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SCUTTLEBUTT #524 - March 8, 2000CUP COMMENTARY -- Bob FisherThe remaining question of the America's Cup, "Is Patrizio Bertelli serious?" is rapidly being answered. As the America's Cup was handed to Russell Coutts, the Skipper of Team New Zealand's Black Magic after the final race of the series, on an adjacent pontoon in the Viaduct Basin stood Patrizio Bertelli, the head of the beaten Italian Prada syndicate. His thoughts, as the 149 years old silver ewer was held aloft, was evident in his body language. They simply said, 'I want it.' It wasn't a whispered thought, Bertelli's attitude shouted it loudly. But Bertelli appears to have become as addicted as many, like Sir Thomas Lipton, Alan Bond and Sir Michael Fay, before him have over the America's Cup and has now already planned his assault on the oldest continuously contested trophy in sport, and with no expense spared. He admitted to having a budget of US$55 million for this campaign, although it was generally held that this figure might be US$20 million short of what was actually spent. For 2003, Bertelli has probably already spent US$8 million (the asking price) in the purchase of the two Young America boats of the New York Yacht Club's syndicate. These two Bruce Farr designed boats can only be used by Bertelli for training and assessment since they are designed by a United States resident, and the Cup rules state that boats must be designed by a national or resident of the country of the challenge. It seems highly unlikely that Bertelli has been able to purchase the design technology behind the two American boats. Russell Bowler, a partner in Farr Yacht Design, said, 'If they [the New York YC syndicate] were selling technology, we would have to be considered,' adding, 'As of now, we are not committed.' Doubtless, Bertelli would dearly love to add Farr Yacht Design into his already powerful design team. Just think of the Peterson, Frers, Farr axis, and the rest would wilt, even perhaps Team New Zealand. The two American boats will be packed for shipping to Italy with the two Prada Luna Rossas and training will begin at Punta Ala in June. According to Bertelli, 'The operations base in Auckland will be temporarily shut down; it will be neither subleased nor dismantled, and it will be ready to receive the team according to their training calendar.' It is expected that the Prada team will return to Auckland in November. The possible plan is that two boats will be kept in Auckland and the other two in Italy. -- Bob Fisher, Sailing Source website To read all of Fisher's comments: http://www.sailingsource.com/fisher/ BACARDI CUP MIAMI, FL. (March 7, 2000)- After two days of racing, Tuesday's third-place finish by Germany's Marc Pickel and Thomas Auracher was good enough to vault them into the top spot of the 96-team field heading into Wednesday's competition. "We are happy with our finishes and it's always a good feeling to get off to a consistent start," said the 28-year-old Pickel, who is competing in his fifth BACARDI Cup (fourth as skipper). "There were big wind gusts that made it difficult to go upwind and downwind. A big gust hit us and I lost control of the rudder. We got lucky that our mast did not break. We have to stay consistent because the BACARDI Cup is a long week of races." The choppy seas and northwesterly gusts at 12-15 knots on Biscayne Bay could not stop Brun, whose first-place finish propelled him from 33rd to 15th overall. Monday's first-place team of Peter Bromby and Lee White, both from Bermuda, finished in 22nd place Tuesday, dropping them to 10th place overall. After finishing in fifth place Tuesday, Spain's Jose Vanderploeg and Rafa Trujillo are in second place overall. DAY TWO RESULTS - 1. Vince Brun/Mike Dorgan (San Diego) 2. Colin Beashel/David Giles (Australia) 3. Marc Pickel/Thomas Auracher (Germany) 4. Eric Doyle/Tom Olsen (San Diego) 5. Jose Vanderploeg/Rafa Trujillo (Spain) OVERALL BACARDI CUP STANDINGS - 1. Marc Pickel/Thomas Auracher (Germany), 4-3, 7 points. 2. Jose Vanderploeg/Rafa Trujillo (Spain), 3-5, 8 3. Gavin Brady/Jamie Gale (New Zealand), 6-8, 14 4. Mark Mansfield/Dan Brien (Ireland), 8-6, 14 5. Ian Walker/Mark Covell (England), 2-12, 14 6. Eric Doyle/Tom Olsen (San Diego), 14-4, 18 7. Colin Beashel/David Giles (Sydney), 18-2, 20 8. Peter Vesella/Brian Fatih (California), 12-9, 21 9. Vincent Hoesch/Florian Fendt (Germany), 15-7, 22 10. Peter Bromby/Lee White (Bermuda) 1-22, 23 LITTLE STARBOATS The Official Model Sailboat of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association made its debut at the Bacardi Cup in Miami. Mark Reynolds, Bil Buchan, Harry Walker and many other Star notables sailed the model, which will soon be featured on the Star Class website. -- Doug Lord See it now: http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/microsail/ VOLVO OCEAN RACE A global environmental and educational programme for young people called the Volvo Ocean Adventure was launched today at Oceanology International 2000 in Brighton, UK. The project is linked closely to the Volvo Ocean Race, formerly known as The Whitbread Round the World Race. Through a series of activities based on current scientific research, the project hopes to encourage young people across the world to play a role in tackling environmental problems that will affect their future. The science behind the project is based on ocean colour and temperature measurements made by instruments attached to each yacht competing in the Volvo Ocean Race. Ocean colour is largely determined by the seawater concentration of phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), which in turn contribute to the ocean's absorption of CO2 (carbon dioxide). Thus the Volvo Ocean Adventure will also make a contribution towards the on-going research into the role of the Ocean in the global carbon cycle. The data received from the yachts will be combined with satellite images provided by NASA and made available in near real-time on the project web-site. Together with relevant background information, this data will support a wide range of education activities and environmental projects. The scientific material used in the project will come from NASA's Earth Observation programme, and from Science Partners in each of the countries hosting the race, led by Southampton Oceanography Centre . All science partners are actively involved in marine environmental research, locally or globally. -- Lizzie Green Event website: http://www.VolvoOceanRace.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Dick Lemke -- Do you suppose the 16% unit increase in sailboat production reported North American Sailing Industry Study was caused by the America's Cup extensive "building/ buying" programs? -- From Steve Rienhart (savagely edited to our 250-word limit) -- As someone who just attended the final three races of the America's Cup in Auckland, I must comment on some of the threads I have noticed lately with some first hand observations. Firstly, this is professional athletics. Part of professional athletics is winning, and the athletes- be they the sailors, managers, builders or designers- want to be on the winning team. Perfectly understandable, we don't think twice about the lack of nationalism in any other professional sport. Additionally, before throwing stones at changing nationalism, why not think about how professional sailors make their mortgage payments- you need to be where the work is, and it has to support you. As one New Zealand broadcaster surmised, Prada has taught all of us how to win, and lose, with honor, style and grace. While the parade down Queen Street in Auckland two days later was fantastic, the final moment of the cup, the one that summed it up entirely for me in an instant, was leaving the Prada Party that Thursday night, and seeing Torben Grael walking home across the street with his wife and children- the America's Cup is not just about large budgets, fast boats, and incredible sailors. It is about real people, working hard, and returning home to their families at the end of the day. Something to think about the next time we feel a need to be critical of these professionals while they pursue their careers and earn their livings. DN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The first day of the World Championships in Fiskeboda was tough for the 200 competitors. Winds gusting up to 15 m/sek broke several masts and caused several wipeouts. There were however no injuries. After two races the three time World Champion Karol Jablonsky from Poland is in the lead followed by the three time European Champion Thomas Karlsson from Sweden on the same points and third the current World Champion Ron Sherry from Detroit. The World Championships will be finished at the latest on Wednesday the 8th of March. STANDINGS: 1 Jablonski, Karol (5.00 pts.) 2. Karlsson, Thomas (5.00) 3 Sherry, Ron (9.00) 4 Bohn, Jorg (11.00) 5 Seweling, Jonas (15.00) For full results: http://www.sisf.se OLYMPICS The Olympic Sailing Committee of US SAILING, national governing body for the sport, has announced that of the 22 sailors who have qualified for the upcoming Laser Trials, three have acknowledged in writing that they will not compete at the Trials. As a result, the Laser Final will qualify the top 13 finishers for the Trials. Scheduled for March 9-13, 2000, at California Yacht Club, Marina del Rey, Calif., the Laser Final is the last opportunity for sailors to qualify for entry to the Laser Trials. Only sailors who are U.S. citizens and have not previously qualified for the Trials are eligible to compete in the Laser Final. A limit of 32 entries for the Trials necessitated a series of qualifying events for sailors in that class. The Trials which will select the Laser representative on the U.S.A.'s 2000 Olympic Team - Yachting are scheduled for April 6-16, 2000, at San Francisco Yacht Club, Belvedere, California. Qualified to date for the Laser Trials are the 1998 and 1999 winners of the U.S. Singlehanded Championship for the O'Day Trophy who each received automatic entry to the Laser Trials. They are, respectively, Paul Zambriski (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Mattia d'Errico (San Antonio, Texas). The Laser East event qualified Brett Davis (Largo, Fla.), Mark Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, Fla.), John Torgerson (Annapolis, Md.), Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.), Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.), John Myrdal (Kailua, Hawaii), Charles Meade (San Francisco, Calif.), Will Glenn (Orlando, Fla.), Dave Perkowski (Toms River, N.J.), and Andrew Scrivan (Riverside, Conn.). The Laser West event qualified Peter Hurley (New York, N.Y.), Greg Skidmore (Riverside, Conn.), Andy Lovell (New Orleans, La.); Marc Jacobi (Salt Lake City, Utah); Kurt Taulbee (Buffalo, N.Y.); Matt McQueen (Walnut Creek, Calif.); Chris Raab (Sunset Beach, Calif.); Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.); Kevin Taugher (Garden Grove, Calif.); and Eric Faust (Austin, Texas). The remaining Olympic Team Trials are as follows:
Additional information: http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/
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