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SCUTTLEBUTT 1783 - February 25, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock 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. FROM THE PIT TO THE PODIUM Linda Lindquist-Bishop of Yorktown wants another Rolex watch. She received one last September for helping the Barking Mad sailing team win the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in San Francisco Bay. Another of the prized timepieces would be hers if Barking Mad can defend its title in Sydney, Australia, March 1-4. Last fall, the Barking Mad crew worked with the precision of a Rolex in winning the championship by 40 points, the largest margin in Farr 40 yacht-racing history. "Normally it's decided by a point or two," Lindquist-Bishop said. In the upcoming race, she'd settle for any margin of victory against a tough field of 30 boats from around the world. This includes entries from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Denmark, France, New Zealand and the United States. Lindquist-Bishop, a 42-year-old business consultant, will have a major role aboard Barking Mad. Having sailed on more than 100 teams in the past 19 years, she's the captain of the bow team. Her job is to control all of the workings of the sails going up and down. "My position on the boat is the 'pit.' It's my favorite spot - in the middle of the boat," she said. "It's a man's spot. Most of the boats don't have women on their teams." Barking Mad is different when it comes to women. Besides Lindquist-Bishop and Stevenson, there's also Krissy Loewenthal of Fresno, Calif. Having skilled women on the boat can be advantageous. The boat is allowed a maximum weight of 1,672 pounds for its 10-member crew. Lindquist-Bishop plans to weigh around 140 for the championship and Loewenthal usually weighs less than 100, which will allow the boat to have bigger and stronger men. Lindquist-Bishop is committed to the sport. Last year she spent 100 days sailing in preparation for the 2004 World Championships. During one stretch from July 9 to Sept. 20, she was home for only nine days. Lindquist-Bishop and the Barking Mad crew should be prepared to defend their Farr 40 title. After spending part of last week getting used to the racing conditions in Sydney, they'll compete in the Australian Nationals this weekend, the pre-Worlds Regatta Feb. 24-26 and then the World Championships. Hopefully when she returns home March 6, she'll have a new Rolex to show off. - Ed Richards, The Daily Press, full story, http://tinyurl.com/5agjh BOAT BIDDING Newport Beach, CA - Scout Spirit, the Reichel Pugh 78-foot, fractional rig, maxi turbo sled recently donated to the Newport Sea Base, is being auctioned to race in the First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta May 19-22. The First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta will bring together top caliber yachts, including the maxZ86s, off-shore racers over 50 feet in length and Transpac 52s. The growing list of boats currently includes America's Challenge II, Bolt, Genuine Risk, Grand Illusion, It's OK, Magnitude 80, Margaritaville, Pendragon IV, Pyewacket, Scout Spirit, Stark Raving Mad, Taxi Dancer and Vicki. Scout Spirit was originally known as Zephyrus IV, when it set the current record for the Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro race. Later, it sailed under new ownership and the name Bright Star until donated to the Newport Sea Base. The minimum bid starts at $30,000 with a $500 incremental increase for each new bid. Online auction close date is March 31, 2005. If a bid is placed for $40,000 in the "buy it now" option, the bidder will win the auction. Auction proceeds will benefit Hoag Hospital and the Newport Sea Base. The top bid also will receive event Silver Sponsor privileges, including logo recognition on Scout Spirit, banners, advertisements and a variety of printed materials, as well as access to elite social functions held throughout the event. For more information and to submit a bid, visit http://www.firstteamregatta.com VENDÉE GLOBE 2004 (Thursday, February 24) Originally expected into Les Sables d'Olonne this afternoon, (ninth place) American skipper Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet has been drastically slowed by headwinds and rain squalls overnight, still awaiting the wind to veer round to the North to take him on a direct course to the finish. Having covered just 115.9 miles over the past 24 hours, looping this seemingly eternal loop of the world must seem to Bruce that it is never coming, the NE'ly wind refusing to veer round to the N to set him on a direct course. At a steady 5 knots of boat speed, all forecasts would suggest that Bruce will nonetheless complete his ordeal tomorrow morning in under 110 days. In so doing he will become the first American skipper to officially complete the Vendée Globe. - Kate Jennings, event website, http://www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk SOUTHERN SPARS CELEBRATES ELLEN MACARTHUR'S TRIUMPH Southern Spars congratulate Ellen MacArthur on her sensational achievement in breaking the solo circumnavigation record. We are very proud to have been part of this great campaign. Built as a rotating wing, the mast was designed and built for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, ease of use and reliability at our facility in Auckland, New Zealand. Southern Spars also built the mast for adventurer Steve Fossett's fully-crewed catamaran, Cheyenne, which holds the outright record for the fastest circumnavigation. Mari Cha IV smashed the trans-Atlantic record on its first outing with masts by Southern Spars. Tel +64-9-358-3315 or http://www.southernspars.com FARR 40 PRE-WORLDS The Italians are dominating the leaderboard of the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds after a day's light-air racing outside Sydney Harbour, in conditions that were more Mediterranean than Pacific Ocean. Perhaps that explained why in each of the three races, the winner's gun went to three different Italian boats, all of whom looked very at home in the flat water and light north-easterly breezes. Vincenzo Onorato helmed Mascalzone Latino to victory in Race 1, then Marco Rodolfi and TWT in Race 2, with 2003 World Champion Nerone completing the Italian job in Race 3. While the name Nerone frequently appears in conversations about potential winners of the Rolex Farr World Championships - due to take place next week - TWT is mentioned far less often. And yet it was Rodolfi's team that came out of today with the best scores, 2-1-5 compared with Nerone's 4-5-1. Reigning World Champion Barking Mad lacked consistency, but was still sitting 5th overall in these early stages of the nine-race series. - Complete story, http://www.regattanews.com/pressrelease.asp?pid=1102&lang=1 ORYX QUEST 2005 For the first time in quite a few days the edge-of-control sailing on Doha 2006 has given way to more moderate conditions as the Qatari catamaran sails the southern Tasman Sea. At the 07:00 GMT poll on Thursday the yacht was 100 miles west of the longitude of Stuart Island, a remote island off the south coast of New Zealand's south island. The lighter conditions had in fact already allowed Cheyenne to narrow the gap. At the 07:00 GMT poll Cheyenne had reduced Doha 2006's lead by almost a hundred miles and the boat was sailing almost 10 knots faster. Doha 2006 skipper Brian Thompson was taking a philosophical approach to their lead over Cheyenne, "It's certainly a decent gap but with these incredibly fast boats, one false move and that cushion could be completely gone." - Event website, full story, http://tinyurl.com/3wo8w The major repairs required by Geronimo the Capgemini/Schneider Electric trimaran will soon be finished in record time and she'll be back in the Oryx Quest race in just a few hours from now. Once the inner and outer skins have been resealed, all that remains is the process of curing the laminations. This is no easy task with the boat in the water. The process requires an even temperature over the entire area. Luckily the weather in Fremantle is dry and warm (30°C). De Kersauson added: "If we can get the temperature up to 80°C consistently, then it will take five hours; if we only manage 60°C, it'll take 13 hours. Everything depends on getting this curing process right and the length of time that takes." The crew has now completed a full check-up of the trimaran. "Once we get back to sea, we'll probably be the best maintained boat in the fleet." On the other hand, one crewmember will have no choice but to leave at this point. Antoine Deru broke a kneecap during a manoeuvre at sea. "He's had some excellent medical care ashore. If he stays on board, he'll probably have a lot of ongoing problems, but if he stays here, he'll be fine in a few weeks. Didier Ragot will take over his watch, which will, of course, change the distribution of roles on board. We'll now have two five-man watches, with me outside the watch system." - Yachting World, full story, http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20050124145335ywnews.html ORANGE II Bruno Peyron and his team aboard the 120ft catamaran Orange II maxi catamaran could be rounding Cape Horn on Friday, with a lead of six or seven days over Steve Fossett's Cheyenne. And in doing so are likely to grab two new south Pacific records. They are still continuing to make excellent progress but have decided to track further north to avoid the heavy seas and, of course, ice. Although it will be a slightly longer course the team say the extra speed in the 'flatter' water will largely compensates for that. Rounding the Horn tomorrow should allow Peyron to grab two new records in the south Pacific - Cape Leeuwin (Australia) - Cape Horn, and the official South Pacific record held since last winter by Fossett, for the journey between the south of Tasmania (the entry into the Pacific) and Cape Horn (entry into the Atlantic). - Sue Pelling/Yachting World, full story, http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20050124103417ywnews.html Friday at 02:30 GMT, the distance covered in the previous 24 hours was 533 nm, with 7,612.00 nm to go. Orange II is 3,489 ahead of the Jules Verne record, and 2,519 ahead of the absolute record held by Cheyenne. - http://www.maxicatamaran-orange.com SAIL BETTER. SAVE $25. North U Racing, Cruising, and Weather Seminars teach the latest in sailing technique. "Racing Trim" teaches the latest in boatspeed and boathandling. "Cruising and Seamanship," created with John Rousmaniere, teaches skills to improve cruising performance, comfort, and safety. "Weather for Sailors," created with Bill Biewenga, teaches how to gather, analyze, and apply weather information to your sailing or racing. Top instructors and multi-media presentations keep the focus on your sailing. Call or add "Scuttlebutt Discount" to the comments when signing up on-line and save $25. Call 800-347-2457 or visit http://www.NorthU.com NEWS BRIEFS * Team Alinghi will be the first to move its entire team (both sailing and administration) to Valencia, Spain, host city of the 32nd America's Cup. The plan is to start operations on the March 15 and to sail by April 4. The logistics of moving almost 100 Team members and their families, approximately 350 people, is hampered by the team's 17 different nationalities, wherein less than 10 percent of them speak Spanish. Housing, schools, and logistical support for insurance and health care are among the arrangements being made. - Team Alinghi, http://www.alinghi.com/ * London (AFP) - In probably the most unusual tribute since she completed her record breaking round-the-world yacht trip, British sailor Ellen MacArthur has had a baby pygmy hippo named after her, zoo officials said. Ellen the pygmy hippo was named because she loves water, a marked contrast to most members of her endangered species which, unlike the common hippo, generally prefer dry land. "Ellen loves the water, just like her namesake, and spends a lot of time paddling about in the pool," said Kathleen Standen, a senior keeper at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. - Yahoo! News, http://tinyurl.com/47xwo CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Brian Hancock: Bruce Schwab is about to become the first American to finish the Vendee Globe. It's an amazing achievement, one that in other countries would have merited an MBE or similar award. This is his second solo circumnavigation in a little over two years - all without a sponsor. Instead Bruce has relied on the support and generosity of a vast grass roots following of sailors and non-sailors who are inspired by his guts and determination. I hope that his achievement gets the highest recognition in the US and around the world. He certainly has my admiration. * From Jessica Lord: (RE: wally cross and "expert advice") Once, before the start of the feeder race to KWRW (Ft Lauderdale-KW), this local weather expert spoke at the skipper's meeting and announced to all that his forecast was "guaranteed". He explained that if by tomorrow's finish, the forecast he gave was wrong, we could return to him and he would be more than happy to give another one! We all know that weather people are about 50% accurate, but we always watch the weather channel over our bowls of Rice Crispies anyway. When I was at a regatta in Newport Beach, I had the task of phoning a contact at the local airport each morning and getting a pilot's report of the winds aloft and what was approaching, and using that information to assist in our game plan. It was surprisingly helpful for understanding the unfamiliar wind patterns for that area, and I recommend it to everyone, but I agree with Kevin. Spending a day or two before the racing starts, paying attention to the weather as you do your chores, and then going out on the water early and seeing what is happening in the sky and on the water and under the seat of your pants. If you are not sailing in some whacky area like San Francisco where we have hidden secret factors like "beach relief" and "cones", getting out on the water early and sailing around for a while beats any toupee-wearing, big white-toothed talking head on the TV. * From David Cook: I have no experience in kitesailing other than envying those sailors having a blast sailing back and forth off our city's waterfront in strong winds. It would seem ISAF is a little hypocritical not wanting to include kite sailing into our sport when they have accepted windsurfing, ice sailing, canting keels, and even radio-controlled sailboats. Where is the line drawn? If the craft is powered by the wind - it's sailing regardless of its shape, size or speed. Let's see if ISAF is understanding enough to reverse their previous decision. Good luck kite sailors! * From Bruce Thompson: I understand Doug Lord's surprise that ISAF would try to expand into kitesailing. He must be an American! I've been told that in Europe (and maybe other socialist countries) the national government wants to exercise control over the citizens. Therefore, the National Governing Body of a country is also an arm of the political government (think driver's licenses!) that actually issues a license to sail for a fee! So if the country does not want to encourage demands for liberty among the citizens, it must control all forms of on-water activity, especially those "anarchists" who aren't limited by groupthink! Groups of such individuals are a prime breeding ground for talk of "freedom". So the NGBs stick their noses into everything! Want proof? Check out the appendices to RRS which include boardsailing, radio control, etc. Expect a kitesailing appendix soon! * From John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council: To clarify the World Sailing Speed Record (WSSR) Council position concerning kite surfing, WSSR Rule 2 states that, in addition to the World Sailing Speed Record (the outright record), records can be established in the following sail area divisions: 10sq.m, A Class, B Class, C Class, D Class, and a division for sailboards with kite sails. This is unchanged and kite records will continue to be ratified by the WSSR Council in that division and kite speed sailing events will be observed and monitored as normal. Kite records have their own section on the WSSR website - http://www.sailspeedrecords.com However, ISAF have stated that, at present, a claim on the outright World Sailing Speed Record by a kite sailboard would not be endorsed. This represents no change from the current position. * From Scott MacLeod, Tour Director, Swedish Match Tour: I was very interested to read the announcement about the "world's richest professional sailing tour" but unfortunately it already exists ...and it's richer! The Swedish Match Tour has nine events around the world (compared to their 7), we offer over $1 million in total prize money with a Tour championship prize of $200,000 plus a new BMW 545i Touring to the winner (compared to their 150K) and our series is already televised in 155 countries reaching +400 million households. As a sailor, I think the 18's are exciting boats to watch but a heads up, winner take all battle between Coutts, Baird, Barker, or Brady is something not to be missed. *From John Roberson: Well-said Christian Fevrier, on the subject of merchant ships keeping a lookout. There are many, many incidents of merchant ships without lookouts causing death or injury to sailors, but I don't remember any of single-handed sailors causing much more than a slight scratch to the paintwork of merchant ships. I seem to remember somewhere way back, our good friend Robin K-J making his feeling felt on this subject too. I think with Captain Appleby it is very much a case of the pot calling the kettle black. * From Maurice Cusick: Capt. Appleby is absolutely correct and I have wondered about this in the past. All sailors are required to keep a proper lookout while at sea, and it is negligence not to do so. There are many cases where liability has been leveled due to a failure to keep a proper lookout that resulted in a collision. While there are millions of square miles of ocean and an accident has not yet happened (excepting, of course, that chap who hit a coastline a few years back), it is bound to occur in the future. And race organizers may not be able to avoid liability since they know this is happening, yet do nothing to prevent it. A "sail safe and avoid all violations of regulations" warning to sailors may not be enough. Curmudgeon's Comment: It makes you wonder what kind of indemnification language is part of the sponsorship contracts Ellen and the Vendee Globe racers must utilize. CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country. |
