|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1821 - April 20, 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. NEXT UP FROM QATAR (In an interview just posted on the Daily Sail subscription website, Tracy Edwards brings us up to date with Quest Qatar, her race around the world with stops in 2007. Here are a few excerpts.) Because of the local success of the Oryx Quest Tracy Edwards says that Qatar have confirmed her Quest Qatar round the world race with stops in 2007 will indeed go ahead. Quest Qatar is now scheduled to start mid-September 2007 and wonders if this isn't too soon to allow new boats to be built. At present Edwards says she is finalizing the route. This is likely to take in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, San Francisco, New York, Brest (France - homeport for Olivier de Kersauson) and Cape Town before returning to Doha. Within this route are three potential major passage records (Trans-Pacific, San Francisco-New York, and New York-Lizard). The present thinking is that Quest Qatar will be divided into two classes - monohull and multihulls with a minimum length limit of 90-100ft. Whether this is smart considering that a Volvo Open 70 now holds the outright monohull 24 hour remains to be seen. Perhaps proof of being able to sail a 500 mile day would be a better way of deciding upon entries. Another decision yet to be made is over whether the boats will sail the same course just starting at different times or if the multihulls will sail a longer course. In terms of entries Tracy Edwards says that so far she has had eight enquires for those looking to enter multihulls and another eight for those with monohulls. Talk is of the new Team Qatar boat being a 130ft catamaran designed and built by Gilles Ollier & Associates. - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com CLASH OF THE TITANS Two of the world's fastest racing monohulls are set to go head-to-head during the upcoming 2005 Rolex Transatlantic Challenge. The race starts May 21st off New York and after passing through a gate off The Lizard, finishes at The Needles, on the Isle of Wight, UK. Robert Miller's 140-foot (43m) Mari-Cha IV may be a similar size to some of the giants in the Performance Cruiser class, but she differs in being an out-and-out racer, with a utilitarian interior free from any luxury.Over this winter Mari-Cha IV has been modified to improve her performance further with a general diminishing of her weight. While the boat has movable ballast in the form of a massive canting keel and water ballast to keep her upright, she has also been fitted with twin daggerboards which, Sanderson says, should make a dramatic improvement to her upwind performance. Aside from the boat's physical upgrade, 18 months on since her launch Mari-Cha IV's crew are now more familiar with the boat and are able to push it harder. "We've got better sails for the trip, and I think it is a no-brainer that we'll be able to kick off a quick time given some good conditions," sums up Sanderson. By coincidence Mari-Cha IV's main competition in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge is from New Zealand -- the brand new 100-foot (30.5m) Maximus owned by Bill Buckley and Charles Brown, the latter of whom is Sanderson's step uncle. Designed by Greg Elliott, who was also part of Mari-Cha IV's design team, Maximus may be 40 feet shorter than her rival but benefits from state-of-the-art technology, maintains Charles Brown. Despite the length difference, Brown is confident about his chances against the big schooner. "They have a 40-foot advantage, and waterline length is the key to reaching. But we have the advantage of having caught up with two years of technology. In even breeze, obviously the odds should be all on them. So I am not saying we are going to be faster than them, but I am very happy. There may be some windward work coming out of New York, and there may be some coming in. If we get ideal winds we can do 1.5 - 2 knots faster than wind speed." - Media Pro Int'l, www.transatlanticchallenge.org IT'S THE PEOPLE, STUPID When you buy a sail, you make an investment in sailmaking technology. But just as important, you are investing in the people behind the technology - that's why you need real sailmakers, not boat-hopping salesmen. Every Doyle loft is staffed by sailmakers with more skill and experience (Doyle loft managers have an average of 35 years of sailmaking under their webbed belts) than the other brands. Because the latest technology won't make you go faster if your sailmaker doesn't know you, your boat, and local conditions. Ready to talk to a real sailmaker? Call us at 1-800-94-DOYLE; http://www.doylesails.com ERNESTO BERTARELLI (Ernesto Bertarelli chatted to Sue Pelling about his America's Cup winning formula and why he chose sailing over Formula 1 in a story posted on the Yachting World website. Here's an excerpt.) As a talented sailor in his own right - navigator aboard Alinghi - Bertarelli says although it was a dream to be part of the sailing team what he needed to do was to understand how the team worked on the water. Chatting to yachtingworld.com, Bertarelli said: "I did not have an understanding of what it took and how hard it was, so I trained with them [the crew]. I was then able to get to a level where I could contribute to the team as a sailor. Being in the heart of the team gave me the ability to understand issues and not be remote. This is more relevant than people think because to win the America's Cup you need to be aware of the team to allow them to take their own responsibilities and be able to contribute without impediments or prejudices." While team Alinghi seem to be content and have plenty of motivation particularly now they've been relocated to Valencia, the recent situation with the departure of Russsell Coutts was a big wrench and it will clearly be some time before things settle down. But chatting about the prospects of winning the Cup in 2007 without Coutts, Bertarelli said: "We now have a different team and we will know if we have an equally strong team in 2007 because the ultimate measure will be winning or losing the Cup." While there were obviously endless personal wranglings between Bertarelli and Coutts which led to Coutts's dismissal last year, it was interesting to hear Bertarelli's comments on whether he was sad about losing Coutts from the team: "Of course, I am sad. I would have hoped for something different because we achieved an incredible challenge together and I have a lot of respect for him. Things didn't work out but now we've found a settlement that I think we're both at ease with so I guess that's the best thing we can achieve so far."- Sue Pelling/ Yachting World, www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20050314174046ywamericascup07.html IN THE SPOTLIGHT Ellen MacArthur's record solo round the world passage was a record-breaking project in more ways than one. The B&Q/Castorama sponsored campaign also demonstrated the value of a sport that provides excellent uncluttered branding opportunities, a positive natural image and the potential to engage mainstream worldwide audiences - as well as internal teams. Some of the key record-breaking figures: - 4 minutes national news in the USA on ABC, CNN and NBC (OC Group data) - 34 million TV viewers watched the finish in Germany (KK) - 2 prime time terrestrial documentaries broadcasted in the UK - ITV and BBC1 - More than 3000 press articles from more than 20 countries - Interest in sailing doubled to 20% (Ipsos UK) - Ipsos research shows a staggering 57% brand association for B&Q (the best Premier League football shirt sponsorship scores about 26%). - The official website had over 700,000 unique visitors on the finish day, and over three million in total over the 71 days - www.offshorechallenges.com DOMESTIC CLEARING IS OVER IN MEXICO! "Incredible but true," writes Tere Grossman, "but today the Mexican government published a notice in the official newspaper that says, as of today, mariners will only be required to check in with a port captain when they are coming from or going to an international port. This means that 'domestic clearance' - clearing in and out every time you enter a new port captain district inside Mexico - is history! They [boatowners] will now only have to let a marina know when they arrive, and the marina only has to have a record of who comes and goes." "I have been working on this for almost 30 years, and am very excited!" says Grossman, who once told President Vicente Fox that the clearing process was like having to go through the 'stations of the cross'. Tere Grossman is the President of the Mexican Marina Owners Association, and her family owns Marina San Carlos and other marine interests. We're breaking out the champagne here at the Latitude 38 office, for this is something we've worked on for decades with Tere and others, bending the ear of every Mexican official and journalist we could find. The net affect, assuming Tere has read the notice correctly, is that a cruise in Mexico will cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars less each season, but more importantly, countless hours won't be wasted standing around filling out forms that were just tossed in a corner anyway. Lastly, it means that cruisers can move about whenever they want, not just when port captain and immigration office hours allowed it. - 'Lectronic Latitude, full story: http://tinyurl.com/cb4v6 SUPER, SUPER, SUPER, CLEARANCE SALE… Team One Newport's Store is having the $5 Patio Deals and $10 and $15 Steals April 21 - 24th. Okay, we know that all of you cannot travel to Newport, RI so we are putting up great deals on the Web during that time as well. We are clearing out to make room for all the great new products from Henri-Lloyd, Gill, Musto Patagonia, Railriders, Lotus, Extrasport, Kaenon, Camet, Sailing Angles, Harken, Teva, Reef, and more. Call 800-VIP-GEAR for a 2005 Catalog and visit http://www.team1newport.com and go to the Specials Page. Have Fun and Shop early! OPTI NAs Caribbean Racing has announced that most of the teams for the 2005 Optimist North American Championship have been selected. The event will be held from June 24 to July 3 at Club Pigeon Point Beach Resort, Tobago. The qualifying event for the 30-member US Opti Team that will compete in the North Americans will be held May 4-8 at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Md. One-hundred and eighty five of the most highly qualified Optimist sailors from 18 countries across the Americas and Caribbean have registered to participate in the ten day event. Countries registered to attend the championship include Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Dominican Republic, USA, Martinique/Guadeloupe, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, US Virgin Islands, Canada, Bequia/St. Vincent, Argentina, Guatemala and Venezuela. Qualifying sailors will also have the opportunity to compete on behalf of their country in the Team Racing Championship. This is the first time since the Championship was started in 1976 that it is being held in the Caribbean. The popularity of Tobago as a sporting and tourist destination has encouraged record registrations from competitors making this year's event the biggest Optimist North American Championship to take place in recent history. - www.caribbeanracing.com/artman/publish/article_649.shtml NEWS BRIEFS * The Swedish Match Tour resumes its sixth racing season on May 4 with the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, An all-star lineup of America's Cup Class helmsmen, have accepted invitations which features a 75,000 Euro (approximately $97,000) prize purse. The helmsmen are Peter Holmberg, Team Alinghi; Ed Baird, Team Alinghi; Gavin Brady, BMW Oracle; Ben Ainslie, Emirates Team New Zealand; Francesco de Angelis, Luna Rossa Challenge; James Spithill, Luna Rossa Challenge; Thierry Peponnet, K-Challenge; Magnus Holmberg, Victory Challenge; Hamish Pepper, Team Capitalia; Ian Ainslie, Team Shosholoza, Iain Percy; +39 Challenge, Russell Coutts; Peter Gilmour. - www.elbacup.org * Another flat calm sea greeted Tony Bullimore and his crew on Daedalus as they started day 72 of their around-the-world odyssey in the Oryx Quest 2005. They are becalmed once more, this time among the shipping and fishing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz - some 180 miles from the finish. - www.oryxquest.com/ * With the cancellation of the Admirals Cup, affected boats are now reorganizing their race calendar. One beneficiary has been the inaugural Dun Laoghaire Regatta Championship in Dublin Bay. The July 7-10 event will be the largest sailing event in Ireland this year, expecting 500 boats for the four days regatta. * This may be the closest thing to 'scratch-and-sniff' on the internet yet. The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta concluded yesterday, and the event images by Carlo Borlenghi bring with them the smell of salt air and the taste of rum drinkies. Put on your sunscreen and enjoy: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/antigua-classic/ UNBELIEVABLY FAST AND RESPONSIVE Safe, durable and stable, the Colgate 26 is a winning combination of performance sailing and family fun! Designed by Steve Colgate and Jim Taylor, this virtually unsinkable boat features an oversized cockpit and rudder. Sail one at Marblehead NOODs July 28-31. Contact mailto:Carmen@colgate26.com or visit http://www.colgate26.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. 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 Ted Hood: I'm with Ben and Dave - enough of this nonsense of lee-bow effect! Here's a more educational brain-teaser (compliments of old Archimedes) that we used to knock around the design office: A guy is in a small dinghy floating on a small pond. First, he throws a big rock over the side. Then he throws over the side a piece of wood the same size as the rock. How did the level of the pond change (if any) in each case? Curmudgeon's Comment: Whew! Letters last week from Lowell North, Dave Perry, and Paul Henderson - and this week from Ted Hood! It sure is nice to hear from such an esteemed audience. Anybody want to take on Ted's teaser? * From Scott Melcolm: I note that your lead piece in 'Butt 1820 (from the Daily Sail) starts off with, "Following the success of the 29er and 49er." The fact many have missed is that the 49er only sold 35 boats worldwide last year. The 14fter sold 40 boats. The 29er sold 70 boats but the Int420 sold 450+. The figures were better in 2003 but still not great. All these figures are on the ISAF website - ISAF Classes > Class Annual Reports > 2005 Reports: http://tinyurl.com/a2hy2 * Blake Middleton (edited to our 250 word limit): JJ Isler's sportsmanship article brought me back to earth fast when I recalled (with great remorse) my own worst sailing behavior from the 1988 Laser Nationals. At the start of a moderate wind race, a boat screamed down the line from behind, and shot up into the hole below me, slamming me head to wind at the gun, and leaving me in irons as the fleet departed. I hailed "Protest," but it was ignored. Fast forward to the first windward mark. I've caught up, and am right at the pin on starboard when the same guy on port tack literally smashes into me, forcing me onto the other tack! I hailed "Protest" (again), but it was ignored (again). I went low on the first reach, and, guess who was coming in high on the outside at the gybe mark? Yep. He smashes into me again as I am gybing around the mark. I totally lost it! I dropped more F-bombs over the next 30 seconds than the next ten years combined! The entire fleet went silent, and I felt like a total idiot. He didn't show up at the protest hearing, where he was awarded a DSQ. That gave me little pleasure since I was completely embarrassed and should have been protested for my behavior. Lessons learned: 1) Plan your escapes and avoid mistakes by anticipating situations between boats. 2) Steer clear of fools (I qualified that day). 3) Always stay on the High Road, and never lower your standards. * From Douglas Johnstone: In regards to Paul Kamen's letter, there may well be no law requiring air traveling over the longer curved surface to travel faster than the air traveling over the shorter straighter surface. But it does. However, in sails there is no real difference in distance from one side of the sail to the other. Referring to Tom Whidden's, The Art and Science of sails, lift is generated by a foil (sail or wing) being presented at an angle of attack to the wind. As air flows over the foil, it trips at the trailing edge and swirls causing a Starting Vortex (known as the Kutta condition), this in turn causes a circulation flow around the foil, the rotation of which increases flow speed over the leeward side and decreases flow speed over the windward side. This lowers pressure on the windward side and causes lift. This effect also allows planes to fly upside down and as an aside allows sailors to unwrap spinnakers, after a gybe, by simply gybing back again. The above is just a summary. To see it in real life, all you need is a bath tub with some water, pepper on the water and a small cardboard foil. Place the foil vertically in the water, give it an angle of attack. Now gently move along the centerline of the tub, and lift it out at the other end. You will see three things, the starting vortex, upwash into the foil and the circulation. * From David Tabor: Bruce Thompson asks "So how come during the annual Chicago Air and Water Show the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds can fly upside down without crashing into Lake Michigan?" Actually most high speed fighters have almost symmetrical wings; the lift generated when inverted is because the wing is at a high angle of attack which means the air flowing over the upper portion of the wing (the inverted bottom) is coming detached and flowing a further distance while the air flowing over the lower portion of the wing (the inverted top) is flowing smoothly and basically in a laminar mode. Thus why when you see airplanes flying inverted they are always in a much greater nose high attitude than when in level non-inverted flight! Curmudgeon's Comment: I think we've all had more than enough of upside-down airplanes and Bernoulli. This thread is now officially dead. * From Michael McCutchon: Regarding the question of whether the displacement of vessels in a lock affects the amount of water lost when locking down, this simple explanation should make it clear to all. Just think about taking the water from the bottom of the lock, rather than the top. It doesn't matter what's in the top of the lock. In order to lock down 20 feet, you need to remove a 20-foot column of water from the bottom of the lock. If a large displacement vessel is in the lock to start with, there will be less water in the lock when you start, and less when you finish, but the same 20 foot column of water will have to be removed. * From Malcolm Green: I think you will find it was Winston Churchill who made this famous remark, "England and America - two countries divided by a common language." - not Nick Longhurst. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Sailing is very much like sex as both are more fun to do in person than to watch on TV. |
