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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 740 - January 30, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome.VENDEE GLOBE - by Sean McNeill, for Quokka Sports The capricious effects of the Doldrums gave Ellen MacArthur the lead in the Vendˇe Globe early this morning. Five hours later, however, the band of light winds near the equator stole the lead and handed it back to Michel Desjoyeaux. The result: A dogfight that will be decided in a long, 3,000-mile beat to the finish. MacArthur's Kingfisher slipped past Desjoyeaux's PRB early this morning and into a 5-mile lead, according to the 0700 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) position reports. MacArthur spent the weekend working to the east of Desjoyeaux after being well to the west last Friday. The 0700 report showed her at 1¼4'N and 027¼31'W, compared to Desjoyeaux's position at 1¼14'N and 028¼30'W. "The meteorological crystal ball isn't letting anyone get an advantage, as in reality the conditions on the water are nothing like the forecasts," said Philippe Jeantot, Vendˇe Globe organizer. "Instead the skippers are constantly in maneuvers, helming as much as possible, changing sail configurations, all these hugely physical and exhausting efforts to keep the boat going in the capricious wind and scorching heat, with no foreseeable end in sight for the next 48 hours. The first one to break in these conditions has lost the game." The rule of thumb in the Doldrums is "west is best," which may have allowed Desjoyeaux to leap frog MacArthur by 11 miles and open a 6-mile lead at the 1200 GMT report. Desjoyeaux, 30 miles to the west of MacArthur, was making 9.5 knots compared to 5.6 for the Briton. "I don't understand why Ellen is sailing to the east," said Brad van Liew, QuokkaSailing's expert commentator on single-handed racing. "The west is usually best in the Doldrums. The strategy of playing the Doldrums is to pick a gate and go for it, hoping to make it work. "Right now, they are slam dunk in the convergence area," van Liew continued. "They're fighting the Doldrums. The way to the west looks better than the east. By tomorrow morning GMT, the Doldrums may shift south the farther west you are. I think that's what Michel is looking at, an earlier escape." The heat in the area is causing fits for the single-handed sailors, as they have trouble sleeping during the day because of the sweat pouring off of them. Sleeping at night is easier, but that's when attention to boat trim is more important, as thunderstorms roll through the area. "I'm really tired, the wind has shifted every 20 minutes and so I've had no sleep," MacArthur said this morning. "Last night was so tough. I'm so frustrated as I still have no wind. Bang slap in the middle of the Doldrums. So obviously my easterly option wasn't the best. Twenty-four hours ago it looked good, but then it was too late. - Sean McNeill, for Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.quokkasailing.com/stories/2001/01/SLQ_0129_vendee_WFC.html STANDINGS, January 29 @ 2:01 UT: 1.PRB (Desjoyeaux) 3085 miles to finish, 2.Kingfisher, MacArthur) 6 miles behind leader, 3.Active Wear (Thiercelin) 248 mbl, 4. SILL Matines La Potag¸re (Jourdain) 322 mbl, 5. Union Bancaire Privˇe (Wavre) 1049 mbl. - http://www.vendeeglobe.com/home.asp?lang=us PERSPECTIVE Lonely, exhausted, elated, MacArthur, 24, sweated litres to keep her boat moving, the wind shifting every 20 minutes or so. The youngest competitor in the round-the-world race added: "I've done everything from spinnaker downwind to Solent jib upwind and all the combinations between. I'm just going to do the best I can, fighting to get out of this zone as quickly as possible. "I am happy but can't show my happiness when I'm totally exhausted." - Tim Jeffery, Daily Telegraph, UK, http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ ADMIRALS CUP In an extremely disappointing scenario Australia may well be poised to withdraw from the prestigious Admirals Cup for 2001. Unfortunately it seems that the proud Australian flag will not be flown in Cowes this year after the competitively strong Farr 40 fleet elected to withdraw their nomination following the Australian trial series. The International three boat Teams nominating for the Admiral's Cup are made up from pre-selected classes of an IC45 (Corel 45), the Sydney 40, and the Farr 40 One Design. Sydney owner Ray Roberts who has extensive success in racing on the Asian circuit had nominated to fill the IC 45 berth after strong results in the Kings Cup and Singapore Straits regattas. Roberts confirmed his commitment by having his sloop prepared with extensive 'sail fast' modifications in Malaysia before scheduled shipping the sloop to Spain for racing on the highly competitive European circuit. The programme of events in Europe was designed to provide Roberts and crew with the best possible preparation for the Admirals Cup. A similar dedicated challenge was focused around the Sydney 40 class campaign after Roger Hickman finished with a major result at the Palma World title series.Australia's challenge appeared to be in great shape with the younger Sydney sailing team of Phil Eiszele and Jamie McPhail showing consistent all weather form with regular top results with their Sydney 40 Davnet. Both Eiszele and McPhail who have extensive Sydney 40 racing experience were prepared to expand their International knowledge with a pre-Admirals cup circuit in Europe. They had assembled a first class crew including some of Australia's most talented young sailors who had the long tem experience of sailing on the deck of a Sydney 40 in match race situations over the past two years. Unfortunately a team of three represented by the designated classes is required to form the challenge. Only two Farr 40's Smile and Fruit Machine skippered by the British born brothers Simon and Neil Whiston completed the official selection race criteria with Smile sealing victory in the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race earlier this month. Both brothers who have made a tremendous impact on Australian offshore racing over the past three years including representing Australia at the Kenwood Cup in Hawaii last year have declined to accept team nomination for personal reasons. While the Whiston brother's wishes are understood, it remains ironical that successful Australian lobbying for an Admirals Cup Farr 40 class boat may possibly have ruled out an Australian Admirals Cup challenge in 2001. - Ian Grant, stripey@bit.net.au RED, WHITE AND BLUE Yes, you can get Protectors in these colors. In fact, they come in Yellow, Gray, light blue and black as well. Not only do Protector RIB's have unparalleled performance, they also look great and with a double-bunk cabin, they more useful than you average RIB. Stay dry, stay safe, stay warm! Drive a Protector today. Call toll free 877.664.BOAT(26280 or check us out at www.protectorusa.com THE RACE "We had to rig the storm jib because we started going over 40 knots. It wasn't very reasonable." This phrase was uttered by Jacques Vincent, watch captain on board Team Adventure. Last night was, from what we could understand, one of the most extreme and at the 1400 GMT polling, Cam Lewis's maxi-catamaran had covered 607.4 miles in 24 hours. "It's true that it's on the limits of what is reasonable but we have to keep going because we're following a depression and we mustn't leave it!" concluded Jacques Vincent soaked from head to foot. In the meantime, Club Med took advantage of the night to extend her lead a little more over an Innovation Explorer surprised by a windless bubble of high pressure at 0300 this morning. 861.4 miles lead for Club Med which is dropping down to the South-east to better hug and skirt a large system of high pressure located under Australia (Australian South Basin). Meanwhile Warta-Polpharma is watching powerless as her place on the podium is whisked away by a Team Adventure in a hurry, while a Team Legato, more philosophical than ever, watches the fleeting winds surround her, not being able to do anything about it. - www.therace.org QUOTE/UNQUOTE * From Franck Proffit (Club Med) "These boats have a potential of 680 or even 700 miles per day. It all depends on the sea in fact. The boat has to be able to pass well through the water and in no way be slowed down by the waves. We have never really had the right conditions for attacking the record, and in any case it's not really foremost in our minds to go chasing records!" - www.therace.org * Larry Rosenfeld (Team Adventure)"Last night we hit 40.0 knots on the speedo - not once but twice. We were spending lots of time at speeds of 33 knots with bursts to 35, 37 and 40 knots. The drivers require lots of concentration because they are steering at these speeds into the blackness of the night and dark water. Goggles or visors are a must because the spray hits your face like a fire hose. The noise is amazing - a high pitched wail that sounds like a falling bomb in WWII movies - as our finely-tuned machine slices mostly over and sometimes through the waves." - www.TeamAdventure.org * From Skip Novak (Innovation Explore) "So far, and this is the worrying thing, the Southern Ocean has been unseasonably kind to us. We have not had any winds over 40 knots and no green water coming up through the net. But I fear it might be singling us out for worse things, judging by the reports from Club Med, 750 miles ahead, who have been hard running in what Dalton describes as a "horrendous" sea condition. And they have a damage list to prove it. "As we know, Team Adventure have had more serious dramas, impaling their main beam on big waves three times in succession over a week ago. Three strikes and you're out - even in ocean racing. They have left Cape Town after repairing impact delamination, but have lost four crewmen, two with spinal injuries incurred in the same incident. The consensus seems to be that they were pushing too hard. On Innovation Explorer we have five crew who had been involved in Team Adventure at some point during the last year, and to a man (I was one) they all harbored that fear of Cam's brash style of hard driving." - Outside Magazine website, http://www.outsidemag.com/adventure/adventurers/therace2000/index.html THE RACE POSITIONS - January 30 @ 01:23 GMT: 1 Club Med, 2. Innovation Explorer, 780 miles behind leader, 3. Team Adventure, 3787 mbl, 4.Warta Polpharma, 3874 mbl, 5. Team Legato, 5210 mbl. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) (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. We don't publish anonymous letters, but will withhold your e-mail address on request.) * From: Michael Fortenbaugh, Commodore - Manhattan Yacht Club <mike@myc.org> Historically, America's Cup campaigns were financed by wealthy individuals from a specific club. But today, it is the sailors and sponsors who risk their money and time to win the cup. The requirement of representing a local yacht club seems out of date with modern reality. The spoils of victory should go to the sailors and sponsors, not a club. In Manhattan, we glimpsed the future a decade ago. Dennis Conner quietly approached us about a possible AC challenge because he thought our club would give him carte-blanche. Specifically, he wanted to control the decision of the future venue which he could then shop around to the highest bidder and reap a well-deserved windfall. The need to represent a local club does not add significant value to a competition among nations. And most clubs are old -fashioned organizations which slow the process of innovation. The Americas Cup might be better if the club requirement were replaced by a simple national allegiance. * From: "Geoff Longenecker" <ghljr@san.rr.com> Oracle Racing needs a Yacht Club. Scuttlebutt Sailing Club is newly formed and gaining momentum. Sounds like a match made in heaven! CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Maybe next time. The AC Protocol stipulates that the sponsoring YC must have been around for at least five years. * From: "Andrew Burton" <andrew@tridentstudio.com> I have noticed that we haven't heard a lot from 'Buttheads in other countries regarding the eligibility code that ISAF has adopted. It this because we in the US have already made enough noise or is it not a problem in Spain or Australia, etc? I am sure all this discussion is moot and that ISAF will be refining the wording of the code in Dublin. I have to believe that there is no way they intended it to come out the way it did---restricting our ability to introduce new people to the sport. * From: Mike Wiedl <mwiedl@frontiernet.net> I've been active as a crew for more than 30 years. Met many wonderful people including my wife, gone to many excellent regattas and was not a member of a yacht club until last year. If I was told when I was a kid that membership was required none of these things would have happened. I also taught for a few years and helped others get started in the sport. If I had to tell these people that they could not crew on a Wed. night without membership, I don't think many of them would be racing today. Thank you for your membership in the SSC. I will be sure to get as many new sailors to sign up as possible. * From: Charles Smith <Synergic@Home.com> You guys should come and try catamaran sailing where weight limits are also common, but these are minimums. Small catamarans are so weight sensitive that it is very common for top teams to be within a few pounds of minimum weight and to carry weight if less than the minimum. Maybe we could arrange a trade between some keelboat crew trying to get down to weight and a catamaran crew trying to get up to weight. * From: Chris Ericksen <Chris6932@aol.com> I have just downloaded Version 3.0 of the Following The Race program developed by Jean-Pierre Troilet of the Yacht Club de la Mer du Nord (North Sea Yacht Club) in Dunkirk. This program charts the position of all the boats entered in the race and includes such interesting features as plotting the courses of the boats, listing details of positions and daily runs of each competitor and calculating the distance between competitors. It allows daily downloads of information from www.now.com to update the database. Version 3.0 is a distinct improvement to Versions 1.0 and 2.0, is easy to download and install and runs perfectly. And best of all, it is absolutely free! To get Jean-Pierre's free program, go to http://jptrol.free.fr/therace/idxeng.htm * From: Guy Ballou - I'm a new owner of a J/105 in Chesapeake where we have approximately 55 boats. Reason for me buying the boat was one-design races, boat that are the same. After buying the boat I found that at least four boats are dry-sailed. Does a boat that is dry-sailed weighs less? I'm sure boat builders will probably say no as I'm sure they don't want to admit that water does get into the boat through the outer skin through osmosis. Also, is the drag on a dry-sail hull less than a boat that has just been wiped off? Are there other the advantages to dry-sailing - is this truly one-design racing? THE SOUTHERN OCEAN (The competitors in the The Race are just now beginning to face what will be their most daunting challenge-the Southern Ocean. SailNet's routing guru Bill Biewenga explains the risks. Here's an except from his story.) As Team Legato plunges into the Roaring Forties and Team Adventure gets underway again, all of the competitors in The Race are now joined in battle with the Southern Ocean. The competition between the boats is as fierce as ever, but the emphasis has shifted to what the ocean will throw at each of them. The weather is now their enemy, and it will try to wreak carnage on the unwary. The South Indian Ocean is a tough neighborhood. Go too far south and your crew risks 50 or 60-knot winds with 40 to 50-foot seas on a weekly basis. And it can get worse. Head too far north and the wind can vanish, leaving those slightly farther south to sprint hundreds of miles ahead in a matter of a day or two. The choices are significant and the risks are huge. Spinning in a clockwise direction from the west, the Southern Ocean low-pressure systems will overtake the fleet like a series of bowling balls gyrating around the world. Imagine an upside-down mirror image of the northern hemisphere where the fronts of these lows extend toward the equator to the north. As the fronts approach, typically the winds preceding it fit some description of northwesterly, with the boats on a port tack headed slightly north of east. As the front passes, often the wind shifts to a more southwesterly direction, and the crews scramble to jibe to starboard. In earlier 'round the world competitions, the fronts overran the competitors on a regular basis. Jibing kept the fleet tracking along latitudes that generally took the boats in an easterly direction through the Southern Ocean. The huge multihulls in The Race have the speed potential to increase the time that they stay with the fronts. The sustained speeds of these large cats can help to place them in a weather system that they prefer at times or allow them to keep up with a fast-moving system. But if they stay on the backside of a front with southwesterlies for too long, they can be forced to make a decision between going too far to the south or taking a bad jibing angle to get north. When it comes to strategy in the southern ocean, timing and placement within a weather system are everything; with boats and weather patterns moving quickly, there is little time for error. - Bill Biewenga, SailNet website. Full story: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/racing/index.cfm?articleid=biewen0005&tfr=fp QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Rod Davis, February Seahorse magazine "The year 2000 will mark huge changes in both the America's Cup and the Olympic Games. ISAF have had their meeting about their recommendations for the classes of the Athens Games. Boy did they mange to make a dog's breakfast out of that too! They upset all of the women, all the match races and every keelboat sailor who has a spinnaker (99 percent). It's just depressing to think this is the way our world-governing body, in charge of the entire sport, is being run. The sick part is it's not a joke. I can't find anyone who thinks the meetings were a slick act. Not even the people in the classes that made the next Games had nice things to say about it at all. "It's like ISAF and most national authorities are out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent. Some kind of higher or 'royal' power."
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