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SCUTTLEBUTT 1844 - May 23, 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. ROLEX TRANSATLANTIC CHALLENGE (May 22, 2005) This afternoon, 20 of the world's largest yachts set sail from New York on the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, a 3,000-mile ride across the North Atlantic bound for England's Lizard point in southern Cornwall and ultimately the Needles, Isle of Wight. The Rolex Transatlantic Challenge is the 100th anniversary of the New York Yacht Club's race for the Kaiser's Cup, which was won in record breaking style by Wilson Marshall's Atlantic and America's Cup legend Charlie Barr, who was at the helm. Just as the 1905 race was delayed by a day due to dense fog in the start area, 100 years later the start also was postponed by one day, on this occasion due to a forecast of potential gale-force headwinds. With a gray sky and scattered showers over Manhattan, the fleet paraded in line down the Hudson River, past the wall-to-wall skyscrapers of Manhattan's financial district and the site of Ground Zero, to the Statue of Liberty, and under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, marking the entrance to New York Harbour. By the time the yachts had motored 15 more miles towards Ambrose Light (the top end of the north-south orientated start line), conditions had dramatically changed, revealing a brilliant sun, but light winds: a fluky breeze of 3-5 knots shifting between east and southeast. Along the race route, the only mark that must be observed is "Point Alpha." This exists to give the Race Committee the provision to keep the yachts away from any potential ice threat. This year, however, the U.S. National Ice Service and its Canadian equivalent have advised the Race Committee that there is very little threat from ice. Point Alpha has been set at 47 degrees North, 51 degrees West, some 90 miles east-northeast of Newfoundland's Cape Race, allowing competitors to sail a course close to the great circle route. Late in the afternoon, Mari-Cha IV led overall. "The first line-up with Maximus had the two boats performing very similarly with a small speed advantage for Mari-Cha IV," recounted navigator Jef d'Etiveaud. "This is a good feeling for us, as this weather could have given an advantage to the smaller boat. Everyone is concentrating on the boat--there is not a sound. It is a horrendous weather pattern for breaking a record, though." Conditions are expected to remain light overnight with the wind backing to the west. - http://www.transatlanticchallenge.org/ Curmudgeon's Comment: Drifting conditions at the start were tough for the race entrants, but even tougher for the photographers. We have posted the following image from photographer Onne van der Wal which does a good job of telling the story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/transat0522.jpg CONTRASTING APPROACH Stamford, CT - Two Fairfield County skippers are competing to break one of the oldest racing records in yachting. Joe Dockery of Greenwich and Stephan Frank of Darien are sailing as part of a fleet of 20 yachts ranging in length from 70 to 252 feet as part of the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge. Their goal is not only to be the first to reach the British Isle, but also to beat the time of 12 days, four hours and one minute set by the three-masted schooner Atlantic in 1905. Dockery, a past Stamford Yacht Club commodore, believes his 81-foot sloop Carrera can make the 3,000-mile crossing in 10 days. Unlike Dockery, who is sailing competitively in the event's elite grand prix class, Frank will be cruising along in his 112-foot sloop Anemos at a more leisurely pace. Far from being a stripped down racer, Anemos sports four staterooms and showers. "We will have showers every morning, a chef, two ladies to serve us meals, which is pretty good living. We may get wet once a day, but that isn't too bad," Frank said, adding that he is most looking forward to lighting a cigar on the deck and looking at the moonlight over the mid-Atlantic. At the same time aboard Carrera, Dockery will be eating dehydrated meals and getting little sleep in an attempt to beat the record. Dockery and the rest of the crew, sailing four hours on and four hours off for the duration of the 10- to 14-day race, will sleep in pipe bunks that offer a single inch of foam for comfort. Along the way, the crew will be hot bunking, meaning that as soon as the watch changes and one guy slides out of a berth, someone else will slide in, Dockery said. - The Advocate, full story, http://tinyurl.com/8k3bu FIRST IN THE GATE The South African Team Shosholoza has become the first team to launch a new generation America's Cup Class boat, built to Version 5 of the class rule. At a ceremony in Valencia, Spain on Thursday evening, RSA 83 was christened 'Shosholoza' by Rita Barberá, the Mayor of Valencia. The new boat appears strikingly narrow, but principal designer Jason Ker says he doesn't expect it to be extremely different from the other boats it will be competing against. In fact, Ker says he looked to many of them for inspiration. "It's similar in some ways to the better boats from the last America's Cup. There are bits that are similar to Team New Zealand, some bits that are like Oracle and some similarities to Alinghi. We've taken a pretty good look at those three in particular. We haven't tried to re-invent the wheel." Team Shosholoza sailed in all three Louis Vuitton Acts in 2004, using an older generation boat than the rest of the fleet, and as a completely new team, they struggled at times to keep pace with the bigger, more experienced squads. Now, with RSA-83, they will be the only team competing with a new boat in 2005, and that should help the South Africans compete on a more equal footing with the mid-fleet teams. Shosholoza RSA 83 will sail its first race on the 16th of June when the 2005 America's Cup season begins in Valencia. - Full story, http://www.americascup.com/en SAMSON - OFFICIAL ROPE SPONSOR FOR BLOCK ISLAND RACE WEEK 2005 Summer racing heats up with Block Island Race Week, June 19-25. Get ready for good breezes, warm weather and great racing as over 200 boats compete for top honors. Samson is proud to continue sponsoring events where sailors meet and compete! Be sure your boat is rigged with Samson's high performance ropes: WarpSpeed, Validator SKB, and Apex are winning combinations. For halyards, sheets and control lines, Samson covers the range of performance braids. Ask your local rigger for Samson - The Strongest Name In Rope! http://www.samsonrope.com NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK (The following story was sent to Scuttlebutt by none other than the President of the United States of America, George Bush) Recreational boating has grown into one of our Nation's most popular pastimes, and as the summer approaches, millions of Americans will enjoy our country's beautiful waters. During National Safe Boating Week, we highlight our Nation's commitment to making recreational boating safer. The number of boating fatalities has decreased over the last decade. By promoting the use of appropriate safety measures, we can save more lives and further reduce the number of injuries caused by boating accidents. In recognition of the importance of safe boating practices, the Congress, by joint resolution approved June 4, 1958 (36 U.S.C. 131), as amended, has authorized and requested the President to proclaim annually the 7 day period prior to Memorial Day weekend as "National Safe Boating Week." Now, therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 21 through May 27, 2005, as National Safe Boating Week. I encourage the Governors of the 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to join in observing this week. I also urge all Americans to learn more about safe boating practices, wear life jackets, take advantage of boating safety programs throughout the year, and always engage in proper and responsible conduct while on the water. - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/proclamations AND SPEAKING OF JUNIOR TRAINERS . . . The Nippa Sailing Dinghy was declared the Australian Boat of the Year in the Sailing Trailerable Category. The award was accepted by Iain Murray who was thrilled to receive the award for his design. Points were awarded for many factors including innovation, appearance, design, safety features, construction, value for money, ergonomics, comfort, storage and performance. The judging was totally independent of commercial interests and by a team who have a proven track record in all facets of the boating industry, from retailing to broadcasting. The Nippa is a 2.65m (8'7") long introductory sailing dinghy specifically designed for children aged between 5 and 14 years. It is a strict one design and can be sailed by either one or two children with up to 120kgs (265 pounds) combined weight. The Nippa features a flow-through cockpit that eliminates bailing. The flush centerboard case provides added room and comfort. This feature also allows an adult to fit in the boat so they can share a child's learning experience. Weighing just 25kgs (55lb) the Nippa delivers children an exhilarating performance due to its hull shape, rig and construction. - http://www.nippasailing.com BUTTHEADS WIN (AGAIN) Every Scuttlebutt subscriber is a winner in the latest Scuttlebutt contest: 20,000 by the 20th. Ever since the early days of the Scuttlebutt e-Newsletter, readership growth has been by word-of-mouth. For the past two weeks we challenged the 'buttheads to spread the word and get their sailing friends to subscribe. Our goal was to reach 20,000 email subscribers (to go along with the 10k+ website viewers), and we needed 1,000 more sign-ups by May 20th to get it done. No worries, as after 1,400 new subscribes, all the 'buttheads can now reap the special offers provided by West Marine, Harken, Team One Newport, and Hall Spars & Rigging. Details available at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/contest/20000/results.asp HOT WATER Two of Britain's leading sailors are to face each other in a million-pound court battle over one of the world's fastest yachts. The business partner of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is suing Tracy Edwards, after claiming he lost out on an opportunity to buy the yacht. Cheyenne, owned by the American adventurer Steve Fossett, held the round-the-world record last year, but Fossett announced his intention to sell the boat and retire from sailing. John Harwood-Bee claims he was to purchase the yacht for Knox-Johnston to sail in the recent Oryx Quest round-the-world race, organised by Edwards and setting off from the Gulf state of Qatar. In order to buy the boat Harwood-Bee was relying on $1 million (£540,000) sponsorship money for the race that Edwards had organised through Qatari telecom company QTel. He said Edwards was so keen to bring Cheyenne into the race with the added kudos of Robin Knox-Johnston that she offered a further $1 million loan. Fossett has known Harwood-Bee for more than 10 years and allegedly agreed to sell him the boat and take a percentage of any prize money. The writ alleges that Edwards then contacted Fossett directly and revealed the details of the deal she had made with Harwood-Bee. Fossett cancelled the sale and entered the boat in the race himself. Harwood-Bee is claiming $2.3 million (£1.2 million) in compensation and claims he has a copy of an e-mail in which Edwards admits breaking their agreement. Edwards rejected the claim, saying: "If he thinks I'm going to pay him because he didn't get the money to purchase Cheyenne, he's dreaming." - Duncan Gardham, Telegraph, full story, http://tinyurl.com/9nzvn CHARLESTON TO BERMUDA RACE The Charleston to Bermuda Race Committee has invoked Rule 11.2 of the Sailing Instructions, wherein the position of each racing yacht was received via GPS at 20:00 EDT May 18. The race was officially complete as of this time and participants are being scored according to their latitude/longitude position. Due to a large blocking high pressure area, the fleet was trapped in very slow sailing conditions. This alternative scoring method has allowed the race officials to fulfill its goal of allowing all entrants to arrive in Bermuda and partake in the festivities that surround this special race. All boats in the race should arrive in Bermuda in time for the warm hospitality of this island nation and a Saturday evening Prize-giving celebration. Overall event winner Midnight Rider (Santa Cruz 70) was the only boat to complete the course. Complete results at http://www.charlestontobermuda.com/results.php IN MEMORIAM Tragedy strikes the Soling Worlds as the class loses a good friend and a great competitor. Dutch Soling Sailor Rien Segaar (Ned 34) had a fatal heart attack last week while on his way to the 2005 Worlds, which are to be held this week in Castiglione, Italy. All attempts to revive him failed. Segaar was known throughout the world as the man that can fix everything on a boat. As a former international measurer, Segaar knew everything there was to know about the Soling and how to get the parts just right. Burial services will be in Krommenie, Netherlands on Wednesday, May 25. - http://www.soling.com NEWS BRIEFS * The inaugural First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta, organized by the Balboa and Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs to benefit Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, was bedeviled all weekend by fluky winds brought on by an unwelcome high-pressure system. The racing for boats over fifty feet in length included a much-anticipated duel between the big Dubois 90 Genuine Risk and Pyewacket, the Reichel/Pugh-designed maxZ86. GR found its legs late in the event, but fell short in the end by a single point to Pyewacket. Complete results with elapsed and corrected times at http://www.firstteamregatta.com * The World Sailing Record Council announced the ratification of two new world records: Around Ireland Monohull Yacht: "CityJet Solune" sailed by Jean-Philippe Chomette/ Cesar Dohy FRA and a crew of 6 from May 3-6 2005, elapsed time of 2 days 9 hours 41 minutes 6 seconds, average speed of 12.27 knots; and the Singlehanded Around Britain and Ireland: "Adrien" sailed by Jean Luc Van Den Heede from May 11-19 2005, elapsed time of 7 days 8 hours 47 minutes, average speed of 10.11 knots. - http://www.sailspeedrecords.com * The International Melges 24 Class has published the Notice of Race for the 2005 Corum Melges 24 World Championship at Ocean Reef Club, December 11-16, 2005. Go to http://www.2005corumm24worlds.com * The 2006 Onion Patch series will be raced under the IRC rating rule. Late last year, New York YC adopted IRC for its rating rule for handicap racing through 2007. In January, Royal Bermuda YC also adopted IRC for all handicap racing hosted by their club. The Newport Bermuda Race will also be raced under IRC along with ORR. The Onion Patch committee- consisting of two members from each of the New York YC, the Royal Bermuda YC, and the Cruising Club of America- confirms that they will score the entire series under the IRC rating rule. - http://www.onionpatchseries.com MUSTO IN THE USA The Volvo Ocean Race, the Vendée Globe, the Mega Cats and the Super Maxi's: Musto is the favorite brand of foul weather gear amongst the crews. It is available to purchase across the States - try one of the following retailers: Annapolis Performance Sailing, Fawcett Boat Supplies, Fisheries Supply, Layline, Pineapple Sails, Sailing Supply, Team One Newport, The Sailing Pro Shop, or West Marine Stores. You don't need to be a professional sailor to experience Musto. Give it a try next time. For product information and a store finder, check out http://www.musto.com/usa 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 Bart Beek: My daughter Carroll reacted strongly to Roy Joyson's complaint that "event organizers plan events in venues with crummy conditions - - when the quality of the finals is affected by the conditions you lose the legitimacy of the event." She writes to me, "Isn't sailing in bad conditions much of the art and skill of sailing? Shouldn't we let there be the widest possible variables? What does he want - -exact specifications and predictability?" * From David Meagher (In Response to Dave Krotseng): You are only going to give IRC a year or so in the US - do you know how long we have had it in Europe? Wake up and smell the roses all measurement systems can be tweaked but they give better and closer racing. * From Kevin Dibley: I agree with Chris Bouzaid. Well done to Barry Carroll and team. NZ is currently going through a similar change. Having raced under ORC Club for a number of years, Yachting New Zealand is finally having a look at the IRC option. The negatives are the small extra costs for owners, but the positives far out way this in that we will be racing to a rule that the majority of the racing world are moving to. This includes Australia, Asia and Europe. Now that the USA are also moving towards it, the circle seems almost complete. * Geoffrey Phillips (re letter from John Harwood-Bee): Britain has tried longer and harder than anyone to win back the Americas Cup. And no, Britain does not have a mortgage on sportsmanship and fair play. Take England's recent Rugby World Cup victory. Admirable but rough, tough and taking the rules to the very limit as would any professional sports team in this flawed modern age. * From Jack McVicker: On Monday night the RI Attorney General, Patrick Lynch, spoke to a group of concerned Newporters at the invitation of the staff of Sail Newport regarding LNG tankers traveling by Newport. He termed the claims that tankers will pass Newport at night and that traffic will be concentrated in the winter as "lies". It is hard to find the concrete facts in a complicated, political, and emotional argument but I must believe he has some basis in fact. He explained that if only ONE OF THE TWO proposed terminals is approved there will be a delivery every 7 days. The timing of passage through the East Passage would be scheduled by the tide - not the setting of the sun. Additionally, there is great expense for delay. If both Providence and Fall River are opened the delivery schedule could double. It is ridiculous to think we could handle this schedule. The exclusion zone extends two miles off the bow, one mile astern, and 1000 yards to each side of the SLOW moving vessel. What happens if it's time to pick up the kids at school but you are going to be an hour late because the bridge is closed? What happens on a Sunday afternoon in July when the weather turns bad but hundreds of boats are prevented from entering the safety of Newport Harbor? How do emergency vehicles cross the bridge? How do we clear every person from the Jamestown mooring field? The questions are endless but I'll add…Who is the person who thought this was a good idea? * From Elizabeth Elmer: As the Mother and camp follower of an Opti sailor, I've been looking forward each morning to reading the latest in the Opti, Sabot debate. Our living room has become a mini sail loft, sometimes it holds a completely rigged boat. Next Christmas we might put lights on it. Watching my daughter sailing an 8 foot shoe box in 17 knots of wind with her friends is pretty great. But after World Peace could someone figure out an easier way to rig an Opti. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it! |
