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SCUTTLEBUTT 1978 -- December 1, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.SPORTSMANSHIP Reports from New York Clipper and Jersey Clipper in the Clipper 05 - 06 Round the World Yacht Race confirm that a sojourn took place where Mark Taylor and the crew of Jersey successfully transferred a spare water maker head pump, a procedure that took around three and a half hours. The conditions were 20kts and a large swell but everything went well and Joff Bailey and his New York crew will be delighted with the sportsmanship shown by the Channel Island boat. Currently Jersey Clipper is waiting to hear what they will receive in the way of redress, an issue currently being looked at by the Race Team. What is clear is that in terms of direction neither boat suffered dramatically and that with more than 3700 miles to go to Fremantle both teams are only around 20 miles off the pace. Meanwhile the top of the leader board remains largely unchanged with the exception of Uniquely Singapore slipping back from second to fifth over night. Durban maintains her lead at the front but Glasgow and notably westernaustralia.com have gained ground, with the overall race leaders appearing to have an ideal line just south of the Great Circle route. 1. Durban, 3738 miles to finish; 2. Glasgow, +6 miles; 2. westernaustralia.com, +6; 4. Cardiff, +8; 5. Uniquely Singapore, +11; 6. Qingdao, +12; 7. Victoria, +14; 8. Liverpool 08, +15; 9. New York, +23; 10. Jersey +24. -- http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006 OLYMPIC SAILING Since becoming the new Olympic equipment for the Women's One Person Dinghy event, the Laser Radial has seen an influx of new talent and a transfer of old hands from the Europe. From December 2-9, Fortaleza, Brazil will host the first World Championship for the new bunch of Olympic hopefuls, with a truly global fleet encompassing all continents and 78 sailors from 32 nations battling for the World title. Olympic Champion in the Europe Siren Sundby (NOR) has switched to the 470, silver medallist Lenka Smidova (CZE) has also been racing in the two handers and match racing and bronze medallist Signe Livbjerg (DEN) is another name missing from the entry list after she endured a torrid time at the ISAF Grade C1 European Championship in Split, Croatia. Paige Railey (USA) dominated in Split to add another gold to an already medal strewn year which included her win at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. With the absence of the Olympic medallists, and after Railey's dominant form this year which has seen her rise to the top of the Rankings, she will start the racing in Fortaleza as favourite. The presence of China's Xu Lijia means all three medallists from this year's ISAF Youth Worlds feature on the entry list. The young Chinese sailor produced a superb display in Korea to challenge Railey right to the wire, less than a fortnight after having first sailed in a Radial. Europe World Champion Shen Xisoying (CHN) completes the Chinese team, and with five Japanese sailors entered, the Asian challenge in Brazil looks set to be strong. -- There's more to this story: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j62Fh0~7~ "A DISASTER" The Boating Industry Association of Victoria (BIA), Australia, has labeled the State Government's new lifejacket regulations a disaster. The recreational boating body said the rules governing the use of personal flotation devices (PFDs) and other safety equipment were ill timed, potentially ineffective and hopelessly confusing. Transport Minister Peter Batchelor announced the regulations two days before they were due to take effect, but the main documentation is not yet available to the boating community. BIA chief executive Lindsay Grenfell criticized the rules' lack of practicality for demanding the wearing of lifejackets without clarifying dangerous weather conditions in which, lifejacket or not, it would simply be unwise to take to the water in a small boat. -- IBI Magazine, complete story: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20051030114726ibinews.html MULTIHULL CLINIC The winning program that has developed some of America's best sailors over 28 years---the California International Sailing Association's annual Advanced Racing Clinic---has a new version off to a promising start. CISA's first Multihull Clinic brought 15 select young prospects from around the country to Alamitos Bay Yacht Club over the Thanksgiving weekend for three days of intense instruction by world class competitors. The clinic director was Pete Melvin, current and two-time world A-Cat champion, assisted by Olympic medalists Jay and Pease Glaser and Bob Merrick. "There's very little youth multihull sailing in this country and no infrastructure for it," Melvin said. "If a young sailor wants to sail multihulls he has to get into an adult class. We're hoping to develop youth multihull fleets around the country." The 15 students ages 14 to 17 included three girls, one of whom---Sarah Newberry of Florida ---was on the first-place boat in the informal closing regatta on the final day. All sailed a variety of Hobie 16s loaned by the manufacturer and local owners, plus a Hobie Tiger, the Formula 18 with a spinnaker. Skippers and crews switched positions about halfway through the regatta to give everyone a chance to steer and crew, so results were ambiguous. Buoyed by the success of the initial Multihull Clinic, CISA plans to make it an annual event on an expanded scale. -- Rich Roberts, www.cisasailing.org FIBERPATH SAILS: "FASTEST SAILS ON THE PLANET" PERIOD! 2006 racing season is just weeks away - is your sail inventory ready? International Grand Prix, to highly competitive One Design, or just local club racing, Ullman Sails has the right sail design technology and fabric selection to deliver you the "The Fastest Sails on the Planet." Ullman Sails' new FiberPath sails are arguably the lightest, strongest string load-bearing sails available! FiberPath is stronger for it's weight and delivers superior longevity than the alternatives. For more information on "FiberPath," or to get a quote on the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," contact Ullman Sails or view online at http://www.ullmansails.com HAULING THE MAIL The new 24-hour world record holder, Mike Sanderson, is poised to complete a deserved first-leg victory on arrival here in South Africa today to take the overall lead in the Volvo Ocean Race. ABN Amro's shore team is waiting on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront with their second boat, ABN Amro 2, due to follow Sanderson in. Ericsson, however, for whom Neal McDonald is set to finish fourth, will share overall second with Torben Grael's Brasil 1 after winning the inshore prologue. -- Stuart Alexander in Cape Town, The Independent, full story: http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article330412.ece Position Reports -- Wednesday, 2200 GMT 1. ABN Amro One, 242 miles to finish 2. ABN Amro Two, +111 miles 3. Brasil 1, +201 miles 4. Ericsson Racing Team, +411 miles 5. Sunergy and Friends, +2077 miles 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired 6. Movistar, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia -- After nine of 17 scheduled flights of the inaugural Monsoon Cup, the celebratory 50th event of the Swedish Match Tour, there are five skippers in a logjam at the top of the standings. The leader depends on whether you consider total wins as the basis for leading or winning percentage. And then there are tiebreakers to consider. If you choose winning percentage then there's a three way tie for the lead. Crews led by Chris Dickson (BMW Oracle Racing), Peter Gilmour (PST) and Staffan Lindberg (Alandia Sailing Team) all have four wins in five races, a winning rate of 80 percent. The three haven't raced each other yet. If you go for total wins then Ian Williams (Williams Racing Team) is the event leader. Williams' 5-2 record is good for a winning rate of 71 percent. Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge) is also 5-2, but Williams holds the tiebreak advantage after yesterday's come-from-behind win in Flight 2. -- Sean McNeill, www.SwedishMatchTour.com Round Robin (After 9 of 17 scheduled flights) 1. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 4-1 T. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 4-1 T. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 4-1 4. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Racing Team, 5-2 5. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 5-2 6. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand, 3-2 7. Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing Team, 3-3 8. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa Challenge, 2-3 9. Björn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net, 2-4 10. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) K-Challenge, 2-5 11. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia, 1-6 12. Sally Barkow (USA) Team 7, 0-5 PROFESSIONAL SAILING (Excerpt for a story just posted on the Daily Sail Subscription website.) Nick Moloney has officially signed another 4-year contract with the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team that will run through to the summer of 2009. Moloney initially joined the team to pursue his dream of competing in the solo Vendée Globe and his focus is, once again, based around another Open 60 campaign while at the same sharing his vast sailing skills with other crewed campaigns and events: "The past few years with Offshore Challenges have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and when it came down to it, I really didn't want that to stop," says Moloney. "We have made a new four-year agreement that will help me realize my future ambitions and give me the flexibility to work with other projects. It was great to be back in touch with the Volvo Ocean Race through my association with Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean team but I am also really excited by the announcement of the Barcelona World Race which is a really motivating race for me to do. I think the IMOCA circuit is where the action is and I hope to be part of it in the future." -- www.thedailysail.com READY TO GO Eighteen days after the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Vigo, and 17 since movistar suffered the accident that forced her to abandon the leg when she was leading the race, the Spanish boat is already repaired and ready to resume the race. Two weeks of repairs at the Portuguese port of Portimao have been necessary to put the yacht back in shape. "Since she arrived in Portimao on November 14, work on movistar has been constant," says Pepe Ribes, bowman. "The first priority was always to repair the boat. When we chose Portimao to make repairs, we started out the work with our shore team and the invaluable assistance of the Desafío Español 2007 America's Cup team, who offered their assistance immediately." "The collaboration and coordination between both teams was complete, both in the repair of the rudder and the pivoting keel in Valencia and the onboard work in Portimao. We also used the Green Marine shipyard in the UK to repair some of the pieces. The truth is that the whole machinery has worked to perfection to have the boat up and running again." After contemplating all options, the team decided to send the Volvo Open 70 movistar on a freighter directly to Cape Town this weekend, the port for the start of the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, and the location for the second in-shore race of this year's edition, on December 26. "We are leaving for Cape Town on December 4 to continue our training. The boat will take around two weeks to get there, but meanwhile we will keep training hard," skipper Bouwe Bekking explained. NEWS BRIEFS * In help celebrate its 40th anniversary, Nautor announced that it will hold its first ever regatta in the country where Swans are born. The Swan Anniversary Regatta will be held from 26 - 30 July 2006, with races being played out around the beautiful archipelago of Turku, on the south-western coast of Finland. The Swan Anniversary Regatta has been devised in conjunction with Turun Pursiseura, the Yacht Club of Turku, which will be responsible for racing and entry applications. -- http://www.nautorswan.com/ * In 2003, the launch of Paul Allen's 127m (416ft) "Octopus" secured its number one position as the world's largest yacht. Microsoft's "accidental billionaire" Paul Allen - worth US$20 billion according to Forbes - built Octopus at a cost of over US$200 million and has permanent crew of 60, including several former Navy Seals. It has two helicopters, seven boats, a 10-man submarine, and a remote controlled vehicle for crawling on the ocean floor. An unbelievable collection of fifty-three images are now posted on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/octopus.ppt * DCN has becomes the first official sponsor of the K-Challenge French Team for the America's Cup. DCN will provide K-Challenge with its knowledge and experience with complex naval systems, high technology, and project management. The company will aid the K-Challenge team in the fields of design, structures, and materials. DCN is a major player in the European and world markets for high-added-value naval defense systems-- providing the French Navy and other client forces with direct access to proven capacity for innovation and vast experience in naval and naval air arm systems, through-life support and related services. * UCLA's Marina Aquatic Center in Marina del Rey, California has just put a very neat and useful new weather station on-line that could very well serve as a model for other boating centers. You gotta see this: http://marinaaquaticcenter.org/weather/MAC_Conditions.htm * A recent post on the Scuttlebutt Forums has a sailor who has gotten his/her first crew job for the Acura Key West 2006 event in January, and is looking for any tips and local knowledge to help with orientation. We'd like to help out too, and are offering a Scuttlebutt cap to the best nugget that gets posted. You will find 'Newbie looking for Key West info' on the Sailing Forum at: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=5 * Since announced last July, 26 of the new NYYC Swan 42 yachts have been sold to New York Yacht Club members, with six others sold to individuals. Designed by Frers and built by Nautor's Swan, the 42-footer will be capable of cruising or racing -- either one-design or under IRC. The Swan 42 will have strict limitations on sail inventory, sail replacement, crew numbers and professionals to keep the cost of racing down and re-sale value high. Two accommodation plans are offered: a two- or three-cabin version. SANTA'S HELPERS CAN FIND ULTIMATE GIFTS HERE! The Ultimate Sailing calendar, book, notecards and custom prints all feature Sharon Green's brilliant sailing photography. The Ultimate Sailing website makes your gift giving a cinch. Please order by Dec. 15 to ensure Christmas delivery. http://www.ultimatesailing.com 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 George Fredricks: Peter Huston's ideas about having one-design class to band together for front office administrative support is indeed enlightened. The Snipe class, the Lasers and High School sailing are already doing that, and with communications becoming more and more important to the health of a class there is little question that this trend will continue growing. At the same time, other classes have made communication a priority and have aggressively recruited a volunteer to insure this important function does not take a back seat. This subject was covered some depth in John Burnham's report on the Sailing World web site of US Sailing's 2005 One-Design Symposium in Annapolis. -- http://www.sailingworld.com/ * From Michael Foster: Peter Huston's note about classes such as Lightning having some commercial management would bring a new and distasteful meaning to the acronym PRO. Professional Race Organizations would be run by Professional Race Officers. Good Luck! Entry fees will look like green fees at major country clubs. One determining factor is whether your joy stick is a tiller or putter. Curmudgeon's Comment: Here's a link to a discussion of One-Design management on the Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1160#1160 * From Big Mike Howard (In response to Adrian Morgan's comments regarding Mike Sanderson and the boys hitting a shark): Give me a break. Anyone who has been in the middle of the ocean doing 25 knots on one of these canting keel sailing yachts know your hair is already on fire. The last thing Mike was doing was hunting for sharks. He already had a 70 Foot Monster he was trying to keep together. Keep the news coming from the boats. Its not easy being on deck being fire hosed for 4 hours with icy water and then go below where you can hardly move, let alone type an e-mail to fill the world in on what has been going on. Anyone who has been out there know the hazzards that exist. Sharks included. * From Michael Funsch (Re: Adrian Morgan's PETA-fevered complaint over the wording used to describe hitting a shark at 25 knots): How would you describe 1) hitting anything while doing 25 knots in a sailboat in the middle of the ocean or 2) having a 8-10 foot animal that could bite your leg off next to your boat? I think "exciting encounter" is more than reasonable. I think the same words could be used to describe hitting a deer while driving down the road. Unfortunate incidents, yes, but ones that would also get your pulse rate thumping. * From Robert Bausch: Have to say amen to Adrian Morgan's response to Mike Sanderson. If you don't know the people you are working with on Earth (including our fellow animals) you have no business on this planet anymore! * From Robert Wilkes, Secretary, International Optimist Dinghy Association: The experience of Bruce McPherson (Scuttlebutt 1977) that: "On Cape Cod, we see more Opti's each year, but hardly any sailor's graduating to 420's" does not appear to be typical. US Sailing's 2004 One-Design Survey noted: "Two classes stand out for absolute growth: the Club 420 and the J/105. The first represents the strength of the youth market, complementing and repeating the success in the late 80s and early '90s" (actually mid '90s as shown in the statistics) of the Optimist Dinghy Association". See www.ussailing.org/odc/2004One-DesignSurveyAnalysis.htm * From John Hoff. I was Commodore of the Lake Hopatcong (NJ) Yacht Club this past summer, and co-chair of our Back-To-School Regatta for Optimists in September, typically attracting 100 boats. It is one of our favorite days of the year, and we have a number of non-parents participate on the committee just to see the smiles on the kids. I was surprised after this year's regatta to get a number of notes from parents thanking me for a spectacular day, several mentioning that it was the best regatta of the year. This was surprising because we have been doing this regatta in a low-key, one day format for 15 years, and did nothing different this year than in the past. Further, this year we had very light, shifting conditions that were challenging to both the race committee and the kids. One thing we have done for years after some problems early on is to severely limit coach access on the water. What is obvious is that our low-key, "just have fun" atmosphere, where every child from first to last is encouraged and feels like he or she accomplished something, is becoming unique. That is sad, not only for the kids, but for the sport, as a few kids will thrive, but most will get discouraged and find something else to do. * From Andy Roy (yesterday's Conundrum "If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked ...."), then it must also follow that an underwear model can be debriefed, entomologist debugged, geologist defaulted, meteorologist disgusted, blackjack dealer discarded, Starbuck's owner disenfranchised, steel worker distempered, student degraded, hockey goalie decreased, ball player debased, drunk debarred, fishermen debated, podiatrist defeated, clerk defiled, vacationer dislodged, mover dislocated, freed convict deliberated, Chinese waiter disordered and disoriented, one-eyed pirate dispatched, politician devoted (we wish), porn star delayed, transplant patient delivered and disheartened, and I hope no Butthead sail trimmers have been diseased, and finally, it's a given that a sailboat approaching the windward mark from the left side of the course will soon be deporting. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. |
