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SCUTTLEBUTT #686 - November 9, 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.SOLING VOTED OUT OF 2004 OLYMPICS It is time for the Soling class to move over, to make way for a women's keelboat. At least, that was how the ISAF Council saw it when it met to decide the make-up of the mix of boats to be used in Athens in 2004. The Games has not been without the Soling since 1972 and there has never been a keelboat class for women in the Olympics. The move came after considerable heart-searching, while the ISAF Council faced up to the inevitable. The members were duty bound to provide women's sailing with another event at the Olympic Games, thereby making four in all, and that meant a sacrifice of one of the classes used in Sydney. The debate was between a dinghy and a keelboat and the Events Committee had already decreed that to lose a dinghy rather than a keelboat would not be in the best interests of the sport. The Council concurred by a 27-4 vote with five abstentions. Further, the Council voted that the one men's keelboat event should be for fleet racing, and the match race advantage that the Soling had over the Star went out of the window. In addition a two-man boat allowed greater women's participation without having to increase the total number of sailors beyond the IOC limit of 400, one which might be reduced further. The voting was close but the Star received the nod by 20-17. What was begun at Los Angeles in 1932 continues with just the one exception of 1976. Just what the women will race has yet to be decided. Neither the Events Committee, nor its advisors, the Keelboat and Women's Sailing Committees, had even given a thought to a fleet racing class. Charley Cook (USA) proposed that it should be a three-person boat, a move seconded by Eric Tulla (Peru). After that, there was considerable head scratching and demands that time was needed. It was granted until lunchtime tomorrow. - Bob Fisher Complete article (this is about 1/4 of it!) is at http://boats.com/content/sail_racing.jsp VENDEE GLOBE START The twenty-four strong international fleet lined up for the start of the 4th edition of the Vendee Globe single-handed, non-stop, around-the-world yacht race. It set off today from Les Sables d'Olonne, France, at 1611 hours (French time), under dramatic black skies and yet only 5 knots of breeze after a four-day postponement due to severe weather conditions. Guy Bernadin, a veteran circumnavigator from the first edition of what is known as the toughest yachting challenge known to man, opened the route out of the Port on "Spray of St. Briac," a copy of the famous "Spray" that belonged to Joshua Slocum, the first solo circumnavigator. Each skipper was sent off like a king by the thousands of spectators lining the channel. Once out into the bay of Les Sables d'Olonne, main sails were hoisted against a charcoal sky, a light northwesterly breeze shifted and the fleet slowly circled within the start zone as the committee boat fixed the line. - Mary Ambler Rankings at the top marker buoy at 1540 hours GMT: Ranking / Boat Name / Skipper / Approx. Time (GMT) 1. PRB - Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) 1610 2. SILL - Roland Jourdain (FRA) 1610 3. EBP GARTMORE - Josh Hall (GBR) 1618 4. SODEBO - Thomas Coville (FRA) 1618 5. AQUITAINE INNOVATIONS - Yves Parlier (FRA) 1618 6. SUPERBIGOU-ARMORLUX - Bernard Stamm (SUI) 1621 7. WHIRLPOOL - Catherine Chabaud (FRA) 1621 8. THIS TIME-ARGOS SODITIC - Richard Tolkien (GBR) 1623 9. UBP - Dominique Wavre (SUI) 1624 10. TEAM GROUP 4 - Mike Golding (GBR) 1624 Event website: www.vendeeglobe.com MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION When you need the latest high-tech gear for your boat, you: A) Get in the car, drive to the store, wait for someone to show you a catalog. B) B) Dig out the "Old Boat Supply" catalog, and call for pricing on obsolete products. C) C) Visit ?????.com, and learn how to tie some knots or dock your boat. D) D) Call Performance Yacht Systems at 1-877-3pyacht. E) Click below for answers. http://www.pyacht.com hardware / rigging / sails / clothing / marine electronics IT'S OFFICIAL: DENNIS CONNER WILL SAIL FOR NYYC George M. Isdale Jr., commodore of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), announced today that the club has completed an agreement with Dennis Conner and his Stars & Stripes team to represent the club in America's Cup XXXI in 2003. The NYYC has also formally challenged the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the keeper of the Cup. "This is a revival of a long-standing relationship that has existed between Dennis Conner and the New York Yacht Club," said Commodore Isdale. "Major sponsorship and many of the key members of the team are in place allowing Stars & Stripes to move forward. We expect to field a very competitive challenge in New Zealand." Corporate partners will be announced shortly. "The place for the Cup is on New York's West 44th Street," said Conner, a NYYC member since 1980. "Twenty years after losing it, I'd love to be the one to win it back." The next America's Cup will be in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2002-2003. -- Michael Levitt 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 John Fox : We always seem to go through this political upheaval every four years by trying to oust one class in favor of another. The fact is that all the current classes have their place and that good women sailors could hold their own in any of them on a skill level. The key to growth in sailing is more mixed competition, not new forms of segregated competition. The fact is that at the local and district levels, women can compete competitively in Stars as evidenced by 1999 Boston Harbor fleet champions Peter and Jessica Costa. Ask Susie Pegal how uncompetitive she thinks women are in Stars. Skip and Mary Etchells could certainly compete at any level and were world champions in 1951. The only real factor against women is generally size and weight, but that also eliminates many men from certain classes. Put in some reasonable weight categories as exist in other sports and men and women can compete equitably in mixed competition in any of the present classes. Why throw out strong, established, well run classes with good builders in favor of untried and unknown quantities? Let them stand the test of time and prove themselves worthy of Olympic Status. Only when a class cannot field good competitors from many countries around the world should it be dropped from Olympic status in favor of a newer boat. -- From Bob Fisher: Skip Whyte asks me what the percentage of women and men sailboat racers is and whether it is reflected in the Olympic Games by the participation of men and women sailors. My reply is that I don't have those figures and I don't suppose the ISAF has either, but they are of no concern to the IOC which has demanded that at least 30% of the competitors in all sports must be female. That is why we have the scurrying around at the ISAF Conference, not simply because women are demanding what many believe to be an unfair percentage of the scene based on reality, but because of IOC demands. MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MYRON SPAULDING The St. Francis Yacht Club will sponsor and host a memorial celebrating the life of Myron Spaulding Tuesday, November 14, 2000 at eleven o'clock. A social and lunch will follow the memorial and eulogy. This is an opportunity for the yachting community of the San Francisco Bay Area to honor Myron and his contributions to our yachting tradition. Our contact list is limited. If you know of others who might wish to attend, please let them know. They are welcome. If you have questions, please contact: Thomas Miller at 1-415-331-6523
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