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SCUTTLEBUTT #684 - November 7, 2000Guest editor sitting in this week: Please send letters and information this week only to me at scuttlebutt@boats.com. Tom Leweck will be back from Virgin Gorda next week. Thanks - David McCreary, Sailing Editor, boats.com.ISAF ANNUAL MEETING Stay or go? 49er or Soling? The Events Committee of the International Sailing Federation today nominated two different slates of boats for the ISAF Council to vote on this Thursday. One slate drops the 49er, the other drops the Soling. Both add a women's keelboat matchracing event, this a result of IOC directives to increase women's participation in Olympic sailing. The first round of voting saw the election of the Tornado Sport (it's a Tornado with twin traps, larger mainsail and an asymmetrical spinnaker), the Mistral sailboard clung to it's Olympic status by a single vote, and the 470 women, Europe, Soling and Star all made it through. Then came the block voting, Olympic musical chairs, with four boats and only three slots: men's single-handed, men's double-handed and open dinghy. The four boats were the 470, 49er, Finn and Laser. The 19 Events Committee members were instructed to select 3 boats in their balloting. The Laser got 19, 470 16, Finn 13 and 49er 9 votes. After a short recess, there was a second round of voting, this for a slate of boats based on criteria from the Events Committee's midyear meeting in Cyprus last May. (The first slate was based on guidance from ISAF Council). In this second round, it came down to the Star vs. the Soling for men's keelboat. The Star won the day 11-8. A motion by the Australian Yachting Federation's Phil Jones, that the elimination of any dinghy "would not be in the best interest of the sport" was passed 14-1 with four abstentions. The Council now has two slates to choose from. Lobbying is at a fever pitch in Edinburgh. Bob Fisher's reports and commentary at http://boats.com/content/sail_racing.jsp WORLD SAILOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS Tonight in Edinburgh, the ISAF awarded the 7th Annual ISAF Sperry World Sailor of the Year Awards. There are two winners, one for men, one for women. The winners this year are: Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl, USA, Gold Medal,Star Class, 2000 Olympics. They also won the 2000 Star Worlds and are ranked #1 in the world. Shirley Robertson, GBR. Shirley won the Gold Medal in the Europe Class in Sydney, took second at the 2000 Europe Worlds, and is a top ranked match racer. http://sailing.org/worldsailor/2000nominees.html EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT HERE! The last time you bought a sail did you ask about the cloth? Sailcloth.com is a new web site by Bainbridge International designed especially for the boat owner and sailor. It is packed full of easy to follow information and handy tips to explain why you should be talking to your sailmaker about a better quality cloth. http://www.sailcloth.com LETTERS TO SCUTTLEBUTT (scuttlebutt@boats.com - just this week, thanks!) 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 Cory Friedman: Leaving aside the theological argument regarding whether human conduct is a product of free will or is predestined, the fact remains that Ms. Pettibone's Ayn Randian ocean racers often wind up causing others to risk their lives to save them from their folly. Moreover, the last time Australian Navy sailors risked their lives to save Ms. Autissier from the consequences of her boat design choices, it cost Australian taxpayers over a million dollars that could have been spent educating underprivileged Australian kids -- or teaching them to sail. Sailor egotism is little different from the motor cyclists who want the freedom to ride without helmets so that they can become public charges when they ultimately smash their skulls. Everything has consequences to others. Ignoring them does not make them go away. -- From Ted Everingham: Rand Milton is correct in observing that RRS 29 does not require the RC to make a sound signal when hoisting the recall signal, but the RRS "Race Signals" section (which falls within the definition of "rule") does. And I agree that the sound signal should be required, as it is. I continue to hope that the racing rules writers will somehow integrate the signals within the relevant RRS so that we don't have to look two places to get the total picture. -- From Vince Cook: Re: Rand Milton on the "R" Flag Issue who stated: " However, most RC's use sound (horn) to accompany the hoisting of the recall flag. While this is a common and very useful practice, it is not prescribed in the racing rules under RRS 29. Maybe it should be...". Rand Milton: FYI one sound signal is prescribed. Your attention is invited to the signals display in your rule book. -- From Chris Adams: It seems to me that the ISAF should be lobbying the IOC (International Olympic Committee) for another class of boat and increasing the number of athletes allowed to compete in the Olympics, instead of trying to figure out which class to eliminate in order to add a women's keel boat to the Olympics. As of now, no matter what decision the ISAF makes it will be the wrong one in many peoples' eyes. If you eliminate one of the classes, everyone involved in that class cries foul. Make a coed class, those left on the dock (both male and female), due to the requirement of a coed crew, you get the same response. By adding a class instead of substituting one for another, two benefits are gained. First the women get another Olympic class, which will naturally increase women's participation in sailing (which seems to be the driving force behind this decision). Two another class increases sailing's exposure in the Olympics. The current situation the ISAF faces is a no win one, for them and the sailors of the Olympic classes. I'm glad I'm not a part of this situation other than as a spectator. WORLD CLASS COMPETITION Take control of a 24-foot boat or a 70-foot racer and challenge the best virtual skippers in the world! Virtual Skipper, the first true 3D regatta simulator, allows you to tack and jibe to win. Work the wind shifts, breezes, lulls and currents all faithfully reproduced on the most prestigious stretches of water in the world. Play in single mode against your computer or in multiplayer mode on the Internet, against real opponents. Visit http://www.virtualskipper.com/yw.asp today and play online for FREE for a limited time. NEWS CORP's VOLVO 60 UNDER CONSTRUCTION Construction commenced this week on the News Corporation V.O.60 that will contest the Volvo Ocean Race 2001 - 2002. The Farr designed V.O.60 will be built at Cookson Boatbuilders in Auckland, New Zealand. Cooksons were responsible for the construction of the Whitbread 60 'Yamaha' and Team New Zealand's two black boats from the 2000 America's Cup. Led by campaign boat-builder Ian Vickers, the construction process follows months of research and development in conjunction with Farr Yacht Design in Annapolis. Tank testing, along with velocity prediction programs and computational fluid dynamics, were run by the Farr Office in North America and compliment ongoing sail and rigging development in New Zealand. "We will have a very successful campaign," says campaign director, Ross Field. With two Whitbread wins under his belt, veteran offshore yachtsman Field knows what he's talking about. Field has combined forces with Britain's Jez Fanstone, who will skipper the News Corporation challenge. "Combined with strong leadership on the boat and a world class crew, a construction program utilizing some of the best minds in the yachting industry will provide us with a very competitive Volvo entry" says Field. The race boat, slated for launch in April 2001, will replace current training boat, the former 'Merit Cup' trial boat. Sea trials will take place before the new yacht is shipped to New York for it's qualifying run across the Atlantic and the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. The News Corporation team has appointed eight of its final twelve crew and will contest the Telstra Sydney to Hobart race in December as part of Volvo Ocean Race preparations. - Lizzie Green, www.VolvoOceanRace.org ICYRA NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS The ICYRA College North American Championships were held Novemeber 3-5, 2000 in Seattle, Washington. The winner of the men's division, sailing in Vanguard provided lasers, won the Glen Foster trophy and the winner of the women's division, sailing in laser radials, won the Janet Lutz trophy. Sixteen races were held over the three days in winds ranging from 8-15 knots. The top five finishers were: Mens:
Womens:
SAN PEDRO BAY CUP REGATTA Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club won the 2000 San Pedro Bay Cup Regatta, a team-racing event hosted by Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club and sponsored by the Association of San Pedro Bay Yacht Clubs. The team of Defiance, a B-32 skippered by Dixon Hall; G.U., an Etchells skippered by Reese Lane; and La Maria, a Catalina 30 skippered by Mike Burch topped the five-team field in the regatta sailed outside the Middle Breakwater in the waters of San Pedro Bay on Saturday, Nov. 4. The team from Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, made up of Patriot, a J/N40 skippered by Jerry Montgomery; Desperado, an Etchells co-skippered by Tim Carter and Chris Ericksen; and Whoosh, a Capri 25 skippered by Dan Clapp was second. Teams from Huntington Harbour Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club and Shoreline Yacht Club of Long Beach rounded out the field. The regatta was sailed around windward-leeward courses set with inflatable marks in 10-16 knots of breeze. Most of the excitement was saved for Race 3, which included a general recall; a match-race start between Defiance and Whiplash, a Schock 35 from LBYC; and a finish-line incident that resulted an injury to CBYC skipper Reese Lane, who was struck in the head by the boom, thrown from his boat, recovered by a teammate after clinging to the finishing mark, transported ashore by the RC and delivered to the hospital where 17 stitches were required to close his wound. Lane returned to CBYC in time for the trophy presentation. THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL Practice safe eating -- always use condiments. |
