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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 857 - July 16 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
CHICAGO-MACKINAC July 14, 2001, marks the 103rd anniversary of the race's founding in 1898 and the 94th running of the event. "The Mac" is a handicapped race with three divisions: open, one-design and PHRF. Each division is scored separately and boats compete only with others in their division. As a result, there are three overall winners based on handicapped, corrected time and three First-To-Finish honors awarded based on the fastest elapsed time. The record for the fastest time was set in 1987 by Pied Piper, skippered by Dick Jennings of Chicago, which finished the race in 25:50:44. The multi-hulled record was set in 1998, by Steve Fossett's Stars and Stripes, which finished in 18:50:32. The race normally takes between 40 to 60 hours to complete. Sayonara a Farr 81, owned by Oracle chairman Larry Ellison of San Francisco, is trying to beat the monohull record, having just missed beating the mark in 1998. Early Saturday evening, Sayonara managed to hit 11 knots occasionally, according to Ian Burns, Sayonara's navigator who called SailNet by Globalstar satellite telephone. "We've managed to get out through most of the little boats. We feel like we're ahead of most of them anyway," said Burn's, noting that the crew enjoyed a sushi dinner, their traditional first meal out. Follow the race progress on www.sailnet.com/chicagomackinac/
MAGNUS HOLMBERG WINS TROFEO CHALLENGE ROBERTO TROMBINI With the win, Holmberg stands in familiar territory atop the Swedish Match Tour leaderboard as he begins his quest to defend his Swedish Match Tour championship.
Final Standings For additional information on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour log on to www.swedishmatchgp.com. -- Shawn McBride
SMOKE ON THE WATER
SAILING FOR THE STATES Ahead of the fleet lies more than 3,000 miles of open ocean. The leg to Baltimore will be tactically challenging with the Azores/Bermuda High dominating the weather picture, and an outside chance of a hurricane adding to the mix. The forecast for the first few days is for strong, near gale force winds to blow from the west. "It will be a tough start to a long passage. Headwinds may top 50 or 60 knots with the anticipated low pressure system," said Brad Van Liew crewing aboard Gartmore. It is expected that the yachts will arrive starting August 2, with leg 4 starting just 3 days later with a sail to Boston. The final leg returns to St. Malo, France where the first yachts are expected to finish the race between August 19 and August 22. The event site is www.edsatlanticchallenge.com.
BIG BARGAIN?
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Editor: I've had a lot of emails about the story in last Friday's 'Butt about the collision between the freighter and Foxglove III. On this next one I've waived our 250 word limit. * From Robert Musor: I read with great interest the article about the 65 foot ketch being deliberately or hopefully incompetently being struck by a freighter. I was involved in a similar incident last month while participating in the annual coastal cup regatta from San Francisco to Ventura California on my 43 foot sloop Sceptre. We were approximately 50 miles NorthWest of Point Arguello at 2 am, June 10, 2001 with the wind blowing 28-32 knots when we noticed a freighter approaching us on what would ultimately become a collision course. We were under "white sails" at the time as the seas were rough and confused and were making 14-16 knots with occasional higher bursts of speed while surfing down the waves. The freighter, estimated by my crew to be in the 350-400 foot range, closed on us and altered course towards us pretty much insuring that we were on a collision course. We got all hands on deck, assessed the situation, and elected to jibe away while still 200 yards from the freighter. The freighter did not respond to channels 16, 13, 9 or a VHF scan to see if they were broadcasting on any channel. Once we jibed away, the freighter made a 90 degree turn to the SW and we thought the event over. This was premature thinking on our part. We jibed back onto our intended course and kept an eye on the freighter as it headed away from us. It then made three more course corrections that left us completely confused. It made three more 90 degree turns and came back at us again. This time they had turned out most of their deck lights !! Again we received no response from the ship on any VHF channel. We also used several VHF radios to insure that we were broadcasting. This time the freighter closed within 75 yards. We were attempting to get a name or some other identifiable markings to allow us to report this very very dangerous behavior to the USCG. It was too dangerous to get any closer and we elected to tack the boat putting us on a course that was for the moment 180 degrees from the direction the freighter was heading. We just did not want to be anywhere near them and unfortunately were unable to get the name of the vessel. Once we were clear astern of the ship, we altered course again to get ourselves as far away as we could. The freighter then made another 90 degree turn and eventually disappeared over the horizon. Needless to say we were all pretty concerned about the behavior of the freighter and kept close watch on any other large vessels we spotted. More fortunately no collision occurred, no thanks to the freighter. * From Christy Schisler: I don't doubt for one second Rob Massuco's conclusion that the collision was intentional. Four years ago I was delivering an Oceanis 51 from Cabo to San Diego with the owner on board. We were buddy boating with a couple on a J120. About 15 miles south of Turtle Bay we observed a small (600' plus or minus) freighter fast approaching us from behind. We all were quite surprised to see it since we were within 5 miles of the coast. The J120 tried several times to hail the ship because they were right in its path, even after several course changes toward the coastline. The ship did not reply. Fortunately, there was no incident. We on the Oceanis were 2 miles ahead of the 120 and kept radio contact with them throughout. At anchor in Turtle Bay we all were very clear about our feelings - this ship was being, at the very least, aggressive. Perhaps the ship's captain had heard the two sailboats communicating, and had second thoughts about causing a collision with witnesses nearby? * From Paul Prioleau: The U.S. equivalent to the "sheep in the paddock" phrase might possibly be the one I heard from a cruiser in Mexico years ago..."Running with the buffalos".Ê Maybe the "blowing like stink" phrase refers to the smell of sweaty buffalos! Ê * From John Roberson: In reply to Nancy Samovar's request for suitable expressions to describe a windy day, in Australia we like understatement, hence you hear the expression "blowing the oysters off the rocks". * From Chris Ericksen: I agree with Nancy Samovar's deploring the use of "blowing like stink" as reported in 'Butt 855. My preferred usage is one I learned from an Australian Fireball sailor years ago: "hootin'." I have also heard "howling" and "honking," but saying that "It was hootin'!" is my favorite way of describing a breezy day.
TRANSPAC TAIL END CHARLIE TROPHY Right on both counts. The 41st Transpacific Yacht Race ended Saturday morning when Michael Abraham and Phil Rowe of Newport Beach, Calif., sailed Abraham's Watercolors, a Sabre 402 sloop, past the Diamond Head finish line exactly 3 minutes 32 seconds shy of 14 days for the 2,225-nautical miles from their June 30 start off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. They won the Tail End Charlie Trophy, but all other awards were distributed Friday night during the awards dinner at the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel. Abraham and Rowe, close friends since their college days at UC Santa Barbara, had only one complaint. "We heard that some guys had won the Ancient Mariner (oldest crew) trophy for an average age of 56 or something," Rowe said. Actually, the 65-foot ketch Bonaire claimed a maturity mark of 55.65 years. "Our average age is 64," Rowe said. "We're both 64." Unlike most of the other younger crews that arrived after much shorter voyages, Abraham and Rowe were as clean-shaven and neatly attired as a pair of gentlemen relaxing at their yacht club. "We took showers every third day," Rowe said. Most important, their friendship survived. "We never saw each other," Rowe said. "There was only one place to sleep. When we started we had three objectives: Get there, don't get injured and have a good time. Nowhere on that list was winning." - Rich Roberts Event site www.transpacificyc.org
BRAD VAN LIEW PURCHASES MAGELLAN ALPHA OPEN 50 Van Liew has taken delivery of the yacht, and plans to sail it across the Atlantic to the East Coast in early September. The swing keel will be removed for transport across the states to his homeport of Los Angeles, California. Van Liew and his Mission America team will refit the yacht and begin preparation and training for the Around Alone race. Van Liew originally planned to sail an "all-American" Open-60 in the upcoming Around Alone race. Fiscal support from the U.S. market has been slim, although Van Liew kept the project on track with support from Dry Creek Vineyard, the California Yacht Club and a host of grassroots supporters. Van Liew explains, "Alan Andrews Yacht Design created what I believe is the fastest Open-60 in the world. I'm disappointed that our investment in this cutting edge design will not come to fruition. Corporate sponsorship is crucial to any professional racing program, and we feel it is time to set our course with realistic goals."
WHAT'S ON THIS WEEK Editor's note: As a sailor, I am pulling for Jacques Rogge, who sailed in three Olympiads. I don't know him well, but I do know his son Philippe very well, Philippe is head of the International Finn Class, a life member of the Truth Society (long insider story there), a fine sailor and a great guy. Like son, like father. Life-long yachtsman Jacques Rogge would make a fine IOC President. The election result will be posted at www.moscow2001.olympic.org/en/ tomorrow, probably by the time you read this.
THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM |
