|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1849 - May 31, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. BACK TO ITS CORINTHIAN ROOTS Val Howells is smiling. The 79-year-old is the only surviving participant of the original OSTAR singlehanded race from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island. He returned to Plymouth on Sunday to start the 2005 edition of the race that launched singlehanded offshore racing 45 years ago. "It's hard to turn back the clock," said Howells, surveying the fleet docked at Queen Anne's Battery. "Look at these boats. Oh, my." Much has changed in sailing technology since Howells' first experienced the OSTAR in a 25-foot wooden folkboat. Consider this year's motley fleet: a production Open 40 monohull, a 40 with a free-standing cat rig, a number of backyard-built passagemakers, a cut-down Open 60 trimaran, and a converted Formula 40 tri. Though much about the race has remained the same. The OSTAR was reconfigured this year-the O stands for original, meaning amateur-to return to its Corinthian roots, and the race managers at the Royal Western Yacht Club got what they wanted in a group of sailors driven by their spirit of ocean adventure, not money or publicity. Howells pointed out the contrast between this year's amateur affair with past races, when pros were still part of the OSTAR (now they have their own all-pro Transat Race). "The sailors didn't even have to prepare their boats," said Howells. "It was a different world." The multihulls departed at high noon Sunday, local time, in a building southwest sea breeze, which set up a port-tack fetch to the breakwater outside Plymouth Sound. The monos, which are scored in class (some) and overall under IRC, followed 15 minutes later. - Excerpts from a story by Josh Adam on the Sail magazine website, full story: http://sailmag.com/OSTAR/ FOR THE RECORD * After just a few hours at sea, Francis Joyon abandoned on his transatlantic record attempt. The weather was not developing as hoped for, and his speed was gradually falling. So, Joyon and trimaran IDEC returned to New York and will wait for another 'weather window' to attempt to break Laurent Bourgnon's singlehanded trans-Atlantic record. - www.trimaran-idec.com * Beginning September 1, Ellen MacArthur will go on standby for her second attempt on the solo transatlantic record from New York (USA) to Plymouth (UK) on board the 75-foot trimaran B&Q. This will be MacArthur's second attempt on this record that has stood for over a decade since her attempt last June ended in disappointment as she missed out on setting a new record by just 75 minutes. The current solo transatlantic record stands at 7 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes, 42 seconds set by Frenchman Laurent Bourgnon in June 1994 on board his 60-foot trimaran, Primagaz. "We need to have a pretty perfect weather window to have any chance of breaking this very fast record," MacArthur said. "Last June we were forced south of the route and had to sail more miles than Laurent, in the end too many to break his record. Attempting the transatlantic record is very different to a round the world record and it is hard to compare the two. After failing to break the record by just 75 minutes on the last attempt we are under no illusions as to how big this challenge will be. The timing of departure will be critical, everything will have to go right, the weather, the boat and there will not be room for mistakes." The west-east solo transatlantic that starts at Ambrose Light off New York and finishes at the Lizard off the south-west coast of England is perhaps one of the hardest records to break which is why Bourgnon's record has now stood for over a decade. The weather dictates that this record can only really be attempted in the spring/ early summer months (Laurent Bourgnon set his record in June, right at the end of the weather window available) or the post-summer/ autumn months to take advantage of the low pressure systems that sweep across the Atlantic at this time of year. In addition, Thomas Coville, skipper of the 60-foot trimaran Sodebo has also announced his intention to bid for this record. - www.teamellen.com / www.sailspeedrecords.com / www.sodebo-voile.com HIGH DEMAND FOR LIGHTWEIGHT, BREATHABLE CLOTHING To meet these needs, Camet International has introduced a new line of sportswear to satisfy it's sports-minded and outdoor enthusiast customers. The collection offers an array of possibilities from highly technical products that scream "performance," to lightweight, wrinkle-free products for on-the-water and off-the-water activities. We look for fabrics that move perspiration away from the body, dry quickly, and are wrinkle-resistant; characteristics sought by adventurers and sailors alike. The summer line not only serves a purpose, it is also very fashionable. With solid color schemes, Hawaiian prints, and multi-functional designs. View online at http://www.camet.com and request a catalog at mailto:camet@camet.com GILMOUR NEW LEADER OF SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Split, Croatia - Peter Gilmour (AUS), of Pizza-La Sailing Team became the new leader of the Swedish Match Tour leaderboard and the career victories list when he won the ACI H1 Match Race Cup. Gilmour and crew Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yasuhiro Yaji defeated Philippe Presti (FRA) 3-2 in a tightly fought series. Gilmour, with 112 points, overtook Ed Baird (USA), of Team Alinghi, for the lead of the 2004-'05 season. And Gilmour's seven career victories are tops on that list. Bertrand Pacé (FRA), of BMW Oracle Racing, placed third in the event, while Baird finished fourth. Pacé beat Baird 2-0 in the Petit Final. "We've just been looking to improve on last year's performance," said Gilmour, 45 years old. "We weren't very happy with how we sailed the second half of last year. Now we've got two wins and a second in the last three events." Those finishes have put Gilmour in position to become the first repeat champion of the Swedish Match Tour. He leads Baird by 10 points (after trailing by 23 points at the beginning of May) with just one event to sail, the Swedish Match Cup (July 4-10). ACI H1 Match Race Cup Semifinals Peter Gilmour (AUS) d. Ed Baird (USA), 3-1 Philippe Presti (FRA) d. Bertrand Pacé (FRA), 3-1 Swedish Match Tour Standings (After 7 of 8 stages) 1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 112 points 2. Ed Baird (USA) 102 points 3. Russell Coutts (NZL) 70 points 4. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 45 points 5. Philippe Presti (FRA) 44 points 6. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 38 points 7. James Spithill (AUS) 35 points 8. Bertrand Pacé (FRA) 34 points Event website: www.swedishmatchtour.com ROLEX TRANSATLANTIC CHALLENGE At the front of the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge fleet, both race leader Mari-Cha IV and Maximus are now making good progress directly toward Land's End, the southwestern tip of mainland Britain before they turn and cover the final 20 miles to the race's first finish line off the Lizard. At noon Monday, just 32 miles separated the two boats on the water, with 835 miles left for Mari-Cha IV to sail. According to Mari-Cha IV's project manager and navigator Jef d'Etiveaud: "The boat is nicely sailing at 22 knots in good running conditions … finally, after a long upwind poker game with Maximus over the last two days. It has been quite intense for all on board, especially for the afterguard, which has been trying to anticipate the opposition's moves on the water. After spending Saturday night with its mainsail down as the crew attempted to repair the broken headboard car, Maximus is now fully back up to speed jib-top reaching. - www.transatlanticchallenge.org NOT A SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNIC While several boats competing in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge have sustained damage since last Sunday's start off New York, over the last 48 hours it has been the turn of their crews. The injured crewman on Peter Harrison's Sojana, was Mal Parker, a highly experienced sailor and the upwind trimmer for Harrison's GBR Challenge in the last America's Cup. At 1100 GMT on Friday, the crew was in the process of reefing a headsail when Parker's left arm was pulled into a winch, breaking it in two places. Parker had his broken arm splinted and immobilised, as Sojana immediately ceased racing and turned to make for the island of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to the south of Newfoundland. "Mal was transferred to a hospital ashore, where the arm was x-rayed, and he was given morphine for pain relief," wrote Sojana's skipper Marc Fitzgerald. "The arm will require surgery to pin the broken bones, which cannot be done at the facility in Saint-Pierre, so he will fly today to Montreal to undergo surgery there, before returning home to Tasmania to recuperate." Parker is being accompanied by Sojana's navigator Graham Sunderland. Since then, Sojana has asked the Race Committee permission to rejoin the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, and this has been granted. This morning, they were rounding Cape Race, the southeasternmost tip of Newfoundland. On Friday, aboard the race's on-the-water leader Maximus, Bill Buckley--the Kiwi sloop's co-owner and one of New Zealand's most prominent engineers--took a fall, dislocating his shoulder. The crew was forced to sail downwind in the opposite direction to the course for some hours while on-board medics relocated the limb. www.transatlanticchallenge.org THE PERFECT WAY TO WATCH JUNIOR SAILING Comfortable, easy to tow, stable, durable, fun, low maintenance, safe, unparalleled performance - all words that describe the perfect boat for watching your kids sail. With sizes starting at 15', Ribcraft offers rigid inflatable boats built to go anywhere, do virtually anything and always perform. It's no coincidence that Ribcraft is the preferred choice for yacht clubs, sailing coaches, and safety professionals. Whether you're looking for an easy to tow RIB for traveling to regattas or a RIB large enough for the whole team, Ribcraft has a boat that's perfect for you and your family. To learn more visit http://www.ribcraftusa.com MEDITERRANEAN TP52 CIRCUIT This summer Russell Coutts, Vasco Vascotto, Paul Cayard, Mark Reynolds, Tomaso Chieffi and Ross McDonald will be competing alongside HM the King Juan Carlos I and HRH Prince Felipe in a new series of TP 52 races that make up Breitling Medcup TP52. The first event begins on June 28 in Punta Ala, Italy. For this new series offshore, windward - leeward and coastal races will be combined within four well-established events in the Mediterranean, as well as in a new event created for the TP 52 Class in Sardinia. Currently, a total of eleven teams have confirmed their entry in the circuit - nine of which are for vessels of new construction, and another seven have done so for the 2006 edition. The format of the regattas will place an emphasis on television coverage, with world-wide distribution planned. Additionally, the Mediterranean TP52 owners have created the Mediterranean Fleet Association with Arturo Delgado (ex-president of the ISAF) named as Executive President. One of its main jobs has been the standardization of the rules based on the International Association, to which all the owners have to belong. For a full list of the events, venues and participants: www.medcup.org/ MAJOR STEP Germany's first ever challenge for the America's Cup has taken an important step. The technical team of United Internet Team Germany (UITG) has successfully modified a used AC yacht, which will now comply with the new rules (version 5), that have been set up for the 32nd Cup. The reconstruction of former Giovanni Cecarelli-designed "Mascalzone Latino" (ITA-72) has taken place at Porto Ferraio harbour on the Italian island of Elba and took only six days of time for all changes. The now white painted yacht will now be shipped on a freighter to Valencia and is expected to arrive on the 1st of June. On June 16 United Internet Team Germany will compete at the Louis Vuitton Acts 4 & 5. The German team had bought the yacht in order to be able to compete in the Pre-Acts in Valencia, followed by the races in Malmö, Sweden and Trapani, Italy later this year. The UITG crew with Danish skipper Jesper Bank will start practicing on the Spanish coast in the beginning of June. The syndicate expects to have a new boat ready for the Summer of 2006 - www.United-Internet-Team-Germany.de NEWS BRIEFS * The Soling World Championship ended on Saturday with the German team of Roman Koch, Maxl Koch and Gregor Bornmann crowned World Champions. More than 120 competitors from 13 nations and three continents raced on the crystal blue waters of Maremma in Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy. The top North American boat in the 43-boat fleet was the 11th place Stuart Walker sailing with John Standiford and Tom Price. - www.solingworlds.com/worlds/2005/index.asp?ID=8 * The World Saiing Speed Record Council announced the ratification of the Outright Women's KiteSail record for Charlotte Corsorti, FRA, Windsurther with a kite sail at Leucate Franceon on April 20, 2005. The new record speed is 33.47 knots. The previous record was also held by Charlotte Corsorti at a speed of 33.24 knots. - www.sailspeedrecords.com/ * Early Sunday morning the 60 foot monohull Sill et Veolia skippered by Roland Jourdain, finished the Calais Round Britain Race 2005. The winning Lombard design took 6 days 16 hours 43 minutes 21 seconds to cover the 1815 miles of this clockwise race around the British Isles from Calais to Calais at an average speed of 11.29 knots. Some six hours later, the Owen/Clarke design Ecover skippered by Mike Golding, finished in second place - three hours ahead of Jean Pierre Dick's Farr-designed Virbac-Paprec, which took the bronze. - www.calaisroundbritainrace.com *The Alinghi syndicate staged a special 'children's day' for the members of the Royal Valencia Yacht Club. About five hundred people visited the Alinghi installations in Valencia Port and listened attentively to the explanations given by Juan Vila, the navigator for the syndicate. Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the day was when a group of fifteen children put to sea on board the Alinghi for a brief trip around Valencia Bay. Later about sixty light craft participated in a mini-regatta, with Grant Simmer, the Director General of the syndicate, handing out the prizes to the winners. - Valencia Life Network, www.valencialife.net * The Scuttlebutt website will be undergoing updates beginning Tuesday evening, and certain areas of the site will be unavailable from 11:00pm-1:00am Pacific Time. SAILNET'S 15 AND 5 SALE A Scuttlebutt Exclusive - Save 5% on electronics and 15% on other non-sale items in the store (some restrictions apply). SailNet is under new management, so visit and see our changes. Use coupon code SCUTTLEBUTT in your shopping cart or call 800-234-3220 and give your sales representative the code. http://www.sailnet.com/scuttlebutt 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 not 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.) * From Kimball Livingston, Sail Magazine: Bob Buell responded negatively to our story about San Francisco Bay course racing in kites, and considering his credentials as a 20-year windsurfer and former commercial captain, I have to respect his opinions. However, I wonder if he thought this all the way through. Mr. Buell as a windsurfer objects to sharing the waves on the north shore of Oahu with "inexperienced kite-boarders," and as a commercial skipper he is doubtful about staging races for kites where they share the shipping channels of the Golden Gate. Point 1: Speaking as a sailing journalist, it was little more than 20 years ago that letters to the editor peaked on the subject of inexperienced windsurfers interfering with (take your choice) ships, boats, races-in-progress. Those letters have long since subsided, though the antics of inexperienced windsurfers, inexperienced dinghy sailors-and most often, inexperienced keelboat sailors-continue to rattle those of us who think along the lines of, "God, when I go, please don't take me with the fenders out." Point 2: The Crissy Field launch is one of the great spots for kite sailing-and for windsurfing. They share the waters with everything from 29ers to Folkboats to Farr 40s to Maxis. If kites can't race on the San Francisco cityfront, then … Point 3: What better way to spread the word about safety and the rules of the road than to let experienced sailors who are kite enthusiasts introduce kite newbies to racing? Dude, this is part of the answer. * From Tak Uchino: I think that Bob Buell has it wrong. If kiteboarders get involved with racing in San Francisco, they are more likely learn how to coexist with their fellow bay users. There is bound to be some initial teething but overall it should help bring kiteboarding more into the general sailing (and racing) fold. Racing is a great way not only to learn the general rules of the road and those that apply while racing, but it also quickly teaches you to handle your craft much better; be it boat, windsurfer or kiteboard. What Mr. Buell seems to fail to grasp is that we are all trying to enjoy the same wind and water and no one group has exclusive rights to it. I am not a kiteboarder but I enjoy watching them take their "skateboard mentality" and get "big air." I would much rather watch the kiteboarder's antics than deal with the screaming idiot who believes that the racing rules should not apply to him in this particular mark rounding. 20 years ago when when Mr Buell got involved with windsurfers, the windsurfers were viewed as the same type of reckless mavericks as the kiteboarders are today. Which leads us to wonder who crotchety kiteboarders will be badmouthing 20 years from now. * From Ray Tostado: I find that my mind cannot create an image of a canard steering the bow to windward using an oblique canting keel as a pivot point. Oh sure, it can be demonstrated, but why bother? A fixed deep keel, perhaps. Designers have always sought tracking stability for hull forms. A hull has to be inherently wanting to track, rather than wandering erratically, constantly in need for rudder correction. D. Peterson's application of aeronautical cord shapes allowed a hull form to literally move sideways to weather. This was achieved by balancing the hull form, inclination, the sail plan, and the keel/rudder interaction. There was "lift" in this balance. With a canard the hull is being asked to passively allow itself to be "bent" sideways to weather against it own stability form. And if the canard is inclined at 15 degrees, what steerage can it provide? Has anyone asked the sail plan how high it can point and still have any merit? The optimum 26/29 degree angles are old hat. Power is back in and 30 is just fine, thank you. A conventional deep spade rudder is nothing more than a detached trim tab for a high lift keel shape. The keel shape never rotates out of alignment to the hull form. A canard does not perform this duty. It wants to argue with the rest of the boat. But I must remember. We are comparing Cessna 210s to combat fighters in this discussion. There are the big guys, then us * From Edward Fryer: Rodger Martin referred to purpose-built IRC boats engendered by this new interest in the formula bringing us 60-70% ballast ratios! He might like to know that that particular loophole has already been slammed very firmly shut. In 1997, Kit Hobday & Tim Louis launched their John Corby designed Independent Bear, which was exactly the sort of boat to which Mr Martin refers; very high stability, mainly from a large keel bulb. The boat was very successful, with multiple wins. Changes to the rating formulae over the winter of 97/98 meant that exploiting that corner of the rule was no longer competitive - the boat saw a "huge rating increase", and she was subsequently modified (and renamed as Independent Bear Mark 2). CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS A wise schoolteacher sends this note to all parents on the first day of school: "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I'll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home. |
