SCUTTLEBUTT No. 731 - January 17, 2001
A TACTICIAN'S KIND OF DAY
KEY WEST, Fla. - A mischievous summer storm blew in from the Atlantic Ocean
Tuesday and brought the Bermuda Triangle with it. Everyone involved in
Yachting Key West Race Week 2001 agreed that it was a tactician's kind of
day when speed was second in priority to location. As the light rain fronts
rolled progressively over the four courses, laid out east to west over a
seven-mile expanse, each saw varying conditions with one thing in common: a
lot of navi-guessing going on. The day belonged to those who were lucky or
smart - or both.
Winds fluctuated from 5 to 19 knots and swung through about 60 degrees left
and right. The 37 Farr 40s were typically flipped inside out until
conditions settled down to a steadier 8-10 for the second race in the
afternoon. George Carabetta's Diana from Meriden, Conn., was last and 21st
in Monday's first two races but won Tuesday's first race by 23 seconds as
Philippe Kahn's Pegasus, an Admiral's Cup contender from California, went
from a 2-7 Monday to a 20-12 Tuesday.
Harry Melges, 1-1 among 59 Melges 24s Monday, was 10-14 as darkhorse Neil
Sullivan of Annapolis ran his string to 3-4-1-4 for the lead.
Footnote: Kahn's tactician is San Diego's Mark Reynolds, an Olympic gold
medalist and the Sperry World Sailor of the Year, which shows how crazy the
gods were Tuesday. Diana's tactician is Stu Bannatyne, a recent addition to
John Kostecki's illbruck America's Cup team.
James Richardson's Barking Mad - Pegasus' rival for the Admiral's Cup slot
- charged to the front of the Farr 40 fleet with a 5-4 effort. George
Andreadis' Atalanti XII, with Robbie Haines, slipped to an 8-22 day but was
awarded Boat of the Day honors for Monday's 1-5.
Doug DeVos of Holland, Mich., owner of the 1D35 Windquest, was away on
business for the day, but Dan Cheresh, a former national champion, had the
boat out in front through the first windward-leeward lap until a shift of
50-60 degrees skewed the course. As W.S. Shellhorse of Lake Wesley, Va.
sailed Avalanche to victory, Windquest settled for fifth, and tactician
Dobbs Davis lamented, "We couldn't cover 20 boats."
"It was pretty weird," said Ken Read, helmsman for Makoto Uematsu's Farr 50
Esmeralda, which leads the IMS class with a string of 1-1-2-1 finishes. The
IMS course was third in line for the weather, enabling those who stayed
alert to see what was coming. Read said, "Binoculars were a valuable tool.
[Tactician] Tony Rey and [navigator] Ian Moore kept their heads out of the
boat all day."
Sometimes amateurs figure it out better than the pros. Tom Coates, sailing
the J/105 Masquerade from Newport, R.I. scored a 1-3 because he listened to
his tactician, Chris Perkins. They took a port-tack start at the committee
boat and went hard right, as most boats went left. "Chris was right, as he
usually is," Coates said. "We didn't look back."
On the other hand, on the same course, Woody Bergendahl, on the J/29
Tomahawk from Ludlow, Vt., was 1-4 because he decided that "for the most
part, the left paid off." - Rich Roberts, Yachting Key West Race Publicity
Director
Complete results: www.Premiere-Racing.com
THE RACE
Club Med has broken free from the high pressure system that had held up the
progress of The Race's leaders. The new race leader is on the expressway
that leads to Cape Town and beyond, belting along at a speed of 26 knots
leaving Team Adventure and Innovation Explorer in their slipstream. It may
be a long time before they can catch the big blue boat in front. Thrilled
skipper Grant Dalton said: "This is the break I wanted. We've played it
well to get this chance and we are very satisfied with the result."
Relieved by the team's turn of luck he could afford to make predictions on
the progress of other competitors. "Loick [Peyron, Innovation Explorer
co-skipper] will miss the train. They are destined to wallow around in the
high pressure centers for a while longer," Dalton said.
Dalton said he badly wanted to get south to get a dominant position over
Team Adventure rival Cam Lewis. "It all started a couple of days ago when
he turned to the east before we did. I wanted the south like nothing I've
ever wanted before," he said. "We crossed over his path and took up
position to the south of him, and that is when our situation became the
dominant one. He'll get to a point where he just can't get any further
south relative to us."
The burning question that will dominate Dalton's thoughts is whether Lewis
can make it onto the back of the system before it pulls away. - Martin
Cross, NOW Sports website.
Full story: http://www.now.com/feature.now?cid=997704&fid=1167475
POSITIONS - January 17, 02:38 GMT: 1. Club Med, 2. Team Adventure, 186
miles behind leader, 3. Innovation Explorer, 505 mbl 4. Warta Polpharma,
1640 mbl, 5. Team Legato, 2545 mbl.
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Cam Lewis
"Grant Dalton did a good job of working his boat through a complex area of
light wind. Now we have to sail smart and catch him. We are 17 days into
The Race and have covered one quarter of the distance. There's a long way
to go." - http://www.teamadventure.org/
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VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot
The top six Open 601s in the Vendee Globe have now passed from the Southern
to the Atlantic Ocean by way of Cape Horn, signaling a return to the
regatta style racing, which is characterizing this circumnavigation. The
leading skippers are all hoping for the game of snakes and ladders to
commence, gambling with the weather options in order to shake up the
rankings before the finish.
Leader Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) was the first skipper to slide. Yesterday's
600 mile lead over Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) has been slashed to 420
miles. Naturally, the boat which opens the route will be the first to reach
the calm zones generated by the Saint Helen high pressure system, situated
in the middle of the South Atlantic. Desjoyeaux has not analysed any great
risk to his position. "PRB was designed partly for this stage of the race
sailing upwind in the Atlantic. I can't really see Ellen being able to sail
faster. In the English Transat for the first 4 - 5 days, my boat was ahead,
not the yellow and blue one!" He added that Ellen only pulled ahead after
he experienced technical problems on board his boat and deliberately slowed
down to secure his qualification for the Vendee Globe.
His immediate pursuers arrived in the Atlantic with a different and more
stable weather system, and therefore are now able to sail a more coastal
route North as they attempt to break down Michel1s lead with greater
manoeuvrability in new North Westerly winds. Ellen seems to have switched
comfortably back into Atlantic mode and is on the attack: "I have rested
and slept. Now I feel ready to come back as much as possible."
Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) has reduced his distance to the leader by 106
miles, Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagere) by 151 miles & Thomas
Coville (Sodebo) by 184 miles. At this pace, the gaps will dissolve
further, and as Coville remarked this morning: "This final stage of the
race will be heart-stopping. Now it's a battle of nerves. This will be a
Vendee Globe which will be remembered as a high level regatta." Coville
himself has kept a new staysail just for this final chase, which he changed
to this morning. - http://www.vendeeglobe.com
STANDINGS: 1. PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux, 2. Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur, 420
miles behind leader, 3. Active Wear, Marc Thiercelin, 679 mbl, 4. Sill
Matines & La Potagere, Roland Jourdain, 824 mbl, 5. Sodebo Savourons la
Vie, Thomas Coville, 871 mbl.
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. We don't publish
anonymous letters, but will withhold your e-mail address on request.)
* From: "Stephen Wells" wells@optonline.net I understand that many of
the members of the IMS 40 fleet spend up to $4,000 per winter to blow hot
air through their boats and some have documented that the boat will loose
up to 400 pounds during the winter. I wonder if anyone has really thought
this process though.
One thought might be that since most of the moisture is in the outer skin,
next to the water, and that this process drives the moisture through the
core on its way out inside the hull which seems like a bad idea to me as
this might soften core making the hull softer and weaker. Second a plastics
expert suggested that a modern boat doesn't absorb much water and what
might be happening is that the owners might be pulling 400 pounds of resin
out thus weakening the boat. Has anyone carefully considered what's going on?
* From Dave Rosekrans, President, US SAILING
daverosekrans@ussailing.net As with most new legislation, it will take
some time for US SAILING to sort out the best long-term approach to the new
ISAF eligibility code. In the short term, Jim Capron in Scuttlebutt 729
recommended a note for Sailing Instructions to solve the problem. A couple
of the responses may have created some misimpression.
First, it is true some US SAILING dues go to ISAF, but last year we
received, from ISAF, much more from sanctioning fees than we paid. In
addition, ISAF gives US SAILING-at no cost-the right to publish the racing
rules.
Second, it was stated that "Event organizers at all levels should check
their liability insurance because in most policies it does not cover
non-members." The US SAILING Regatta Liability Insurance protects those
clubs that apply for this insurance. There is no requirement for regatta
participants to be members. Roughly 900 clubs and organizations
participated in this insurance in 2000. If your U. S. organization has
purchased this insurance, you do not need to check any further on this subject.
As the National Governing Body, we are required by the Amateur Sports Act
to represent the US in the International Federation. We benefit from the
relationship and we must have an organization so we can all race under the
same rules worldwide.
* From: "Ralph Taylor" rtaylor@informationtools.com (Edited to our
250-word limit) The kicker in the eligibility code is 21.2 (h): "all events
using the Racing Rules of Sailing." In effect, this means almost every
race, so it broadens the reach enormously. Most sailors will gracefully
accept the need for membership requirements in the big international
events,. But, for crew in the Wednesday Night Beer Can Series?
Paul Henderson's analogy to other sports isn't quite relevant. In
basketball, there are NCAA rules, NBA rules and international rules, among
other versions. In sailing, the movement has been to try to standardize the
rules to obtain a level playing field. Will clubs now start writing their
own rules to avoid the RRS, so they can bring newcomers into the sport?
Would this be good for the sport?
I'm still wondering how we got here. Why wasn't there an outcry early in
the process? Was no one paying attention when the rule was proposed? Did
nobody understand what "all events using the RRS" mean? Or, did the US reps
on the rule-making body not inform us?
Maybe, in other countries, they're so used to the authorities being
unreasonable, that they don't care and just find a way around the more
onerous laws And, our SIs just got at least two sentences longer.
Racing sailors need to demand a better process for making the rules we race
under. It's clear there's something very wrong in how it's done now.
* From: Clark E. Chapin Chapin1317@cs.com There are several aspects of
this debate that seem to have been lost: First, the new Code is an ISAF
Regulation, so it can be changed monthly, if need be.
Second, President Henderson is incorrect in stating that liability
insurance policies do not cover non-members, at least in this country. And
it's this country where the problem with this clause lies, as Jim Capron
notes. Similarly, making all crew into "members" for the duration of an
event is rarely done here. If it's such a good idea, why not write it into
the Code?
Second, the Code is another attempt by folks on the other side of the pond
to fix a problem that doesn't exist - the present Appendix R, whatever its
flaws, was working nicely enough for the classes, such as the Mumm 30, that
adopted it. The Code usurps that process without the prior consent of the
classes impacted.
Third, the Judges Committee's recommended SI wording will, at best, be
incorporated into a minority of 2001 sailing instructions.
Fourth, retaining this rule is just as stupid as the prohibition of
advertising on clothing in the old Appendix G - easily the most violated
rule in the entire book. Having a never-enforced rule destroys respect for
the rules and the rule making process itself.
Lastly, the US position was clear, if not successful, in Edinburgh: This
requirement won't fly in the US. Unfortunately, US SAILING has few options
if the ISAF doesn't come to its senses in Dublin.
* From: "Ralph Taylor" rtaylor@informationtools.com Here in the
Rockies, the Colorado Sail & Yacht Club is thinking about complying with
Regulation 21 for open regattas by making crews temporary members for the
event. It means more paperwork, since we'll have to have a list of all
crew, probably by putting it on the entry forms. And that means we have to
list all potential crew. I don't see it adding to the fees, since it's all
volunteer labor anyway.
For our Wednesday Night Series, since we charge one racing fee at the
beginning of the year, we'll probably include the crew memberships in the
skipper's fee. Now, we can claim they're getting more value for their money!
And, speaking for many yacht clubs - we didn't ask for this, didn't expect
it, and are as amazed as anyone else. For us, it's just more trouble and
one more thing that can go wrong. The problem is - them are the rules; like
it or lump it.
* From Chip Evaul clevaul@earthlink.net re: Eligibilty Rules - I shudder
at the prospect of inspecting membership cards, and the concomitant
prospect for specious protests. What, are they kidding?
NO WORRIES MATES
The curmudgeon is not going to allow the ISAF's new Eligibility Codes place
any our readers in jeopardy. Later this week we will officially launch the
Scuttlebutt Sailing Club . . . and every 'Butthead will become a charter
member.
- SSC is already a bona fide Yacht Club Member of the United States
Sailing Association. It's official - and that fact guarantees that all SSC
members have the full umbrella of protection the National Governing Body
provides from protests filed under Section 21 of the new ISAF Eligibility Code.
- Later this week we'll tell you how to get your official SSC membership
card.
- SSC members will have full reciprocal privileges at every other virtual
yacht club on the planet.
How much is all of this going to cost you? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It's our way
of thanking the 'Buttheads for the support you've given to my partners and
our advertisers.
We'll let you know how to get your free membership card in a day or two.
Until then, enjoy the fact that you're already a member of the only yacht
club in the world with a daily newsletter.
BETTER SAILOR
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AMERICA'S CUP
Following are three excerpts for a story by John Scheibe in the Ventura
County Star
VENTURA, CA - Software giant Oracle Corp. will bring a crew and boats to
the Ventura Harbor this spring to train for sailing's oldest trophy, the
America's Cup, Ventura officials said Monday. Ventura Mayor Sandy Smith
said an agreement between Oracle, the Ventura Port District and the city
was reached Friday.
The agreement came about a month after Oracle approached the city and port
district about bringing a crew to train here for the 2003 competition in
New Zealand. "This will not only be a win for the entire city but for the
harbor as well," Smith said.
Smith said stiff sea winds, combined with Ventura's proximity to Los
Angeles, make it an appealing site for Oracle. But it took last week's rain
to clinch the deal. The harbor must be dredged to a depth of 16 feet to
accommodate the big racing yachts. The dredged silt will be dumped at the
mouth of the Santa Clara River, which normally has a trickle of water.
Environmental regulations require a larger amount of water to be flowing
through the river before the dredging spoils can be deposited there.
Smith said Oracle agreed to give the port $75,000 to help pay for the
dredging. The dredging is expected to be completed by March, when the
Oracle team is due to come.
* An Oracle Racing official in New Zealand declined Monday to comment,
saying only that the company would give an official statement by Wednesday
or Thursday. But other local officials, including port General Manager
Oscar Pe--a, confirmed that Oracle has chosen Ventura over the other
finalist, Long Beach.
* John Johnson, owner of the Ventura Boat Yard, said he has an agreement
with Oracle to transport at least two sailboats to and from a local
warehouse and the port, and to rent five or six boat slips to Oracle.
Johnson has a crane capable of plucking the 80-foot-plus yachts from the
water - another factor in Oracle's decision, Pe--a said. -
Full story: http://www.insidevc.com/getlocal/ventura/359250.shtml
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
If it ain't broke, fix it till it is.
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