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SCUTTLEBUTT 1353 - June 18, 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. CUTLER JOINS K-CHALLENGE SYNDICATE The Sailing team of the K-Challenge 2007 is outlined gradually and the syndicate met today in Paris the journalists during a press conference where new names were unveiled. Rumors were flying for many weeks but it's now official. Former America True helmsman and Oracle tactician John Cutler will join the K-Challenge afterguard for the 2007 campaign. Former Olympic champion Thierry Peponnet, veteran of the international match racing scene and twice a competitor in the America's Cup (both with the French syndicate), will be part of the afterguard. In addition, the new K-Challenge race crew for the America's Cup includes Nicolas Charbonnier (a young high-level French sailor five times 420 World Champion), Yann Gouniot, Fabrice Blondel, Romain Troublé, Benoît Briand, Thierry Fouchier and Albert Jacobsoone (former members of the former French America's Cup campaigns). The other coup for the K-Challenge Challenge is the signing of designer Juan Kouyoumdjian, who was part of the design team for Prada Challenge in the last Cup. He will be the French Challenge's co-designer with Phil Kaiko. K-Challenge now wants a commercial backer or group of companies to come in and help him pick up the rest of the campaign. - Cup in Europe website, full story: http://www.cupineurope.com/LatestNews/LatestNews.htm DAIMLERCHRYSLER NORTH ATLANTIC CHALLENGE June 17, 2003 - After almost 48 hours of racing in the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge, a core group of boats has charged out ahead of the pack of 58 entries. The small group of boats trailing Zaraffa include Anny, Vita Bella, Tempest and Snow Lion, skippered by New York Yacht Club Commodore Lawrence S. Huntington. The online fleettracker (www.dcnace.de) calculates each boat s IRC and IMS ratings and predicts an overall position in the fleet. At 14:10 UTC Tuesday Zaraffa is shown in first place overall in both classes. All yachts must honor a "Point Alpha," which is set at 40N 50W and established to keep yachts safely out of the area off the East Coast of North America known as Iceberg Alley. The weather data suggests a high-pressure system will be coming down over the fleet, bringing light winds for a day or day and a half and holding steady just west and south of Point Alpha making it difficult for most of the fleet to get to the mark. The leaders, however, may be able to escape the worst of it and continue on their way. - Media Pro Int'l INSA SENIOR SABOT NATIONALS The 2003 Senior Sabot Nationals were held at Newport Harbor Yacht Club June 7th & 8th. Final results - 1st: Mark Gaudio; 2nd: Freddie Stevens; & 3rd: Becky Lenhart. All three had one common ingredient…Ullman Sails! In the Over 65 age division Ullman Sails propelled Graham Gibbons to 1st place. If you are interested in turning on the untapped performance in your racing program, try a new set of Ullman sails. To get hooked up to the "Fastest Sails on the Planet" just call your nearest Ullman Sails loft or visit us on line at http://www.ullmansails.com LOOKING AHEAD TO AC XXXII Alinghi announced after winning yachting's crown jewel that it would make major changes to make the next event more attractive to TV and sponsors and more accessible to the public. To that end, new rules will do away with security skirts that for the last 20 years have hidden the underbodies of competing boats from view during the racing season, denying spectators a chance to see who had what under the water. Also, the America's Cup management board under Bonnefous will chop racing from five months to two or two and a half and will weigh the prospective venues on a short list of key criteria. "Number one is wind," said Bonnefous, "which accounts for 40 percent of the total." After that come facilities to house, feed and accommodate 4,000 people in the Cup community; good spectating opportunities; a "village-style" base for the teams; attractiveness of the city and political support from the host venue, he said. Bonnefous said Auckland spent about $30 million (U.S.) to run the Cup there. His budget for the first European defense will be $80 million to $100 million. By comparison, he said, World Ski Championships cost $60 million to $70 million to produce and the Olympics cost about $1 billion. The 2007 Cup will be preceded by a pre-event at the venue in 2006 to establish seedings for challenger eliminations. Once racing gets started the following year, said Bonnefous, it will run almost continuously with only a few short breaks. - Angus Phillips, The Washington Post, full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51697-2003Jun12.html BIG BATTLE ON THE BAY The Sausalito Cup, the first regatta of The Challenge Series for this season, kicks off on Friday June 20. Yachts scheduled to race this weekend include USA-11 (helm - John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan), Oracle BMW Racing (helm - Larry Ellison), NZL-20 (helm - Karie and David Thomson), Il Moro di Venezia (helm - Peter Stoneberg), and NZL-14 (helm - Mary Coleman). Former members on Seattle's OneWorld Challenge will be on board NZL-20, with Charlie McKee as tactician and David Endean on bow. The new Oracle BMW Racing team will see Gavin Brady and Chris Dickson in the afterguard. On board Il Moro di Venezia Dee Smith will be on tactics. USA-11, sponsored by Wells Fargo, will have David Barnes calling tactics. Barnes' prior America's Cup experience includes positions as Team GBR manager, Team New Zealand skipper and crew member on America True. Expect to see some surprises out on the course that has been specifically designed to maximize spectator viewing along the San Francisco cityfront. "It's a tough course to sail with very little upwind and lots of reaching," said John Sweeney, co-founder of The Challenge Series. "Out training on Sunday we had USA-11 reaching along at 17 knots with a flotilla of spectator boats trying to keep up." All the yachts in the fleet with the exception of Oracle BMW Racing are from the International America's Cup Class of '92 and last season were 80% through their restoration. "Restoration is complete, NZL-20 spent the winter in New Zealand undergoing a major refit, all the yachts in the fleet have new North 3DL sails, new paint and are ready to race," said Sweeney. Wind conditions are expected to be in the range of typical summer San Francisco Bay conditions 18-25 knots, with lighter air in the mornings building to a steady breeze by early afternoon. - Michelle Slade, http://www.challenge-series.com/ SPONSORSHIPS FOR REGATTAS ARE DRYING UP! Sluggish economy and poor return on investment is taking their toll on regatta sponsorship. The Pirate's Lair is bucking the system! Plan your regatta graphics and garment printing with us and we'll throw in value added items such as Douglas Gill, Kegs, Functional Trophies, and Discounts. For Tees, Hats, Fuzzies, Trophies and Graphics, count on The Pirate's Lair. Call (888) SAIL-BUM (724-5286) for info or log on to http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing NATIONS CUP MATCH RACES Today four races of the ISAF Grade 2 Nation's Cup match race regatta were sailed off the coast of Trieste, Italy and two races were cancelled by the International Jury, headed by Luciano Giacomi. In the match between the Swedish Victory Challenge (Magnus Holmberg) and the Oracle team (Tommaso Chieffi), the Swedish team was leading the entire race, but Holmberg's team got stuck in a sandbank and the race was annulled by the race committee. Later, Chieffi was leading a match against OneWorld when he got stuck on the same sandbag, and that race was also thrown out. - http://216.172.144.113/html/Lasfida.htm Curmudgeon's Comment: It was a bit hard to figure out the won-lost record for each of the teams but we do know that Alinghi (Jochen Schuemann), OneWorld (James Spithill) and Mascalzone Latino (Vasco Vascotto) each have two points while Victory Challenge, GBR Challenge (Andy Beadsworth) and Oracle Racing have one point. SIR PETER BLAKE A $1 million conservation grant has been proposed to help buy Kaikoura Island as support crumbles for a glass-encased yacht tribute to Sir Peter Blake at the National Maritime Museum in Auckland. The Nature Heritage Fund has recommended that $1 million go towards buying the 564ha island in the Hauraki Gulf, kick-starting a memorial which has the overwhelming support of New Zealanders. It is now up to Conservation Minister Chris Carter to approve the recommendation by the panel of independent appointees who recommend land purchases from the annual $5 million to $7 million conservation land budget. Mr Carter, who believes Sir Peter would have preferred the "living memorial" of Kaikoura Island, is expected to approve the grant, although Sports Minister Trevor Mallard favours the museum idea. * Last night a TV3/NFO Research poll found 69 per cent of those surveyed preferred the island as a memorial to Sir Peter. The waterfront plan got 17 per cent support. - Bernard Orsman, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3508037&reportID=62070 FOR SALE Pegasus 77, the ultimate Turbo Sled, winner of Transpac 2001, is for sale. Launched in 2001, she is the very best in every aspect. Designed by Reichel-Pugh as the next generation Turbo Sled, Pegasus 77 will be available August 2003 right after Transpac. Details and photographs are at http://www.pegasus.com/pegasus77 NEWS BRIEFS * The Long Beach /Los Angeles Women's Sailing Association has renamed its annual Women's One Design Challenge to honor the event's three-time winner, Linda Elias, who died last January at age 52 after a nine-year battle with cancer. The event's 12th competition - which will now be called the Linda Elias Memorial Women's One Design Challenge - will involving ten women's teams sailing Catalina 37s on Oct. 18-19 at the Long Beach Yacht Club. * They are beginning to show up in force. Robert Scheidt, two times Olympic medallist (Gold in Atlanta '96 & Silver in Sydney 2000), and six times World Champion in the Laser Class, is the latest to begin full time training on the Bay of Cadiz venue for the ISAF Olympic Sailing World Championships Regatta which starts on September 11. * Charlie Arms, Jessamine Lewis and Colleen Cooke from the Southwestern YC won the Bettina Bents Memorial Trophy for the US Women's Match Racing Invitational, an ISAF Grade 4 event. Sailed in Santana 20's off the coast of Newport Beach, California, this regatta brought five competitive teams to the 4 day event hosted by Newport Harbor YC. Winds ranging from 6-13 knots and temperatures in the upper 70's made for perfect conditions. Complete results: http://www.nhyc.org/ 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 Robert A. Constable: At the risk of being labeled a sexist--oh, what the heck, call me bad names, here goes: Did anyone else notice the following in the ICSA All American Team nominations listed in Butt 1352: 30 women sailors were named All Americans, and 14 men got the nod. More than two to one! Of course, the women get their own dedicated category, but (I assume) the men have to share the 'Coed' category. Nonetheless, all of the "Coed" Skippers were men, and all of the Crew (presumably also a coed category) were women. I'm sure there are conclusions that can be drawn here, and that the ICSA community can provide a handy explanation, but I still found it curious. * From Paul van Dyke: If the Bermuda Race is trying to be so inclusive, Why no multihull division? * Ken Voss: As an opti parent I think I need to respond to this "no parents/coaches on the course". There are a lot of responsible coaches and parents who are out there to either teach the kids or enjoy watching their kids (joys of parenting?). We talk about problems with unsupervised kids in society or parents not paying attention to their kids, well for the most part the parents that I have met taking my son to these events have been concerned, and supporting parents. We are talking about 8-13 year old kids for the most part, you only get so long with to be with them before they start wanting more separation (from what I hear). The reason I like the opti experience is I get to spend a lot of time with my kids on the water. From the coaches standpoint, how do you prepare a 10 year old in practice for what happens in a 50-80 boat fleet (the normal size of an average weekend opti regatta)? There are kids that do well in 10-12 boat practices that need to have coaches advice for racing in big fleets, explaining what happened in the race, how they can improve, and what to do when faced with 20 boats going around a mark at once. The coaches really have to be able to see what happened for themselves. Trying to correlate the story of a race from most 10 year olds versus reality is often a challenge. Neither group needs to be within 200 feet however. * From Scott Boye (Regarding Peter Harken & Ronald Dominicus' letters): At what point does having a coach on the water cross the line of Rule 41, outside assistance? I have witnessed coaches following kids, shouting directions for both sail trim (more cunningham!) and tactics (gybe now so you will be on starboard at the mark). I'd suggest that these are way over the line and should be protested by the other competitors. Harder to deal with are the wakes from coach's boats. Are they just unaware of any other boat on the race course, or willfully malicious towards competitors with their wake? The way to solve it is to designate a coaching area at the regatta site. ISSA does this for their high school regattas. It keeps the coaches all in one place and becomes self policing. It also allows the kids to get away from pushy coaches for at least the amount of time they are on the water. On the water coaching should be for practice time only. Racing should be about one competitor against another. * From Jack Attridge: After reading threads on professional sailors, it is easy to see that there is a line where professional sailors are the fleet and some where a professional sailor coming into an event, that usually has no pro's, can effect a major advantage to one boat over all the rest. Think about it...if you have a boat sailing well all year and the big regatta comes up and your fellow competitor is sitting on the rail while a local pro is steering the boat. That really isn't in the spirit of the level of competition that usually exists in a fleet. I think it is the pro's and the fleet that need to be cognoscente of how professional assistance will impact a fleet. In Marblehead, we have a world class Etchell's fleet that is loaded with pro's and a great PHRF fleet that is not. While sailing a J-105 in PHRF over the years, it was always frustrating to see new skipper's (pro's) show up for a big event and skew the usual results while your other competitors are out there with their hard working regular crew. This not only benefits the pro boat for the regatta but also impacts the year end totals. Since our fleet has started, we are sailing primarily OD with strict rules on pro sailors. It has made for an evenly sailed fleet....all year. * From Craig Montrose: Anyone notice how in this past weekend's Chicago NOOD, the winner of the forty-eight boat Tarten Ten fleet had enlisted the services of professional sailor Chris Larsen? Congratulations to owner Richard Grunsten! You paid Chris' daily rate, the airlines benefited from flying Chris from Maryland to Illinois, and there were probably some hotel and rental car fees paid too. The economy lives another day. And, oh yea, the Tarten Ten fleet got to see how fun it is when one of their own decides to up the ante. * From Gary Jobson: Expanding on Roger Vaughan and LuAnn Parins, there are a number of women that have sailed in the America'sCup and trials well before Dawn Riley. Sis Hovey sailed on the J-boat Yankee and 12 meter Easterner. She was a regular part of the crew. Christy Steinem was part of a Conner campaign prior to Dory Vogel. As far as the Whitbread Round the World Race, Clare Francis skippered a boat in the 1977-78 race and there were at least two women who sailed in the 1973-74 Whitbread Round the World Race. Regarding the America3 all women's team in 1995, Leslie Egnot was the skipper. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Why is it that most nudists are people you don't want to see naked? |
