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SCUTTLEBUTT 1957 -- November 1, 2005
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,
features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
SCUTTLEBUTT FORUMS
There is now a forum section on the Scuttlebutt website to provide the
opportunity for the friendly exchange of information. If you have never
used a forum before, it is pretty easy, and it offers a completely
different level of communication. Trying to figure out where to stay at a
regatta? Wondering what kind of sailing gear works best? Looking for event
news not covered in the newsletter? The forums will be the place to go,
along with providing event organizers another avenue for promotion, and
industry folks an opportunity to make announcements. The Scuttlebutt Forums
currently has one area for sailing comments, but separate discussion
categories can be created where needed.
Are there any rules experts out there? Maybe you can answer the posting
regarding the rights of boats on opposite tacks as they approach the
leeward mark: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=5
MÁS CAMPEONES
The crew of the Brasil 1 gains one more world champion. Skipper Torben
Grael confirmed the addition to the crew of Carioca Alan Adler, director of
the Brasil 1 and 1989 Star class world champion. He will join the crew for
the local in-port race on November 5th in Sanxenxo, Spain, at the official
start of the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race.
The in-port races are a new feature in this edition of the most traditional
round-the-world regatta. The seven participating boats will compete in a
race with defined lanes; the points will count in the final standing. The
format of these races is the same as that of Olympic competitions, one of
the specialties of the Brazilians selected by Torben Grael. On November
5th, the Brasil 1 will have onboard a total of nine Olympic medals and
eleven world titles.
Grael himself is the one who most contributed to this total, with five
Olympic medals and six world titles. Brasil 1's trimmer, Marcelo Ferreira
was Grael's sailing partner on some of these victories and adds another
three Olympic medals and two world champions. Bowman Kiko Pellicano rounds
out the medal-rich trio with a bronze in the Tornado class at the 1996
Atlanta Olympics.
The list of world champions is much longer. In addition to Alan Adler,
André Fonseca also adds two Junior Snipe class wins. Horácio Carabelli,
selected this week to join the crew for the Vigo (Spain) to Cape Town
(South Africa) leg, also has won two world championships. He will only sail
on the first leg of the race.
"Sometimes it's almost funny to look at the crew and see how many Olympic
medals we have," said Australian Adrienne Cahalan, the only woman
participating in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Nominated four times
for the Sailor of the Year award, she has never competed in the Olympics.
"But I think I make up for that with my experience on long distance
regattas," she added. -- Brasil 1 website, full story:
http://www.brasil1.com.br/site_ing/noticias/show_releases.aspx?id=188
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CHANGING COURSE
(The Daily Sail subscription website has posted an interview with Laser
champion Robert Scheidt regarding his move to the Star class. Here's a
brief excerpt.)
Robert Scheidt needs little introduction as one of the most well known and
successful dinghy sailors today. With two Olympic gold medals in the Laser,
and what might have been a third in Sydney had it not been for the
memorable showdown with Ben Ainslie, the 32 year old Brazilian recently won
his eighth Laser World Championship in his own home waters, at a time when
he is finally moving away from the singlehander on which he has built his
reputation.
There have been rumours that this World Championship was to be Scheidt's
last major Laser sailing event as he is going to concentrate on his next
Olympic campaign in the Star. In truth although Scheidt's main focus has
switched to the Star he is not planning on giving up Laser sailing
completely any time soon. It is clear that Scheidt and Prada are not too
far off the pace in the massively competitive Star class. Their best result
to date is a sixth at the most recent Star World Championship in Argentina.
Scheidt says that he wanted to get into the Star partly because it would
open the door to big boat events. "In the future I would like to join the
European Circuit in big boat sailing like TP52s and if I have the chance,
the America's Cup," he says. -- The Daily Sail, http://thedailysail.com
ADELPHIA.NET
We noticed last week that customers of the Internet provider Adelphia.net
were getting the delivery of Scuttlebutt blocked by their ISP. Apparently,
Adelphia.net has spam rules that limit the amount of email their customers
receive from a single source. There must be a lot of Scuttlebutt email
subscribers using this ISP, as this limit was tripped. However, when we had
our people talk with their people, we were able to get Scuttlebutt delivery
flowing again. Whether you are with Adelphia.net or not, there is a link
on the Scuttlebutt website with tips to help with email filtering (or
please contact us if we can ever be of assistance):
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/filter.asp
GERMANY MOVING FORWARD
When United Internet Team Germany challenged for the 32nd America's Cup
right on the challenger deadline, the team was aware that it would be
behind the other squads, especially early in the campaign. When your team
doesn't exist two months before the first race, it's going to be an uphill
climb. "We had so little time it was almost like it was risky, crazy and a
waste of money to get to the start line, because we thought we would have
no chance whatsoever," says skipper Jesper Bank, remembering the scramble
to get racing in Valencia. "We thought we would make a fool of ourselves
and jeopardise our chance to promote ourselves to the public. But I'm glad
we took the chance and went out there, because it is the only way to learn,
to get out there and race against the best."
The Germans were far from embarrassing themselves. In fact, they were
perhaps the biggest surprise of the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts, winning
three matches and finishing 10th out of 12. Skipper Jesper Bank is a big
reason for that success. As a veteran of the America's Cup from the last
Victory Challenge campaign, Bank can provide some shortcuts past the
pitfalls first-time challengers often fall into. And the six Louis Vuitton
Acts this season provided an opportunity for his team to gain valuable
racing experience that normally wouldn't accrue until the beginning of the
Louis Vuitton Cup.
"I can compare this with our situation with Victory last time round, when
we were on our own for a long time," Bank says. "The first time we stepped
up against another boat, we realised that time on our own was pretty much a
waste of time. Now we have already raced the other teams in three venues,
and that has boosted our learning curve to an extent that was impossible
last time. It is a huge benefit for a team like us." The Germans finished
10th on the season leaderboard, ahead of Shosholoza and China Team. It's a
respectable start, but clearly there's still plenty of work to do. Off the
water, things weren't all that smooth at the end of the season for United
Internet Team Germany. Squabbling in the boardroom pointed to changes in
the management structure of the team over the winter. -- America's Cup
website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/bbjrd
THE ART OF THE ASYMMETRICAL
Doyle asymmetrical spinnakers are durable and forgiving to trim across a
range of wind speeds, wind angles, and sea conditions. Get an inside look
at how Doyle's head sail designer, Richard Bouzaid, develops Doyle
Asymmetricals at: http://www.doylesails.com/newsletter.htm
CHANGING TIMES
"Winter time" began in Europe and the USA over the weekend when the clocks
were set back one hour. In the USA, it happened time zone by time zone as
02:00 (local time) becomes 01:00. In the European Union, Summer Time begins
and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). In the EU, all
time zones change at the same moment. You would think that the Americans
and Europeans could at least agree how to "fall back." But, no, and they
can't even call it the same thing: "Summer Time" in Europe and "Daylight
Saving Time" in the USA.
At least the day the clocks fall back was the same, unlike Spring 2006 --
the States will go back on "DST" on 2 April and Europe on 26 March. And,
beginning in 2007 both the spring forward and fall back dates are different
in Europe and the USA, not to mention when the New Zealand changes in the
opposite direction. For the record, New Zealand Daylight Saving for
southern summer of 2005-2006 began on Sunday 2nd October 2005 and ends on
Sunday 19th March 2006. Daylight Saving always begins and ends at 02:00
NZST. -- Challenger Commission, http://www.challengercommission.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* The University of California Irvine won the Inter-Collegiate Sailing
Association Sloop National Championship 2005-2006 this past weekend. The
event was held at Gull Lake near Kalamazoo, Michigan and was hosted by
Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. Georgetown
finished second in a ten team field with Texas A&M - Galveston third in a
tiebreaker over Minnesota. The Championship was sailed in Lightnings, which
were donated by local area Lightning sailors. More information is available
at the event website: http://www.collegesailing.org/nas/fall05/sloops
* Annapolis, MD - Skipper Ethan Bixby and crew Erik Boothe held off Henry
Amthor and Jesse Falsone in the final race to win a tiebreaker over Tim
Collins and Drew Buttner and take the Fawcett Boat Supplies 2005
International 505 East Coast Championship at Severn Sailing Association.
The regatta was extremely close, with only nine points separating the top
five boats, resulting in an intense final day of racing. Barney Harris and
Clayton James, who had been winning the regatta after the first day,
finished third. Thirty-three teams participated from San Diego, Ottawa
Canada, Florida, Ohio, and New England.
http://www.int505.org/fleet19/events/200510ECC
* Annapolis, MD - The Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy competing in US
Sailing's U.S. Offshore Championship enjoyed a great weekend, coming out
with a bang on the first day of racing last Friday to take the lead and
never give it up. Annapolis Yacht Club finished in second place just two
points behind the winners, followed by Hampton Yacht Club just one point
further down. A total of 11 teams of eight sailors from across the country
competed in Navy 44s for the U.S. Offshore Championship. Complete event
information at http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usoffshore
* Video of champion wakeboarder Dan Nott being towed by the Volvo 70 ABN
Amro One is now on the Scuttlebutt website:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/v70wkbd
* Images from the 2005 Hobie 16 Worlds being held in Nelson Mandela Bay,
South Africa are now on the Scuttlebutt website:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/h16worlds
* The Swedish Match Tour will celebrate its 50th event at the inaugural
Monsoon Cup (Nov. 29-Dec. 4) in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. One of three
new events on the Tour schedule the event has a MYR400,000 (approximately
$105,000) prize purse. In the midst of its seventh racing season, the Tour
was founded in 2000 to unite the world's best match-race events under one
umbrella. Swedish Match Tour events include Portugal Match Cup, Danish
Open, St. Moritz Match Race, Monsoon Cup, Brazil Sailing Cup, ACI H1 Match
Race Cup, Match Race Germany, Toscana Elba Cup-Trofeo Locman and Swedish
Match Cup. -- http://www.swedishmatchtour.com
MAN OVERBOARD!
A dark and stormy night...no visibility...bow man washed overboard...a
crew's worst nightmare. But with SeaMarshall automatic water-activated
beacons and our new SarFinder homing receiver, a potentially tragic
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http://www.chbarber.com
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 neither 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. And please save your bashing,
and personal attacks for elsewhere.)
* From Malcolm McKeag: I think I've asked this before in Scuttlebutt. If I
have, I didn't get a convincing answer. Why is it necessary to increase
participation in sailing (Paul Strzelecki's letter of 31st October 'Get
involved to help reverse the decline in sailing participation.')? Having
sailed for the past 50 years or so, and having made a modest living there
from for the past 30 years or so, I am not sure I as a private sailor have
derived any great benefit from the increased participation in my sport that
I have seen in those 50 years.
Certainly I have seen many changes in once accessible boat-yards and quiet
creeks wrought by the vastly increased numbers of yachts trying to find
somewhere to park, and many changes in how, where, when, and against whom
we race wrought by the vastly increased number of different classes now
competing with each other for the same limited stretches of sailable water
and the same number of weekends in a year. I don't want to sound like an
Old Curmudgeon, you understand, but if fewer people went sailing, would
that not just mean more cake for those of us who remain?
* From John Rumsey: (regarding the Olympic scoring proposal in Issue 1956)
Leave the scoring alone. If a sailor can win it with a race in hand, great,
the masses don't watch sailing on TV anyway. TV doesn't like to show
contests where they don't know who the winner will be so they can show a
history clip of how the competitor overcame adversity when they were young. >
* From John Sweeney: (Re Jerry Kirby's quote in Scuttlebutt 1956) I have to
ask, have any of the Volvo boats performed a simulation by tossing a
harnessed crash test dummy off of the boat while surfing at 20+ knots? Is
the best alternative to be lashed to the boat when there is risk of
snapping your spine or drowning before the boat can be brought to rest?
Assuming that all crew wear dry suits, PFD's, personal EPIRB, whistle and
strobe, might it be safer to be free of the boat and await a perfected man
overboard recovery?
* From Eric Wallischeck Sailing Master, USMMA: I found the pictures of
ABNAmro posted on the Butt website both thrilling and frightening. Combined
with the comments in recent Butts about the loads and speeds of the Volvo
70s, I wonder where the balance has been drawn between crew safety and
vessel performance. I've never been in the Southern Ocean, and am hardly an
expert on high-speed, high-performance sailing. But, one of my heroes is
Conny van Rietschoten, whose level of preparation and attention to detail
lead his Flyers to back to back Whitbread victories. More to the point was
the attention that was paid by owners to quality of life, survivability,
and self-sufficiency in the early boats (probably up to the introduction of
the W60 class). Maybe the legs are so much shorter today that crew comfort
and carrying a spare widget is less important. Anyway, I'm curious to hear
what other Buttheads have to say (as though they needed an invitation).
Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/abnamro1027
* From Ed Botterell: (re Wheatley's editorial in Butt 1956) I do not know
Mr. Wheatley, but if "Corner banging Wannabes" isn't officially
acknowledged by 'butt as the most important addition to our nautical
vocabulary in recent memory, a great disservice to our sport will be
attributed to the Curmudgeon. 'Tis a gem indeed!
* From Rory Paton, Lymington UK: Well done Magnus, to the point as ever,
I've a better idea, why not take the elapsed time for end of each race and
add then aggregate them, the leader starts first and then 2nd 3rd and 4th
etc dependant on their times. Alternatively just leave what isn't broken
well alone. The IOC don't want the outcome settled before the last race so
just make it non discard-able. True champions should always rise to the
top, but why make this less likely to happen?
* From Mike Kennedy: Richard Collins' letter (in Issue 1956) about the 12
meters racing in Volvo 70 conditions reminds me of the '87 AC races in
Freemantle. I was aboard a 170 foot ferry used as an observation vessel. We
followed the 12s around the course and at times were taking green water
over the bridge, which must have been about 60 feet above the water. The
12s didn't break in those conditions. Great racing.
* From David Foscarini: Regarding Nike Jako's comment from butt 1956,
commenting on Mike Marzahl's claim from butt 1955. Great Star sailors may
come from the Finn class but more great sailors got their start in the
Optimist class than any other. This is not a question of the lowest common
denominator, but the smallest common denominator.
Curmudgeon's Comment: We are going to end this thread before it goes any
further. However, if you still want to continue with it, feel free to
progress the thread on the Scuttlebutt Forums:
http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=5
* From Alun James: (edited to our 250 word limit) Following on from from
Nick Jako and Mike Marzahl's thoughts on what yacht design makes the
sailing "exemplar." I believe that the yacht "type" is important, as it has
to be technically challenging as well as rewarding of top performance. That
said I also believe that it is only one side to the "Triangle of Fire." The
next two sides are environmental; firstly it is essential that budding
yachtspersons be given the support, the mentoring, the hunger, and the
self-belief to succeed. The last side to the triangle is where I believe
that Kiwi yachties have the edge.
Before anyone contests that, consider per capita, how many elite level
yachtsmen NZ has. The last side to the triangle is the wind and the water.
NZ is a skinny country; we do not hold weather systems readily. This makes
the weather changeable at best, a pain in the butt or dangerous at worst.
Sometimes we will get patchy, fluky breeze lines that will suck a fleet
away from you like a scene out of Star Trek. Combine this with variable
tides and you have yachting youth that are not just hungry but greedy for
the next 0.1 knot of boat speed. Many of these "youth" have cut their teeth
in Opti's and P's in and around Murrays Bay, Evans Bay, the Kohimarama
Yacht Club, the Tanner Cup, etc. I think the challenge is to keep the 3
sides in balance, too much of one and the other sides will be suppressed.
CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM
Did Adam and Eve have navels?
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