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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 607 - July 18, 2000AWARDSOn Tuesday July 25, 2000 at the Chicago Mackinac awards ceremony at Mackinac Island, past United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) President Bill Martin will present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal to the crew of Experience. The crew, which includes Charles Kuehn, Gary Koslowski, Mike Considine, Ike Stephenson, Scott Miller, Dan Marks, Steve Lambeau and Paul Consani, will be honored for their heroic actions in rescuing two crew members tossed overboard from their North American 40. During the 1994 Chicago to Mackinac Race at 10:30 at night in the middle of Lake Michigan, a North American 40, owned by Steve Kindra, was in the midst of a spinnaker change when a Northwest 30-35 knot squall hit the boat. The helmsman turned down wind in the 5 to 6 foot seas, the boat went into a death roll and the bow submarined. This action catapulted the helmsman overboard. As the boat spun around it jibed and a less experienced crewmember, now in the water holding on, thought he would be safer in the water and let go. The boat righted and another crew grabbed the helm. Neither victim was wearing a PFD or had a light, and one wore dark, stealth-like clothing. They dropped sails, checked to see that all lines were aboard and started the engine. One line was missed and wrapped around the propeller. They re-raised the main and dropped the COB gear into the water. They sailed back on an estimated 180-degree course to start their search. A competitor, Experience, a Soverel 39, owned by Charles Kuehn, helmed by Michael Considine, heard sails flogging on boats ahead, ordered the chute doused and ordered the #3, as other boats were going past them downwind. Michael noticed a strobe flashing in the water up ahead and ordered the crew to lookout for people in the water. Charles looked back at one of the boats that had passed and to his amazement saw a face in the water. The second victim was an ex-Navy Seal who was whistling loudly as his training protocol called for. Chuck shouted, "Man in the water," along with, "drop the sails, clear the lines out of the water, and get a light on him". Then Charles started the engine and Mike did a 180-degree turn. All eyes and ears peered out in the distance and finally a call, "he's over to starboard about 100 yards off the bow." The Experience crew, hand grabbed and pulled the sailor aboard. The search started again for the second victim. They headed back to a strobe light that they dropped in the water earlier and spotted the second victim 50 yards off the bow. On the first try, their speed was too great and could not grab or hold the victim; they did manage to get a flashlight to the victim though. On the second pass, they successfully hauled the victim aboard. Experience motored over to the NA-40 who was searching, under sail, and let the NA-40 know that they had their crew. The NA-40 was elated. A dangerous transfer of their crew to their mother ship was made successfully. 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. The Rescue Medal has been in existence for twelve years and is administered by US SAILING's Safety-at-Sea Committee (SASC). http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Rescues/hansonstories.htm. WEST MARINE PACIFIC CUP While the rest of the fleet is stuck in very dead, 5 knot air, La Diana trundles along toward Kaneohe. The 35 foot doublehanded entry from Division 1 is up to 250 miles ahead of competition and experiencing good sailing weather. Lack of wind and personal schedules forced five of the yachts to drop out the competition. Back in the 5 knot area, Doublehanded Division 2 is now led by Napa-ported Oena. The fully crewed divisions made little progress as Diminished Capacity held on to the Division A fleet lead, Alicante stayed in front of the Division B yachts despite making only 62.5 miles. Elan continues to lead Division C, Bodacious holds the Division D, lead and Osprey maintains her hold on Division E. Some of the larger yachts covered much more ocean as Lina and While Caps led the Division F Santa Cruz 50s making 132.5 and 134 miles in the day. Ted Deitrich's Santa Cruz 52, Triumph, is now the Division G leader. Rage has stepped to the lead in the Division H 70 foot yachts. The light wind conditions and tight time constraints have caused four yachts to return to San Francisco - Omega 1, Tango, Farralone Flyer and Stray Cat Blues. El Tiburon retired from competition for the same reason but has chosen to travel to Hawaii under power. The good news is that Goliard is still with us and as we guessed, they retired from competition but not from the event altogether. Apparently there was no question that they would continue on station as our communications vessel. And a good thing as our redundancy system is headed back for San Francisco! JULY 17 LEADERS: Division 1 - La Diana, Division A - Diminished Capacity, Division B - Alicante, Division 2 - Oeno, Division C - Elan, Division D - Bodacious, Division E - Osprey, Division F - Lina, Division G - Triumph, Division H - Rage. Complete standings: http://www.pacificcup.org/ PARTY TIME The biggest maritime event ever held in Britain will be in Portsmouth, August 24th to 27th 2001. Up to 700 classic and traditional boats, 30 Tall Ships, 50 Navy ships will attend. This is the weekend at the end of the America's Cup Jubilee event. To accommodate the boats they've arranged 3 miles of quayside in the Naval Dockyard. In addition to the boats there are 2000 entertainers on site each day, ranging from Band of HM Royal Marines to shanty and folk, rock and blues etc. Navy displays, Royal Air Force flying displays, Marines, flight of Royal Navy Historic planes, Tall Ships sailing in and out, food from around the world. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) and to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From David Munge - A Turtle without its shell is neither homeless or naked, its soup. -- From Peter Harken - I may burn a few bridges here and get some noses out of joint, but I'm surprised at the constant inquiries regarding Blom's beaching by US Sail. Why does anyone in our supposedly higher intelligent sailing world really have to ask so they can understand " their boundaries"! Holy Cow--if you don't know basic right from wrong in your sporting behavior or anything else you do in life, then you forgot what your parents taught you and you have a real problem. There are no boundaries in right from wrong, only a definitive fence! Live by it--it's easy! Whatever Blom did was wrong, simple, he'll get it right someday as we all did when we crossed that fence and---- "smack", a little pain, a little penalty, whatever--part of the younger learning process. Anyone older than 21 should know where the fence is and should not have to ask for details on the Blom case so they know how far they can go. The fence, don't cross it, period! -- From Clark E. Chapin (RE: Glenn T. McCarthy's comments about guidelines for judges concerning Rule 69) - The US SAILING Judges Manual, which all certified judges are required to have, contains Section 4.09 Hearings Involving Misconduct. Although two pages long, it is not terribly detailed (how could it forsee all possible circumstances?). It contains guides on conduct that may trigger a Rule 69 hearing as well as direction on how to conduct the hearing in a fair way and report the results without libeling the accussed. The section includes: "On receiving the report, the jury must determine if any allegation qualifies under rule 69 for proceeding to a hearing. If true, it must be a serious breach of a rule, or good manners, or sportsmanship. It must be within the jury's domain and power to investigate. The rule speaks of bringing the sport into disrepute. A violation of law, involving private behavior that has nothing to do with sailing, might not bring the sport into disrepute. As to Mr. McCarthy's other warning regarding non-certified judges being at risk to pay the cost of defending themselves, a chicken-or-the-egg question arises: How can any non-certified judge gain the experience necessary to become certified if only certified judges can serve at high level events? The answer may lie in the structure of rule 69. The original protest committee need not be the one the conduct the protest hearing, since rule 69 begins, "(b) A protest committee of at least three members..." and not "(b) The protest committee...". -- From Richard Clark (In reply to Diane Swintal's AC comments) - I was at the America's Cup in Auckland and there on the dock was a huge TV screen with the action live from the course with the same level of excitement as watching on Television. The Cup Village in Auckland truly captured the spirit of the America's Cup and for the first time made it a People's Cup. Lost in the comments regarding the last America's Cup seems to be the credit that is due to the people of Auckland for turning on a truly world class event. I remember when the races were in San Diego and trying to get close to, or even a glimpse of the syndicates was nigh immpossible. God forbid it ever return to the NYYC. VOLVO OCEAN RACE An agreement has been reached between the Volvo Ocean Race and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest car and roll on-roll off transportation companies, to provide the race organisers and teams in the race, with maritime services. Wilhelmsen Lines were previously involved with the 1997-98 race, being the official shipping line to one of the participating syndicates. Each competing crew in the Volvo Ocean Race will be allotted 40-foot containers and Wallenius Wilhelmsen will undertake the movement of these units to every stopover port. Wallenius Wilhelmsen will work closely and in partnership with Peters & May, Southampton, the official freight co-ordinator of the Volvo Ocean Race, to offer a complete package and seamless service. - Lizzie Green Event website: http://www.VolvoOceanRace.org COMMUNICATION (Communication on board any top-notch racing program is a big part of that team's success. Betsy Alison explains how it should be done in a comprehensive story on the SailNet website. Here's an excerpt from that piece.) After the warning signal (the five-minute gun or horn), minimal talking is best, since the chaos and noise on the starting line can be deafening as well as distracting. It's essential that the bow person and tactician feed information to the driver in a concise fashion. The bow person usually does this by way of pre-arranged hand signals. The trimmers don't really need to communicate at this stage except to acknowledge any information they receive, and we always assign one person to call the time. The rest of the crew can talk to the tactician, and that person can relay information to the driver, but only the tactician or the driver should talk to the other boats. After the start, communication slips into a pattern of observations. The tactician relays information to the driver and the trimmers about the speed and height of the boat relative to the competition. Statements like "We're higher and faster," or "We're equal in height and speed," or "We are faster, but lower," help keep everyone informed and making the right adjustments. The tactician is responsible for relating an overview of what is happening on the racecourse: where the upcoming lanes are, what the potential threats might be, how long until a tack, and where the marks and laylines are. A different person, someone who sits forward on the rail, should be calling out the puffs and counting them down, as well as providing information on any irregular wave patterns. For instance, "Big puff in 105, 4, 3, 2, 1, puff on!" or "Bad set of waves, left to right in 3,2,1, now," are common examples of this kind of information. All this while, constant communication should be taking place between the driver and the trimmers in the back of the boat. They should talk about where the sheets are relative to maximum trim. Common statements from the headsail trimmer would include such succinct sentences as "We're three inches eased," or "I need you to press on the jib," or "We're max in now." As the driver hears these comments, he or she should be relating how the boat feels with information like: "I've got too much weather helm; ease the main a bit," or "I need a little trim on; I'm going to squeeze it up in this flat spot," or "Let's power up for this lull." - Betsy Alison, SailNet website. Full story: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/racing/index.cfm?articleid=alison002&tfr=fp CALENDAR * July 15-23 - Race Week at Newport, Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship, PHRF & one-design, New York YC. http://www.nyyc.org * July 16-21 - Whidbey Island Race Week, in Oak Harbor, Washington. http://www.whidbey.net/raceweek * July 19-23 - J24 North American Championship, Kingston, Ontario CAN. http://www.cork.org * August 25-27 - BYC/NHYC Long Point Race Week, One-design and PHRF, Balboa & Newport Harbor YC. http://www.nhyc.org * August 25 - 27 - Richardson Trophy Regatta - Match Racing Championship of the Great Lakes, North Cape Yacht Club on Lake Erie (double round robin). http://www.lmsrf.org/yrugl * September 19 - Umpire Seminar will be held in conjunction with the U.S. Match Racing Championship, Prince of Wales Bowl, Balboa YC. Registration: laceyhowe@ussailing.org WINNING ELEMENTS When you win, you want everyone to know about it, and nothing tells the story better than sharp looking crew apparel from Pacific Yacht Embroidery. For a winning program, the look of your crew gear is every bit as important as the cut of your sails. Pacific Yacht Embroidery will make that special effort to set your crew out from the crowd. Just get in touch with Frank Whitton to learn how affordable his high quality crew apparel can be, Even if you lose you'll feel better because you look so good. pacyacht@aol.com - 619-226-8033 (Wednesdays thru June7) OLYMPICS (Australian Glenn Bourke is tackling the problems likely to confront sailors in Sydney: living quarters, traffic jams, the low profile of the sport. Sean McNeill interviewed Brouke for the Quokka Sports, and here's an excerpt from that story.) He's listening to the sailors' desires and working on their side whenever possible. He's pushing for clear and simple sailing instructions, and trying to make access to the venue as easy as possible. Acknowledging that Sydney is a fluky venue in late September, he pushed to include two discard races in the 11-race series because poor results sometimes are due to uncontrollable circumstances, like a collision. His ulterior motives, however, reach much higher. He's trying to provide spectators with a regatta that's fiercely competitive and entertaining, one they can see and feel up close. Therefore, medals will be awarded in front of Sydney's breathtaking Opera House. Although some classes will race offshore and on the harbor, the sailboards, 49ers, Lasers and Europes will race exclusively on Sydney Harbor, raising the possibility of exciting racing close to spectators. "The biggest opportunity with Sydney Harbor is to take the sailing fraternity to the world," said Bourke. "My main aim is to create the most high-profile sailing event ever. If we can push sailing to a new level within the Olympic movement, I think we'll have used the Sydney venue as the asset that it is The Olympic Sailing Shore Base will be housed in picturesque Rushcutter's Bay, on the south shore of Sydney Harbor, which is also home to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. The base has been built for logistic support and competition management. It features a temporary marina that can accommodate up to 250 boats and four pontoons, which act as dinghy launching ramps. Easy access to the venue was an important aspect because it also will host the Paralympic Regatta, Oct. 20 to 27. "We will leave in place some marina berths in a high-stand area so disabled sailors can access Sydney Harbor," said Bourke. "Disabled sailing is a growing niche, and it's something that we didn't have any facilities for on Sydney Harbor. We felt it was a prudent and noble initiative for the disabled as well." - Sean McNeill, for Quokka Sports. Full story: http://sailing.quokka.com/stories/07/SLQ__0713_s_bourke_WFC.html SWAP CUP An unprecedented level of interest amongst Swan owners for the Swan Cup 2000, to be hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda between August 27 and September 2, has forced the normal entry limit to be increased from 75 boats to allow over 100 boats to participate. "We have been overwhelmed by the popularity of the Swan Cup 2000, and so, after much debate with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, together we have decided that all owners who wished to participate should be given the opportunity to do so", commented organiser Enrico Chieffi. With Swans ranging in length from 36-82 ft, and featuring the first racing appearance of Nautors Swan 82RS, the fleet will be divided into four classes all using the Nautor Swan Racing (NSR) handicap system, a system which continues to prove successful in equalising the fleets varied performance. Racing will take place over five days on a variety of course configurations including several round-the-buoy races coupled with the longer coastal races around the Maddalena Islands. - Yachting World website, http://www.yachtingworld.co.uk/ BACARDI BAYVIEW MACKINAC RACE Preliminary final results - Class winners, South Hampton Course: GL 70 - Pied Piper, Richard Jennings, Open - Adagio, Meade Gougeon, PHRF A - Promotion, Promotion Syndicate, PHRF B - Sagitta, Jon Somes, PHRF C - Hot Ticket, Robert Kirkman, PHRF D - Pendragon, G. Thomas/ J. Trost, PHRF E - Wild Ride, Bill Wildner, Jr., PHRF F - Northern Winds, Robert De Mattia, PHRF G - Flyer, Maynard Rupp, PHRF H - Ahau, Andrew Unger. Shoreline Course: PHRF I - Bravo, Frank Tenkel, PHRF J - Tar Baby, Don Lang, PHRF K - Lady Luck, Paul Lady, PHRF L - Chippewa, Robert Wall, CRUISING A - Insatiable, Norman Silverman, CRUISING B - Yare, J. Tipp/E. Stroh. Complete standings: http://www.byc.com/mack00/ SINGLE-HANDED TRANSPAC Final results (23 boats): Class 1: 1. JOE, CHARLES BEAZELL, Hunter 54, Class 2: 1. STARBUCK, GREG NELSON, BLACKSOO 2. NA NA, DWIGHT ODUM, SAGA 42, 3. TAWOD,I STEPHEN MANN, WYLIE 39 4. COLOR BLIND, GREG MORRIS, MOORE 24, 5.ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL, ED ENGLISH, BENETEAU 42, Class 3: 1. SENSEI, TERRY MCKELVEY, CAL 2/27, 2. BETTINA, CLAY GWIN, ERICSON 32, 3.SAIL A VIE, PHIL MacFARLANE, ERICSON 35. Complete results: http://www.sfbaysss.org/transpac00/news/standing/st21a.html STEVE FOSSETT Record setting American sailor and pilot Steve Fossett (USA, 56) set another new aviation world speed record last week - his third major record of this year, flying his Cessna Citation X twin engine business jet on a 5000 km Closed Course between Alamosa, Colorado and Ormond Beach, Florida and back, breaking the previous Medium Airplane category record set by Cessna factory pilots William Dirks and Jeffrey Brollier (also flying a Citation X ) by 16 minutes - and 45 kph/27 mph. TOTAL TIME: 5 hours 26 minutes; AVERAGE SPEED: 921.02 kph /572.29 mph (new world speed record for Medium Airplanes - pending final certification by NAA/FAI) Full story: http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run. - Mark Twain: |
