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SCUTTLEBUTT 1913 - August 30, 2005
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,
features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
WE LOVE THE CUP - by Bruno Troublé
(Scuttlebutt received the following comments from Bruno Troublé, whose
involvement in the America's Cup includes over twenty years of both
skippering and behind the scenes roles. His remarks are a follow-up to
those made by Herb McCormick in Scuttlebutt 1911:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3164)
I was shocked and surprised in Malmö reading Herb's column and the Angus
article he inspired. They are good friends, excellent journalists, and they
have followed the America's Cup a lot until last year.
How can they be so aggressive and bitter? Are they seriously pretending
that the Cup was in a better shape in San Diego? In my opinion, Herb and
Angus don't know what they are talking about. They should first come and
see 12 America's Cup boats starting together on a short line - like nearly
1000 accredited journalists in 2005 already have - before writing anything!
The racing in the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts has been fantastic with
South Africa earning its first ever America's Cup win, and a new Italian
team upsetting the Kiwis. Nearly 30,000 people came to the America's Cup
Park here on the weekend to catch the spirit of the Cup a full two years
before the America's Cup proper!! My friend Pelle Pettersson, a legend
here, was so thrilled he was breathless!
I have been involved with the America's Cup for more years than Herb. I was
in Newport in 1974 and have not missed any America's Cup single day since
then. In 1983, I was even closer to the action than Herb, being the
sparring skipper for Australia II after my boat France 3 was eliminated.
Since then, I have been among the small group of individuals who
transformed the America's Cup to make it a world-renowned sporting event.
Whatever Herb may believe, the America's Cup is not empty!
What about 3000 hours of television worldwide in 2003 and 55,000 articles?
What about 800 sailors employed full time for three years? What about the
300 million television viewers who watched the Louis Vuitton Acts in 2004,
before many of the teams had even challenged, or many of the television
agreements were concluded this year?
The comments on the "obscene'' budgets are not serious. What about Formula
One, Soccer, NASCAR and many other sports? Are they pretending that we
should go back to the old days? Do they want to bring back this famous
"Corinthian'' spirit which means only amateurs, no professionals, no
sponsors, no media coverage, and no television? Would it be a "FULL CUP???"
We can certainly make improvements of course and AC Management is working
on new ideas all the time, but whatever they pretend, the old Lady is still
a beauty. All of us are just working hard to adapt her life to the present
time. There is no other event in the world of sailing that can be compared
to the Cup. This event is ten times bigger than ANY other sailing event.
Please be more serious and fair! I would love to personally invite Herb and
grumpy Angus to fly over to Europe to attend the Louis Vuitton Acts in
Trapani. They will be very surprised - the Cup is alive and well!! - Bruno
Troublé
LATEST EPISODE: BRADY WALKS
There is never a dull moment at the BMW Oracle Racing America's Cup team,
where the big news from Monday was that Gavin Brady, a helmsman and
tactician for the team, had resigned. A statement from the team said that
Brady couldn't agree upon his future role with the squad. Said Chris
Dickson, "We understand his disappointment at no longer being in the
helming role. He has decided to move on and we are moving on too." This
follows the reassignment of team tactician John Kostecki off the boat, and
team exec Chris Dickson reinstating himself as team helmsman. Could the
recent sign-up of American navigator Peter Isler mean that someone else's
feet are on the fire?
Is the comings and goings of BMW Oracle Racing a reflection of their boss
Larry Ellison, who seems to relish the idea of juggling more balls than the
other guy? In addition to his position as syndicate head of BMW Oracle
Racing, he leads a gamut of business operations. To wit: Oracle has made
nice in Pleasanton since Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft; Ellison's $909
million controlling stake in I-flex Solutions is an IP coup; and Larry's
storage startup, Pillar Data Systems, has just signed a distribution deal
with Bell Microproducts. Busy guy.
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THE PICTURE BECOMES CLEARER
It was a beautiful day for sailing on the Øresund, as strong 20-knot winds
blew white froth across the water under sunny skies. Some of the top teams
were paired up on Monday afternoon, with the results of the day going a
long way to determining the final standings.
Following an aggressive pre-start between Alinghi and Luna Rossa, the two
boats split tacks off the start line. Later in the leg, James Spithill
pulled off a perfect slam dunk on Alinghi helmsman Jochen Schuemann and
managed to stick a penalty on Alinghi in the process. But the Swiss closed
on the first run, and a poor spinnaker drop by Luna Rossa allowed Alinghi
to pass. The Swiss extended the rest of the way, and were able to complete
their penalty turn with ease before the finish line, which sealed the Act 6
victory for the team.
The other big match-up was Emirates Team New Zealand facing the new-look
BMW Oracle Racing team, with skipper Chris Dickson supported by Bertrand
Pacé as his tactician, after Gavin Brady left the team. Emirates Team New
Zealand held the power of the right up the first beat which eventually
yielded them a 16 second lead at the first mark. However, when the jib flew
loose on the New Zealand boat at the second weather mark, the Kiwis were
unable to tack for a few moments, which was all BMW Oracle Racing needed to
slide by and hold on for the win.
Now with Alinghi's victory secured, there remain two groups of boats that
are battling to improve their rankings. With one race left, here is how
things could shake out:
First Tier Teams
* BMW Oracle Racing- To hold onto their second position, they must beat
Luna Rosa in the final race.
* Emirates Team New Zealand- They cannot improve on their third place
position, but to keep from dropping to fourth they must beat Alinghi only
if Luna Rosa beats BMW Oracle Racing.
* Luna Rosa- They have a chance to vault up to second by beating BMW Oracle
Racing and if Emirates Team New Zealand loses to Alinghi.
Second Tier Teams
* Desafío Español 2007- This team helped themselves on Monday by beating
+39 Challenge. Now to remain in fifth, they need to beat K-Challenge if
Victory Challenge beats Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team.
* +39 Challenge- While they are guaranteed sixth, to move up to fifth
position they must beat United Internet Team Germany with Desafío Español
2007 losing to K-Challenge.
* Victory Challenge- They can move up to sixth, but they will have to beat
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, and both Desafío Español 2007 and +39
Challenge will have to lose their matches.
* Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team- The best they can do is hold onto their
seventh position, but to do so they will need to beat Victory Challenge.
Leaderboard after Monday
1. Alinghi 10-0
2. BMW Oracle Racing 9-1
3. Emirates Team New Zealand 8-2
4. Luna Rossa 8-2
5. Desafío Español 2007 5-5
6. +39 Challenge 5-5
7. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team 4-6
7. Victory Challenge 4-6
9. K-Challenge 3-7
10. United Internet Team Germany 2-8
11. Team Shosholoza 1-9
11. China Team 1-9
- Curmudgeon/Scuttlebutt, along with information from the 32nd America's
Cup Press Office, http://www.americascup.com
Updated event Scuttlebutt photo gallery:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/malmo
ORC LEVEL RULE
The Offshore Racing Congress, after eight months of intensive work, is now
unveiling the "ORC Level Rule". This is a Box Rule expressly studied and
designed for three different size boats: 26, 33 and 42 foot. Targets,
strongly maintained during the whole research period, have been to promote
the conception and construction of boats fun to sail, seaworthy and with
considerable longevity. In the development procedure many contributions
have come from more than 50 design offices including the most famous ones
in the world.
The intent of the rule is to create custom boats in the frame of a very
tight shape and construction controls. Owners are able to maintain some
design freedom and the Rule opens up the opportunity for them to select
their own designers and builders. The ORC Level Rule principle
characteristics are to create boats that are light displacement, have
simple fractional rig with non-overlapping jibs, no runners and a large
sail area to provide great performance and relative affordable costs. It
means that this rule will allow owners and sailors to compete in elapsed
time at the same manner of the "old" Ton Level Classes.
Interested owners are asked to communicate their intentions to the ORC, in
order to prepare at the soonest the constitution of an International Class
Association intended to work with the ORC for the preparation of the
International calendar. The ORC is in fact now negotiating with different
companies to be able to launch a Regatta Circuit for 2006 shortly. - Paolo
Massarini, ORC Level Classes Manager, mailto:service@orc.org
TEAM PEGASUS UPDATE
It's a busy time for the members of Team Pegasus. The 505 Worlds just
finished up in Germany, where Philippe Kahn teamed up with 29er World
Champion Euan McNicol to finish 64th, while his Team Pegasus tuning
partners Mark Ivey/Shane Illidge finished eighth. Now the 18' Skiff
International Regatta began Monday in San Francisco, CA, where a new
three-boat Pegasus Racing team is entered.
Pegasus Black will be sailed by his 16-year-old son Samuel, a.k.a. Shark,
of nearby Santa Cruz with Cameron MacDonald and Paul Allen as crew, while
Pegasus White is skippered by former world champion Howard Hamlin of Long
Beach, Calif., with longtime sidekick Mike Martin and young Trent Barnabas.
The latter is the son of semi-retired Australian class veteran Trevor
Barnabas, who placed second last year with Trent on board, edging
Hamlin/Martin on a tiebreaker. Lastly, Pegasus Gold will be sailed by
Anthony Young, with Euan McNicol and Casey Smith. McNicol sailed last year
with defending champion John Winning of Australia.
It also looks like the Team Pegasus tentacles are reaching out to the
Etchells class, which will have its World Championship also in San
Francisco starting in early September. A tune-up Etchells event last
weekend found Shark Kahn winning with Philippe finishing fourth, both
besting a forty-boat fleet that included past World Champs Vince Brun and
Dennis Conner. - Curmudgeon/Scuttlebutt
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NEWS BRIEFS
* Strictly Sail® St. Petersburg is moving to a new location at Spa Beach,
located at the base of The St. Petersburg Pier for the four-day show from
Nov. 3-6, 2005. The move is due to the extensive damage suffered during
Hurricane Dennis at Vinoy Marina, the show's previous location, and the
repair construction that will be underway during the show dates.
* James B. Richardson and his Barking Mad Farr 40 Team won the 2005 Farr 40
East Coast Championship held at Sail Newport in Newport, RI August 26-28.
Steve and Fred Howe's Warpath had led through the first 3 races, but
Richardson and crew battled back to win by 12 points. Peter de Ritter's
Mean Machine was 3rd. 14 boats competed in the championship. 10 races were
sailed in the 3-day regatta in 8-14 knots on Rhode Island Sound. Complete
results at http://www.sailnewport.org
* The 5 Oceans Race 2006-2007 has secured a title sponsor for the event,
which they will announce at a press conference on September 3, 2005 in
Malmö, Sweden.
* Panama City, FL - With Hurricane Katrina approaching, the organizers of
the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship at St. Andrew Bay YC decided to fit
in as many races as possible on Friday and Saturday, canceling races on
Sunday, what otherwise would have been the final day. For Michael Siau/ Sam
Ingham (Manlius/ Rochester, NY), the two dominated on the first day,
winning all six races. After four additional races on Saturday, local
sailors Evan Miller/ Kyler Hast (Panama City/ Lynn Haven, FL) took second
with Cameron Biehl/ Pike Harris (San Diego/ Coronado, CA) finishing third.
- http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull
* New Zealand yachtsman and adventurer Graeme Kendall has been forced to
abandon his attempt to become the first person to sail solo non stop around
the world via the Arctic Northwest Passage, in his yacht the Astral
Express. On advice from the Canadian Coast Guard, ice experts, and other
vessels in the area, Graeme made the decision that it would be too
dangerous to proceed with his journey, as ice continues to block the
entrance to the famous passage. - http://www.astralexpress.com
* Port Washington, NY - Mark Campbell-James (GBR), with crew Andy Clark,
David Mason, and Andrew Yates, won the 2005 Knickerbocker Cup sailed in
J/105's. After besting 7th world ranked Ian Williams (GBR) in the
semi-finals, Campbell-James was matched up against Matteo Simoncelli (ITA)
in the finals, beating them 3-1 for the title. For more information:
http://www.kyc.net
* The entry deadline for US Sailing's Rolex International Women's Keelboat
Championship (Rolex IWKC is September 2. After that date, no other entries
will be accepted. The 11th Rolex IWKC is scheduled September 17-23 at the
Annapolis Yacht Club, in Annapolis, Md. To date, 40 international teams
from four countries and 15 U.S. states have entered including defending
Rolex IWKC champion Sally Barkow, of Nashotah, Wis. The Notice of Race,
Entry Form and additional information for competitors can be found online
at http://www.ussailing.org/riwkc and
http://www.race.annapolisyc.org/2005rolex
* The 2005 Schock 35 National Championship was hosted this past weekend by
Long Beach YC, where Jeff Janov's well-crewed Ripple with Gordon Palmer as
tactician dominated the event. Eight races with no throwouts were conducted
on courses both inside the harbor and in the ocean, with steady breezes
topping out at 18 knots at the end of each day. Fred Young's Perfect Circle
and Ray Godwin's Whiplash finished in second and third respectively.
Complete results at http://tinyurl.com/c2f7m
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine)
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be
edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is neither a chat room
nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your
best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing,
whining and personal attacks for elsewhere.)
* From Bennet Greenwald: Scuttlebutt 1911 proves that life is complicated.
I agree with McCormick's take on the AC - and yet... $300 million on a boat
campaign while millions of humans starve does seem obscene, but by that
logic I should be donating money to charity - not to my PC to win the
nationals.
Is it relevant that Ellison or Bertarelli are not nice people? Most of us
have crewed for worse. Maybe we should be thankful that these guys are not
spending the money on political campaigns or buying arms for insurgents.
Adjusted for inflation, the money may be about the historic average. Should
we be sorry that Dennis Conner is priced out? Dennis did the first two-boat
campaign and much to bring more professionalism to the event.
This is not a game for shallow pockets or will. This game that captures
nationalistic pride - witness the China entry and whining about Kiwis on
the American team. Maybe its better there is this investment outlet for
nationalistic energies and not war.
Scuttlebutt discussions regarding the effect of gravity and weighing the
boats in different venues is fascinating. There will be technical and
educational gains throughout the sport from this cup. What does this
sailing event say to the non-sailing public? It is expensive, performed by
professionals and beautiful to look at, but hellish boring on TV. On the
other hand, would I sail (for a minute) if offered a shot? You bet.
As I said - It's complicated.
* From Eric Hall: Just a quick counterpoint to my friend Herb McCormick's
note on today's America's Cup. I may be easy to entertain, but this time
around I think the format is intriguing. With match and fleet racing,
interesting venues, spectator friendly presentation, etc., the whole thing
is pretty cool. South Africa's and China's appearances are adding interest
and some of the long shots already pushing the favorites. And, for the
first time the Defender is deeply involved in the racing - and clearly not
sandbagging.
I followed all the Newport "summers of the twelves" as avidly as any, but I
must admit that today the America's Cup is at a much higher level. $300
million? Even if that's not an exaggeration, to put it in perspective, the
top Formula One racecar teams spend more in a YEAR just to enter two small
one-man cars in nineteen acts, er races. Americans? Actually there are
plenty of us on the boats and even more in key areas behind the scenes.
All in all, Herb, I'd say the Cup is very full indeed.
* From Bruce Thompson: The force of gravity is not changing as you move
north and south. What is happening is that the boats are moving due east as
a result of the Earth's rotation and tend to move in a straight line that
is tangential to the surface. The force of gravity must pull the boat
radially inward simply to maintain contact with the surface. The faster the
speed of rotation, the harder the pull necessary. (Think of the centrifugal
force imparted by an object swung on a string).
Another way of looking at the situation is consider how objects become
"weightless" orbiting the Earth. At that speed, the force needed to hold
the radius of the circle equals the force of gravity. So the object is in
equilibrium and seems "weightless" though it's mass has not changed. What
the measurer is doing with his "calibrations", is defining the mass of the
boats, not the weight (mass times local g).
* From Tim Gregoire: It's obvious the current theory of gravity is
inadequate for understanding the phenomena of weight and mass. What we need
is a new, alternative theory. A possible "intelligent falling" theory. I
encourage everyone to write their representatives to have this new theory
taught in our schools to counter the bias of the current, godless theory of
gravity.
* From Tom Cain: Berry Kurland in butt 1910…hit a new thread…the plight of
the bowman. Here are some Bow quandaries. Bowmen are often responsible for
winning a race … but rarely get the credit.
T/F?: Bowmen have one of the best views of the race course and feel for
boat speed changes, but their observations rarely make it back to the
cockpit. Hand signals at the start line could be greatly improved and the
cockpit could "signal back" on what they are going to do. Thus, it is
physically difficult to communicate with the cockpit, would radio headsets
be illegal? Or would the cockpit just turn them off? Frustration: Bowmen
would like to see the numbers on mast display, but cannot, because they are
too far forward. Bowmen hike harder.
T/F?: Many a Bowmen act just like the tactician ….somewhat aloof.
T/F?: Heavy Bowmen are bad.
T/F?: Bowmen should have great discretion re: decisions…. forward of the mast.
T/F? Bowmen should comment frequently on sail trim.
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
NyQuil: the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
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