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SCUTTLEBUTT #519 - March 1, 2000AMERICA'S CUP:Team New Zealand continues to dominate the America's Cup Match, today earning its fourth consecutive victory over the Prada Challenge. The Kiwis are up 4-0 in the first to five series, and look very confident of making New Zealand the first nation ever to successfully defend the America's Cup outside the U.S.A. Looking back to 1995, Team New Zealand has now won nine consecutive races. Skipper Russell Coutts has been at the helm for all those wins, equalling a century old record. Scottish born, American resident, Charlie Barr defended three America's Cups by scores of 3-0 at the turn of the century. Coutts could break the record by winning Race Five, scheduled to start at 13:15 on Thursday. -- America's Cup 2000 Louis Vuitton Media Centre Official site at http://www.americascup.org Editor's Note: dates referred to above are over the International Dateline. For those of us in North America, the fifth race is TODAY (Wednesday, March 1). THE END IS NEAR Mercifully, the end is near. Taking advantage of an early, lethal Prada blunder, Team New Zealand coasted to its fourth consecutive victory over the Italian challenger today to stake a commanding 4-0 lead in the five-of-nine-race finals for the America's Cup. Race 5 is scheduled for Thursday and, should the result hold true to form, for the sailors from Milan, the end will not have come a moment too soon. As in the first three races of the series, the Kiwis won the start, took control up the first windward beat, then denied the challengers any semblance of a passing lane around the rest of the track. There was only one small difference in this afternoon's lopsided duel. For a brief, shining moment, the Italians made a race of it. In fact, the Prada crew showed some true heart in the early going and, at one point up the first windward leg, even held the lead. But it gave it away with a tactical error that summed up its sad overall performance in the regatta. Frankly, once again, the better team won. A disappointed Patrizio Bertelli, the head of the Italian team, said, "In a day when wind conditions were in favor of Luna Rosa, who proved to have the same speed as NZL 60 if not faster, suicidal tactics gave the race to Team New Zealand on Russell Coutts's 38th birthday." -- Herb McCormick, NY Times. Full story at http://www.nytimes.com TESTING - 1, 2, 3 ... Testing means different things to different manufacturers of foul weather gear. And you can be assured there aren't many of them testing their products in the Southern Ocean. But that's exactly what Douglas Gill did. Working with the crew of Chessie Racing in the last Whitbread Race, they pushed their products to the limits, and then listened to the sailors about modifications. As a result of this interaction, Gill has increased the comfort and protection for everyone who sails. For the full story: http://www.douglasgill.com HAVANA-BALTIMORE RACE RENAMED: KEY WEST - BALTIMORE The Storm Trysail Club is officially renaming the proposed Havana to Baltimore Race to the Key West to Baltimore Race. Instead of starting off of Havana, Cuba, the 1,000-mile distance race will start in the waters off of Key West, Florida on April 23, 2000. As previously planned, boats will finish in Baltimore later that week in conjunction with the City of Baltimore's 3rd Annual Waterfront Festival. Competitors will still compete for the Hemingway Cup, as previously planned, however, in addition, finishes in the Key West to Baltimore race will be counted toward the prestigious Northern Ocean Racing Trophy, awarded annually to the boat with the best collective performance in a pre-determined series of offshore races. "This decision [to relocate the start] was based on the recent denial of the license application filed by the Mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley, with the US Treasury Department. The present political climate, including the issues surrounding Elian Gonzalez and the recent Cuban diplomat expulsion, likely caused the turn down." Storm Trysail Commodore John Storck, Jr. continued, "The probability of a successful appeal of this denial by April 23 is very unlikely, the Storm Trysail Club wants it's competitors to be able to firm up plans now for travel and boat logistics." The club looks forward to the day that the race will actually begin in Havana. -- by Amy Gross Kehoe. Full story at sailing.org/today/whatsnew.html EXPERIENCE COUNTS Lots of companies say they have an experienced staff. Perhaps you should ask, experienced at what? When you do business with Sailing Supply you're dealing with Brian Tehaar and Bill Bennett who have experience crewing for Star Class World Champion Eric Doyle. The staff at Sailing Supply also includes Laser sailors, 505 racers, and guys who race Melges 24s, Lido 14s and Etchells. The boss, Dick Roberts, won the Pacific Ocean Racing Conference in his new J/125, Snoopy. Give them a call -- you'll be dealing with people whose experiences will help you: (800) 532-3831 / http://www.sailingsupply.com/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (scuttlebutt@boats.com -- note temporary address for guest editor) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Bruce Parsons I think it is easier to talk about keels, which you can't see but pretend to understand, than it is to talk about mast and sails, which you can see and are harder to pretend you understand. This happens to professionals as well. In the unveiling of the 95 boats Jerry Milgram was the only one looking up - as he knows how little room for development there is underwater. For anyone to catch TNZ last time on reduction of underwater drag alone they would have had to throw away their rudder and one winglet. Prof. Milgram spent all his time looking up. In the third race the TNZ margin amounted to approximately 0.3 kt average over the course. This is about 3 %, for which you need about 6% reduction in drag alone to get. So again throw away your rudder Prada. The margin is primarily in the air, and in the boathandling. Prada has to sail better before we can even find out if they are sailing a slower boat, but for the moment it sure looks like they are. Hard to beat the best in the world in a slower boat. -- From Neil Humphrey In reading Lazlo Toth's rumor about NZ going off on their own in AC 2003 to avoid the ISAF tax grab & to avoid using the ISAF structure (RRS, judges & etc) can only be good for sailing in general. I suggest that NZ would be setting up a venue or sailing league that would be geared towards full time professionals, massive media marketing, better global media coverage & attract big full time sponsors. Further this move would help reinvent our sport for better acceptance & marketing to the masses. As well it could be the start of separating pros from amateurs & putting them in their own leagues. Interesting to note is that AC 2000 is an example of professional sailors bettering amateurs. Here no one really discusses the level of experience TNZ has together as professionals prior AC to Prada's group of highly successful amateur/professionals. Prada members really don't have the same pro background in years as TNZ & their core group of Team Magic sailors which adds up to a big difference on the water. Bottomline is maybe the Kiwis see the opportunity to create a full time business out of this race which NZ can dominate for a few AC challenges till the world catches up. THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM: If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent? Note: Nelson Weiderman has created a "Curmudgeon Server" at http://noeticharbor.com/curmudgeon/. It randomly pulls Curmudgeonly wit from a database loaded with past 'Butt Observations, Counsels, etc. Check it out! |
