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SCUTTLEBUTT 1401 - August 26, 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 focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. ATHENS 2003 REGATTA The weather's gone berserk! At a time when the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre was in the doldrums, with hardly any wind blowing and the competitors in the Athens 2003 Regatta praying in vain for a little wind, suddenly there were flashes of lightning and bolts of thunder tearing the sky, with a storm approaching threatening. But the summer downpour passed further to the North, however, the muggy heat and relative calm at Agios Kosmas was enough to put everything and everyone into disarray, especially the sailors. The organisers eventually managed to run one race for each of the Star and Tornado classes, but in the Men's and Women's Europe, Laser, Mistral and 49er classes the races had to be cancelled. The Athens 2003 Regatta will continue tomorrow for the 7th day with races scheduled in the Europe, Laser, Mistral (Men and Women), Tornado, 470 (Men and Women), Finn and Yngling classes. It was also decided to run races in the 49er class, instead of having the day off as originally planned. - http://www.athens2004.com/ STANDINGS: Yngling (7 races- 1 discard): 1. Hannah Swett, USA, 19; 2 Wagner, GER, 26. 3. Shirley Robertson,GBR, 26; 10: Paula Lewin, BER, 42; 13. Clarke, CAN, 65 Star (9 races/ 1 discard): 1. Torbin Grael/ Ferreira, BRA, 35; 2. Peter Bromby/ L.C. White, BER, 39; 3. Pickel / Kolb, GER, 39; 4. Paul Cayard/ Phil Trinter, USA 40; 6. Ross MacDonald/ K. Bjorn, CAN, 54. 470 Men (8 races): 1. Molund/ Andersson, SWE, 49, GRE, 33; 2. Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnam, USA, 53; 3. Rogers/ Glanfield, GBR, 55; 27. Russel/ MacDonald, CAN, 169 470 Women (8 races - 1 discard): 1. Bekatorou/ Tsoulfa, GRE, 30; Petitjean/ Douroux, FRA, 40; 3. Ward/ Ward, DEN, 46; 6. McDowell/ Kinsolving, USA, 66. Europe (6 races - 1 discard):1. Macky, NZL, 14; 2. Sundby, NOR, 17; 3. Smidova, CZE, 20; 4; Meg Gillard, USA, 33; 21. Marcil Bonneau, CAN, 82 49er (9 races - 1 discard): 1. Sibelo/ Sibelo, ITA, 42; 2. Martinez/ Fernandez, ESP, 45; 3. Nicholson/ Boyd, AUS, 48; 5. Wadkiw/Spaulding, USA, 60. Mistral Men (6 races-1 discard): 1.Kaklamanakis, GRE, 16; 2. Fridman, ISR, 17; 3. Zhou, CHN, 25; 21. Bolduc, CAN, 93; 23. Barger, USA, 99. Mistral Women, (6 races - 1 discard): 1. Senini, ITA, 5; 2. Lee, HKG;31; 3.Merret, FRA, 22. 14. Lanee Butler, 61; 19. Valee, CAN, 80. Laser (6 races - 1 discard): 1.Scheidt, BRA, 11; 2. Arapov, CRO, 25; 3. Geritzer, AUT, 30; 14. Luttmer, CAN, 61; 21. Richardson, USA, 86. Tornado (7 races - 1 discard): 1. Bundock/ Forbes, AUS, 12; 2. Lange/ Espinola, ARG, 23; 3. Hagara/ Steinacher, AUT, 31; 11. Daniel/ Jacobsen, USA, 57; 14. Holden/ Coakley, CAN, 63 Finn (7 races- 1 discard): 1. Ben Ainslie, GBR, 18; 2. Godefroid, BEL, 32; 3. Kusznierewicz, POL;34;17. Cook, CAN, 82; 24. Peck, USA 121. Full results: http://www.athens2004.com/page/default.asp?la=2&id=16915 LASER, RADIAL AND LASER 4.7 US CHAMPIONSHIPS This year's Laser, Radial and Laser 4.7 US Championships were hosted by the Sayville Yacht Club with sailing on Long Island's Great South Bay. The three day event drew 114 Lasers, 80 Radials and, for their first US Champs, 9 Laser 4.7's, making it the largest US Champs in recent memory. Conditions ranged from a building southwesterly seabreeze on the first day, peaking near 20 knots, to a puffy (from lows under 10 knots to puffs over 20), and very shifty, northwesterly breeze on the final two days. The competition was fierce in all the fleets, particularly in the Laser fleet with many North American Olympic Hopefuls present as well as top talent from Australia and New Zealand. At the end of the day, Andrew Childs, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sailed an incredibly consistent series in the very difficult conditions, never winning a race but still carding mostly top 3 finishes. Clay Johnson took second for top US finish, Brendan Casey from Australia rounded out the top three. Todd Hawkins took first in the Radial Fleet, followed by Patrick Curran and Ryan Minth. Finally, John Moulthrop took the first ever Laser 4.7 US Championship. Full Laser Results: http://cerebus.winsite.com/archives/2001/msg06227.html Full Radial Results: http://cerebus.winsite.com/archives/2001/msg06228.html Full Laser 4.7 Results: http://cerebus.winsite.com/archives/2001/msg06229.html RECOGNIZING REVOLUTION It's official: The revolutionary Dryshirt ™ is a smash hit in every industry it has been introduced to. The sport of sailing probably has the most to gain from this unique product and we are hard at work with the manufacturer and are meeting demand after our initial order sold out in just three days! While other sailing shirts now available provide only breathability, this revolutionary material also repels water from the outside like a smock while being both lightweight and breathable. The Dryshirt is ideal in hot conditions and perfect for a base layer in cold. http://www.sailingproshop.com/dryshirt.htm ISAF MATCH RACING WORLDS The ISAF Match Racing World Championship begins today in Riva del Garda, Italy: The skippers are: 1. Russell Coutts, New Zealand - 161st in the ISAF ranking list.; 2. Karol Jablonski, Poland - ranked 1st; 3. Jesper Radich, Denmark - 2nd; 4. Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark - 3rd; 5. Ed Baird, USA - 4th; 6. James Spithill, Australia - 5th; 7. Bjorn Hansen, Sweden - 7th; 8. Mathieu Richard, France - 8th; 9. Staffan Lindberg, Finland - 9th; 10. Mikael Lindqvist, Sweden - 10th; 11. Ian Williams, UK - 11th; 12. Paolo Cian, Italy - 12th. The event will run with the following format: - Double round robin, where all skippers sail each other twice. - Semifinal, where the top four skippers from the round robins race against each other in a best-of-three knock out series. - Petite final, where the two losers of the semifinal race against each other in a best-of-three series, in order to determine third and fourth placing. - Final, where the two winning skippers of the semifinal race againts each other in a best-of-three series to determine the world champion. The competitors will rotate on 10 BLUSail 24 Sport, the one design chosen as official boat for this event, designed and built in Italy. http://worldchampionship.g2k.it HINMAN TROPHY - TEAM RACING After six previous attempts to win the U.S. Team Racing Championship, Cape Cod WHishbone is finally taking home US Sailing's Hinman Trophy. WHishbone clinched the title after a victory against the defending champions, the Boston Silver Pandas. WHishbone hails from Cape Cod, Mass., with skippers Timothy Fallon, Graeme Woodworth, and Mason Woodworth and crews Karen Renzulli, Matt Lindblad, and Erin Largay. The team won the World Team Racing Championship earlier this year. The second place team, the Silver Pandas from Boston, Mass., was skippered by Patrick Hogan, Peter Levesque and Colin Merrick with crews Carlos Lenz, John Cline and Amanda Callahan. The event was hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, Calif. Sixteen teams participated in the event; each team was selected based on sailing resumes with an emphasis on team racing experience. StFYC ran over 200 races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Marlieke de Lange Eaton, www.ussailing.org/hinman/2003/ NEWS BRIEFS * Kenwood Cup revisited? We've just learned about the Waikiki YC's 'Waikiki Offshore Championship Regatta' in August, 2004. Six windward - Leeward races, a 180-miler to Maui and back, plus a 60 miler for IMS-rated boats, Transpac 52s, Americap and J/105s. While there is no mention of international teams, the event has a familiar ring . . . * The organizing committee for the 2004 International Optimist Dinghy Australian Championships is keen to have sailors from other countries attend the regatta and they have a number of charter boats available for overseas competitors. The event is being held as part of the Sail Melbourne 2004 international regatta, and the Notice of Race, which includes charter information and entry form, can be downloaded from the Sail Melbourne web site. http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au/default.php * The International 14 World Championship got under way at the excellent Japanese venue of Wakayama with the customary two days of team racing over the weekend. Teams drawn from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, USA and Japan sailed two series of round robins in fairly light breezes, which brought together the USA 'A' team and the Great Britain 'A' team to contest the best of three final, sailed on Sunday afternoon. The Brits won two of the three races. Things have now moved on to the individual World Championship. - http://www.i14.jp/wakayama/ * The Antarctica Cup International Yacht Race organisation today announced the signing of the first committed entrant for the inaugural race scheduled to start in Auckland, New Zealand, in February 2005. Team Challenge Australia are the first to take up a Antarctica Cup Country Franchise license and in so doing will hold exclusive rights to represent Australia. Team Challenge Australia spokesperson Jeremy Pearce commented, "The purity of the Antarctica Cup event model is brilliant and the potential return on investment to our backers is very attractive. www.antarcticacup.com CAMET PADDED SAILING SHORTS The Camet 3000 Shorts come in seven different colors. The two newest designs are the Aruba Shorts that come with an extra big pocket to store more of those things you always wish you could have while sitting on the rail, and the longer Bermuda style and women's Ocean Shorts. Coolmax shirts in Long and Short sleeves. Take a look at the Camet web site, where you'll find the shorts and all your performance gear. - http://www.camet.com 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 nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Peter Carr: With reference to the Harken/ Henderson comments on Race Officers "talking to or with" competitors pre-start this is hard to achieve with a large fleet and a long line if the RO is to be fair with everyone. And we invariably do not have the luxury of a boat at the pin end to assist. Keelers with VHF invariably have them "down below" and cannot hear them in the cockpit. However we do have a firm practise of calling OCS boats individually over the VHF in addition to the appropriate signals. Likewise non radio fitted dinghies low in the water at the far end of the line have a predicament with any communication. On multi-race days we find it extremely useful to verbally advise boats milling around the committee boat why we have postponed the next race - a signal invariably caused by indifferent wind. Sailors very much appreciate the rapport with the committee boat. I totally agree that grim faced RO's merely pointing at flags is no way to conduct "fair and friendly" sailing - provided that such additional communication is fair to all. Sailors hate hanging around between races and the earlier we can give them an opportunity to understand our predicament the friendlier the atmosphere in the bar post-race. Our competing sailors are our customers - just as in commerce if there are no customers retained there is no worth while activity. * From Donal McClement: It amused me to read about lack of communication between the R O and the Fleet. At Cork Week in 1990 I introduced the use of an open VHF R/T Channel for ALL Race Management and this meant that all competitors were able to listen to everything that was going on at all times. I was recently talking with one of the RO's for our event and his recollection over the past 4 events was that he had to have a General Recall just once on over 100 starts with Class sizes up to 50 boats. It is incumbent on the R O to give a first class service to the Competitors and any means to achieve this aim must be applauded. VHF Radio is certainly one of the simplest. Mid Line RIBS are another method used successfully by us. * From Peter Huston: How about a linked loud hailer and VHF? I just bought a Hummingbird handheld VHF, $70 at BoatUS - if the thing craps out, so what, toss it and get another. People spend that much on a crappy set of box lunches for the crew each weekend.... In any boat other than a Laser, there is no reason to not have a VHF aboard. Classes would be very smart to allow handheld to be weighed in as part of minimum boat weight limit. One of these days there be a death where if someone had a simple VHF handheld the accident either wouldn't have occurred, or help could have been obtained sooner. Lawyers will have a field day because simple and readily available technology was "not required" as part of safety equip (remember when LORAN was legalized for offshore...). I'll never suggest that a VHF should be required, only that someone shouldn't be penalized for carrying one, and that there should be every incentive to have them aboard. And if I was racing a Laser I'd have one aboard anyway. Especially for a hack like me, another pound of equipment isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in my finish position. * From Sean Downey: As an Editor for YachtRacing.com I would like to share that presenting coverage for a sailing event is a team effort. There is not one media group with the budget to send reporters/photographers to all events, or even all of the large events. They rely heavily on the organizer's ability to assign a "press officer" or such to the event who handles writing press releases, distribution of such, and registration of journalist for onsite as well as offsite coverage. Sometimes the event assigns a wonderful group to do these tasks such as Rich Roberts (Key West, NSRW, Transpac, etc.), Media Pro International (Rolex Regattas and US Sailing), and Octagon(Swedish Match Tour, SORC). Sometimes the coverage is standard and then even sub standard at other events. The key, however is that they have taken that step towards getting their event in front of the yacht racing community. On our publication, we encourage our readers to submit their own stories and any photos they may have to be published. Sure, this makes some coverage extremely localized, but if that is what our reader want to see, that is what they get. We still carry coverage for all of the large events, but I admit sometimes we miss some. We are very proactive in searching out information for events we know are coming up, but sometimes that information is just not available. * From Stephen Van Dyck; On the subject of press coverage of sailing events. While advertisers and professional sailors are interested in print and TV coverage, those of us who are interested in participating and following the sport are interested in Web coverage. Newspapers and magazines are late with what little coverage there is and yet professional sailing needs it to get paid. Enthusiasts following the sport have never had it better now that we have the web. We can get the latest on regatas all over the world, get up-to-date photos of all kinds of events and boats, follow the latest "scuttlebutt", and best of all, get emails from the southern ocean, all from the nearest on-line computer. Enthusiasts have never had it better, we are getting what we could only dream of ten years ago for nearly free. * From Bob Campbell: As a young sailor I was given an incredible opportunity through Jim Kilroy and Bruce Kendell to sail onboard Kialoa III in the early "ketch rig" days. I started at the bottom of the pile and at the time little did I know where it would take me! But across many miles and the oceans of the world I learned a lot about ocean sailing, teamwork, adventure and myself through the very firm but fair tutelage of Bruce and the oversight of Jim. That guidance and trust led to the hand-off, completion and ongoing campaign of Kialoa IV to me at the age of 23 as Bruce moved full time into Kilroy Industries. I have had a rich and rewarding sailing career of which I owe a tremendous amount to Jim Kilroy, all the Kialoa Crews, and in particular Bruce Kendell. Bruce taught me well, believed in me and was a major influence on my early life and sailing career. The memories are rich and never will be forgotten - as Bruce used to say "the stories will be told in the bars for years". He will be sadly missed! * From Andy Rose: It seems like most of my posts on Scuttlebutt these days are eulogies but here we go again. I also was fortunate to sail with Bruce Kendell on the Kialoas and on John Kilroy Jr.'s one tonner many years ago. While I have sailed with a lot of outstanding sailors and seamen, if I had to pick one person I would want on board a boat facing a major crisis at sea, it would be Bruce. He gave me and the rest of the crew such confidence that I think he made us all better. The relationship between Jim Kilroy, Bruce and incredibly capable crew members made my time on Kialoa unforgettable. I will miss Bruce greatly and thank him and Jim for letting me be a small part of their outstanding sailing careers. CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office. - Robert Frost |
