content/projo_20050126_sail26x.296b27.html
THE REST OF THE STORY
The Ragtime Auction from a buyer's perspective - Our purchase of Ragtime
was much like the original purchase by six guys thirty years ago. We met
over breakfast the morning of the auction and mapped out our bid strategy
and limit. All of us were uncertain what to expect, and none were
independently out shopping for a new boat. We all agreed Alan Peterson
would be the least emotional bidder and would stick to the plan the best,
so he was nominated as our bidder.
Despite our agreed strategy, we quickly bid past our top limit. Amongst
ourselves we were nervously chuckling in the background as several times we
thought we were going to stop bidding and Alan's hand went up again,
thank god. We even seriously suggested our bid opponents join our bid,
rather than raising the cost, but that didn't work. Close to the finish
Alan congratulated the other bidder, but the weaker hearts amongst us bid
again. At one point, the bid got to "Going twice, Going three times, S-s-s"
and someone in our group shouted at the last second "NO!!!" and Alan bid
again to keep us, in and ultimately win. All of us are thrilled with the
outcome and have been grinning since.
To clear up one item, Alan Peterson, Jon Richards, and I bought in that
morning and initially Scott Zimmer was going to join with us. With legal
concerns in the air, it was decided a day later that his participation was
not a good idea at this time - thus the past confusion on who the partners
are. Scott is very supportive of our purchase, and a big help with details
about the boat, stored equipment, etc. Two more people have asked about
partnering in, so we may end up with five or six owners again at the end of
the day. Anyone who is concerned about clichéd stereotypes of wealthy
buyers is welcome to call us we have spots open in sanding, bilge
cleaning, check writing, and jib trimming.
Our plans for the future of the boat start with the Ensenada Race and
Transpac this summer. Our biggest hurdle seems to be plaguing all of the
sailing community now most berthing locations and moorings can not
accommodate a 12-foot draft. We need to haul the boat, and dive in and
address what she needs. Everyone involved is planning on getting their
hands dirty. Our common outlook is the boat is a unique part of Pacific
yachting history, and a full scale model. We intend to treat her that way,
and are as excited as hell to sail her too. I don't think I've been this
excited about sailing since my first time surfing an ultra-light twenty
plus years ago. This time, it'll be on Ragtime, as owner-drivers. It
doesn't get any better, at least in my world. - Chris Welsh
CHANGES
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FACTOID
Over five days in challenging conditions ranging from 25 knots down to 2,
the principal race officers on the four courses at Key West 2005, presented
by Nautica - Ken Legler, Bruce Golison, Dave Brennan and Wayne Bretsch -
started a total of 170 races … without a single general recall!
"I don't do that," said Brennan, who ran the two largest fleets of 58
Melges 24s and 40 J/105s on Division 3. "This was my fifth year and I
haven't had any." Event director Peter Craig, who ran Division 2 before
Golison succeeded him, said, "I had one before Bruce arrived, and that
would be pre-1999."At Key West, the starting process is managed not by
calling everybody back when a few are over early but by identifying those
who were guilty and hailing their numbers by radio.
Golison, running the big PHRF-1 boats, including five TP52s, on Division 2,
said, "I have been on the big boat course for six years . . . and there has
not been a general recall in that time. A lot of it is philosophy. In one
of our first races two boats were over. In the third race 7 of the 10 were
over, and we called those seven back. After that we didn't have one boat
over in that class. They were still all lined up bow to bow, but they were
20 feet off the line." - Rich Roberts, full regatta summary:
www.Premiere-Racing.com, Video replay: www.t2p.tv
PAY ATTENTION
Contrary to expectations the wind was backing, the barometer falling, and
humidity rising. We'd seen scenarios like this at the North U Weather for
Sailors Seminar, and knew it was time pick a new destination. We altered
course, and trimmed to it. The North U Cruising Seminar taught us that, and
also how to take advantage of the shift as the wind backed. We were
anchored and secure when the squall roared through, and glad we'd paid
attention at North U. North U offers a full slate of Weather, Cruising and
Racing Seminars. Call 800-347-2457 or visit http://www.NorthU.com
ROLEX MIAMI OCR
Only one lead change took place today at the Rolex Miami OCR as Carol
Cronin's Yngling team took a four point lead in the class over Sally
Barkow's team. Extremely light breezes in the morning died in the
afternoon, causing cancellation of racing in two Olympic classes (Tornado
and Laser Radial) and completion of less races than desired in the other
seven. Both Paralympic classes, however, managed three races apiece.
In Lasers, the largest fleet with 46 boats, a single race allowed Andrew
Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) to close in on leader Brad Funk (Plantation,
Florida) in overall scoring. Campbell, a two-time College All-American, won
the race after leading from the start. Funk, also a two-time College
All-American who finished third at the Laser Olympic Trials last year,
didn't much care for the light conditions but was satisfied with his
third-place finish today. Both Funk and Campbell, like many sailors at this
regatta, have announced their Olympic campaigns for 2008 in Beijing.
Canada's Christopher Cook, who has led the 26-boat Finn class since the
regatta began, was surprised to get in two races today. A three-time North
American and Canadian National Champion, Cook finished second at his
country's 2004 Olympic Finn Trials. Cook admitted he is mostly watching
runner-up Kevin Hall (Bowie, Md.), who represented the USA in Athens in
this class. Cook contends, however, that Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.),
in third overall, is "coming on strong."
Only three points separate the top three boats in the 40-boat Star class
with Andrew Horton/ Brad Nichol on top followed closely by Eric Doyle/
Brian Sharp and Fredrik Loof/ Anders Ekstrom from Sweden. - Media Pro Int'l
For more information, including the latest results and photos:
www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR
Video can be viewed after 9 p.m. EST each night: www.t2p.tv
BACK IN HIGH GEAR
Consistently good boat speeds today and on Tuesday night have seen big
gains for Ellen and B&Q - but some of that gain can be attributed to the
fact that Joyon was making slow progress during this stage of his record
attempt. MacArthur is now 25 hours (210 miles) ahead, returning from her
deficit of 13 hours behind on Tuesday at mid day. The South-Easterly winds
should strengthening for next 24 hours - 14-18 knots through to 0300gmt,
increasing 15-20 knot range through to 0600gmt then 14-24 knot range
Thursday. B&Q is sailing 18 knots directly North - www.teamellen.com
VENDEE GLOBE
Making over 70 miles more than his pursuers over the past 24 hours, Vincent
has had the best ride of the day by far and for the moment appears to be
getting richer. Meanwhile Nick Moloney (Skandia), exhausted by his
overnight ordeal, trying many times to successfully fix a tow line from the
Brazilian navy vessel Guajara, is nevertheless remaining upbeat and looking
for the positives from his Vendée Globe experience. "I'm OK, I'm going to
refuse to get down over it. My initial concern at the start was that I
wasn't mentally strong enough to get around the world. But I was overcoming
the problems, and I was on the home stretch and my focus was the finish. I
felt I was strong enough to do the Vendée. I never ever expected the boat
to fail in any way" he asserted."
Leaders at 1900 GMT January 26:
1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 1606 miles to finish
2. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 105 miles to leader
3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 158 mtl
4. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 1022 mtl
5. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 1043 mtl
6. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick 2485 mtl
7. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 3311 mtl
8. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, 3503 mtl
9. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 3906 mtl
Complete standings: www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/
IS THERE AN EPIDEMIC?
"Just hours after hearing Nick's (Moloney) news, I lost all pressure in the
keel as well. The keel was rocking around so violently that I literally
thought it would shake itself out of the boat and said as much to Joff. I
even got my grab kit together. After watching it quite closely I discovered
it seemed like the starboard ram had let go. The port ram still seemed to
be trying to hold the keel but the way the system is designed, the keel ram
will work independently and one will work as a back up for the other. A
loss of oil pressure in the starboard ram was causing the whole system to
loose pressure and hence the keel had free movement to go whichever way it
wanted to go. Having found that out, I isolated the starboard ram and that
ram is now out of action so I am just running on the port ram. As I said,
the system is designed to be able to cope with just one ram which is a
feature of these boats.
"I was pretty surprised to have a total ram failure and I expected to be
able to shut it off and at least stabilize the keel in the centre. But the
way it's failed means that I couldn't do that and I can't lock and secure
the keel. If the other ram suffers the same failure then we would have a
major problem. "At the moment I am running deep in 25 knots of breeze so
half keel is not so much of a problem but when I get in the trade winds
particularly in the North Atlantic when I'm on the wind and slamming into
waves I am obviously going to be quite nervous - I'm sure I'm going to be
nervous - about pushing the boat hard with just the one ram." Conrad
Humphreys, Hellomoto
ORANGE II
On her third day of her fully crewed round the world record attempt, the
Orange II maxi-catamaran is approaching the Canary Islands on a zigzag
route with the wind aft and expecting some difficult days ahead. The
weather forecasts have changed from what was announced two days ago. The
high has split in two and shut off the trade winds forcing the boat towards
the African coast. For a while, Bruno Peyron thought about the possibility
of turning back. "The window in the weather closed up 12 hours after the
start. There were several possibilities, including returning home to set
out again 24 or 36 hours later. We only hesitated for a few seconds,
because the voyage is long. Last winter, Steve Fossett also lost some time
during the first phase of his voyage. With our present lead, there's
nothing really to worry about. Besides, the boat is extremely fast in light
and moderate winds. We have covered more than 500 miles in very light
winds, so we mustn't grumble.
"The record for this first leg (Ushant - The Equator) is not going to be
smashed because of the zigzags we're going to have to do in the next few
hours. Moreover, the forecasts don't look good up to the Equator, as the
high has wiped out the trade winds. They will be returning in 3 or 4 days,
but we'll be on the other side of Cape Verde by then. If we make the
Equator in seven days, or seven and a half, we're still in with a chance,"
Peyron concluded
ULLMAN'S J/105 SAILS WIN KEY WEST RACE WEEK - AGAIN
For 6 consecutive years the winner in the J/105 class has won using Ullman
Sails. Forty J/105 teams from across the country descended on Key West to
battle for top honors. When the dust settled, both 1st and 2nd place boats
flew Ullman Sails as well as seven of the top ten boats. Congratulations to
winner Thomas Coates in "Masquerade"* and runner-up James Doane Jr. in
"Flame." With new J/105 jib fabrics allowed, check out the new FiberPath
sails available through Ullman Sails. http://www.ullmansails.com (*partial
inventory)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
Just 10 months from start of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Telefónica MoviStar
Team is finalizing the construction process their boat in Australian at
BoatSpeed. The launch is expected next month. "The hull, deck and some
bulkheads have to meet a minimum weight per square metre, and as such we've
tried out a series of different materials to make sure they reach, yet not
surpass it," explained Iker Martínez. "Fortunately, the first samples show
that we are keeping up with the requirements, with a very positive
tolerance rating.". "We decided to build a female mould, which gives the
lightest possible finish to the hull, saving precious weight" said Pedro
Campos, manager of the team and the skipper in the in-shore races. "The
weight we save in the hull can be used in the bulb, which gives us speed.
According to our calculations, we estimate that just 25 kilos of overweight
would result in a loss of two hours over the entire race, or 15 minutes in
each of the eight legs. This may not seem like much but if we look at what
happened in the last race, we can see that in many legs the difference
between the winner and the second place was less than 10 minutes
"The mast also has an established minimum weight plus a given centre of
gravity," explained Bouwe Bekking. The rig designers of Telefónica MoviStar
tested more than 600 combinations before deciding on the definitive model.
Wind and sea conditions were also taken into account in deciding the final
design. "The first thing is to define the shape, which needs to be
excellent to achieve minimum wind resistance. Testing under different
conditions, including all possible winds we could encounter in this race,
we saw defects in design and shape which meant the boat would not perform
optimally or have the strength we needed to win. We decided to create our
own mock-up where we could install our own mast. As the rig needs to meet
certain flexibility standards, the sails designers and the mast engineer
worked closely together to define base criteria, which were then used in
constructing the mast." Bekking stated.
There is a heavy training schedule planned for the Telefónica MoviStar
team. "Our idea is to carry out the navigation tests in February, departing
for Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of March, including a short 24 hour pit
stop in Wellington," explained Bekking. "This way we can navigate leg 4 of
the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006, one of the most demanding, as it crosses
Cape Horn. From Brazil, we will go on to Annapolis, Maryland, where we will
do another pit stop of 48 hours, and then we will cross the Atlantic Ocean
on our way to Galicia, where we hope to arrive around mid May to keep
training, fit out the boat and make the final crew selection". -
www.movistar.com/vela
Event website: www.volvooceanrace.org
CORRECTION
Last week in Issue 1759, the memorial notice for Helen Bedford had an
incorrect email address for donations. In lieu of flowers, her wish was for
donations to go to J.I.B. (Juniors in Boating) at Mission Bay Yacht Club
(mailto:dbhart@cox.net) or Sharp Hospice Care (619-667-1900).
IN MEMORIAM
A respected and beloved member of the Finnish sailing fraternity, Antsu
Kairamo has been killed in a traffic accident at the age of 46. A naval
engineer by profession, he served the Finnish boat building industry and
sailors through sailing gear and equipment importing business. He was an
expert sailor himself, taking part in the Twostar 1986 on board Colt,
Whitbread race 1988-89 on board the ill fated Martela and winning the
Classic Six Meter Worlds on the family´s vintage six meter Mariana in 1995.
A group of 250 people paid their last tribute to the always positive and
helpful friend in a ceremony on Monday. - Tapio Lehtinen
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. This is not a chat room nor a
bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best
shot and don't whine if others disagree.)
* From John Jourdane: After sailing, racing and delivering hundreds of
boats in all parts of the world, Ragtime is still my favorite.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Sign in a veterinarian's waiting room: "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"
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