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SCUTTLEBUTT #358 - July 13, 1999ISAF ADVERTISING CODEEight weeks ago at its midyear meeting, the ISAF Council (Board of Directors) adopted an Advertising Code which dramatically changes the current rule (as presently stated in Appendix G of the Racing Rules of Sailing). Over US SAILING's objections, these changes are to go in effect on January 1, 2000, even though the regulations implementing the Advertising Code will not be presented to the ISAF Council until November 1999. ISAF envisions that this Advertising Code will not be published in the rule books purchased by sailors, race officials and event organizers. Unlike Appendix G, which was intended to remain in place for four years, the Advertising Code may be changed as frequently as every 3 months. US SAILING believes that a rule subject to frequent change, and not widely distributed, is bad for the sport and will lead to confusion. Under ISAF's code Category B (advertising on hulls only) is eliminated. Category A is virtually unchanged. Category C (unlimited advertising, multiple advertisers, multiple locations on the boat) can no longer be restricted by event organizers. Class associations can restrict Category C advertising. The most astounding change is that the decision to permit, or limit, advertising has been taken from event organizers. That decision will now rest exclusively with class associations and ISAF. In the absence of a class association (such as with PHRF racing), individual racers will decide. This means that the organizer of a local PHRF race will be forced to let sponsored boats plastered with advertising race against local sailors who spend precious personal resources to compete. US SAILING thinks this is bad for the sport since the overwhelming majority of sailors are not sponsored. For classes that permit Category C advertising, the event organizer must accept all of the advertising permitted by the class. ISAF rationalizes that an event organizer is free to decline to host events for classes whose advertising rules are unacceptable. The most likely result will be fewer events for the very classes ISAF claims to be helping. ISAF claims that advertising is the wave of the future - pointing to Formula One car racing as an example. That may be true for Formula One racers and grand-prix sailors. But, it ignores the fundamental nature of our sport. The overwhelming majority of sailors race in local one-design and PHRF events. They don't race at the grand prix level. Unfortunately, ISAF seems to be more concerned about the tiny number of people who race at the Formula One level than the vast numbers of recreational sailors. Sailors planning to advertise will be forced to obtain a license from their National Authority plus an additional license from ISAF for a "Special Event" A "Special Event" is one ISAF has fenced off where only it can license the individual boat or team. All "Special Events" are defined as Category C by this rule. When this Advertising Code was adopted by the ISAF Council less than three months ago, the list of "Special Events" was limited to the following: the America's Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race, TransGlobal and TransOceanic races and the events of a very few limited classes. US SAILING has just learned that ISAF has expanded the list of "Special Events" and will ask its Executive Committee to approve that list this week in a meeting in Great Britain. These include all events of the Corel 45 class and the following regattas or races: Admiral's Cup, Kenwood Cup, Sardinia Cup, Southern Cross Series, Corum Cup, SORC, Copa del Rey, Key West Race Week, Transpac, Newport to Bermuda, and Victoria to Maui. None of the organizers of these events have been forewarned by ISAF. Many have already published Notices of Race. All deserve the right to decide the level of advertising they wish to permit. Yet, if the ISAF Executive Committee adopts this list at its meeting next week, ISAF will have succeeded in dictating what will be permitted at these events and will then demand a fee from the event organizer and sailors for that "privilege." US SAILING is opposed to the Advertising Code and the proposed additions to the list of "Special Events." At this week's ISAF Executive Committee meeting, we will insist that the proposal be defeated. US SAILING will also work for the repeal of the Advertising Code when the Council meets at the 1999 Annual Conference to be held in Sydney in November. US SAILING is also investigating the enforceability of ISAF's actions in the United States. Race organizers, member yacht clubs and sailing associations should voice their opposition to the proposed additions and the Advertising Code by contacting ISAF (email: SAIL@ISAF.co.uk) - Dan Nowlan, US SAILING Offshore Director For more information contact Terry D. Harper, Executive Director: TerryHarper@ussailing.org TRANSPAC HONOLULU, H.I.-Ten boats had finished the 40th Transpacific Yacht Race at mid-day Monday, while 19 others reported positions at the morning's roll call. Three ULDB 70s followed the other Doublehanded entry, Two Guys On the Edge, into Waikiki late Sunday night. Steve Popovich's Cheval from San Pedro, Bob Lane's Medicine Man, Long Beach, and Robert Saielli's Mongoose, San Diego, finished in that order. Medicine Man lost three spinnakers in the last few days. The first two blew apart while flogging after gear failures. The third ripped during a jibe. Standings: DIV. 1: 1. Pyewacket, Roy E. Disney; 2. Magnitude, Doug Baker; 3. Zephyrus IV, Bob McNeil/John Parrish. DIV. 2: 1. Grand Illusion, James McDowell; 2. Cheval, Steve Popovich, Cabrillo Beach YC; 3. Mongoose, Robert Saielli. DIV. 3: 1. Gone With the Wind, Bill LeRoy/Jim Cascino, StFYC, (176 miles to go); 2. Stealth Chicken, Alamitos Bay Syndicate (148); DIV. 4: 1. Great Scot, Tom Garnier, (448); 2. Tower, Don Clothier, (206); 3. Glama!, Seth Radow (294). Complete standings: http:// www.transpacificyc.org TRANSPAC TRIVIA Although there was never any question as to where the race should finish, it took Transpac organizers more than 40 years to decide on exactly where the race should begin. That it originally began near Los Angeles was mostly due to coincidence, but until the start of WWI, the Transpac start remained there, every other year. For the first race after the war, in 1923, Transpac started off Santa Barbara, primarily due to the organizing abilities of the city's yacht club commodore. After another start near L.A. in 1926, the line was moved 60 miles south to Newport Beach for the 1928 race, to satisfy its chamber of commerce and local yachtsmen. The starting line was back in L.A. in 1930, but in '32, because of conflict with the Olympic sailing competition there, it was again moved to Santa Barbara. In 1936, the line was moved only slightly, to Santa Monica. Soon after that race, Transpac organizers decided to conduct their race on odd-numbered years. They also agreed to move the starting line for one final time, north to San Francisco for the grand opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Since that 1939 race, the course has remained as it was in 1906, 2,225 miles from L.A. to Honolulu. - Ron Pendelton, Hawaii Star-Bulletin COMPLEX WORLD In the old days, people made a lot of compromises when came to their sailing gearbut not any more. Douglas Gill recognizes that different sailors had different needs, and their full line now even has gloves that are designed specifically to meet those individual needs. Gill supplies Regatta gloves, Deck Hands, Championship gloves, Helmsman gloves and Three Season gloves -- all made with the same quality and attention to detail Gill is known for in sailing circles worldwide. Check out the website to find the gloves that were designed to meet YOUR needs: http://www.douglasgill.com 49ER GORGE GAMES Final results (11 races, 2 discard) 1. Team McLube, J McKee / C McKee 10; 2. Ronstan, Morgan Larson /Kevin Hall 18; 3. Renehan /C Lanzinger 28 ; 4. Revo Mack / Lowry 32; 5. Team Baylis 45; 6. B McKee / F Lanzinger 51; 7. Toyota, Nakamura / Sasaki 53; 8. Henderson / Johnson 78; 9. Cook / Keilty 79; 10. Crowder / Dunn 115. CMAC * AMERICA'S Cup warhorse Dennis Conner gave a book he wrote the title No Excuse To Lose. And that is a phrase that could readily be applied to the British team as they nervously prepare their three boats for the first race of the century's last Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup on Wednesday. They have the experience, with Lawrie Smith joining the big boat and Chris Law calling the shots on the 40-footer. And they also have hunger with the more youthful Adrian Stead skippering the 36-footer. In addition, they are better funded with L250,000 from sponsor Chernikeeff and better prepared than they have been for many years. They will be on home waters when they encounter the tricky tides of the Solent, the Kiwis are missing as they gear up for the America's Cup and the United States, the holders, are said to be at less than full strength. It will come as no surprise to some that it is Europe which could block the aspirations of a British trio especially keen to get their hands back on a trophy that has eluded them for 10 years. The whole concept of a Europe team, of course, is a rather contrived affair. It has been put together in Italy, but, as Italy already has a team, it needed a flag of convenience and, like many flag-of-convenience ships, it has scoured the world for its crew. A few of the missing Kiwis have found gainful employment this way during their winter. Britain, though, is playing the same game, coming up at the 11th hour with a B team carrying the name of the Commonwealth. All this has come about because the Royal Ocean Racing Club does not want to be too choosy as it tries to bump up numbers for an event which, despite being very expensive to join, is the last remaining one on the international calendar that can attract a fleet of genuine world championship calibre. The RORC, under pressure from their sponsors, wanted to get the number of entries back into double figures in the knowledge that their 10-year contract with Mumm runs out in 2001. - Stuart Alexander, Electronic Telegraph, UK * BRITAIN'S hopes of ending 10 years of dismal showings in the Admiral's Cup rest on a new bigger boat specially built at a cost of L750,000. Charged with reversing this tide is Venture '99, a new 50ft racing yacht which forms one third of Britain's team. Peter Morton asked Kiwi designer Bruce Farr to draw up plans for a slower boat which only makes sense in the eyes of the IMS rule that handicaps boats by a mathematical trade-off of their speed-producing factors against those that slow them down. Venture '99 aims to be faster for her rating than her seven rivals. If Morton's crew, recently joined by Lawrie Smith, can sail the 'right' distance behind the opposition, they will be in clover when the finish times are converted to corrected handicap results. If they finish, level or ahead of their rivals on the water, they will have put in an exceptional performance. "The feeling was that unless you were a small, low-rating boat and got clean away at the start, then you'd always be struggling to get past," Morton explained. "You'd need to be 20-25 seconds faster per mile in order to pass a boat irrespective of where you started, and you could not do that and stay within the rating band for the cup. Being four to five seconds faster wasn't going to be enough. Hence the choice to sail just behind the bigger boats." - Tim Jeffery, Electronic Telegraph, UK To read the full stories: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ QUOTE - UNQUOTE This is my first America's Cup, I can tell you without detail that there is some cool stuff being done in the sailing industry and within our camp. This 'cool stuff' is not free and costs money to develop. That's why it is important to protect what we learn and apply it towards winning the Cup. I'm like the rest of you, wanting to know everything that's going on. Bare with us, as it will all play out in New Zealand. I promise you it will be exciting! -- Phil Trinter, AmericaOne LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. -- From Chuck Queen, Seattle, WA -- Don't slam PHRF too hard, the fact of the matter is that with boats of similar size/speed/sailors, it works. The key is in the grouping of similar performance boats. No handicapping system will account for the advantage the fastest boat in any class will have over it's competitors. When they have the opportunity to get out front early, with clear air, and concern themselves only with sailing the wind shifts, currents, and waves without concern for other boats, they'll win more than their share of races under any system. The real answer is One-Design, the racing is tighter and closer, and the only handicaps are the ones you put on yourself. -- Scott Truesdel -- Jim Champ wonders if PHRF is popular because people need an excuse to lose. I consider this observation absolutely right on the mark, but I still believe it is only one small aspect of PHRF's popularity. PHRF is also cheap, easy to handicap mentally on board during a race, and, actually, pretty darn fair. Granting the short-comings of single-model handicapping systems, PHRF does a decent job. In a tight competitive fleet with a small rating spread, corrected time finishes are frequently as compressed as one-design classes. -- Ken Brooke, Australia -- Have given Betsy Altman's proposal (let's help the racers OCS) a fair amount of thought. No doubt there has been positive feedback from the guys who could have had the dreaded disq. penalty applied without this help but how about the guys doing it right but approaching the line badly leebowed or blanketed by the early birds. Also there will be guys / gals who don't get called but are penalised when those blatantly over will have been helped. Frankly I can see only trouble for the PRO's and don't we have enough to think about in those few moments before the signal. Starting well is a major skill and I believe the proposal degrades this. On the subject of Protests---At RPYC we have been using a post race mediation system for three years now and very few protests get to a full protest hearing. These are the ones where serious damage has occurred, redress asked for or the facts could not be agreed. As a mediator (every third week) I have had only one occasion to refer a protest on. All others have been settled in just a few minutes. The penalty for an accepted decision by a mediator is less than disqualification which is an incentive for the proponents to accept the mediators decision. Details of the procedure is available and if anyone is interested email Derek Miles sailadmin@rpyc.com.au and he'll send you the information -- From Jesse Falsone -- Regarding the 505 Worlds, its also interesting to note that winning crew, Mike Martin, designed the foils used on the first and second place boats. These foils, built by Waterat, are extremely high aspect. The centerboard has an ingenious lifting pin that enables the board to fit inside the trunk, which it must do to be class legal. By contrast, most Europeans use non-gybing, lower aspect boards. It must have been clear to the Euros that in the light to moderate winds, the American 505 setup with a stiffer mast and higher aspect boards is superior. Mike wrote a nice design article on these foils in Sailing World a few months ago. Kudos to Mike Martin for obsessing enough to create break-through performance gains that helped capture an elusive world title. -- From Tucker Strasser, Santana 20 Fleet 1 -- Just heard [with limited information] that long time Southern California boat builder and great guy,Tom Schock is doing well after heart surgery. -- From John Sweeney -- It is so very important to credit Patrick O'Brien with his brilliant navigation that saw Grand Illusion win not just in class but overall and set the fastest time ever for a stock sled. If you remove the Turbo sled hype, and take a look at our accomplishment, you will see that we had to sail a near perfect race to set the new record. It was a medium breeze year with arguably the least modified sled around and we still did better than any Santa Cruz 70 ever. Patrick again proved that he is in a class of Rudiger and Honey. This was my rookie try at the Transpac, but what a way to start. This was the greatest sailing victory of my life. AUCKLAND UPDATE (Reprinted with permission from DEFENCE 2000, which is available for US $48 per year from John@roake.gen.nz) * The entrepreneurs are coming out of the woodwork. Motutapu Island is actually the closest land to the America's Cup course. Corporate Venues is offering grandstand viewing (from an old World War II gun emplacement site). Their daily NZ$148 plus GST fee covers return ferry costs, guide service, coach transfers, a three course lunch, reserved seating and a view deck with TV monitors. And if you haven't got time to take a ferry, they will arrange helicopter transfers from the city. This project has been given a government NZ$60,000 golden handshake from the Tourism Development Board. The grants will be used to establish a visitor's centre, with the aim of raising thousands of dollars for restoration projects on the island. * The Russian challenge -- The story is out! Their boat has been officially checked out to see if it meets the rules. Not entirely truthful about having a new boat, the Age of Russia is a "Has-been from a past campaign" which never made the start line. It was built in 1992 for the Russian team that entered to compete at San Diego but never quite made it. An English measurer went to St Petersburg to check it out and establish its eligibility. No confirmed report to hand as we go to press. SCREWPILE REGATTA The 1999 edition of the Screwpile Regatta takes place off Solomons Island, MD Sunday July 18-Tuesday July 20. More than 105 boats have already registered for the seventh annual event which is hosted by the Southern Maryland Sailing Association and enjoys the strong support of a number of sponsors. With nearly a week of registration time remaining, a quick survey of the committed teams yields 11 J/105s, 9 J/29s, and nearly 20 MORC boats. The MORC class is contesting their East Coast Championship within Screwpile '99. The balance of the entries are sailing in PHRF and PHRF Non-Spinnaker. The early entries are spread geographically throughout the Chesapeake Country and the mid-Atlantic. More than a third are from the Annapolis area while the nearby Solomons area boasts nearly 20 entries. The cream of the southern Chesapeake racing fleet will be present and about a quarter of the entries will hail from Hampton, Norfolk, and Deltaville, VA. PHRF notables include Steve Kaminer's Farr 40 Predator, Gray Kiger's Farr 39 Fatal Attraction, Paul and Kathy Parks' Dynaflyer 40 Sundog, and Sledd Shelhorse's One Design 35 Avalanche. - Dave Gendell Follow the action on-line at www.screwpile.net Photos and on-site reports will be posted at www.spinsheet.com USSA CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTAS This August, top men and women sailors from across the country will head to Milwaukee (Wis.) Yacht Club to compete in US SAILING's Men's and Women's Championships for the Mallory Trophy and the Adams Trophy, respectively. Ten competing teams in each event, representing ten US SAILING Areas, will have sailed through eliminations, progressing from the club to the regional level, before earning the chance to vie for these national titles. For the first time ever each victorious Mallory Trophy and Adams Trophy skipper will be awarded a Rolex watch, courtesy of Rolex Watch U.S.A. and Schwanke Kasten Jewelers of Milwaukee. The events will be sailed concurrently August 24-29, with racing beginning on Wednesday, August 25, and concluding on Saturday, August 28. Since 1993, the Men's and Women's Championships have been combined in alternate years. The two fleets use the same race course but sail different classes of boats. This year, the men will sail J/24s while the women sail 19-foot Lightnings. Well known winners of the Adams Trophy are Allegra Knapp Mertz ('50, '54, '59, '63), Timmy Larr ('61, '65 '73), Jan O'Malley ('69, '70), Betsy Alison ('84, '90, '91) and Jody Swanson ('89 '92). The roster of winners of the Mallory Cup reads like a who's who in sailboat racing and includes George O'Day ('57), Buddy Melges ('59, '60, '61), John Kolius ('71), Dave Ullman ('80), Paul Foerster ('89) and Jeff Madrigali ('92). - Susan Cook US SAILING web site: http://www.ussailing.org TIP O' THE WEEK Putting on Your Game Face -- Ever play ball? Baseball, basketball, football, anything. The first thing you did on game day was to put on your uniform, right? The process of putting on a uniform is also the opportunity to transcend yourself from civilian to competitor. It's precisely at this time that athletes put on their game face and begin to focus. Sailors could definitely take a page from this book. Sailing for the most part moves from the social scene on shore to a micro version on the way to the race course with the cry for "let's go sailing" resulting in everyone scrambling from their early morning soda to actual sailing. Taking five minutes for a meeting or private meditation can move everyone's attention from elsewhere to the present sailing conditions. Seems simple, but the better you get the simpler things become. - The Coach at Sailweb.net. WE'VE BROKEN THE CODE We did a lot of introspective analysis after the Marina del Rey Cal 20 Fleet Championship to determine why the Curmudgeon's boat was so dominant -- successfully defending the title with five straight bullets. Our crispy new set of Ullman Sails gave us a lot of speed, but the second and third place boats also used new Ullmans. Then it dawned on us -- crewmember Daniel Casal and I both wore Camet sailing shorts with foam rubber butt pads. Not only did we look like winners - the butt pads took the misery out of sailing one of these ancient pain-boxes. If the boat you sail on can be a pain in the butt, you really should check out the Camet website: http://www.camet.com INDUSTRY NEWS After 14 years with Sailing World and Cruising World magazines, Doug Logan has left to join Avid Networks, an Internet start-up company. THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why do people with closed minds always have their mouths open? |
