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SCUTTLEBUTT 2051 - March 15, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.SUPERSIZING (Tim Jeffery speaks to Stephane Kandler about K Challenge's struggle towards the America's Cup in a story just posted on The Daily Sail subscription website. Here are a couple of brief excerpts.) There is something Darwinian about the America's Cup. The weak fall by the wayside; the adaptable survive. And in surviving, there is the opportunity for ambition. This sums up the position of France's K-Challenge. The chattering classes of the America's Cup world expressed concerns about survivability of the weaker of the 11 challengers, the likes of K-Challenge, Sweden's Victory Challenge, China Team and Italy's +39. What would happen to these after the hard realities of winter? 2006 is the year when the money has to be there for a new boat and even small teams can't dodge the budget hike that a new boat demands. Well all four are still here though no one is pretending things have got easier. "I am sure K-Challenge will continue all the way through America's Cup 32," says Stephane Kandler unequivocally. "Our intention is to carry on an prove it is possible to enter the top four." K-Challenge's survival has required it to re-size. It will be a one boat team, not two, and will launch later because of it. But carry on it will is the message from the team. Over the winter, Kandler has had slim down his team. K Challenge in 2006 will number about 50, a reduction of 10 or so. Ask him if there is one thing that would help broaden the base of Cup participation and Kandler has a fast response: "The major issue is that there are big teams spending too much money. You can't build a business model on those sums for sure," he says. ~ Tim Jeffery, The Daily Sail subscription website full story: www.thedailysail.com FOCUS ON DUBAI Two of the world's most influential personalities in match racing and the America's Cup flew into Dubai yesterday to take part in separate regattas to coincide with the 14th Dubai International Boat Show. Russell Coutts, arguably the most successful helmsman in America's Cup history but ironically sidelined by Alinghi for next year's defence, was in the emirate for the two-day Dubai Match Race Challenge against Danish helmsman Jes Gram-Hansen. Dalton meanwhile was taking part in a corporate regatta with Emirates the airline backing the New Zealand America's Cup bid. Coutts already has strong links with Dubai through V1 Advanced Composites Technologies (see Yachting World, April issue on bookstalls now) who are building his specialist RC 44 match racing yacht, which will make its debut in the regatta on Thursday. But he is also clearly playing a key role in the drive to develop Dubai as a world-class match racing and sailing location. In addition to near perfect sailing conditions with fresh sea breezes in the afternoons, there are virtually grand stand views from the Dubai International Marine Club (the match race organizers) premises, which are adjacent to Le Meridian resort hotel and the Palm Jumeirah breakwater. They form three sides of a square inside which the racing takes place. The development in the club's immediate hinterland is quite extraordinary, one of the most notable being the new, vast Dubai Media City where CNN, Reuters and UAE media companies have already set up shop in spectacular looking HQs. Their views look directly over the racecourse! ~ Excerpt from a story by David Glenn/Yachting World, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060214072210ywnews.html FOR THE RECORD The World Sailing Speed Record Council is developing their website to include more information about the progression of records. The first section to be updated is the "24 Hour Distance Records," Here’s an excerpt: 24 HOUR DISTANCE RECORDS - OUTRIGHT: Pre-WSSR 1854 “Champion of the Sea” 225ft Clipper, USA, 467nm. 19.46kts 1984 “Formule Tag” 75ft Tri, Mike Birch, CAN, 512.5nm. 21.35kts 1987 “Fleury Michon VIII” 75ft Tri, Philippe Poupon, FRA, 517nm. 21.54kts 1990 “Jet Services V” 75ft Cat, Serge Madec, FRA, 522.73nm. 21.85kts 1994 “Lyonnaise des Eaux”75ft Cat, Olivier de Kersauson, FRA, 524.63nm. 21.91kts WSSR Ratified 1994 “Primagaz” 60ft Tri, Laurent Bourgnon, FRA, 540nm. 22.5kts 1994 “Explorer” 86ft Cat, Bruno Peyron, FRA, 547.3nm. 22.86kts 1999 “PlayStation” 105ft Cat , Steve Fossett, USA, 580.23nm. 24.18kts 2000 “Club Med” 110ft Cat, Grant Dalton, NZL, 625.7nm , 26.07kts 2001 “Club Med” 110ft Cat, Grant Dalton, NZL, 655.2nm, 27.3kts 2001 “PlayStation” 125ft Cat, Steve Fossett, USA, 687.17nm. 28.63kts 2002 “Maiden 2” 110ft Cat, Brian Thompson, GBR, 694.78nm. 28.95kts 2004 “Orange II” 120ft Cat, Bruno Peyron, FRA, 706.2nm.29.42kts SINGLEHANDED. 1994 “Primagaz” 60ft Tri, Laurent Bourgnon, FRA, 540nm. 22.5kts 2005 “Idec” 90ft Tri, Francis Joyon, FRA, 542.7nm. 22.6kts MONOHULL, SINGLEHANDED 2000 “Union Bancaire Privee” 60ft, Dominique Wavre, FRA, 430.7nm. 17.94kts 2003 “AT Racing” 60ft, Alex Thompson, GBR, 468.72nm. 19.53kts MONOHULL. 1994 “Intrum Justitia” 64ft, Lawrie Smith, GBR, 428nm. 17.83kts 1997 “Toshiba” 64ft, Dennis Connor, USA, 434.4nm, 18.1kts 1997 “Silk Cut” 64ft, Lawrie Smith, GBR, 449.1nm. 18.71kts 2001 “Armor Lux” 60ft, Bernard Stamm, SUI, 467.7nm, 19.54kts 2002 “Illbruck” 64ft, John Kostecki, USA, 484nm. 20.16kts 2003 “MariCha IV” 140ft, Robert Miller, GBR, 525.7nm, 21.9kts 2005 “Movistar” 70ft, Bouwe Becking, NED, 530.19nm, 22.09kts 2005 “ABN Amro One” 70ft, Mike Sanderson, GBR 546.14nm, 22.75kts 2006 “ABN Amro Two” 70ft, Sebastien Josse, AUS, 562.96 nm, 23.45kts There’s more: http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/major.html NEWPORT BOUND?? BERMUDA BOUND?? If you are heading up to Newport be sure to stop by Team One Newport's newly expanded store, where there’s more selection of technical sailing gear anywhere in the World! Call 800-VIP-GEAR or email for the 2006 catalog showing the latest great gear like the Transition Jacket from Henri-Lloyd, Musto's Inshore Race Jacket, Gill's luggage, Patagonia's silkweight underwear, Gul's Newport Jacket, Mustang's Inflatable PFD, Camet's Code Zero shirt, Magic Marine's harnesses with the Quick Release hook, Harken Trimmers, Slam Mistrals, Dubarry Annapolis boot and Kaenon's Rhino sunglasses! And there's tons more! Ask for our Bermuda race checklist! Visit http://www.team1newport.com IDENTIFYING THE ENEMY . . . The post mortem into Ericsson’s poor performance in Leg 4 took a turn towards discovering the root of their problems yesterday when the boat was found to have a damaged propeller box. A failure of the fixing between the box and hull was exposed when the boat was hoisted from the water for inspection, but the likelihood of the team’s decision makers accepting that excuse alone for a fifth place finish which leaves them bottom of the leaderboard appears to be doubtful. Members of the team’s hierarchy are said to be considering their options for an improvement in results, and a crew change is believed to be the route that will be chosen. Any decision is likely to also take into account the findings of Farr Yacht Design, who will assess the damage’s effect on performance, but at least one change, aside from those necessary if Damien Foxall and Tom Braidwood fail to recover from their injuries, is expected to be announced in the coming days. “We don’t know how long it (the propeller box) was off. It could have come off a day after we left Wellington in which case it explains a lot,” said Richard Mason, who also suggested the team, containing more experience of this race than any of their rivals, should be doing better considering the quality onboard. Jason Carrington insists the boat he built and sails is not the source of the team’s problems. It was built from the same mould as the Pirates’ and has the make up to match The Black Pearl, but the poor results indicate it is not being sailed effectively.“There’re so many aspects when you think about the boat,” said Jason Carrington, “There’re sails, there’s the mast, there’s the crew, there’s where you put the boat, obviously we haven’t got it all right. I know the boat pretty well and I know the other Farr boats pretty well. I certainly know the Pirates’ boat extremely well and in terms of that and in terms of stability and performance we should be just fine, but clearly we are not. “They (The Pirates) do and it’s frustrating because they came out of the same mould. Ericsson was built in eight months and very carefully. Consequently it’s a lot lighter boat with a bigger keel bulb, and Pirates was built in about four and a half months and it’s performing quite a bit better than us. They are not one design boats, the boats are very different, there’s a big choice of sails, there’s how you sail the boat. We have to take a look at ourselves.” ~ Volvo Ocean Race website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/o36cb ACTION AROUND THE WORLD With training beginning to heat up in the Port America’s Cup, many Cup sailors are stretching their wings in competition further a field to stay sharp ahead of Louis Vuitton Act 10 in May. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, United Internet Team Germany, Shosholoza, Desafío Español, BMW Oracle Racing, Luna Rossa and Victory Challenge have all been training in Valencia, while +39 resumes sailing here after a short break. But further a field, sailors from six Cup teams will race in Brazil this week in the latest stop on the World Match Racing Tour. Ben Ainslie and Dean Barker from Emirates Team New Zealand, Ed Baird from Alinghi, Swede Magnus Holmberg from Victory Challenge, Thierry Peponnet from K-Challenge, Cameron Dunn with Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and James Spithill of Luna Rossa will all vie with other match racing leaders for supremacy in South America. Other Cup sailors will be found a few hundred kilometers up the Mediterranean coast from Valencia next week at the Marseille International Match Race. Sébastian Col from K-Challenge, Philippe Presti (Luna Rossa), Peter Holmberg from Alinghi and Jes Gram-Hansen (Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team) are among the 10 sailors competing. Despite all the action around the world, focus will return to Valencia soon enough. Both Luna Rossa and BMW Oracle Racing have base openings and boat christenings scheduled later this month, and with spring quickly morphing into summer in Valencia, sea breeze conditions mean its becoming ideal for testing and training. ~ America’s Cup website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/hfj9s CHANGING TIMES New Ltd’s Rupert Murdoch said this week ‘Companies that expect a glorious past to shield them from the forces of change driven by advancing technology will fail and fall. ‘A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it. ‘This new media audience - and we are talking here of tens of millions of young people around the world - is already using technology, especially the web, to inform, entertain and above all to educate themselves. The web will continue its rapid development as the prime media channel for information, entertainment, business and social contact.’ Sailors have already voted with their mouses. Their sport rarely makes it to the mainstream news, in the past, they found news in sailing magazines (with a 30-60-90 day delay). Now they receive the majority of their sailing news online, within minutes or hours. The Internet has changed the world. ~ Excerpt from a story on the Sail-World website, full story: http://www.sail-world.com/ NEWPORT SHIPYARD Jimmy Fund Regatta, June 3-4. Goslings Dark n' Stormy party to salute 100 years of the Bermuda Race, June 14th. Spring Charter Show, June 20th; Newport Bucket, July 21st; Farr 40 Worlds, September 6th; Brokerage Boat Show, September 14th. Newport Shipyard is where the rock stars hang out and their programs stay on task! http://www.newportshipyard.com SKIPPERS CONFIRMED The twelve skippers who will compete for the title of 2006 Dexia Private Banking ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Champion in Copenhagen, Denmark from May 24-28 have been confirmed. Defending champion Sally Barkow (USA) heads the list of competitors, with the 25 year old American aiming for a hat-trick of Match Racing World titles. Barkow won her second consecutive ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship title in Hamilton, Bermuda last October, and was the first skipper to lift the new Bermuda Trophy. That victory was one of the highlights of a terrific year for Barkow, which also saw her claim the Yngling World Championship, the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, the US Women’s Match Racing Championship -- and was named US Sailing’s 2005 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. The skippers for the regatta along with their world ranking: - Claire Leroy (FRA) - 1 - Marie Bjorling (SWE) - 2 - Sally Barkow (USA) - 3 - Nina Braestup (DEN) - 4 - Klaartje Zuiderbaan (NED) - 5 - Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN) - 6 - Malin Kallstrom (SWE) - 7 - Christine Briand (FRA) - 8 - Linda Rahm (SWE) - 10 - Betsy Alison (USA) - 11 - Christelle Philippe (FRA) - 12 - One wildcard selected by the host Royal Danish Yacht Club, the Danish Sailing Association and ISAF - to be decided at a qualifying event from April 22-23 NEWS BRIEFS * Kaohsiung, Taiwan – The Horizon Group, Taiwan’s largest yacht builder has a record-breaking 1-piece Scrimp yacht hull under construction. Work is well underway on a 130 feet long Scrimp hull for the Horizon Premiere S130 model, the longest 1-piece Scrimp yacht hull ever attempted. The hull incorporates a sandwiched bottom and side shell with a core thickness of 60mm. All main girders of the hull have been infused together in one piece and a staggering total of 8 tons of resin has been infused into the hull (comprising 7.4 tons of fibreglass with a 4.7 tons core). ~ www.kingfisher-marine.com * Set in the British Virgin Islands, the ClubSwan 2006 Caribbean Rendez-vous on March 20-25 will begin and end its activities at the Bitter End YC on Virgin Gorda, with intermediate stops scheduled for Jost van Dyke, Peter Island, Marina Cay on their race/cruise schedule. Over 20 Swans are expected to attend the event which has grown in popularity since its inception four years ago. * A new short video on the Scuttlebutt website really has nothing to do with sailing, but does demonstrate how gullible people can be. We thought it might come in handy for the next time when you are searching for crew. Click here to view: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/photobooth * Footwear manufacturer Sebago, a division of Wolverine World Wide (Rockford, Mich.), has renewed its agreement with the World Match Racing Tour to be the Official Footwear Supplier to a Sponsor of the global professional sailing series. Sebago joined the World Tour one year ago. Its renewed partnership with the World Tour runs through Dec. 31, 2006. As part of the agreement Sebago will receive prominent exposure on World Match Racing Tour television programs and at on-site display areas. Sebago also will have use of the World Tour logo when marketing, advertising and promoting Sebago footwear. ~ www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com * Ed Stiess has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Sales for Edson International’s Marine Division.Stiess previously held the position of Customer Service Manager at Edson since joining the company in 1998.In his new position, Stiess will oversee the direction of Edson’s marine sales force, both power and sail, and will report directly to company President Will Keene. * Held annually on the first weekend of April, the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival is celebrating its 35th anniversary. It is now a seven-day event with two events back-to-back attracting an average of 135 yachts per year with eighty percent of the competitors from overseas. Hosted and presented by Nanny Cay Marina, not only offers plenty of racing during the day, but each night presents entertainment worthy of this trend setting event. ~ http://www.bvispringregatta.org SUBMIT YOUR STORY For those lucky enough to be at last week’s Acura Miami Race Week, the Scuttlebutt Forums is seeking your story. Best story gets Scuttlebutt schwag. Your tale must include both on-the-water and off-the-water events, need not be long, but will be judged on spirit. Heck, if it’s good enough, we’ll even find space in the newsletter for it. Deadline is Friday. Click on this link to submit: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/0314 RECAPTURE THE JOY OF SAILING There’s nothing quite like steering a sleek, fast boat with a light touch on the tiller, being close to the water and sliding through waves with barely a wake or whisper. If the joy of sailing is your priority, then the new J/100 may be just about perfect! http://www.jboats.com/j100 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. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Grant Williams, Lido 14 National Class Association President (edited to our 250-word limit): I was upset by the letter criticizing a Lido sailor for lodging too many protests. It gives a distorted view of the class. I participated in the regatta and saw 40 Lido skippers and crew having fun, sailing and socializing. Participants included couples, parents and children and Roy Woolsey, 90 years young and still sailing his Lido 14. As class president I received emails from many members concerned that the negative publicity would hurt there hard work to recruit new members. "Having fun and making friends, that is exactly why I joined the Lido 14 class. My wife crews for me and nearly everyone knows my kids ages three and six .The atmosphere and camaraderie on the water keeps me coming back. (Eric Bohman -Ventura Ca. ) "I feel we have wonderful people with great attitudes. As for Fleet 2, we continue to have highly experienced sailors come into our fleet bringing our numbers to 14 boats. Not bad for a fleet that was only three boats just 18 months ago. " (Tracey Kenny -Marina Del Rey) I could describe hundreds of Regattas including national championships held without a single protest. But that's not the point. Protests are a legitimate part of sailboat racing. They allow us to settle controversies. Sailors should expect protest committees to hear valid protests without criticism appearing in the world wide media the next day. What happens in the protest room stays in the protest room. ~ www.lido14.org * From Rob Stephan: After attending the Safety At Sea seminar on Saturday in Newport, I would like to recognize the excellent effort put forth by all the volunteers who brought such an enjoyable seminar to life. The CCA did an outstanding job of recruiting interesting speakers with world class experience who delivered compelling presentations. There were 537 sailors in the room who now know the latest techniques and advice on everything from new life raft designs to man over board rescue techniques. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Special thanks to Team One Newport, Newport Shipyard, and J/Boats |
