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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 635 - August 29, 2000TRANSPAC YC's RESPONSE TO PETER ISLER'S OPEN LETTERTranspac is making a serious effort to move some of the focus of our race off the Maxi-Sleds and into smaller boats. We have always tried our best to organize and recognize the potential speed differences of various size and shaped boats under various handicapping systems since Transpac's very first race. Many handicap systems have come and gone but there will be some system in place for the foreseeable future, including Transpac2001. Our overall fleet and class corrected time race is not changing. In an effort to stimulate more interest in classes other than the Maxi's we have established two new levels of competition in boats approximately 40' and 50'. These boats will sail for new trophies and they will sail boat for boat, without handicap. It's just which one gets there first. Now the problems start. How long is 40 feet? 40'0"? 40' 10"? Someone has to decide. Then comes, there are a bunch of boats at 41' 3", shouldn't we increase the length to include all those boats too? It could be a much bigger class. Now the guy at 39' 11" is starting to have a big problem because his boat is shorter Ah I will build a new, faster, lighter keel to make up for being smaller, and lengthen my boom and spinnaker poles so I can go faster than those gals in the 41' boat. And on it goes! So we set "limits" on the things that make boats go faster and some say that's bad for the race, that could be. We want good sailing and safe boats to sail to Honolulu. We also know almost anything taken to the real extreme will produce some problems. In looking at limits or rules or whatever you call them, you need to consider who, if anyone, would build a boat to these limits and what do they want in that boat. It could be no one cares to push these limits to be the first 40' or 50' boat to finish, but in fact it looks like there are a few who do. It turns out these people are not looking for real extreme boats, so they turned out a bit more conservative than we originally thought they might. It also turns out, now that we are at the end of this process, the 40' boat will be 41'0" max LOA and the 50' boat will be 52'0" max LOA. The classes will still be called Transpac 40's and 50's respectively. Existing boats which do not exactly fit within the limits/rules etc. may be reviewed on a boat by boat basis for inclusion in the class under Grandfather type provisions. You can bet that if there no boats that fit, there will be lots of Grandfathers. These two new classes do not replace in any way the existing handicap fleet and their class racing. The purpose of the new classes is to stimulate additional interest and focus in size ranges other than, as my friend Chris Ericson put it, boats at the top of the food chain. We at Transpac Yacht Club are looking at any number of ways to increase interest and competition in our race. We feel that development of additional competition at various size ranges can be a positive factor toward that end. It takes a lot of boats to make a successful Transpac race, some of them will be old and some will be new, some will be custom designs, some will be production class boats, and others could be pure one design. Sailboat racing has always had this mix of boats in large offshore fleets. We understand there are many commercial interests at work between custom and production boat builders, designers, and owners. Transpac Yacht Club has made every effort to be a responsible listener to those who object to our course. Our focus remains unchanged in that it is our sincere desire to produce the best and most competitive race to Honolulu, period. - Sandy Martin, TPYC Commodore ETCHELLS WORLDS Peter Isler became the first two-time winner in the SailNet.com International Etchells Class World Championship Monday, but on Tuesday he'll be kicking himself all the way around Coronado Roads. After the fifth race, everybody's worst race will become a mulligan. Isler will discard his opening 31st-place finish in the 74-boat fleet but faces a bad case of heartburn trying to digest a 29th in Race 2 before he and his crew, Steve Grillon and Artie Means, got their guns drawn and started firing bullets the next two days. Meanwhile, in what is turning into an all-San Diego show, the leader appears to be in-Vince-ible. Vince Brun, who paced the pack more than two minutes behind Isler Monday, is working on a 5-1-2-2 string and a 34-point lead over Bruce Nelson, 36 over the Camets - brothers Brian and Alex and dad Daniel - and 42 over Gary Weisman, who temporarily slipped from second to sixth with his 36th-place finish today. But Nelson, the Camets and Weisman have finished in the top 10 three of four days, and if they can stay there Tuesday they're assured of at least getting back within sight of Brun's sail numbers. The best Brun can do is toss a fifth, but he has one large, comforting edge over everyone: a bad race to give. After three days of sunshine and shirtsleeve sailing, Monday's weather turned cool under an overcast sky that made vests and jackets something better than excess ballast. Principal race officer Charley Cook's crew had the 2.2-nautical mile windward-leeward course set at 225 when the wind started swinging right, and it was 1 1/2 hours later at 2 o'clock before they could turn the sausage 50 degrees. With boats strung out from one end of the split, three-quarter-mile-long line to the other, only one boat took a fatal OCS for not going back to restart. "Then it was the steadiest breeze we've had in the regatta," Cook said. It built from 7 to 10 or 11 knots, and Isler made the most of it. - Rich Roberts The Top 10 (after 4 of 6 races): 1. Vince Brun/Bill Bennett/Rick Merriman, San Diego (5-1-2-2), 10 points. 2. Bruce Nelson/Jon Rogers/Mike Dorgan, San Diego (3-27-7-7), 44. 3. Brian Camet/Alex Camet/Daniel Camet, San Diego (2-34-5-5), 46. 4. Roy Gunsolus/Fritz Lanzinger/Scott Smith, Seattle (8-5-16-18), 47. 5. Jud Smith/Henry Frazer/Don Later, Marblehead, Mass. (1-26-4-20), 51. 6. Gary Weisman/Jeff Pape/Andrew Whittome, San Diego (4-3-8-37), 52. 7. Dennis Conner/Noel Drennan/David Barnes, San Diego (18-16-3-15), 52. 8. Robbie Doyle/Tyler Doyle/Ben Richardson, Marblehead, Mass. (10-9-15-21), 55. 9. Peter Isler/Steve Grillon/Artie Means, San Diego (31-29-1-1), 62. 10. Dirk Kneulman/Phil Sustronk/Dwayne Smithers, Canada (11-24-6-25), 66. Michael Goldfarb/Mark Brink/Michael Lenkeit, Los Angeles (12-20-23-11), 66. Complete results, summaries and photos are posted nightly: http://www.SailNet.com SOLUTIONS FROM SAILCLOTH.COM Wish your spinnaker would dry off after dunking, hold its shape after a few heavy air days of sailing, and resist tearing during complicated maneuvers? Next time, ask your sailmaker to use AIRX, a revolutionary new spinnaker fabric from Bainbridge International. AIRX is stronger, lower in stretch and has an ultra water repellent finish. With zero porosity and less tearing, it has a wide range of use for both racing a cruising sailors. AIRX is exclusively from Bainbridge International, where power and performance are cut from the same cloth. For more information, visit http://www.sailcloth.com VERY INTERESTING Last weekend the curmudgeon raced in the three day Long Point Race Week Series jointly hosted by Balboa and Newport Harbor YCs. I did the first race over to Catalina Island on a J/120. However, once we got there, the owner decided it was much too peaceful at the island to ruin the weekend by racing. He quickly switched into the cruising mode, which made me a 'free agent.' Fortunately I was able to pick up a ride for the Saturday race on a Farr 40 and on Sunday I raced home on a Schock 40. So on three consecutive days I raced on three modern 40-footers. Interestingly, the only common denominator seemed to be that they were all fractionally rigged sloops. The J/120 is a very comfortable duel-purpose cruiser/ racer that does a lot of things very well. (Happily, the comfortable aft stateroom on the J/120 was my dormitory for the weekend.) As the world has found out, the Farr 40 is a well thought-out racing machine, with great performance. Every time I sail on one I marvel at how much fun they are to race, but I was sure glad I wasn't bunking on the boat. The Schock 40 is a unique sportboat with incredible off the wind speed that offers a tremendous amount of bang for the buck. It's a downwind rocket ship that you can sail with only 5-7 people. However, cruising accommodations were obviously well down the list of the design priorities. All of the three boats were very well sailed, which made the comparisons even more interesting. (I'd like to take some credit for the fact that two of the three boats I sailed on took first in fleet the day I was aboard, but that's a leap even I can't make.) What really stands out is how very different these three 40-foot boats are. There seemed to be very few sail handling or go-fast technique that were transferable from one to any of the others. All weekend long I could not help wondering if there was ever a time before when the buyer of a 40-foot racing sailboat had such a wide variety of attractive choices. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Art LeVasseur (Re the suspension of the Albatross Yacht Club) - People should be aware of the following: Both the original 1999 action of AYC Board and the May 2000 action denying the applicant entry to the AYC Tuesday night series were the subject of separate Requests for Redress filed by the applicant under Racing Rules. Each request for redress was heard at Bayview Yacht Club and denied by independent juries consisting of certified US Sailing Judges, Senior Judges and some International Judges. Full hearings where conducted and both juries concluded that there was no improper action or omission by the club. In each case, AYC's decision to deny each application was found to be expressly permitted under Rule 76 of the Racing Rules and the Appeal interpreting that Rule. Those Jury decisions have never been overruled by an appeal. The Executive Committee has attempted to rationalize its behavior on a strained interpretation of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. Anyone who actually reads the Act can readily see that the authority of a National Governing Body under the Act is largely restricted to educational and coordination activities. In this case the AYC Sailing Instructions made it clear that the AYC Tuesday Series is an Invitational, not an open or unrestricted event. It limited participation to AYC members and other DRYA members invited by the AYC Board. If the Executive Committee wants to change the Rules they should do so directly. They should not try to force their own interpretation of the Rules on local yacht clubs via threats of suspension. -- From Vince Cooke (Re Action against Albatross YC) - Let's carefully review the Notice: 1) A competitor was disallowed from some kind of beercan race for reasons not disclosed; 2) Apparently the competitor took issue with the Club's rejection of his entry; 3) US Sailing became involved and conducted a hearing, the conclusion of which was to disallow the action of the Club; 4) Not satisfied with the US Sailing decision, the Club went ahead anyway and disallowed the entry of the competitor. 5) US Sailing then took action against the Club. The facts are that US Sailing is required by the Ted Stevens Act (a US Code) to get involved in just this type of situation and conduct a hearing. US Sailing did so and we may disagree with their initial decision in favor of the competitor, but, just as we may disagree with protest committee decisions, we are obliged to abide by the decision. Albatross did not abide by the decision. US Sailing had no recourse under the Act other than to take action. The Albatross suspension could be lifted quite rapidly. All they have to do is get rid of those involved in ignoring the decision of US Sailing and ensure they remain out of office for two years. The bottom line is that Albatross was not punished after they disallowed the competitor; they were punished because they in essence told US Sailing to stuff it and went ahead anyway. Not a good idea. -- From Tom Priest (Re: box rules in Transpac) - Been there, done that! I believe they called it the Sled class ('89 had ~2 dozen in class!) Then "someone" had to go and build a TURBO. People with that much money can't stand a level playing field (one design), they MUST perceive that they have some sort of advantage over the guy next to them. God forbid the boats ACTUALLY be equal! The "box" will ALWAYS be stretched by somebody. How about ten R.O's stepping up to the plate and building 10 TPYC 50's (or 60, or...)(AND agree to live with it at least six years...) Identical in EVERY way....bring your sails, bring your crew, let'r buck! CURMUDGEON'S COMMENTS: For the uninitiated, R.O. is shorthand for 'rich owner.' RESCUE MEDAL On November 3, 2000 at the Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association's Trophy Awards Banquet, the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) will present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal to the rescuing crew of Night Train. The crew, which includes Chris Herriges, Sabrina Herriges, Kevin Flood, Scott Deshetler, Bill Jenkins, Marc Sokacz, Seth Brady, Matt Vale and Jeff Jarzombek, will be honored for their heroic actions in rescuing two crew members tossed overboard from a Beneteau 42S7. During the 2000 North Star Sail Club Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association Tune-Up Race on May 13, 2000 in a building west wind, Epic, a Beneteau 42S7 owned by Eric VanDyke had an accidental gybe and broach in a 34 knot puff. Two crewmembers were thrown overboard into the 58-degree water of Lake St. Clair. In the three-to-four foot seas, Epic threw a horseshoe float to the victims but was pinned on her beam. The horseshoe drifted away rapidly. The male victim was not wearing a PFD, while the female victim had an inflatable PFD, but could not find the cord to inflate it. The male victim found the cord and inflated the female victim's Type III PFD and they clung together. Night Train, a Thomas 35, owned by Chris and Sabrina Herriges, had not yet set a spinnaker and saw the two victims in the water 150 yards down wind. She immediately dropped her headsail, performed a Quick-Stop by sailing just leeward of the victims and heading up into the wind, and dropped their mainsail to weather of the victims. Night Train threw a Lifesling to the victims, pulled them to her stern ladder, and they climbed aboard after being in the water for six to seven minutes. The female victim was showing early signs of hypothermia. The US SAILING Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal is given to skippers of pleasure boats or race support vessels who effect rescues of victims from the water. The award is made for rescues in U.S. waters, or in races that originate or terminate in a U.S. port. - Penny Piva Rego http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Rescues/hansonstories.htm GREAT LAKES MATCH RACING CHAMPIONSHIP This 61st running of the match racing competition was held at the North Cape Yacht Club on Lake Erie with teams from Lake Superior Yachting Association, from Lake Huron Yachting Association, and from Inter-Lake Yachting Association (Lake Erie) participating. North Cape Yacht Club provided Hobie 33's for the teams of 5 to sail. Five races were held on Saturday before the lake became calm. The sixth race was scheduled for Sunday morning and, after a 90 degree wind shift that required a postponement to reset the race course, it started at 10:30. With a 45 minute time limit for each race, it was disappointing to all concerned when the first boat to approach the finishing line arrived at 11:45.25. After waiting for a breeze to fill in and finding none, the fleet returned to shore and the prescribed tie breaker was applied. The double round robin event was won in a tie breaker by NCYC's Cliff Vaughan, a newcomer to the sport of match racing. Second place went to the Lake Huron entry from Sarnia Yacht Club, skippered by Brian Cramer. Finishing third for the series was Lake Superior's team from Wayzata Yacht Club skippered by Chad Olness. - Barb Shaffer FOR THE RECORD At 'Butt distribution time, there was no new information available about Steve Fossett's attempt to break the NY-UK Transatlantic record with his maxi-catamaran, PlayStation. However, a new update will undoubtedly be posted soon: http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ REVOLUTIONARY GILL/GORE BREATHABLE BOOT JUST LAUNCHED. Gill have been the market leaders in boating boots for many years. Whilst performance marine clothing has developed in leaps and bounds over the years: boots had not until now! During the past two years Gill has worked closely with WL Gore to develop a completely new and revolutionary marine boot. Style 910 Features include: waterproof, breathable, and light weight. Cordura and Kevlar tough upper. Unique rear lacing system. Superman grip with wrap around 3D sole unit. Reflective strip near to the ankle support. No offshore sailor should leave home without a pair. For more information: http://www.gillna.com SWAN CUP Classic Sardinian sailing conditions greeted the fleet for the Deutsche Bank Private Banking Race Day, race one of the Nautor's Swan Cup 2000 regatta. Winds blew from the North West at 20-25 knots, with gusts of 30 to 35 near the headlands. These conditions and the course configuration gave the fleet flat water sailing for the first half of the course before they encountered heavier seas offshore for the final offwind leg. The larger class D boats made short work of the 20 nautical mile course and line honours went to 'Maligaya' (Soriano) after just two hours and two minutes at sea, giving an average speed of near 10 knots. But the winner on corrected time was 'Defiance', a Swan 68 owned by the Kinsbergen brothers, with America's Cup veteran Dee Smith as the on board expert. Sotto Voce, (Van Vende) from the Netherlands was three minutes back on corrected time. The first class C boat was Desperado, Richard Loftus' 65 foot ketch. Honours in Class B went to home favourite Eurosia, Loris Vaccari's Swan 46. Class A was won by Saga, the French Swan 441. The conditions offered a strong challenge for day one of the Swan flagship event, and several boats reported minor damage (torn sails, etc.). The racing configurations showed the diversity in this fleet, with some of the more social oriented cruisers setting reefed mainsails and storm jibs, whilst the serious racers loaded up sporting full mainsails and blade jibs. The only downside to the course selection was that it included two long, two-sail reaches. In the gusty conditions, none of the boats carried spinnakers except during a short run after rounding the top mark. That put a premium on maximising speed and eliminating boat handling errors as the main method to a strong final placing. Event website http://www.swancup.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * September 13-16, 2000 US Sailing Men's Championship for the Mallory Cup, in Flying Scots with a crew of three, at Detroit YC. Representatives from the eleven US Sailing regions in North America. Event websites: http://www.ussailing.org/mallory * September 16-17: Rolex Sail Newport Cup, Sail Newport Sailing Center. Grade 4 event open to non-ranked and ranked women match racing sailors MELGES 24 La Rochelle, France - The Henri-Lloyd Pre-Worlds Regatta concluded with another outstanding day of sailing, the final two races of the series being raced in near perfect conditions. The first start was slightly postponed to allow the breeze to fill in and eventually got underway on relatively flat seas in 6 knots from the NW, building slowly throughout the race to10 knots. Race two was held in 18-20 knots from the NNW and the increased breeze brought with it bigger seas giving a good contrast of conditions for the crews. Overnight leader Cedric Pouligny (FRA383 "Plan Gestion Big Ship") was impressively consistent finishing the day with two sixths. Snapping at his heels was Laurant Pages (FRA388 "P&P Racing") with a third in the first race but a slightly disappointing 17 in race four. Each ended up with eight points total with Pouligny taking the overall lead on count back. Second and third overall were taken by the American contingent with Morgan Reeser (USA450 "White Loaf" - owner Scott Elliot) just pipping Argyle Campbell (USA418 "Rock N'Roll) to the post, also on count back. Finishing in fifth, despite only competing in three races, was Giorgio Zuccoli (ITA139 "Ale Ali"). Having finished second in the first two Melges 24 World Championships Giorgio must have his sites set on finally taking the title, particularly since Vince Brun, his nemesis in both previous regattas, is unable to attend this year due to other commitments. On Tuesday, August 29, racing starts for the World Championship Title. - http://www.melges24.com/ NAs The Laser North American Masters and I-14 North Americans were sailed Aug. 25-27th in the Columbia River Gorge at Cascade Locks, Oregon. Winds speed ranged from 14 - 20 knots. - Kerry Poe LASER Masters: Apprentice - 1st Michael France, 12pts 2nd Mike Johnson, 17pts 3rd Mark Lammens, 23pts; Master - 1st Dennis Clark, 19pts 2nd John Dawson-Edwards, 23pts 3rd Ken Brown, 25pts; Grand Master - 1st Jay Winberg, 9pts 2nd Nils Anderson, 20pts 3rd John Fradley, 22pts; Great Grand Master - 1st Dick Degner; Laser Radial - 1st Bruce Brahy, 10pts 2nd Jim Christopher, 16pts 3rd Graeme Strathdee, 24pts; Laser Masters, Overall Results - 1st Michael France, 37pts 2nd Mike Johnson, 45pts 3rd Mark Lammens, 55pts I-14 North American Championships 1st Peter Hayward/Norm Pavey, 12pts 2nd Kris Bundy/Jaime Hanseler, 15pts 3rd Steve Goodson/Alan Diercks, 23pts OUTTA HERE Now it's my turn to switch into a cruising mode - I'm going back to Catalina for the rest of the week. However, Stu Johnstone at Boats.Com has volunteered to fill in while I'm gone. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Among the benefits of growing old is that there's nothing left to learn the hard way. |
