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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 537 - March 29, 2000COMMENTARY -- Peter BentleyWith the results of the two (recent) Olympic class world championships determined in the protest room rather than on the water, I was set to thinking that now might be a good time to consider the role of the international jury in major regattas. Now you might say determining the results is exactly the job of the Jury, but when errors so gross and so obvious are made in two distinctly different championships, the time to reconsider the whole system can not be far away. Of course way back in the beginning, the outcome of a regatta might not have been determined until weeks or even months after the event, with the result of every protest open to appeal, through the national authority and ultimately what was then the IYRU. In an effort to ensure a binding decision in a sensible timeframe, a system of Juries, composed of members approved by ISAF was instituted. Jury members were to be selected from a highly qualified group of International judges, who it was hoped could reach a sound and equitable decision in every case, eliminating the requirement for an appeals process. An eminently sensible idea one might think. And indeed it was. But as the number of international events increased, the number of jurors required also increased and there was, shall we say, a relaxation in standards. In time the role of the Jury became more extensive, particularly with the introduction of on-the-water judging. There is no doubt that many of those now involved at the highest level are simply not up to the job. A competitor at the recent Europe Class world championships in Brazil was flagged for a second time by the international jury for an infringement of rule 42. The competitor, who was leading the regatta at the time was on the last run, several hundred metres in front of the fleet at the time of the incident and clearly in a position to win the race without infringing rule 42. She was clearly aware that the Jury was watching her. After retiring, the competitor requested and was granted a hearing. The jury member in giving his evidence, described the whole incident on the wrong gybe, taking place close to other boats. Only when questioned did he agree that in fact the incident had taken place on the opposite gybe at some distance from the other boats (as confirmed by video evidence). He then went on to explain that the competitor was pumping twice per wave on eight out of ten occasions. His audio tape of the incident was then played and mentioned only three double pumps over a two minute period. Despite agreeing that they were some 80 metres behind the competitor, the jury claimed to be able to see detailed arm movements of the competitor. There was no attempt to explain the discrepancies in the evidence. An obvious case you might think for a reinstatement. No chance. Despite the obvious inconsistencies in the evidence, the remainder of the jury sided with their own and upheld the disqualification. Competitors at the highest level deserve better. Especially in the Olympic arena, the sailors have become increasingly professional while juries have moved forward little. An unacceptable state of affairs. To a great extent, International Judges are currently self selecting. With minimal remuneration, only those possessed of sufficient wealth are able to do the job on a regular basis and many of those do one or two regattas each year. Hardly enough to keep up to date on the complexities of rule 42. With many sailors essentially working at the sport full-time, a similar level of commitment is now required from the race officials. We must move to a system of professional or at very least semi-professional race management in all its forms. -- Peter Bentley, Sailing Source website To read all of Bentley's comments: http://www.sailingsource.com/bentley/ TORNADO OLYMPIC TRIALS SANTA CRUZ YACHT CLUB - Throughout the eight races over four days of competition weather conditions have been challenging for the 18 teams entered, many of whom are looking forward to tomorrow's mandatory lay day for an opportunity to rest, as well as repair broken equipment. Olympic Team Trials Manager Tom Farquhar (Marion, Mass.) described the conditions as "typical Santa Cruz," emphasizing that the wind reliably settles in about 1:00 p.m. daily and ranges from 16-24 knots. The big swells with waves on top have tested two of the US Sailing Team's top-ranked Tornado teams, with sailors lost overboard in the 51-degree water. Skipper Robbie Daniel (Clearwater, Fla.) was forced to swim for his boat in Monday's first race after falling overboard. A former junior Olympic swimmer, Daniel was able to catch up with his boat, crewed by Enrique Rodriquez (Key Largo, Fla.), to finish the race in sixth place. Under the racing rules, Daniel would not have been allowed to continue racing if rescued by the safety boat. In Tuesday's second race, skipper Lars Guck (Bristol, R.I.) saw crew PJ Schaffer (Cleveland, Ohio) go overboard at the weather mark when his trapeze gear broke, resulting in the duo retiring from the race. Racing resumes on Thursday and concludes Sunday, April 2. -- Jonathan R. Harley STANDINGS: 1. Lovell/Ogletree (8 pts.) 2. Guck/Schaffer (14) 3. Feeny/Farrar (24) 4. Sweeney/Sweeney (26) 5. McCarthy/Thomas (28). Compete standings: http://www.scyc.org/racing/torresults.html SOLING WORLD MATCH RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS CADIZ, SPAIN - Another great day for the American Team. With 4 races to go Madrigali /Healy/ Jordan won all 4! Their total standings were 13 wins, 2 losses - which means they won 13 races in a row, plus won the round robin. Races today were in 18-22 kts. of breeze: After the completion of Round Robin 1, with all 16 boats, only the top 8 boats will continue to the second round robin: 1. USA: Healy/Jordan/Madrigali, 13 wins, 2 losses 2. Netherlands: Roy Heiner, 12 wins, 3 losses 3. Germany: Jochen Schumann, 11 wins, 4 losses 4. Great Britain: Andy Beadsworth, 11 wins, 4 losses 5. Denmark: Jesper Bank, 9 wins, 6 losses 6. France: Phillipe Presti, 8 wins 7 losses 7. Norway: Hermann Johannessen: 8 wins, 7 losses 8. Espana: Manuel Doreste, 8 wins, 7 losses 9. Italy: Nicola Celon, 8 wins, 7 losses 10. Ukraine: Sergey Pichugin, 8 wins, 7 losses 11. New Zealand: Rod Davis, 8 wins, 7 losses 12. Sweden: Hans Wallen, 7 wins, 8 losses 13. Austria: Hans Spitzhauer, 5 wins, 10 losses 14. Brazil: Alan Adler, 2 wins, 13 losses 15. Japan: Koburn Kuramichi, 2 wins, 13 losses 16. Cayman: Andrew Moon, 0 wins, 15 losses THE VIEW FROM THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Auckland, NZ - Talks between the old and new guard in the America's Cup defence were delicately poised last night, with the dispute hanging on the multimillion-dollar price for Team New Zealand boats and assets. Sponsors were eagerly awaiting developments, saying they wanted to continue their involvement but that would be subject to negotiations. Insiders expressed confidence a deal would be done that would give most of about 85 existing employees of Team New Zealand Ltd certainty about their future with the syndicate. Brad Butterworth, who with skipper Russell Coutts and Tom Schnackenberg heads the new management team, has told the Herald he and other employees of Team NZ had had other job offers. Sources suggested the sellers, who have contractual rights to defend the cup on behalf of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, value their boats, compound and goodwill at $12 million or more. The issue appears to be how much, if any, of that the buyers are prepared and able to pay. Squadron vice-commodore Peter Taylor said yesterday that his organisation strongly supported the move to hand over leadership. "We'll do everything we can to ensure that that's a smooth transition." Rumours that the Prada syndicate had bought the New York syndicate's two boats for $US6 million ($12.2 million) were cited by one key player as evidence that the black boats had to be worth at least that. Telecom, one of the main sponsors, was "certainly interested in continuing our relationship with the new management," said communications manager Glen Sowry. Spokesmen for Steinlager and TVNZ said they, too, were keen to stay on board. Lotto and Toyota management could not be contacted but are believed to remain firmly committed. -- James Gardiner, NZ Herald Full story: http://www.herald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=128153 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) 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 Craig Fletcher -- Your readers comments on sailing all have the same theme. "If your not sailing what I am sailing you must be in the wrong boat." From PHRF to dinghies, whatever race you are in is your Americas Cup. Can't we all just get along. -- From Tommy Burnham -- There seems to be a lot of griping going on. We just need to remember that the reason that we are all so passionate about sailing is that it is something that we love. I try to go sailing as much as possible. There are many different aspects of our sport and we should not condemn the way that others participate. -- From Dave Crockett -- I agree that there are many better places to put sponsorship dollars than the America's Cup, yet I understand why sponsors are going to put their money where they get the most exposure. We are blessed by many things, but close proximity to multiple sailing nations is not one of them. What I imply by this statement is that many of the things that work in Europe or Asia can not work here because of the size of our nations and the distance from one venue to another. France is a small country with a relatively large coast. Sponsoring sailing events there reaches more folks than a similar level of sponsoring here. Also, sponsorship dollars do not go as far because traveling from Miami to Long Beach for events is far more expensive than traveling from Calais to San Tropez (please excuse my spelling). For host organizations, the cost of bringing in an international jury to Los Angeles is far more prohibitive than finding a jury in Europe. You should see the MOUs that are standard fare for European countries and events! The costs can be enormous here. -- From John Drayton (Re: commentary on the Cup (Peter Johnstone, Sir Peter Johnson, Peter Huston, any other guys named Peter, et al...) -- Was I watching a different sailing event back in December/January? At least from my TV the racing was spectacular at the end of the challenger series . Even my wife stayed awake late to see these races. Maybe some of the AC "Angst" we're hearing/reading about is due to the realization that TNZ skunked the world for the second time in five years. I can't wait to see this event again in two years, if only to see some more racing like the challenger finals. And if I can find the time/money, you might even find the Drayton family wandering around the AC compounds in Auckland in 2002. Boring? Only when the home team leads wire-to-wire for five straight races. P.S. Here's my free advice for all you wanna-be 2002 challengers out there - start practicing your boat handling in your old boats now... from my couch, it looked like the Coutts and the Kiwi's could have switched boats and still beat the Italians. -- Andrew Gaynor -- As prone to silly political games as any high profile event, the Americas Cup continues to serve the sport of sailing. I think we should thank those individuals who have chosen to challenge for the cup, and not bash them for wasting time and money. aside from the media coverage, this part of the sport is very important to its growth, both in popularity and technology. What many cruisers or recreational sailors don't always realize is that allot of the "wasted money" that goes into these AC campaigns does create technology that can trickle down to benefit every sailor. Would we see the same integration of aerospace technology into the marine industry without this event? Not even the Volvo race encourages these types of developments - as well as the platform to showcase them. This part of the sport has helped give boat builders, spar makers and sailmakers access to these technologies - ultimately making safer, lighter, more efficient cruisers- and racers. So, the next time 'boring' AC news of another multi-million dollar syndicate clutters the pages of your favorite sailing magazine, stop and silently thank them for encouraging the development of that nice light carbon spin pole, whose aluminum brethren would have knocked you cold last wednesday night -- From Christian Fevrier, France -- Peter Huston was mistaken when he said, " the Kiwi's also had a serious advantage of knowing exactly where the race course going to be." Peter should understand that the Hauraki Gulf is a quite small place. And the special areas alleged to be better for Team New Zealand doesn't exist. Race courses were decided according the wind direction. That's all. The five America's Cup races happened where all the Louis Vuitton's races had happened before. LASER WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS CANCUN, MEXICO, Day Three - The rumours of 35 knot winds circulating last night failed to materialise. Instead it was another perfect day in the holiday resort of Cancun to which all the Laser masters want to return. In 15 knot winds 55 year old Keith Wilkins (GBR) rounded the first mark in the lead from Donald Law (USA) and then went on to extend this to 1 minute by the end of the race. Dick Tillman, 8 years his senior climbed up to second by the finish. According to Tillman "Keith is younger, stronger and smarter. Upwind he foots and sails fast whereas I have to pinch and go slow". In the lighter winds of the second race Tillman chased Wilkins round the course but could only keep his lead down to 30 seconds. In the 45 to 54 years Masters group Mark Bethwaite scored another one, two to take him into the overall lead ahead of the New Zealander Rob Coutts (Russell's brother). This was an even tighter battle in the two Radial fleet races between series leader Wilmar Groenendijk (NED) and Adam French from Australia. Groenendijk rounded the first mark ahead of French and then lost to French and in the second race the scene was reversed. Great Grand Master, Henry de Wolfe Jr, regretted his previous day comments about getting two firsts by not capsizing. "Today I rolled in just before the downwind mark and let Kurt Zueger (SUI) through but I managed to keep him behind in the second race today" Three racing days remain with 2 races scheduled each day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. -- Eric Mehlbaum Schagen STANDINGS: GREAT GRAND MASTERS: 1. USA, Henry De Wolf Jr (9 points) 2. SUI, Kurt Zueger (10) 3. CAN, Heinz Gebauer (13) GRAND MASTERS: 1. GBR, Keith Wilkins (5) 2. USA, Dick Tillman (11) 3. CAN, Joe Van Rossem (18) MASTERS: 1. AUS, Mark Bethwaite (13) 2. NZL, Rob Coutts (15) 3. USA, Doug Peckover (18) Complete results: http://www.laserinternational.org SWEDISH MATCH TOUR. Perth, Western Australia - Three teams are undefeated after the first day of the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup, Australian Peter Gilmour and his Japanese Pizza LA team, Peter Holmberg's Starsail team from the US Virgin Islands, and Dean Barker of Team New Zealand. All three have won two races, though two other skippers have also put two victories on the scoreboard, but also have two losses, Frenchman Bertrand Pace and Australia's Gordon Lucas. The clear message at the end of the first day is that there are no easy races, with the ten of the sixteen races sailed won by 20 seconds or less. Gilmour, a native of Perth, has won this regatta three times previously, and is anxious to both become the first person to win it four times, and avenge his disastrous performance in Auckland last week. Peter Holmberg and his Starsail team, also had a less than satisfactory performance in Auckland's Steinlager Line 7 regatta, and are visiting Perth for the first time. Dean Barker, who won the last race of the America's Cup for Team New Zealand, finished third in Auckland, and would like to repeat his 1998 victory in this regatta. Conditions on Perth's Swan River were ideal for match racing, with a 6 to 10 knot south westerly breeze, that was shifty enough to make life interesting for the tacticians, as well as giving passing opportunities for the trailing boat. Racing didn't start until 3:00 pm today, to allow as much practice time as possible for the skippers who had rushed to Perth from Auckland. -- John Roberson STANDINGS:
Event website: http://www.rpyc.com.au ONE-DESIGN The United States Sailing Association's One-Design SERVICE AWARD for the John H. Gardiner, Jr. Trophy was presented to Stanley Bell of the Larchmont Yacht Club in New York. The Service Award is given in recognition of distinguished service and exceptional leadership in the promotion of one-design sailing and class organization. As Chairman of the Interclub (IC) Dinghy Program at Larchmont, Bell has managed thousands of races for the IC Class, including the 1988 International Dinghy Team Regatta, the 1990 and 1996 IC Dinghy National Championships, and the 1995, 1996, and 1997 IC Midsummer Championships. Bell began running races in 1954, under his father's tutelage, taking over the helm in 1980. The One-Design LEADERSHIP AWARD, given in recognition of individual initiative, enthusiasm, organizing ability and leadership in creating the one-design fleet-building program of the year was presented to Rich Ogrentz of Highland, IN. Ogrentz has been with the National One-Design Racing Association for 15 years. In the past year, he played a fundamental role in having his class participate in its first boat show in over 20 years, produced the largest fleet turnout at the 1999 World's Regatta, helped to grow his own fleet, and orchestrated one of the season's most popular regattas. Past Commodore Bill Munster of the San Diego Yacht Club accepted the One-Design CLUB AWARD, given to recognize administrative excellence, fleet growth, creative programming, regatta support, and member contribution-at regional, national, and international levels. The San Diego Yacht Club has for many years strongly supported all one-design class participation, having produced national and world champions in the Etchells, Melges 24, Star, PC, Sabot, Opti, FJ, and Harbor 20 classes. The One-Design REGATTA AWARD is given in recognition of excellence in development, promotion, and management by the organizers and sponsors of the year's outstanding multi-class regional regatta. This year, the honor was presented to the Chatham Yacht Club of Chatham, MA, whose regatta has been held annually since 1921. The Chatham Yacht Club Regatta, originally a one-day affair, has grown to two days of festivities, including a sailing school picnic, the Commodore's Buffet, and a post-race awards lunch. -- Penny Piva Additional information; http://www.ussailing.org STAR WORLDS With the America's Cup completed, the eyes of the sailing world are turning to Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay where the Annapolis YC and the Star class are preparing for the Nautica 2000 Star World Championship Regatta, set to be contested May 10-21. The 2000 event marks the first time the Star World Championship has been decided on the Chesapeake Bay since 1951 when the event was sailed from Gibson Island, MD. Expected to be on the starting line in Annapolis are Olympic medallists Mark Reynolds, Colin Beashel, Ross MacDonald, and Bill Buchan, and other past Star World Champions including Vince Brun and Eric Doyle, who was presented the 1999 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award, in part for winning the 1999 Star Worlds Championship. Additionally John MacCausland, Matts Johansson, Peter Bromby, Gavin Brady, and Ian Walker are among the talented sailors expected to compete. The Star class will put 17 boats on the starting line in Sydney, and six of the national slots will be determined on the Chesapeake Bay at the Nautica 2000 Star World Championship. All nations and sailors already qualified for the Olympics are expected to be on the line. -- Dave Gendell Event website: http://www.annapolisyc.com/starworlds2000 THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS A journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire. |
