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SCUTTLEBUTT 1392 - August 13, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. FASTNET RACE Unexceptional conditions make for record-breaking situations in the Rolex Fastnet Race, which is why Neville Crichton's 90ft Shockwave/Alfa Romeo came closer to a new monohull record than had seemed feasible before Sunday's start at Cowes. She reached the Plymouth breakwater finish line at 7.12 pm yesterday having recorded a time of 57hr 2min for the 608-mile course. Such is the progress in yacht design that the 40th winner took less than half of the six days and 14 hours that the cutter Jolie Brise needed in the first race in 1925. When Marvin Green's 80ft Nirvana set her monohull record in 1985 it was the same light-to-medium reaching winds. Similarly Ross Field's RF Yachting achieved her still-unbeaten two days 5hr 8min in 1999 in similar winds. Crichton's crew needed to reach Plymouth by 3.18pm yesterday to improve that time, missing out by nearly four hours. Shockwave/Alfa Romeo was not without a late, strong threat from Robert McNeil's Zephyrus V. Winner of June's Daimler-Chrysler Newport-to-Cuxhaven transatlantic race, Zephyrus had trailed Shockwave/Alfa Romeo at the Fastnet Rock by more than hour on Monday evening. The 31 hours that Crichton's yacht took to reach ocean racing's most famous turning mark gave the first firm hint that a record chance existed. Yet by the time the pair had re-crossed the Celtic Sea, rounded the Bishop Rock off the Scillies and closed on the Cornish coast, the American maxi had closed to within 400 metres. At Rame Head, guarding the western approaches to Plymouth, the John Bertrand-skippered Zephyrus had slipped into a half-mile lead by finding better breeze inshore. Shockwave/Alfa Romeo reversed the order shortly, the second time she reclaimed the lead during the race. Zeyphrus finished just 10 minutes behind. - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=%2Fsport%2F2003%2F08%2F13%2Fsoyots13.xml Event website: http://www.rorc.org QUOTE / UNQUOTE "That was the toughest battle for line honours we have ever had. This boat has started 54 races and collected line honours on 53 occasions. It feels really good to have collected line honours for the Rolex Sydney Hobart and the Rolex Fastnet in the same year." - Neville Crichton, owner/ skipper of Alfa Romeo. "Gentlemen build yachts, they go racing and someone has to win. But it wasn't us! - Robert McNeill, owner/ skipper of Zephyrus V. ANALYSIS (Jim Pugh, half of the yacht design house of Reichel-Pugh, compared Alfa Romeo and Zephyrus V (both are R/P designs) for a story posted on The Daily Sail website. Here are two brief excerpts.) Zephyrus V and Alfa Romeo are similar in concept, says Pugh, in terms of displacement: length ratio and sail area: wetted surface area, although Alfa Romeo has a 4ft length advantage being 90ft compared to Zephyrus V's 86ft. "Both boats I am sure have excellent crews," says Pugh. "The Alfa Romeo crew has more time in the boat and Neville is pretty fanatical about preparation which as you know is key to any race. The impact of this may be somewhat negated by the light air." Both boats have fractional rigs with non overlapping jibs. Pugh thinks Zephyrus V may be carrying her Code 0 straight luff masthead genoa which would put her rating up above Alfa Romeo's. Alfa Romeo's TCC is 1.664 compared to Zephyrus' 1.693. * Pugh says these boats really come into there own in real breeze and sea and if anything they are biased away from light air. However in the light, one difference may be that Alfa Romeo has no exposed propulsion drive whereas Zephyrus V has a sail drive. "In light air in particular an exposed drive is significant drag." Alfa Romeo has a trim tab which Pugh adds can be very effective versus the tab-less Zephyrus V. - The Daily Sail, full story: http://thedailysail.com/ BEHIND THE SCENES Out on the start line of the 2003 Transpac was the new 22' Raider 665, which had the distinction of the being the official photo boat for the event. This new center console boat, complete with motor trailer, even has an enclosed head and is available with special introductory pricing. With all the speed and performance of the larger Raider RIBs, this smaller size doesn't compromise on the superb handling that made Raider famous. Quality made affordable. Test drive in San Diego, San Francisco or eastern US. Call for details at (877) 772-4337 or view online at http://www.raiderboat.com VIADUCT HARBOUR Syndicate Row at the Viaduct Harbour is to stay in public hands but local politicians are divided over whether any cash should change hands. The region's leaders yesterday voted to keep the waterfront land on Halsey St, used by six America's Cup bases, in public ownership in perpetuity. Although there is strong support for the Auckland City Council taking over the land at no cost, some councils believe it would mean less money for transport and stormwater projects. This is because Infrastructure Auckland, which pays for this work, owns the land through a subsidiary, America's Cup Village Ltd. The company will cease to exist when the assets are handed over to the Auckland City Council or a charitable trust set up by the council. The council plans to develop the land into open space and a marine facility for events such as on-water concerts and boat shows. The land could be used for bases if New Zealand won back the America's Cup. Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton backed the decision to keep the land in public hands, saying that if apartments were built on it and the cup came back there would be nowhere for the boats to go. Auckland City Mayor John Banks said yesterday that with so little open space left in the city "we need to save this property from commercial exploitation". - Bernard Orsman, NZ Herald, Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3517252 RIGHT OR LEFT? (Which side of the first beat to favor is often the most important, and difficult, choice in a race. In the July/August issue of Sailing World magazine Gary Jobson offers his advice on making this dicey decision. Here's an excerpt - reprinted with permission.) When you look upwind, split the leg into three sections: left, middle, and right. After a couple of minutes of study, make a guess as to which side seems better. Select a section to head for, and state your findings aloud-this is part of giving yourself the courage to make a choice. Your first instinct will usually be correct. Now run a test; the best way is to arrange a tune-up with a competitor. While you sail upwind on one side of the course, your partner sails up the other. After 2 minutes, tack toward each other. Note which boat gains, and after crossing, head toward the opposite side for another 2 minutes. Tack back together and note the difference. Usually the boat on the same side will have gained. Return to the starting area and make a second visual observation. Ask yourself, is the wind any different now? The key at this point is to make a definite decision to favor one section of the course. Sometimes you may think you'll get a shift going one way but stronger wind, the other. If that's the choice, I like to head for stronger wind because it gives me more speed and often more options. Set up your starting strategy so you're heading toward the side you favor. If your plan is to sail to the right side, start on the right end of the line. The less sure you are of your choice, the closer to the middle of the line you should start. Once the race starts, head for your side at top speed. Right or wrong, speed always counts. Strategically, your biggest decision now is to monitor the rest of the fleet and consider whether to carry on or switch sides. My first instinct is always to stick with my original call. But conditions change, so one crewmember should continually analyze whether you're gaining or losing; if you decide your side is losing within a minute or two, that's the time to tack and stay in contact with the leaders. - Gary Jobson, Sailing World magazine, full story: http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=1944 NEWS BRIEFS * Twenty seven competitors from 15 countries have arrived in Moscow for the Snipe Junior World Championship. Each country is allowed to send two teams (not turning 20 in this year) with the host country allowed one extra. This year Moldavia, Ukraine and Belarus are in attendance in addition to the established Snipe countries of USA, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, Canada, France, Russia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The US Sailors are Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and Graham Biehl; Adam and Melanie Roberts. : www.sailing.ru * The San Diego-based Challenged America - a free, therapeutic recreational-rehabilitation sailing program for adults and youth with disabilities - recently received six donated sailboats from Loch and Clare Crane of San Diego YC. Four of the boats were Martin 16s, which expands the group's fleet to nine, making it one of the largest Martin 16 fleets in the world. The other two donated boats were vintage Stars. - www.ChallengedAmerica.org * Correction: The URL for the Liberty Cup website is: http://www.libertycup.net SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PHRF CHAMPIONSHIP: Ullman Sails customers continue there winning ways by capturing trophies in all classes at this year's PHRF Championship hosted by Del Rey Yacht Club August 9th & 10th. With fifty-eight boats competing in seven racing classes and one non-spinnaker cruising class, Ullman Sails customers collected five 1st place trophies, four 2nd place trophies and three 3rd place trophies. Congratulations to all the winners. Let your nearest Ullman Sails loft show you how affordable the "Fastest Sails on the Planet" can be. Give your local loft a call or visit us on line at http://www.ullmansails.com US JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS North Cape Yacht Club, LaSalle MI - U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship for the Smythe Trophy; Standings after eight races with one discard: 1. Reed Johnson, Toms River YC, 20 2. Kyle Kovacs, Brant Beach YC, 22 3. Christopher Lash, Ida Lewis YC, 33 4 Michael Scott, Kaneohe YC, 37 5. Bryan Buffaloe, Southwestern YC, 45 U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship for the Bemis Trophy; 1. Frank Tybor/ Mandi Markee, San Diego YC, 11 2. Erik Storck/ John Kempton, Centerport YC, 13 3. Zachary Brown/ Nick Martin, Mission Bay YC, 26 4. Ben Sampson/ Michael Komar, Plymouth YC, 32 5. Charlie Modica/ Pat Bordner Shelter Island YC, 54 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Stuart Alexander: Butt rebuttal rebutted - Lest Butt Club readers think that even sail boat racing reportage is running into BBC trouble, though not, heaven forefend, into New York Times territory, I am very comfortable with the way I reported both the substance and impressions about those aspects of a conversation, subsequently rebutted, about the timetabling of the Admiral's Cup. But, then, there are always differing points of view within any organisation. * From Andy Vare: As a prior participant in the Governor's Cup, both on the water and at the food fight, I applaud heartily the Balboa YC's efforts and Alan Andrews for taking the boats to the next level. The Congressional Cup did so many years back and now the juniors have their due. I find the large masthead kite a particularly solid design consideration, keeping the groms from losing interest downwind in Newport Beach. The rest of the world should stand up and take note, since some of the best match racers in yachting have come through the ranks to sail in that regatta and gone on to top levels everywhere, including the Americas Cup. * From David Shore: L Skip Lissiman reminds us in Butt 1391 that "on the final deciding race (of the 1983 America's Cup when Australia broke the longest winning streak in history) - Australia II sailed past Liberty downwind - when the winged keel was a liability not an asset." Essentially, the final race was lost when Liberty failed to cover. During the most recent Louis Vuitton Cup, Scuttlebutt readers in particular pointed out how often a cover was broken, which typically resulted in a loss. The first strategy we all learn in sailing is to stay between our competition and the next mark, but I have yet to hear a decent argument for breaking it. I realize the trailing boat can gain by choosing when to tack, (like on a good wind shift) but it is really unusual for the trailing boat to actually pass by doing this. It seems a lot easier and safer to cover than to break off and hope your competition doesn't get lucky. Shifts happen, right? * From Chris Robertson: I was a sailing coach for about 7 years in Canada and Bermuda and the idea of jet drive coach boats has been visited in the past. I agree that the concern regarding propeller driven coach boats is a significant one and has weighed heavy on many of our minds while in close proximity to our sailors. Unfortunately, jet driven boats don't manoeuvre with the same agility as their propeller driven cousins. From personal experience, attempting to coach from a Jet-ski is difficult as jet drives don't manoeuvre very well in close quarters. While this is nothing in comparison to the tragedies that have occurred, it has been a thorn in the side of a complete switch to jet drives. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to see it, do the other trees make fun of it? |
