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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 925 - October 18, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; 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.
COLORCRAFT GOLD CUP The win boosted Bromby through to the quarter-finals to be sailed Friday at the host Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and knocked Conner out of the competition. World number one-ranked match racer Peter Holmberg from Sweden won 3-1 against young American Andy Horton. Gavin Brady, the New Zealander who is helmsman for Italy's Prada Challenge for the America's Cup prevailed against Briton Andy Green, starting helmsman for Britain's GBR Challenge for the Cup in a protracted, incident and protest-filled series that went to 3-2. German skipper Morten Henricksen, match racing coach for the illbruck Challenge for the America's Cup won 3-1 against 21-year-old Briton Mark Campbell-James. Fellow Danes Jes Gram-Hansen and Lars Nordjberg raced each other and Gram-Hansen won, 3-2. Ed Baird, from St Petersburg, Florida, who skippered the USA's Young America challenger at the last America's Cup beat veteran British skipper Chris Law 3-1.5 in another series filled with protest flags and changed places. Law was docked the half point by umpires after his boat hit Baird's while crossing tacks. American Ken Read, who skippers for Dennis Conner's Team Stars & Stripes won 3-1 against German match racer Markus Wieser. Peter Holmberg, afterguard for the Oracle Racing Challenge for the America's Cup from San Francisco, defeated Kiwi Scott Dickson, who lives in Long Beach, California, 3-0. In the quarter finals on Friday, Magnus Holmberg will meet Bromby, Brady will race Henrickson, Gram-Hansen will start against Baird and the two American America's Cup rivals Read and Peter Homberg will be matched. -- Keith Taylor Event site: http://www.bermudagoldcup.com
VOLVO OCEAN RACE As the rest of the teams lose and gain miles every six hours like the ebb and flow of the tide, the pressure continues to build in the navigation stations. "As you can imagine at a time like this the stress levels are rather high," said Ross Field, one of the decision makers on Team News Corp. On second placed illbruck, crewman Jamie Gale went as far as stating "You would have to be a brave soul to be a navigator these days". The leaders have just over a week left to win or lose the first leg.
Position report: 1600 hrs GMT October 17: Event site: http://www.volvooceanrace.org
ULTRASONIC WIND AND BOATSPEED
AMERICA'S CUP OneWorld director of sailing Peter Gilmour said it was fairly breezy, but nothing out of the ordinary. "We were out there in the gulf doing a bit of training and some fine-tuning on the mast when unfortunately it came down," he said. "We lost a couple of the crew overboard but luckily no one was hurt. Team New Zealand came over to offer their assistance, which was very kind, as did the water police." OneWorld acquired America True (USA-51) and Stars and Stripes (USA-55) after the last America's Cup regatta. "Yesterday was the first time that we had both boats out there. We've had the USA-51 out but this was the first day for USA-55." -- Julie Ash, New Zealand Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
SAIL FOR PRIDE UNITES SAILING COMMUNITY AND RAISES $95,534 Brad Read, executive director of Sail Newport, and a Sail for Pride co-founder says, "When the decision was made to hold this event (on September 28th) I thought it would be a big deal. However, none of us that were in on the initial discussions ever thought that this sailing event would attract 184 boats and become one of the best stories of the sailing season." Read added, "As Sail for Pride started building momentum, we realized that there was something really special happening.Ê We at Sail Newport are very proud to have been a part of it." The event paid a special tribute to the deceased Donald Greene, who perished in the hijacked airplane crash in PA. The famed 12 Meter Courageous flew a custom flag in his memory throughout the entire event. The flag will be presented this week to Mr. Greene's father, Dr. Leonard Greene of Scarsdale, NY. The elder Greene is the individual who donated Courageous to the Museum of Yachting in 1996. The sailboats participating in Sail for Pride ranged in size from 13' - sailed by Olympic hopeful, Meg Gaillard (Jamestown) - to the 77' custom Sleighride, driven by Guy Standbridge. The first boat to cross the finish line in Newport Harbor was from Hall Spars, a multihull with Olympic hopeful sailors Lars Guck and PJ Shaffer finishing in only 1 hour and 41 minutes. At one point, the entire fleet was spread out throughout the West passage of Narragansett Bay. According to an observer on the Jamestown Bridge, there were a "sea of sails" from one end of Conanicut Island to the other. The funds raised came from a combination of sources including: boat donations in a "sail-a-thon" type format, T-shirt sales, bar receipts, business and individual donations and a live auction of donated items. Donations are still being received and tallied by Sail Newport as of this date.
Sail For Pride is headquartered at Sail Newport in Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI. Total funds raised from Sail for Pride have been donated to: Race results and other information is available on the event web site accessible through Sail Newport at http://www.sailnewport.org/sailforpride
MINI TRANSAT Much has been made of the doldrums and the calms that can befall a sailor not fully prepared - for some this will hold no mystery as many are professional sailors that will have passed this way before, for the majority however this is truly a voyage into the unknown. No amount of reading matter can prepare you for the reality of days with no wind, blistering heat and a home so small as to send an expansive mind crazy. The waypoint in the Cape Verdes will be the last true indication of who is where in the rankings as the fleet will soon spread across the ocean playing their own hunches and following any slight zephyr in the hope it will lead to the next. The leader board may well change but it will only be once the fleet close down to Brazil and their corridor of uncertainty narrows, that once again the polling of the fleet will be for anything other than the amusement of followers -Êalbeit with some satellite weather images and pressure charts to give those at home a chance of guessing who is in the right place. For Pedro de la Cruz, a Cape Verdian, passing his homeland will give him the opportunity to stop and call upon his friends to assist him with the repairs of his boat. Antoine Cornic, too, will stop to replace his broken forestay. And Gael Bigot currently 7th in this leg, is likely to make a stop to sort problems with his water ballast, and maybe a boat full of involuntarily re-hydrating food, an unlucky time for Gael who broken his boom and had to stop in leg one. Eric de Froidmont also has a broken boom but it is not clear if he will stop. Finally Eric Vassard joins the list of retirees following blow to the head - prudence has forced him out, he is sailing with Armel Tripon back to the Canaries. -- Offshore Challenges
Top Five Places, Prototype Division
Top Five Places, Series Division
Official site in French: http://www.transat650.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (dmccreary@boats.com) * From Paul Pascoe: I read with interest the comments from Mikael Lundh in your last Scuttlebutt but am puzzled by his comment of the "24 hour rule" girls. I have rechecked my new ISAF rule book but was unable to find any reference to this rule. Is there someone who could enlighten me? * From George Bailey: Re: "By allowing representation only for elite Olympic and professional sailors,US Sailing is ignoring the vast majority of those who participate in our sport." I agree. The Classic Moth Boat Association is not a member if US Sailing, if I recall correctly, so our nationals this past Sept. did not qualify those of us in it as sailors. OK, but so what? Someone please explain how this is having a negative impact on the CMBA and its sailors? On the sport? Note that I am assuming that even if US Sailing had a very broad defintion of sailor, their focus is not going to be on the sort of racing I do or on the needs and interests of organizations like the CMBA. That being so, who cares how they define sailor.
IT'S BOATSHOW SEASON
ST. FRANCIS MASTERS' REGATTA Fourteen international, national, and local champions gathered this past weekend to compete off the City-front in borrowed J-105s. RESULTS - 1) John Jennings, St. Petersburg, FL, 20 points; 2) John Scarborough, Belvedere, 21; 3) Dave Irish, Harbor Springs, MI 25; 4) Hans Fogh, Toronto, Ontario, CAN, 32; 5) Larry Harvey, Los Angeles, CA, 33; 6) Bruce Kirby, Rowayton, CT, 35; 7) Don Trask, Peidmont, 36; 8) Bill Buchan, Seattle, WA, 38; 9) Doug Baird, MTN Ranch, CA, 41; 10) Terry Anderlini, Redwood Shores, CA, 42; 11) John Rumsey, Hilton Head, SC, 43; 12) Bruce Munro, San Francisco, CA, 45; 13) Dave Wyman, Ventura, CA, 57; 14) Glenn Isaacson, Belvedere, 62. (14 boats)
FORMAT FINALIZED FOR COMMODORES' CUP 2002 The most noticeable change will be the choice of handicap rule and the removal of the banding structure for team composition. Teams will comprise three boats as before, but IRC, with its broad based constituency in events from the UK to Australia, will replace IRM as the handicapping rule. Using IRC, in conjunction with a single broad band (defined by a combination of time correction, stability and displacement length ratio), the Committee expect a range of modern, fast, light displacement boats such as the Farr 40, IMX 40, Kerr 11.3 and Farr 52 to feature in the three boat teams. The Pro/Am rule, so well received last time, is kept in place. Once again each crew will consist of a minimum 50% amateur sailors under the ISAF Eligibility Code. In order that the amateurs continue to play an integral role, a person of amateur status will be required to helm throughout the inshore series and at the start of the offshore race. RORC website: http://www.rorc.org
QUOTES FROM BOATS: VOLVO OCEAN RACE I look back over the last two days since rounding Trindade and sit in wonder at how five boats that had been reasonably close for three weeks could get split so completely so quickly. I am sure there are others amongst us that are wondering the same thing. *From Stig Westergaard, djuice dragons: The bets are up. So far SEB has put up ONE bottle of rum for the entire team for the first of the three boats at the rear of the fleet. (Wow, that's risky betting). We have dared them and double anything they bet, plus we raise, with the losers washing the winners boat while serving beverages. We are skipping one meal a day in order to have enough for the whole trip. Whether we like it or not we are now on a diet. For lunch we will have noodles, which is barely enough to fill up a hole in a tooth. And this hurts the Judge, his Honour [Christen Horn Johannessen], as he has traded his noodles for Wouter's chocolate for the rest of the trip. The only problem is that there is no more chocolate and Christen has no lunch. *From Ross Field, News Corp: The crew, right at this moment, have two major decisions to make: 1. Counting out the lollies to ensure that everyone has exactly the same - 12 crew into 50 lollies doesn't go so what is done with the remaining 2 lollies - throw them over the side to avoid a major dispute. 2. Which kitchen brush is used for the dishes and which is used as a toilet brush - they are both the same colour and ended up close to the galley, although the galley is very close to the toilet.... The other major topic of discussion by Joe Spooner and Gundy [Jon Gunderson] is why do we have 'low fat (97% fat free) Muesli bars on board when we are having no trouble losing weight.
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS |
