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SCUTTLEBUTT 1310 - April 17, 2003
Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is a
digest of major yacht racing news, 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.
INNOVATION
(Sailhead.com has a fascinating story about the new stepped hull multihull
Yves Parlier will be launching in September for Transat Jacques Vabre race
2003 and for a series of record attempts between 2003 and 2006. Here's an
excerpt.)
Current trimarans are more than 18 meters wide for 5.5 to 6 tons of load
displacement. Our aim, being that of building a lighter boat, it implied
the need to design a catamaran (removal of the central hull). Despite a
width inferior to trimarans, to have a single mast placed on the forward
beam would have been prohibitive in terms of weight. Indeed, on a 15 meter
wide catamaran the compression of a single mast would become such as it
would need a huge beam to support it.
On the other hand, to optimize both the sail area and the height of the
lift and effort centre (centre of effort), to double the rig was necessary.
It's thus the configuration of a two wing-mast (rotary and non-canting)
placed on the forward beam, one meter inwards of the platform, which was
retained.
The double rig exerts its strain almost at the level of the hulls, thus
enabling shaped beams to provide the link between the two hulls and not to
support a single mast. Moreover, with a fast multihull, by light or medium
wind, the relative wind, even when running, is located forward the abeam
which enables the leeward rig to avoid being masked by the windward rig. On
an equal sail area with the trimarans, the air draught of 24.5 meters
(height of the mast - 22 meters) is by far lower which makes it reliable. -
Full story: www.bowmansunion.com/portal/news/anmviewer.asp?a=501&z=16
JUNIOR OLYMPIC SAILING FESTIVALS
Youth sailing enthusiasts will be able to participate in any of the 20
Junior Olympic Sailing Festivals, which are hosted by yacht clubs and
community sailing programs across the country, from Hawaii to Maine and
from Florida to Minnesota. West Marine is returning as presenting sponsor
of USA Junior Olympic Sailing, demonstrating its continued support and
dedication to encourage youth to enjoy sailing. Gill is also continuing its
support of the program as official supplier of technical apparel. Since the
inception of the Junior Olympic Sailing Festivals in 1997, more than 18,000
youth sailors have participated. - Marlieke de Lange Eaton, US Sailing
June 7-8: Nevin Sayre Kid's Camp, West Dennis Beach, MA (Windsurfing)
June 14-15: Crescent Sail YC, Grosse Pointe, MI
June 20-21: Midwest Carlyle Sailing Assoc., Carlyle Lake, IL
June 21-22: Wayzata YC, MN
June 28-29: Calema Windsurfing School, Merritt Island, FL (Windsurfing)
July 1-2: Annapolis YC, MD
July 4-6: Pensacola YC, FL
July 10-13: Mission Bay YC, San Diego, CA
July 19-26: Youth Race Week, Texas Corinthian, Lakewood & Houston YCs, TX
July 21-22: Island Heights YC, NJ
July 24-26: Hawaii YC & Waikiki YC, Honolulu, HI
July 28-30: Northeast Youth Championship, Boothbay Harbor, ME
Aug 8-10: Rochester YC, NY
Aug 11-13: Bay Sailing Junior Regatta, Hull YC, Hull, MA
Aug 16-17: Encinal YC, Alameda, CA
Aug 17-20: Narragansett Bay Jr. Race Week, Barrington YC, RI
Aug 22-24: Shilshole Bay/Seattle & Corinthian YCs, WA
Oct 18-19: River Romp Regatta, Edison Sailing Center, Fort Myers, FL
Dec 6-7: US Sailing Center of Martin County, Jensen Beach, FL
Dec 27-30: Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta US Sailing Center &
Coral Reef YC, Miami, FL
For more information, visit www.ussailing.org
COMPULSIVE LINE TWEAKING (CLT), THE SAILOR'S NEUROSIS!
The Mental Health Association of America says that this neurosis permeates
the racecourse, and they tragically conclude that there is no cure. We as
mental health professionals can only protect them from hurting themselves.
Fortunately there is Kontrol, an aggressive-gripped glove by Sailing
Angles. The basketball textured Zeptepä palms and protective palm wraps
will protect those sailors who have the worst cases of CLT. Available in
cut-off and three-finger styles. Sizes XXS-XXXL. Kontrols will handle the
toughest hybrid cordage. Log on today and gear up for spring line tweaking!
Get Kontrol Gloves at APS or http://www.sailingangles.com
ROUND THE WORLD
Challenge Business announced a brand-new event the Blue Water Challenge
a race around the world, following a warm water route to some of the most
exotic locations in the world. As with the Global Challenge - the company's
flagship event - a fleet of Challenge Business owned 72' yachts will be
crewed by one professional skipper and seventeen men and women, aged
between 21 and 60. Equally matched in order to provide a level playing
field, these crews will be made up of people from a wide range of different
nationalities and from all walks of life.
The fleet will leave from Southampton and undertake a preliminary race to
Hamburg where the race will officially start in the autumn of 2006. From
Germany the fleet will head down the Channel and out in to the Atlantic at
the start of their ten-month, 30,000-mile adventure. "The Blue Water
Challenge will enable us to offer the exhilarating sport of round-the-world
yacht racing to individuals who may never even have stepped onto a boat
before" explains Simon Walker, managing director, Challenge Business. "The
difference with this race is where it goes; the classic route across the
Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and then visiting
destinations most people only dream about."
The total fee for the Race including full training is £26,500 (€39,950*).
Crew also receive a branded foul weather suit, branded race clothing, a
training pack, race training and invitations to the farewell and prize
giving celebrations. - www.challengebusiness.com/bwc
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
* May 2-4: Sailing World Magazine National Offshore One Design (NOOD)
Regatta, Annapolis YC. More than 225 racing boats expected to compete in 15
classes. - www.sailingworld.com /
www.annapolisyc.com
NEW OPEN 60
(The Daily Sail caught up with Jean-Pierre Dick to talk about his radical
new Open 60 Virbac, aimed at winning line honours in next year's Vendee
Globe the first Open 60 to come from Bruce Farr. Here's an excerpt from
editor James's Boyd's comprehensive story.)
"In the Farr tradition, she is a bit finer forward and a bit narrower at
the waterline although there is good volume as you move up the hull from
the waterline to still allow you to reach well but we opted for some finer,
narrower sections forward to help it cut through the waves better,"
explains Dave Millett, Design Sales and Marketing Manager at Farr Yacht
Design.
Generally the trend in Open 60s is away from designing boats solely for
reaching and running and in the case of Virbac there seems to have been a
move away from running altogether. "Things have been moving towards all
round boats, because as the speed of the boats increases and the technology
has improved, you are almost never running, because you are moving your
wind so far forwards all the time," says Millett. "What you are really
thinking about is a lot of power reaching and close reaching and a lot of
sea keeping and leeway issues that weren't taken into considerable on
earlier generations of boats, because people did consider them more
reaching and running races and leeway wasn't that big an issue."
In the case of Virbac she has both a swing keel and water ballast - as is
the current norm in the class - although the Farr office believe they have
made significant steps forward in the detail of both. - James Boyd, The
Daily Sail. Full story: www.thedailysail.com
THE WORLD WIDE WEB
In additon to the more than 17,000 'buttheads who receive this newsletter
each weekday, there are more than 200 websites that are connected to the
Scuttlebutt site. Here are a few sites that lead the way in referring
visitors to the Scuttlebutt website:
- KC Sail, Sport & Adventure Company (a premier resource for sailing in
central US) www.kcssa.com
- Lake Lanier Sailing (all the sailing news for Lake Lanier in the Eastern
US) www.lakelaniersailing.com
- Burghfield Sailing Club (one of the largest inland sailing clubs in
England) www.burghfieldsc.org.uk
- Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club (this US club has no facilities, but they
love to race) www.sailbhsc.org
- Charleston-Bermuda Race (this 2003 event connects two very fine sailing
ports) www.charlestontobermuda.org
For information on providing Scuttlebutt as a feature for your website, go
to www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/affiliate
SAMSON ON DISPLAY AT PACIFIC SAIL EXPO - APRIL 23-27
If you're planning to be in the Bay area for Pacific Sail Expo, make sure
you stop by our booth. We'll have all our rigging lines on display plus
some exciting new products as well. Pick up the new product guide and
keychain while you are there! Find out why Samson lines were chosen for the
record-setting Pyewacket and the technical marvel Baltic 147. Samson -
First in innovation, First across the line!
http://www.samsonrope.com/home/recmarine/index.cfm
AROUND ALONE
Bobst Group Armor lux and Tiscali are locked in a tight battle for first
place in Class 1 as Bernard Stamm and Simone Bianchetti duke it out for the
top spot. The two boats were diverging as Bianchetti sailed a course
directly for Newport while Stamm took one more to the west, but Bernard has
since gybed back and is now directly between his closest competitor and the
finish. He is using tactics familiar to those racers that sail inshore
courses. Boat boats have cleared the coast of Brazil and are a day away
from crossing the equator. While they continue to streak towards the finish
consistently averaging over 10 knots, the rest of the Class 1 boats are
struggling to make it out of single digits.
At the front of Class 2 Brad Van Liew is turning in another stellar
performance and is nipping at the heels of his friends in Class 1. Life on
board the dark hulled Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is becoming unbearably
hot, especially down below, and Brad is doing his best to keep cool.
Another week of scorching temperature are in store for Van Liew as he
crosses first the equator and then the doldrums, after which he will be
able to enjoy the northeast trade winds. "I don't want to attract the
interest of King Neptune so I will tread lightly when complaining about the
current sailing conditions," he wrote in his daily log. "Currently the boat
is moving along at 6 knots in a good direction and it is blistering hot on
board. The reason for caution is that we have had beautiful weather since
leaving Salvador and I don't want to induce either heavy winds and squall
activity or a no wind park-up. The biggest problem is that it is sweltering
and progress is nothing special at the moment."
STANDINGS: 2200 UTC April 16 CLASS 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux, Bernard
Stamm, 3246 miles from finish; 2. Tiscali, Simone Bianchetti, 23 miles from
leader; 3. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 119 mfl. 4. Solidaires, Thierry
Dubois, 169 mfl; 5. Pindar, Emma Richards, 187 mfl;
CLASS 2: 1. Tommy Hilfiger, Brad Van Liew, 3395 miles from finish; 2.
Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 41 mfl; 32. Spirit of yukoh, Kojiro
Shiraishi, 133 mfl; 4. BTC Velocity, Alan Paris, 183 mfl; 5. Spirit of
Canada, Derek Hatfield, still sailing leg 4. - www.aroundalone.com
CLIPPER 2002
The fourth leg of the Clipper 2002 Round the World Yacht Race gets underway
on Thursday 17 April 2003, after a three-week stopover in Hong Kong, which
has seen the largest crew changeover of the eleven-month circumnavigation
and the yachts hoisted out of the water for routine maintenance.
The San Fernando Race 2003 has been cancelled however, following an
eleventh hour decision by the authorities in La Union to refuse entry to
the race fleet due to concerns about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS). San Fernando is therefore no longer an option for the crews
competing on the Clipper 2002 race due to these quarantine restrictions.
However, the Clipper yachts will still set sail, but instead of heading for
the Philippines the boats will go directly to Singapore. -
www.clipper-ventures.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* Lightning Worlds - Wed., April 16: Another day of light and shifty
conditions on Biscayne Bay made for a challenging day in the Lightning
World Championship. David Peck of the US won the first race, while past
world champion Tito Gonzalez of Chile was first in the second race, only to
learn later his team was OCS (at press time). Chilean Juan Reid took the
bullet instead, and George Fisher of the US now leads the sixty-boat fleet
after 5 races. Racing continues on Thursday and concludes Friday. - Amy
Smith Linton, www.lightningworlds.org
* Captain Dean Brenner, Karl Zeigler, Tim Fallon, and Ramsey Key from the
Seawanaka Yacht Club of Oyster Bay, Long Island, won the Jackson Cup team
race this past weekend at the Eastern YC in Marblehead, MA. It was the
first formal team race of the new sailing season in New England, with
soaking rains, aggressive winds, busted equipment and torn sails. A close
second place finish went to the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club of Branford, CT,
under the helm of skipper Josh Adams, Captain Dave Penny and Skipper Tom
Kinney. - Francie King, www.easternyc.org
* 118 of top North American prospects were at the California
International Sailing Association's annual Advanced Racing Clinic at
Alamitos Bay Yacht Club for four intense days of on-shore instruction and
on-water coaching from Olympic medallists, America's Cup campaigners and
other world-class talent. Racing winners: Laser: Emery Wagner, Seattle;
Laser Racial: Matthew Pies, Santa Barbara; 420: Martin Sterling/ Brooks
Reed, Waipahu, H.I.; I-420: Zachary Brown/ Melanie Brown, San Diego; CFJ:
Parker Mitchell/ Katlin Hall, Malibu; 29er: Cameron Biehl/ Ryan Lorence,
San Diego; Europe: Lauren Bernsen, Coronado, Calif. - Rich Roberts,
www.yachtracing.com/PressReleases/cisa/041603.htm /
www.cisasailing.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: "John McBrearty (Re T.L.Lewis' comments regarding Gavin Brady's
"heart wrenching" sailing career): Don't be jealous, Gavin just wants to do
the best he can with his life. He has chosen to be a pro sailboat racer and
those with the power, looked at his results, and deemed him worthy of his
career choice. i.e. He has sponsorship and he get's paid. It's his job!
Kinda like Shaquille or Kobe!
There are many inner city residents who would love to be Shaq or Kobe, they
don't have the same skills. When it comes to sailing, I don't have Gavins
skills and, I suspect, neither do you.
* From Mark Eustis (Re: Gavin Brady's comments about Prada and the daily
grind): It's good to hear someone in the sailing stratosphere speak his
mind. Who wouldn't enjoy the Congo Cup more than day-in-day-out speed
testing? And by all accounts, Gavin worked for a rather difficult boss. Has
Gavin burnt a bridge? Well, if there was one left burn, Mr. Bertelli
bruciato quel ponticello on his own account, and long ago.
* From Branislav Kecman: As a whale fan I'm saddened when they get hit by
racing sailboats, and even upset when the incident is described in an
insensitive manner. What would it take to equip open ocean sailors with a
good alarm in order to prevent such collisions? It would greatly help both
parties.
I recall threads about the difficulty of spotting floating containers with
a radar at a close range, but whales emit sounds at frequencies that could
be picked up. Is there a technical or human problem, or both? After
visiting with whales of Laguna San Ignacio I know that there is no whale
problem.
* From Greg Jones (Re: the seasickness meds poll): I have found Stugeron
to be a wonderful preventative, and get new supplies whenever I am in
Europe. While I am rarely bothered by seasickness, I have handed it out a
lot and regret it's not being distributed in the States. Perhaps the
government, in its supreme wisdom, will make it illegal, thus ensuring its
availability.
* From Tom Pollack: Perhaps Betsy, Lee and Suzy can tear a page out of
our 1988 Flying Dutchman Campaign play book for getting their Yngling from
Genoa Italy to Hyeres France in a hurry. After our vehicle was nearly
totaled in Genoa, we spent a couple of fruitless days searching for another
vehicle to go across the border. Running out of time before the Hyeres
regatta started, Ron Baerwitz & I came up with another solution.
We "hired" a local Italian cab driver named Mario for $400 bucks cash and
bolted on our shiny trailer hitch to his brand new company owned Cab. He
then chauffeured us roughly 200 miles from Genoa to Hyeres with our Flying
Dutchman in tow. Upon arrival, we were openly cheered by the entire Italian
Flying Dutchman team all the way to the launch ramp. The slightly
embarrassed Italian cabby quickly helped us unload all our gear, waved to
the gathering crowd, pocketed his fare & tip, and bolted. Now if only I had
Mario's last known address to supply to the Yngling gals.
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't gone to
sleep yet.
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