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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 968 - December 19, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
RULE 42 - PROPULSION More and more we are seeing on the water judging. This is okay , but, at this time no set standard exists that clearly defines just how far a competitor can go before it's too far. At some regattas the judges are 60-year-old guys who have never raced a high performance dinghy in their lives, at other events it seems the judges are legally blind. You may get the dramatically overzealous type who likes to throw his / her weight around or a combination of the aforementioned. What the heck is a competitor supposed to do? Just to compound the problem it is now deemed acceptable that the 3 strikes and you're out (of the event) be used. This is utter nonsense. Here is a workable solution. The ISAF and member nations need to establish clearly defined standards that ALL judges can work with. The best way to accomplish this is to create a videotape that is accepted as the standards for all that is legal and what is not. Every event that employs on the water judging must have this tape available for the judges. Videos of the offending sailors must be made during the event. This will give the offender the opportunity to try and defend their position in the jury room. Comparisons of the offender's actions on the regatta tape to those on the Standards Tape should allow any 'type' of jury to arrive at a correct decision. At least this method gives the sailor his or her 'day in court', and is not the rather subjective decision made by a judge who may not fully understand what it takes to race a high performance dinghy in today's world. If coaches, sailing schools etc. had a copy of the Standards Tape they could coach their sailors with a unified approach. Right now there is no consistency on what coaches teach, some promote lots of pumping and ooching while others take a more conservative approach. I feel the Standards Tape would go a long way in solving the problem. I would further hazard a guess that most, if not all, judges would be relieved to have this tape to work with. - Alex Watters, sesi@ns.sympatico.ca
VOLVO OCEAN RACE On crossing the finishing line in the Derwent River, Hobart, the V.O.60s will suspend racing for three hours 30 minutes. Each boat will be escorted to a berth on the northern side of Elizabeth Street Pier, where they will be advised of their official finishing time and the time they may leave the dock, which will be not earlier than one hour 30 minutes after their official finishing time. Extract from leg three sailing instructions: Crew changes are not permitted Outside help is not permitted during the three hours 30 minutes period of the Hobart pit stop, except for the repair of equipment provided by the Volvo Ocean Race organizers and the provision of hot food and drinks by the Race Committee. Medical assistance may be obtained at any time. Outside help in the approaches to Hobart (the estuary of the River Derwent and Storm Bay) defined as the water north of an east/west line through Tasman Island light are not permitted until a boat has completed it's Hobart pit stop. Crewmembers are not permitted to leave the boat or media reception area except with the permission of the Race Committee. The one-hour period that each boat is alongside in Hobart will be devoted to media interviews. The crew will either remain on the boat or give media interviews in the media reception area on the wharf side. The Volvo Ocean Race boats will restart from a starting line situated near the mouth of the River Derwent, north of Pierson's Point, exactly three hours 30 minutes after the official Hobart pit stop finishing time for each boat. - www.volvooceanrace.com
"NO, IT'S NOT TOO LATE," CHORUS THE CHRISTMAS ELVES.
ELLEN MacArthur took the prize against stiff competition that included Stephanie Cook, modern pentathlon world champion, and Pippa Funnell, who led the British equestrian team to success at the European three day event championships this year. Presented with her award by Sir Chay Blyth at the Gibson Hall in the London on December 15, MacArthur hinted at her next uphill struggle when she said it was not about being the first woman, but about finishing first. - Peter Nash, Boating Industry International website. Full story: www.boating-industry.com/news.asp?N_ID=28064&mode=4
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Antoine de Kerviler: I could not agree more with Peter Huston in his editorial of Scuttlebutt #967. Let Larry Ellison do as he pleases, it's his money, his time, his efforts... and after all so far he has done pretty well in the Maxi arena. So let's see what the critics have to show for themselves, and we'll listen to them. * From Ed du Moulin: The comments about Larry Ellison relating to his steering his challenger, etc remind me of the criticisms levelled against Bill Koch in l991-2. From all sides, he was ridiculed for not picking his helmsman early on and for playing musical chairs which led to the departure of most of his rock stars like Gary Jobson, Larry Klein... He was smart enough to know when he could steer and when he shouldn't. It was his show and he was to do it his way. He successfully defended the Cup. * From Dustin Romey: Peter Huston misses the point. I'm sure Jerry Jones is an excellent athlete. Can you imagine the public reaction if he decided to take one hike in the NFL? How about if George Steinbrenner decided to throw one pitch in the World Series? The New York Times would have an editorial about Steinbrenner destroying the national pasttime. Those of us in the sport may be able to realize that the AC backers have a level of proficiency in our sport, but the average Joe sees this as another example of sailing a sport you have to buy your way into. And given the Curmudgeon's report a while back that there was .3 or .4 knot difference between Ken Read steering and the Curmudgeon steering on board an IACC boat, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that their level of proficiency is up to par with the pros. * From Chris Welsh: Paul Henderson's comments endorsing the simplified rules made it to our dinghy fleet, with a suggestion that we adopt the "simplified rules". So now we can sail new or simplified new. Chaos. No one is well versed on the new rules, the "simplified rules" are pure gray area, leaving only the old rules well understood and ready to use. To everyone out there with a local fleet, I say hold a vote on new vs. old, and let the uprising begin. It wasn't broken until the new rules came along, so let's fix it by going back to the way it was. * From Malcolm McKeag (edited to our 250-word limit): Even the 'simple' rule code expounded by Don Becker and endorsed by the Pres himself seems unnecessarily complicated when compared with a universal pair of rules developed some years ago in the Royal Thames YC in England by Olympic bronze medallist Robin Aisher and used by him in an inshore and offshore yachting career frequently marked with singular success. Rule 1 - the boat in front has right of way Rule 2 - if you hit another boat, you are in the wrong. A moment or two's thought shows that these two simple rules can cover every situation, including crossing upwind or downwind (and thus can replace that complicated port and starboard business), and of course present the ideal code of conduct for mark rounding. As a code of behaviour afloat they take some beating. The two rules compliment each other exquisitely. Think about crossing upwind. Two boats will not and do not 'collide'; one boat always sails into the other. Under the Aisher/ Royal Thames code that boat, irrespective of tack, is in the wrong and, by definition, the other boat was (albeit marginally) in front and so Rule 1 also applied. At a mark rounding the two rules also compliment each other - and require those approaching the mark in a group to sort themselves out early and in an orderly manner much better than does the existing two-boat-lengths rule. It's certainly an exemplary code by which to conduct races that you want to be fun. Try it. * From Ralph Taylor: Race and sailing organization officers struggle with the "90/10 rule" - the one that says 10% of the people do 90% of the work. There are two problems with it: (1) Less gets done because the 10% of the people have no more than 15% of the power of the total group, and (2) The burn out 10% early, while not bringing along their replacements. If we want sailing to thrive as sport and recreation, we have both an individual and an organizational challenge. As individuals, each sailor must be willing to give time to put back into the sport. . Don't just gripe about what "they" are doing; step up and do it. If you race 10 races a year, serve on the race committee for at least one. Take on a minor task for your yacht club and do it completely and on time. (It doesn't help to promise and not deliver.) As organization leaders, we must think our way out of the "90/10" box; plan what needs to be done so that no one job is too daunting and provide guidance to the less iniitiated, so that their efforts are a positive experience. . We need to listen to our members and plan events they'll want to work on. * From: Brendan Hanna: Perhaps you should be looking at the small picture instead of the big one. How is your boat being run? Is the atmosphere conducive to younger inexperienced guest? What do they do when invited along? We have a problem that is quite the opposite. We have too many teenagers asking to crew. The overriding reason is that when on board, we make them contribute, and have the patience to teach them. We do not take the task away from them if they are a bit slow on the tack, or the take-down. When injury or damage is not a factor, we laugh at the errors. They learn, we have a good time. As a result, they want to come back, as do their friends. Often times we have trouble placing finding enough places on our boat and others in the club. If it is viewed that your boat is only interested in winning, instead of a good time and a good learning experience, then keeping experienced crew will be a problem, let alone attracting newcomers. And yes, we are always competitive. We have won our share of club championships, regattas, and distance races over the past 15 years. Our primary focus, however, is a good time. Don't try to change things by monkeying with ratings, etc. Fix your own boat!
VOLVO RACE INSIGHT Q. What do you miss most when you are at sea racing? A. A sleep-in, I mean the real kind and not just an extra hour in your bunk. We stand at that grinder in the freezing cold Southern Ocean and tell each other about the perfect sleep-in -- the height of the bed, the feather down duvets and pillows, the warm morning sun, the cup of tea sitting by the paper, warmth all around, a good book lying somewhere in the folds of the blankets, all arms and legs, sprawled out like a starfish. Now that is a sleep in and that is what I miss the most. Q. How do you manage to stay clean on board? A. Stay clean out here? Never, you stink like all yours friends around you. One wet wipe per day and top tip is start with your face. When I first heard about not taking your thermals off for three weeks I thought that was revolting. Now I think it is so bloody cold why the heck would you. Clean? No never. Q. How do you manage to work and live in such close confines with the rest of the crew? Do you argue? A. Human nature still comes through out here and with a large group cliques will form. These are not always people who you would choose as your best friends but you are teammates. This is fast and this is why we all get on. We are professionals. If there are arguments, they are usually forgotten in minutes. Having sailed so many years with teams of guys, you just don't take things off the water. - CNN.com / Inside Sailing website Full story: www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/sailing/12/18/suckling.ppl/index.html
EVERYWHERE
SIR PETER BLAKE
AUCTION The bidding is taking place on the website of Lockwood Security Products, a local Assa Abloy Group company, The highest bidder to date is $6500. For more information: www.lockwoodsecurity.com.au.
INDUSTRY NEWS
STERN SCOOP Apparently the Brits did not want 69. However, knowledgeable sources say the French like it - suggesting it would be the logical progression from 1986-87 (Perth) when they named their 12-Meter "French Kiss." For a complete list of IACC sail numbers: www.hauraki-news.com/LatestNews/ClassAmerica-LN.htm
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
