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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 722 - January 4, 2001THE RACE4.1 little miles (7.4 km) lead for Team Adventure over Club Med. The two leading boats are just a stone's throw from each other and Innovation Explorer is only 44 miles (79 km) behind the leader. The trio, all from the same drawing board of the Gilles Ollier Design Team, are battling in light headwinds. "And it's not going to change soon," exclaimed Loick Peyron (Innovation Explorer) during the daily radio chat. At around 400 miles from the Canaries, the head of the fleet has covered only 250 nautical miles in 24 hours: a pittance! Behind, Gibraltar is awaiting some fresh visitors. With one boat, PlayStation, already there with sail problems, Warta-Polpharma has announced that they will be stopping for Inmarsat B problems. Finally, Team Legato also intends calling in for a problem with their mainsail headboard. Thankfully for them, the weather conditions should not let the leading boats get too far ahead. According to the specialists: this is an exceptional situation! "The boats made it to Barcelona to windward," remarked Bruno Peyron. "They have now left and are still sailing to windward. It's crazy!" Indeed, the three leading boats who were sliding south, have all tacked and are trying to gain to the west to pick up the south-westerly wind expected this coming Friday. "Everybody's searching for wind," said Franck Proffit (Club Med) during the daily chat. "We're going after it in the west but right now we are sailing in tricky conditions. Small options can pay off. At the moment we've got between 5 and 11 knots of wind and we can't afford to loose any ground. We are repeatedly making manoeuvres in step with the oscillations (change of wind direction of a few degrees)." And how about the others? Whilst Warta-Polpharma has scheduled a stop in Gibraltar to repair their Inmarsat B station that is not working, the Polish boat will not be penalised, because they will not be receiving any assistance. So they will be able to leave again straight away. Now almost 300 miles (540 km) behind Team Adventure, Darius Drapella, the Polish boat's navigator, provided an explanation: "It was a crew error breaking five battens during the offset course off Barcelona. In fact the choice of a route along the Spanish coast can be explained by the fact that we didn't want to expose the boat to rough sea conditions to windward. This boat is not as tough as the giants, and moreover she doesn't particularly like beating to weather! We didn't want to do like PlayStation, making a pit stop and suffering a penalty!" For Team Legato, the news fell at 1015: a problem with the mainsail headboard. So Tony Bullimore1s boat is also scheduled to make a stop in Gibraltar to repair what appears to be more of a hardware problem than a problem with the sail itself. Suffice to say that the Englishman's boat will be subjected to the famous 48 hour penalty." "PlayStation's penalty starts from the moment they dock," declared Denis Horeau, race director of The Race. "Therefore this penalty starts at 1730 on Tuesday 2nd January and ends 48 hours later." So whilst stopped over in Gibraltar, PlayStation will be changing the mainsail and almost certainly the Solent (a foresail) whose headboard tore during the first night at sea. PlayStation's container arrived in Gibraltar today Wednesday with the original mainsail in Spectra that has already covered some 15,000 miles (27,000 km). For information, the problem sail is made in a cloth combining performance and lightweight called "Cuben Fiber." PlayStation saved 300 kg in the weight of the mainsail with this exotic material compared to the 700 to 800 kg of the original sail. Heavy? Certainly, but you have to realise that PlayStation's mainsail measures close to 470 m2, or the equivalent of almost two tennis courts! If PlayStation leaves Gibraltar on Thursday 4th January, does she have a chance of catching up the race leaders? "They can quietly leave in a north-westerly and they won't have lost anything at all," said Loick Peyron (Innovation Explorer) during today's radio session. "PlayStation is a very impressive boat to windward. She points very high and is impressively fast. She has very sleek lines and longer hulls and foresail handling is made easier with furlers. They are going to wait for the front to pass through and quietly leave with some wind," commented Loick. - www.therace.org EASIER SAIL HANDLING If you want easier sail handling and better performance look no further than a SAILMAN full batten system. Designed for yachts from 24ft to 80ft, the range includes track systems, in-mast systems and even slides specifically for composite spars. SAILMAN systems are well engineered, easy to install, simple to maintain and great to use so if you are thinking about full battens, talk to your Sailmaker about SAILMAN by Bainbridge International. More information at: www.sailcloth.com VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines - La Potagere) warned the Vendee Globe Race HQ yesterday that the water temperature had dropped to 0.8 degrees Celsius. Unarguably this sign would announce the presence of icebergs. Both Roland Jourdain and Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher), the two skippers furthest South, redoubled their vigilance over the last 24 hours. Finally it was Bilou who hit the alarm button first at 2130hrs : "Warning, iceberg and growlers spotted at 57 36S & 143 36 W." Immediately this warning was faxed to the other competitors. As if in an echo, Ellen replied two hours later: "6 large icebergs, spotted in a line 58 24S, 143 03W & 58 07S, 145 07W." Ellen was still reeling at the sheer beauty of the 7th and largest iceberg, and equally on edge as well. She revealed that her radar had only picked up one of the string of bergs she has seen, even though all of them had been quite enormous (about 500m long and 200m high). These floating white rocks have drifted up from the Ross Sea. Both skippers soon gybed from their 110 degree heading to climb back up Northwards on a heading of 50 degrees. Leader Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) has not yet shown any decline in boat performance due to his new life under severe power rationing. He said himself that "It'll be just like doing a Figaro race, but for 8 days." This is when he expects to reach Cape Horn, after which, the sun will reappear to charge his solar panels and the upwind sailing angle perfect to charge his wind generator. In the gybing duel, it was 24 year old Ellen who this morning moved into second place in the rankings. She was delighted to hear that she had overtaken Jourdain and maintained higher average speeds than both him & Desjoyeaux for several hours. It is as if she has been wisely waiting for her moment to attack. With 140 miles gained against Roland in just a few days, she now must consolidate her tenuous 11-mile lead with continuously superior boat speed. - http://www.vendeeglobe.com Standings: 1. PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux, 2. Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur 139 miles behind leader, 3. Sill Matines & La Potagere, Roland Jourdain, 150mile behind leader, 4. Active Wear, Marc Thiercelin, 353 miles behind leader, 5. Sodebo Savourons la Vie, Thomas Coville, 809 miles behind leader. 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. We don't publish anonymous letters, but will withhold your e-mail address on request.) * From: "Jeff Borland" jborland@systematicsolutns.com Just to set the record perfectly straight, Roger Vaughn was talking about OPEN Grade 1 Match Race Regattas. In addition to the Congressional Cup and the Knickerbocker Cup, there are two more Grade 1 Match Race Events here in the States, but they are Women's Events - the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup held by Eastport YC in Annapolis, and the Osprey Cup held by the St. Petersburg YC, in St. Petersburg, FL. * From: Ken Guyer kagptloma@home.com I could not agree more with Ed du Moulin's assessment of the declining nationalism in the modern day America's Cup teams. I have a particular problem with the Kiwi-British-anything not American challenge from Seattle under the guise of "One World" and brought to us by billionaire Craig McCaw. It seems that the really wealthy in this world have no problem with re-writing tradition as long as there is good world-wide marketing opportunity involved. It may also be true that the trend cannot be reversed. However, I would encourage ALL Americans to get fully behind the NYYC/Team Dennis Conner effort. That includes corporate America. We all say that the Freo America's Cup was not only great for the event, but for sailing in general. Much of the spirit that came out of the '87 Cup was driven by national pride, American pride. It can be repeated in 2003, and to even greater heights. Wouldn't it be great to see the kind of competitive racing the Cup can bring us, coupled with a complete national effort to bring the America's Cup back to its original home and birthplace. Especially on the 20 year anniversary of its first loss in 132 years!! The icing on the cake is one of the Cup's most legendary skippers would be leading the comeback. Hollywood could not write a better script! * From: Bruce H. Munro Commodore, St. Francis Yacht Club bmunro@thoits.com Let me join the chorus of those who deplore the loss of national identity in the current trend of America's Cup challenges. The Cup was the property of George L. Schuyler until October 24, 1887, when he deeded to the New York Yacht Club, in trust, for certain purposes. The very first stated purpose is "...for friendly competition between foreign countries." There is nothing in the deed of gift to suggest that one purpose is to allow sailors to trade countries and sail for the highest bidder. In the last America's Cup, our club put up a strong challenge that missed being the challenger by a single race. Our team, AmericaOne, had strong backing from our members, both financially and emotionally. I can imagine the outrage our members would have felt if we had won the Cup, brought it to San Francisco and then found out that our skipper (a long-time club member) had decided not to defend it because he could make more money challenging from a foreign country. I feel quite confident that that would never have happened in real life because of the character of our skipper, but it is theoretically possible and that is the problem in the long run. The only parties that can do anything about this situation are the current winner and the original trustee of the Cup. They should do so before the deed of gift becomes completely meaningless and all that counts is money. * From: Jane Pegel Sailing@elknet.net I certainly would not bet against Scott Ridgeway's suggestion that SDYC will have both 2000 Rolex awards. But I can't help but point out that the Melges/Pegel duo that took home these awards decades ago hails from the little old 136 year-old Lake Geneva Yacht Club (all 234 family members strong) and these two can be found on the race course on any Wednesday or Friday evening, and very definitely when there is a Scow or Iceboat regatta being held. * From: "Mom Gevalt" mgevalt@earthlink.net Re scuttlebutt 719 - Such great stories! Now, what was it I liked about sailing? MORE ON THE RACE * Jan 3, 2001 11:07:00 GMT: Of the six skippers who set sail from Barcelona on 31 December 2000, Cam Lewis was by far the most laid-back and easy-going. And, the Team Adventure skipper has lived up to his early promise of charging out to a lead, in an attempt to dominate the event from the front. Having broken out of the Mediterranean early on Tuesday afternoon, Lewis confirmed his position by satellite email to his shore team. He said: "We are out in the Atlantic, shredding the big blue planet. We have been hard on the wind since Barcelona and now continue southwest, off the Moroccan coast. We are still sailing to windward, trying to get west, out towards the Canaries and into the trade winds which will propel us to the equator." At the other end of the field, Tony Bullimore has been making relentless progress in catching Warta Polpharma. Both tail enders have been slowed by equipment problems, but the British skipper is confident of his chances. "We are beginning to hit our stride," said Bullimore late on Tuesday. "The crew has really gelled together under the watch leaders and we are speeding upwind at 10-14 knots. We have taken 30 nautical miles out of the boat ahead, despite a couple of breakages." Bullimore was referring to two minor gear failures on board which temporarily slowed the boat. - Colin Jarman, NOW Sports website. Full story: http://www.now.com/feature.now?cid=997704&fid=1102902 * (The NOW Sports website also discussed Cuben fiber sails that caused problems on Steve Fossett's PlayStation) - Cuben fiber differs from conventional woven sail cloth in that it uses a laminated construction. Fibers such as Carbon, Spectra or Kevlar are laid out to follow the paths of greatest load on a plastic sheet. They are then cold fused, creating a monolithic material in a secret patented process. Pierre Le Maout, the sail-coordinator on PlayStation, says Cuben fiber used on the boat consists of Spectra threads. He estimates that the sails are about 50 percent lighter than conventional Spectra sails, saving about 300kg/660lb on the mainsail alone. This is particularly important because it reduces the critical weight aloft. The monolithic construction eliminates the common problem of layers coming apart. It also does not take on moisture. Le Maout believes that the more conventional Spectra cloth used on Club Med will take up to 50 percent more weight on in the Southern Ocean because of moisture creeping into the fibers. Randy Smyth, the sail designer on Team Adventure, is also a Cuben fiber fan. He must be worried now about the durability of his sails. The major difference with Team Adventure is that Smyth chose to use a heavier weight of laminate at 11oz/0.3kg per square foot compared with PlayStation's 9oz/0.25kg cloth (as a comparison Club Med's cloth is 18oz/0.5kg). He also constructed the sails in the East Coast, USA loft of Halsey Lidgard rather than in New Zealand where PlayStation's sails were made. - Jason Holtom, NOW Sports website. Full story: http://www.now.com/feature.now?cid=997704&fid=1100655 TURN YOUR PASSION INTO YOUR CAREER Because of North Sails unprecedented growth, North Sails Manufacturing is hiring at all levels, all skills, all over the country. Excellent wages, 401K with company match, Health and Dental Insurance. These opportunities offer room for advancement, growth potential, & structured training. Join our team and let your sailing skills work for you. Specific locations include: North Sails Manufacturing in Long Island, Rhode Island, San Diego, Toronto, Connecticut & Maryland. Contact Kallie Gordon (Kallie@nmo.northsails.com)- 203-783-0871 for the opportunity nearest or best suited for you. VOLVO YOUTH WORLDS Conditions on Sydney Harbour get better and better for the 2000 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. Day four saw a perfect breeze of 10 knots at mid-day slowly building to around 18 knots by the end of racing. With the gradient breeze from the northwest boosted by the traditional northeasterly Sydney seabreeze there were big shifts and bands of pressure on all three courses. - Peter Bentley. Team standings after nine races: 1. FRA 287 pts, 2. AUS, 262 pts 3. NED, 208 pts, 4. GBR, 201 pts, 5. NZL, 192 pts, 6. POL, 159 pts, 7. GRE, 159 pts, 8. ESP, 143 pts, 9. GER, 143 pts, 10. DEN, 139 pts. US Teams: Girls Byte, Amanda Clark 6th; Girls 420, Julie Papanek 8th; Mistral Boys, Jonathan Azevedo, 21st; Boys Laser, Andrew Campbell, 7th; Boys 420, William & Andrew Loe, 20th. Full results: http://www.boatingoz.com.au/~volvoyouth.htm THE BEAT GOES ON January 3, 2001 - With the loss of the maxi-catamaran Team Philips, Pete Goss is not sailing around the planet in The Race. However, this gives him the opportunity to unveil the latest Goss Challenge, the Goss Atlantic Row, at the London Boat Show tomorrow. Along with Goss, Mark Stubbs, Atlantic Row team leader, and Sunseeker Chief Executive Robert Braithwaite will unveil Atlantic Spirit marking a campaign to break Atlantic rowing records in June 2001. Mark Stubbs (Poole) along with his crew - Mark Phillips (Poole), Mark Woods (Poole) and Steve King (Hereford) - will attempt to break ocean rowing records in this 33-foot rowing boat built by Goss Composites in Totnes, Devon, UK. The boat, designed to the rowers' spec by Adrian Thompson, marks a new generation of ocean rowing boats; streamlined, lightweight and aerodynamic. Currently, there are two records to beat. The fastest crossing of the Atlantic ever - East to West - is held at 35 days by a team of 11 Frenchmen. The record for the technically more challenging route, the North Atlantic crossing from West to East, is held at 55 days. The Goss Atlantic Row aim to beat both records by rowing the North Atlantic West to East from Newfoundland, Canada to the Isles of Scilly, UK in just 32 days. On day 33, they will row into their spiritual home at the Goss Centre of Challenge and Adventure in Totnes, Devon, UK. The project has been built in full view of the public and can be followed on their website, www.petegoss.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS Jan 31 - Feb 4: J24 Midwinters, Davis Island YC, Tampa, FL, www.j24class.org/usa THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM If 21 is pronounced twenty one, and 31 is thirty one, why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? |
