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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 537 - March 29, 2000
COMMENTARY -- Peter Bentley
With 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:
Dean Barker (New Zealand) | 2-0 |
Peter Holmberg (US Virgin Islands) | 2-0 |
Peter Gilmour (Japan) | 2-0 |
Gordon Lucas (Australia) | 2-2 |
Bertrand Pace (France) | 2-2 |
Magnus Holmberg (Sweden) | 1-1 |
Sebastien Destremau (Australia) | 1-1 |
James Spithill (Australia) | 1-1 |
Jes Gram-Hansen (Denmark) | 1-2 |
Bjorn Hansen (Sweden) | 1-2 |
Andy Green (Britain) | 1-3 |
Luc Pillot (France) | 0-2 |
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.
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