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SCUTTLEBUTT 1263 - February 17, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, 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. THE BIG AWARDS Two Californians, John Kostecki, age 38, of Fairfax, and Liz Baylis, age 39, of San Rafael, have been named Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year, respectively, for 2002. A panel of sailing journalists selected the two accomplished sailors for this year's distinction from a shortlist of nine nominees for the Rolex Yachtsman and five nominees for the Rolex Yachtswoman. Kostecki, who also was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1988, made international headlines in 2002 when he skippered the yacht illbruck to win the Volvo Ocean Race, after nine months of intense around-the-world racing. In addition to winning overall, illbruck won four of the nine race legs and on the seventh leg, broke the world monohull speed record with a 484 mile 24-hour run. Kostecki's responsibilities as skipper included selection of illbruck's 14-person crew as well as management of the training program and onboard strategy during the race. As one of the Rolex panelists put it, "the illbruck team's accomplishment was like scaling Mt. Everest without oxygen while everyone else was hiking the Appalachian Trail." Baylis, a first-time nominee for the award, crowned her sailing resume with a hard-fought victory at the 2002 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Spain. Having originally assembled her team in preparation for the women's match racing discipline at the 2004 Olympics, Baylis had steadily climbed into the top six in the ISAF Match Racing World Rankings. Panelists also credited Baylis for crewing to a class victory at the Pacific Cup, a 2200-mile race from San Francisco to Hawaii, aboard an Antrim 27 with just three people aboard. In addition, she co-helmed a Farr 40 to second place at the Belvedere Cup, a match racing series, and skippered to fourth place at the BOAT U.S. Santa Maria Cup, also a match racing event. - Media Pro Int'l, http://www.ussailing.org/ 31st AMERICA'S CUP STANDINGS Alinghi leads Team New Zealand in the best-of-nine series, 2 - 0. RACE ONE * For Team New Zealand, the race was over almost before it began. Due in large part to a disastrous series of events aboard a Kiwi boat that appeared woefully unprepared for the task-and which was forced to retire due to multiple gear failures midway up the first leg - Switzerland's Alinghi Challenge sailed the majority of the course alone this afternoon to take a remarkably easy 1-0 lead in the best-of-nine series for the America's Cup. - Herb McCormick, Sailing World website, http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article_AC.php?articleID=1662 * Team New Zealand estimate their yacht NZL-82 had between two and six tonnes of water aboard during the run of disasters that led to them crashing out of the first America's Cup race on the Hauraki Gulf today. The defenders pulled out of the race without even completing the first leg, leaving Swiss-based challengers Alinghi to sail cautiously on and go 1-0 up in the best-of-nine series. In the first few minutes NZL-82 had looked good, getting its nose in front of Alinghi's SUI-64, before the worst of the water problems set in as the combatants raced in 20 to 24 knot southerlies and choppy seas. Thirteen minutes into the race the end of the boom on NZL-82 broke off, presenting the team with a major problem. Four minutes later their predicament worsened as the tack of the headsail exploded away from its fastening. The metal headfoil that held the headsail on to the forestay had also been damaged in the incident, making it impossible to hoist a replacement headsail. At 1:40 PM, just 25 minutes after the start, Team New Zealand officially retired from the race. It was a premature end to a much-anticipated day on which, officials estimated, 2500 spectator boats gathered under clear skies to see whether the defenders had a yacht good enough to fend off Alinghi's challenge. A subdued Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said "it's one of the days you'd like to forget". - Michael Daly, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/americascup/acstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3101375&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup * "I'm stunned," said Tom Whidden, the tactician for Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes, who was watching the race as part of the spectator fleet. "I certainly expected after all this time Team New Zealand would be more ready for these conditions." - NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/15/sports/othersports/15BOAT.html * Challengers have been criticized since racing began in October for refusing to start in winds more than 19 knots. Today's race never would have happened in the challenger series Alinghi won to advance to the Cup. Most observers reckoned TNZ, with no restrictions in its preparations, would have an edge as a result. - Angus Phillips, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10043-2003Feb14.html * The last time a defender withdrew from a race in the America's Cup Match was in 1920. Resolute retired from a race against Shamrock IV when the throat halyard, controlling the inboard end of the gaff supporting the mainsail, broke in a squall. Ten years after that, challenger Shamrock V withdrew from Race 3 against defender Enterprise when its mainsail halyard broke. - America's Cup website, http://americascup.yahoo.com/story1954.html RACE ONE WATER PROBLEM "The sea state was in a fairly short chop and I think that was factor along with the strong breeze and also the spectator wash, we certainly haven't encountered a problem like that in any of the other sailing we have done so it was a bit of shock to us to have the leeward side full of water after only 8-9 minutes sailing. We certainly have never experienced that before. We are looking at that now and we are pretty sure we will not happen again." - TNZ skipper Dean Barker, AC website, http://www.cupmediacentre.com/default.htm?username=&password= * Sailing in a strong over 20-knot breeze is not unusual for the New Zealand crew, and some spectators assumed that the water, and the bailing bucket used by mid bowman Matt Mitchell, was a normal procedure for the crew. But Mitchell pointed out to reporters at the post-race press conference that the bucket is in fact the on-board toilet. - Fiona McIlroy, nzoom.com, http://americascup.nzoom.com/americascup_detail/0,2523,168624-296-297,00.html CLEAN SWEEP While you watch the America's Cup this week, be sure to also check out the world's best racing hardware and winch systems in action. AC Defender Team New Zealand, every top competitor in the Louis Vuitton Cup, and the "who's who" of offshore racing, including boats from Neville Chrichton's super maxi Shockwave to Olivier de Kersauson's maxi trimaran Geronimo demand Harken hardware and winch systems --- Shouldn't You? http://www.harken.com/scuttlebutt/cleansweep.php RACE TWO Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts got the better of his young protégé, Kiwi skipper Dean Barker on Sunday in a thrilling race to go up 2 - 0 in the America's Cup Match. Coutts made an incredible pass on the final run, breaking hearts across New Zealand as Alinghi slipped by just a few hundred metres from the finish. Racing was delayed for over two and half hours to allow the sea breeze to stabilise on Sunday, and the warning signal eventually sounded with 8 - 10 knot Northeasterlies on the race course. Coutts and Alinghi looked strong in the pre-start as the Swiss team won the favoured left side of the start line. Halfway up the first beat Alinghi crossed ahead of Team New Zealand, and hometown sailing fans had their hearts in their mouths. But after trailing around the first mark, Team New Zealand showed an impressive display of speed on the first run, and 40-minutes into the race, the Kiwi black boat crossed ahead of its opponent for the first time in the XXXI'st America's Cup match. Team New Zealand completed the first lap of the course with a 34-second lead and looked as if they would hold on the rest of the way. But on the final run to the finish, Alinghi rolled past NZL-82 after some ferocious luffing duels, and Coutts enjoyed his 11th consecutive America's Cup win. Alinghi (SUI-64) beat Team New Zealand (NZL-82) - Delta: 0:07. Monday is an 'off' day. Race Three is scheduled to start at 13:15 on Tuesday afternoon. - America's Cup website, full story: http://americascup.yahoo.com/story1986.html * With the victory, Coutts sets a new record for most wins without a loss in the America's Cup Match. Coutts has won 11 consecutive races at the helm of an America's Cup yacht dating back to 1995. He breaks Charlie Barr's record of nine straight wins through three Cups between 1899 and 1903. - America's Cup website, http://americascup.yahoo.com/ * "The team, the people, always make the difference and we have a strong team. We went through tough competition in the Louis Vuitton already, and all the preparation, with our shore team and sailmakers, all the effort of the past three years is now paying off. It's still a boat race, it's sailing. We got it completely wrong on the first downwind, choosing the wrong side of the downwind, increasing breeze, went to the right again, we had the wrong sail up, so we did everything wrong that we could do wrong. And that's the result - you lose a lot. When you do things better obviously you gain. I think the boats are very close upwind and downwind. Although it was only for a short time, when we saw them on the first day in strong breeze, the boats were quite even, so I think we can look forward to more tight and close racing." - Jochen Schuemann, Alinghi, Press Conference transcript, http://www.cupmediacentre.com/ * "Obviously we're disappointed but we can take a lot of positives out of it," Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker told reporters at the post-race press conference. "We know we're competitive against them which is a huge weight off our shoulders." Alinghi (grinder John) Barnitt said he felt the boats were very even, especially upwind, and that any advantage came from being on the favoured left-hand side. "I just can't believe that they can be so different and go so much the same speed." Team New Zealand were also quick to quash any suggestions that the hula was a factor in the loss. "I don't think what happened today has anything to do with the hula," Barker said. "I think it was more about being in the right place on the run." And despite the despondent body language Barker says he still has faith in his syndicate. - Excerpts from a story by Fiona McIlroy, nzoom.com, full story: http://americascup.nzoom.com/americascup_detail/0,2523,168815-296-297,00.html * It was the closest America's Cup race since Italy's Il Moro di Venezia beat America3 by three seconds in the second race of the 1992 match. The Americans ended up winning the series, 4-1. - http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=907508 * The defenders' afterguard are a young bunch of sailors - Barker is 29, his tactician Hamish Pepper is 31, traveller Adam Beashel is 34, navigator Mike Drummond is 40 and strategist Peter Evans tops the group at 41-years-old. Collectively they have raced in just 14 America's Cup races, winning four. Across the compound fence are Alinghi whose afterguard, of Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth, Murray Jones, Ernesto Bertarelli and triple Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schuemann, have an average age of 42-years-old. The three New Zealanders, Coutts, Butterworth and Jones, have won 12 out the last 12 America's races. Another advantage that the Swiss have is that over the last three months they have sailed against a range of differently designed yachts and a number of different crews. Team New Zealand have said time and time again that their in-house racing has been just as close if not closer than the Louis Vuitton Cup series, but Barker told reporters on Sunday that they have had to be careful not to get themselves into a rut. "We are sailing two very similar boats the whole time and you have to be careful you don't sail yourself into a bit of a corner," he said. "But I don't believe today (Sunday) was a result of any lack of in-house competition." - Fiona McIlroy, nzoom.com, full story: http://americascup.nzoom.com/americascup_detail/0,2523,169006-296-297,00.html * Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, still dressed in his racing gear, is bathed in the bright lights of a press conference an hour and a half after his team's loss to Swiss challengers Alinghi. But you can tell his mind is miles away. His whole body speaks of fatigue, of a mighty effort to suppress the sting of defeat. Sitting down to face about 70 journalists and their unforgiving cameras, Barker swallows quickly, once, twice, has a sip of water and warily eyes the crowd. He knows what they are thinking: day one was bad. Day two, disaster. As he listens to Alinghi's Jochen Schuemann explain victory, Barker's eyes roam into the shadows. He might look questioners in the eye as they seek explanations of the day, but the answers are prefaced with an intake of breath that comes out as a disappointed sigh. Barker wears the face of a man who is deeply disappointed but determined not to show it. But there is an outward giveaway: he licks his lower lip quickly, then purses his lips enough that his dimples crease. It's not a grimace, nothing near a smile; it's an expression that says: I am trying to be professional about this but I want to get out of here and deal with our defeat in private. - Julie Middleton, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/americascup/acstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3101508&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup AROUND ALONE 2003 The main topic of conversation among the Around Alone skippers is one about ice. Not ice for cocktails, but hard, cold, deadly ice in the water, perhaps in the path of one of them as they streak across the Southern Ocean. It is, as Bernard Stamm quite rightly pointed out, a game of Russian Roulette. It's a high stakes blast through the cold south pacific darkness as the boats fly along at speeds in excess of 20 knots blind to the dangers that lie ahead. Onboard radar's can pick up the big bergs; nothing can pick up the growlers or bergy bits that lurk just below the surface. The only rule of thumb is to always pass to windward of an iceberg. Duck to leeward and you stand a better than average chance of hitting a growler that has broken off the main berg. - www.aroundalone.com STANDINGS: 2200 UTC February 16 CLASS 1: 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux, Bernard Stamm, 5315 miles from finish 2. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois 47 miles behind leader; 3. Tiscali, Simone Bianchetti, 96 mbl; 4. Hexagon, Graham Dalton, 141 mbl; 5. Pindar, Emma Richards, 229 mbl; 6. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 237 mbl. CLASS 2: 1. Tommy Hilfiger, Brad Van Liew, 5661 miles from finish; 2. Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 312 mbl; 3. Spirit of yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 375 mbl; 4. BTC Velocity, Alan Paris, 537 mbl; 5. Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield, 969 mbl. JULES VERNE TROPHY * GERONIMO covered 454 nautical miles on her 36th day at sea: an average speed of 18.90 knots point-to-point. The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran has been making headway at over 20 knots through the Pacific, but is having to tack all the way with several gibes a day. The continued presence of ice still blocks any hope of getting further south, especially at night. Further to the north, the wind has little power, so the crew continues to have to compromise the precious advantage they have accumulated since the start of this record attempt. The Southern Ocean is decidedly mediocre this year, offering no opportunity for long days of gliding progress, due to the lack of wind, confused seas and the presence of growlers. - http://www.grandsrecords.com * KINGFISHER2 is hiding for cover with boatspeed sitting on 30+ knots. The boat is hurtling down waves - big waves - and trying to avoid "stuffing" the bows into the wave in front - this is the Southern Ocean. The art of riding the lows pressure systems is to ride them to the north, close enough to get good breeze, but not so close that storm conditions put you in to survival mode rather than speed mode...as the low passes over the wind will switch from north west, to west, then south west as the low departs...these giant cats are capable of sustaining speeds that mean they can stay with the same low for a thousand miles or more. Kingfisher2 Day 18 Summary (http://www.teamkingfisher.com): - 7 hours 53 minutes behind Orange - 72 hours 21 minutes behind Geronimo - Day 18 (24 hour run): Kingfisher2- 507 nm, Orange- 532 mn, Geronimo- 470 nm - Distance to go: Kingfisher2- 18547 nm, Orange- 18421 nm, Geronimo- 17390 nm NO ACCIDENT It's no accident that the SailingProShop.com is the fastest growing Gill dealer in the US. Our staff is highly trained and with prices up to 55% off retail, you don't have to look far to find the gear you've been looking for at great prices. We ship from East and West coast locations to speed delivery to you and minimize cost. Drop by our brand new website with more than 10,000 new items and find out why more people are buying HARKEN, RONSTAN, Camet, Tylaska, Spiderco, Steiner, TACK-TICK, Magic-Marine, NAUTICA and more than ever before! http://www.sailingproshop.com FOR THE RECORD American skipper Steve Fossett's 125' (38m) maxi-catamaran PlayStation embarked on an attempt on the 20-month old 'Christopher Columbus Route' East - West TransAtlantic Record, crossing the start line at Puerto Sherry, Cadiz a scant 40 seconds after midnight on Friday. - www.fossettchallenge.com. STERN SCOOP Just prior to sunset on Monday in Auckland, NLZ81 which mysteriously and inexplicably was missing from the racecourse during Race Two, reappeared from the shed in the TNZ compound and the mast was stepped. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Wes Oliver: The first race of the Cup Match has not even begun, and some are already questioning the impartiality of the RC Chairman. As a veteran race officer of 3 Cup matches in Newport, the Olympics in Savannah, and countless club races on Long Island Sound, I take great offense at the suggestion that any Race Officer is less than impartial. If you haven't been in Race Committee shoes, be careful how you criticize. Race committee actions concerning weather have always been a judgment call, and race committees often have less weather data at their disposal than some competitors through their paid services. In the end, I think most will agree, the effort is always to assure fair and safe sailing for all competitors. Veterans like Harold Bennett are selected for their prowess in race management. He, like all of us, is susceptible to making a bad judgment call, but with his prior Cup experience and his knowledge of the local water and weather, who could be better? Don't second guess the race committee! You won't, if you have worn those shoes! * From Joel Stiebel: The only disadvantage of the longer, thinner and lower Kiwi keel bulb that has been written about is its increased wetted surface, which has more of an effect in light wind. Another drawback may well be its higher moment of inertia. The NZL-82 keel bulb is about twice as long, so its mass is distributed further out from the boat's center. The keel represents 85-90% of the boat's total weight. Since moment of inertia is a squared function of the distance from the axis times the mass, the longer length's effect should not be insubstantial. Designers and sailors try to keep weight out of the ends of the boat. Everything else being equal, it would seem that this should apply to the keel as well. As a consequence, particularly in lumpy or wavy conditions, the NZL-82 keel could be a disadvantage if it tends to force the bow to plow through waves. Hypothesizing further, the keel could also make the Kiwi boat a touch less responsive when maneuvering. * From George Hunter: Comments in this forum regarding the quality of parties immediately before the America's Cup aside, it is nice to see somebody call the blackheart campaign what it is - a "disgraceful hate campaign". I would be a lot more impressed with the hospitality in Auckland if I heard more kiwis expressing embarrassment over the antics of this group (to be fair, I have heard it from a few). It would be especially appropriate to hear this from members of Team New Zealand and/ or from Peter Lester. Talking with people who spent some time in New Zealand working for various challenges, it seems clear that the two years preceding the competition were not as enjoyable as they expected. It may be a bit presumptuous to fly down there in February, go out to a couple of bars, and decide that they don't know what they are talking about. * From Rick McKenna: I read the comments of Gary Bruner and the Curmudgeon's response regarding the American entries in the Around Alone race with great dismay. Mr. Bruner comments on the success of Bruce Schwab on a "limited budget" and the Curmudgeon comments on Brad's success as the class 2 leader. However, I believe that the American skipper who as accomplished the most with the least resources has to be Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal. Tim is in squarely in second place overall in Class 2 (having taken 3rd, 2nd and 2nd on the first three legs). Both Bruce Schwab and Brad Van Liew have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate sponsors. However, Tim continues to struggle on a truly Corinthian budget and program. While Tim has received support from some commercial sponsors, the total corporate sponsorship is less than $100,000, a fraction of money Bruce and Brad have received. So, I applaud the success, effort and raw courage of my fellow Americans, Bruce Schwab and Brad Van Liew, but feel that it is entirely unfair to leave out of this discussion, the true American underdog, Tim Kent. * From Chip Pitcairn: After ESPNs coverage of what little racing there was in race 1 of the America's Cup, I sure do miss OLN, Peter Montgomery, Ed Baird, Peter Isler and Dawn Riley. THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL Never ask a 3-year old to hold a tomato. |
