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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 699 - November 29, 2000AMERICA'S CUP(Following are several excerpts from a story by Tom Meade in Tuesday's Providence Journal.) * Newport skipper Ken Read has agreed to drive Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes, representing the New York Yacht Club in the 2002-03 America's Cup competition. If Read is successful in winning the Cup back from New Zealand, however, the victory would not automatically guarantee the event's return to Newport, its home for more than a century. "This event is huge now. You can't just turn it over to an area," Read said yesterday, suggesting that American ports may have to bid for the competition if Conner's team wins. "An area really has to want it. A location has to be prepared. That means infrastructure and commitment." * In a media conference scheduled for tomorrow at the club's New York headquarters, commodore George M. Isdale, Jr. is expected to announce the signing of Read, other key members of the Conner team, and the first sponsors of the $40-million challenge. * New England Boatworks, of Portsmouth, will build the team's two yachts, Read said, and North Sails will supply the sails. The expected launch date is February 2002, but a training site has not been selected. It probably will not be in New England. * "You'd have to look at our last campaign and see what we did with next to nothing - coming within one race of making it to the challenger finals," Read said. "Look at what we did with next to nothing and only one boat, then put that same group together with a well-funded two-boat program, and it can't get worse, that's for sure." During the last Cup challenge, Conner ran the Stars & Stripes program, but he left the sailing to Read and Conner's long-time friend Tom Whidden, who will return for the next challenge. This time, Conner is still in charge, but Read will have more influence in the design and construction of the boats, their spars and sails, as well as the crew. The team will include Terry Hutchinson, a former Newport sailor living in Annapolis, Md. When he does select the rest of his afterguard, the team will compete together in a variety of international events, Read said. One of the world's top professional sailors, Read is sought by wealthy yacht owners to drive their boats in events all over the planet. "Now it's going to be, if you want me, I come along with 4 to 10 other guys depending on how big a boat it is," he said. "That way, we won't all show up on an America's Cup boat and ask who does what. . . . That will go a long way toward preparation. It's my guess that two-thirds of the sailing team we had in New Zealand will be back." - Tom Meade, Providence Journal, full story: http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/sports/04608301.htm ISAF WOMEN'S WORLD MATCH RACING CHAMPS Defending champion Dorte Jensen got off to a solid start in the Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship today in St Petersburg, Florida. The Dane beat the American Hannah Swett, crewed by Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Dawn Riley, despite incurring a penalty before the start, in the first match of Round 2. "We had a collision before the start," said Jensen. "But luckily Hannah had to tack away, and we got a better start. We took our penalty a few minutes later when it was safe." Meanwhile the other Danish team, skippered by Marie Klok, was eliminated from the event after a disappointing series of races for the highly-rated team. Klok was caught in a three-way tie in her first-round group with equal scores with New Zealand's Amy Waring and the Netherlands team led by 1999 World Sailor of the Year Carolijn Brouwer. But the split for the tie went against Klok, with Waring and Brouwer progressing through to the next stage. Last-minute entry to the regatta, Marie Bjorling from Sweden continued her winning ways with a victory over second seed Betsy Alison from the USA. So far she has not dropped a race but the game is going to get much tougher from here on. Cordelia Eglin of Great Britain was another high seed, No. 4, to fall to one of the qualifiers from round one, the young Australian team. "We had Katie Spithill shut out before the start and we turned back to lead her off the line," said Eglin. "But she picked up a zephyr that accelerated her back to the line in time and they took control from there." Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson eased her way back into match racing with a solid win over the young French team headed by Gwen Joulie. With light Floridian winds causing a premature end to competition today, there is a lot of racing for the remaining crews before the championship concludes with the finals this Saturday, 2nd December. Results after Day Two: Round Robin 2A - Dorte Jensen, Denmark, 1, Paula Lewin, Bermuda, 1, Cristiana Monina, Italy, 1, Katie Spithill, Australia, 1, Carolijn Brouwer, Netherlands, 0, Cordelia Eglin, Great Britain, 0, Dru Slattery, USA, 0, Hannah Swett, USA, 0. Round Robin 2B - Marie Bjorling, Sweden, 1, Christine Briand, France, ,1 Shirley Robertson, Great Britain, 1, Klaartje Zuiderbaan, Netherlands, 1, Betsy Alison, USA, 0, Gwen Joulie, France, 0, Malin Milbourn, Sweden, 0, Amy Waring, New Zealand, 0. Eight skippers eliminated from Round Robin 1 - Mar Castanedo, Spain Karen Johnson, Canada Marie Klok, Denmark Catharina Gylling, Finland Nadine Stegenwalner, Germany Maria Coleman, Ireland Cristina Pereira, Portugal Catherine Ranke, Norway Event Website: www.spyc.org CAMET SAILING PANTS Built on the successful design of the Sailing Shorts, Camet has created a pair of pants to give you added protection from the sun, wind and a long day on the water. If you like the Shorts, you must try these. Don't forget the foam pads. www.camet.com VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations), still in the lead, is making his mark on this racetrack with an infernal rhythm. He is beginning to turn around the anticyclone and edge his way towards the East in winds, which are gradually becoming more and more downwind. At this rate, his entry into the roaring 40s will be sooner rather than later. Standings at November 28 at 12:01 UT: 1 Aquitaine Innovations, Yves Parlier, 2 Whirlpool, Catherine Chabaud (+164m) 2 PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux (+172miles) 4 Sill Matines & La Potagere, Roland Jourdain (+200m) 5 Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur (+254m). Website: http://www.vendeeglobe.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Hans U. Bernhard, FAST 2000 (h.bernhard@fast2000.com) - We were very pleased by reading Jack Otter's article about Computer Associates getting involved with the NYYC to compete in the forthcoming America's Cup. May we simply add, that this is not CA's first time taking part as a sponsor in this event. CA was one of the three major sponsors of the first Swiss challenge during the past Cup (99-2000). The Swiss challenge - definitely one of the smallest budget among the participants during the 30th AC - had a very innovative design featuring a twin keel. Lack of preparation (the boat, shipped by air, was launched only 5 days before the first race !) did not allow the crew to fully take advantage of the design. We would like to take advantage of these few lines to again express our warm and sincere gratitude to Computer Associates' management for supporting our very innovative approach during the last America's Cup. -- From Michelle Master Orr (Y000MO0@FDS.com) - Just one question, if Computer Associates is backing Stars and Stripes, who gets to keep the Cup if DC wins? The NYYC or Wang? It seems that the bragging rights of victory are usually reserved for the sailors and the sponsoring club, not the sponsors. Since I don't live in NZ, I wonder if Lotto and other sponsors bragged about the last two victories? -- From Eric Steinberg (erics@yachtwire.com) I would point out to Zach de Beer that USA 61 did her job for America One without a catastrophic failure such as the recent incident. It is easy to argue that 61 was built on the cutting edge and performed exactly as designed for the team that commissioned her. Just for fun, try to compare the destruction in yacht racing to NHRA drag racing! -- From David Redfern (Amcup2001@aol.com) - In 1988, Michael Fay with his Ford Zephyr Clubhouse was Challenger of Record in San Diego with his big boat. Despite a letter accepting a challenge from Peter de Savary and others he later changed his mind when he saw the speed of challenging boats. He decided not to have a Challengers Series and nothing would change his mind. I recall being at meeting after meeting with all the challengers (including Alan Bond) on one floor of a New York Hotel and Michael Fay on another floor. He wouldn't meet the challengers face to face and would not budge. He had the right to deny other challengers. Has this 'rule' been changed? -- From Robert Wilkes (100540.2646@compuserve.com) - As secretary of the International Optimist Class I can confirm that we have no interest whatsoever in being chosen for the Olympics. We fully appreciate the dangers of exposing under-16s to such pressures. We are happy to nurture the Olympians (and club sailors!) of the future and to record that over half of dinghy helms in Sydney were former Optimist sailors, the great majority of them having sailed in major Optimist events. Young sailors from 75 countries participated in such events this year which hopefully will help to expand adult sailing in the future. Your correspondent Stephen Wells, however, is badly misinformed. A racing Optimist does not cost US$4000. The equipment used by our world champions costs in Europe US$2,130 and even with the USA dealer mark-ups to pay over $2,750 gets you no advantage. As regards weight the Optimist can indeed be sailed by those over 80 pounds, the average weight of the top 20 in the last Optimist Worlds being 108 pounds and the heaviest of them 141 pounds. The International Optimist website is at www.optiworld.org -- From David Munge (munge@compuserve.com) - Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? In the UK they lock marina loos as well. They lock them with digital combination locks, which you are supposed to remember, and have advised the rest of the crew. So what happens is everybody waits for somebody to come out, then everybody goes in. The funny thing is in the UK nobody does anything about it. We just accept it as another of life's problems. THE RACE CHERBOURG, FRANCE, November 27, 2000-Team Adventure completed three days of builder's sailing trials in the English Channel off Cherbourg last week, following her launching from the JMV shipyard here. The team headed by Skipper/CEO Cam Lewis and Co-Navigator/Executive Director Larry Rosenfeld took the 110-foot Gilles Ollier-designed catamaran out sailing on Thursday and Friday, taking time off only for a Thursday night Thanksgiving Dinner of roast duck. Gale force winds and heavy seas prevented the team from sailing over the weekend, but the pace did not slacken as yard workers and crew members continued outfitting and testing routines in advance of Team Adventure's qualification voyage for The Race. "We hit 39.9 knots on Friday," said Rosenfeld. "It was effortless - flying a hull - and this boat has a lot more to give. It is awesome. It is supple in its handling, tracks straight with hands off the helm, but responds quickly to the rudders when needed." On Friday there was a sailing photography session in the giant Cherbourg Harbor before Team Adventure went out to Cap de la Hague in the English Channel for sail testing. The crew hoisted and checked the trim of three important headsails - the small genniker, the staysail and the storm jib. Rosenfeld said the sails looked great. With winds gusting 20-25 knots and a moderate sea, Team Adventure was routinely flying its weather (upwind) hull 10 to 15 feet above the wave tops as Lewis shared steering duties with French skipper Jean Maurel who is the builder's representative for the commissioning trials. On the next sailing day the crew will check the operation of the big catamaran's twin water ballast systems. One system allows the crew to add water ballast to the weather hull, allowing it to carry more sail in heavy breezes. The other system is a safety system that adds extra weight to the stern sections of the boat, helping to keep the bows from burying in big seas and make the boat generally heavier and more stable in heavy seas. "There is a long checklist of things that we have to do to make sure that everything is working right," Rosenfeld explained. "But because of the lessons learned on our two sisterships, we hope to complete the initial trials in three to four more sailing days here before we leave Cherbourg for the open sea." Lewis' giant catamaran, the third of three sister ships built to compete in The Race, was launched on Monday, November 13, in Cherbourg after ten months under construction at the JMV Shipyard. Workers stepped her 150-foot high wing mast the same day. They spent the next week on rigging and outfitting work that could only be completed once the boat was in the water. After completing a carefully orchestrated set of sea trials in the English Channel, Team Adventure will set off out into the wintry North Atlantic on the way to the Mediterranean. That voyage will qualify the boat and crew as an official entry in The Race. The team has a goal to complete this qualifier before December 12 at the start of the Monaco invitational regatta. - Keith Taylor, http://www.TeamAdventure.org SOLING UPDATE The recent Soling Class North American Championships were won using a new prototype spinnaker fabric. AIRX-650N is the latest addition to Bainbridge Internationals revolutionary range of spinnaker fabrics and sets new standards in one-design cloth technology. Having proven itself on the racetrack (AIRX-650N was also used by the 2nd and 3rd placed J24's at this years World Championships) production batches are now being made and will be available from your Sailmaker soon. For more details visit http://wwww.sailcloth.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * December 26: Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. 83 final formal entries have been received this year's race - down only six from the original 89 applications received in early November. This includes the largest line-up of big boats since the 50th race in 1994. * February 3-10, 2001: 1st Annual Yacht Club & Sailing Association Flag Officer's Caribbean Mid-Winter Summit Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gordo, BVI. This week long gathering brings together Commodores, Vice Commodores, Rear Commodores, and Fleet Captains in an informal environment to discuss national and regional issues, although the daily forum schedule allows for plenty of time to snorkel, windsurf, beachcomb, and sail. - www.beyc.com TECHNOLOGY North Sails and Team McLube have introduced Sailkote Plus, a new anti-mildew protective coating that is applied to new and used sails to keep them mildew-free for your entire cruising or racing season. When applied professionally, Sailkote Plus will minimize water absorption on all sails to help prevent salt and water build-up which leads to mildew growth, as well as keeping them as lightweight as possible for optimal performance on the water. When applied to telltales, Sailkote Plus will keep them sensitive and flying in wet conditions. It will also help to reduce friction while hoisting, dousing, gybing and tacking; and will help to maximize resistance to tearing, dirt and grime. - www.888TEAMMCLUBE.COM THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments. |
