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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 705 - December 7, 2000THE ADMIRALS CUP(Expert commentator Peter Isler spent last weekend off Miami Beach contesting the first trials for the U.S. Admiral's Cup team since the mid-1980s. Here is a brief excerpt from the summary he wrote for the Quokka Sailing webpage.) The (Admiral's Cup) fleet is crewed and steered by the top echelon of international sailors, which adds to the event's luster and competitiveness. Interestingly, the U.S. has a miserable record in the Admiral's Cup - having won only three times since inception in 1957 and only once since 1969. With the inclusion of the Farr 40 class, the owner-drivers will be "duking" it out at the starting line with the full-time pros (there are no driver limitations in the Sydney 40 or the IC 45 classes), which should be rather exciting. On the open course there really isn't much difference between the straight line steering skills of a pro like Admiral's Cup defending champion Roy Heiner and the top echelon in the Farr 40 class. These guys are no pushovers, but in tight maneuvers at marks and starts the pros' experience comes into play. Despite the flurry of interest in the Farr 40 berth for the U.S. team, which prompted the creation of this regatta, the status of the U.S. Team is still a bit questionable. Although the IC 45 and Farr 40 positions are covered, an owner/charterer for the Sydney 40 is still being sought. But as evidenced by the competitiveness of the fleet during three days of buoy racing off of Key Biscayne, the U.S.'s Farr 40 representative should be very strong indeed . - Peter Isler, for Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.quokkasailing.com/expert/12/SLQ_1205_isler_WFC.html AMERICA'S CUP ODDS AND ENDS * Chris Dickson's America's Cup team have found their keel at the bottom of the sea, but they will have to wait for perfect conditions until it can be salvaged. The 21-tonne keel, which fell off Oracle Racing's USA-61 yacht a fortnight ago, has been located by divers 40 metres underwater. The lead bulb was buried two metres beneath the sandy bottom of the Hauraki Gulf - after falling from the boat at a speed estimated over 100km/h. It narrowly missed hitting undersea phone cables lying nearby. A salvage operation will be ready to go next week, dependent on the weather. Oracle Racing plan to use the lead bulb for the replacement keel, but a new steel fin has to be made after the original snapped off the bottom of the boat. The crew have continued to sail sister yacht USA-49, but they will not be two-boat testing again for at least another month. - Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/ * The Swiss say they do not intend to give an undertaking to the (Royal New Zealand Yacht) Squadron on where they would hold the cup if they won it, claiming the Deed of Gift does not demand a venue in advance. - Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/ * Germany's first cup syndicate, the Illbruck Challenge, are waiting for confirmation of their entry, because it comes from the inland Dusseldorf Yacht Club. Taylor said there was speculation that the Swedish Victory Challenge, who have yet to submit an entry, could face a similar question over their arm-of-the-sea status. - Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/ * (GBR Gold medallist Ben) Ainslie, is not lacking chances to expand his sailing repertoire. Whilst he waits to see whether an America's Cup bid does get off the ground in Britain, he has a firm offer from Peter Gilmour to join the big budget OneWorld team from Seattle funded by billionaire Craig McCaw. - Tim Jeffery, Daily Telegraph, UK - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ REALISTIC COURSE CONDITIONS Compete online against other racers from around the world in realistic racecourse conditions. Experience lifelike sensations at the helm of a 24, 45 or 70-foot racer in response to realistic wind shifts, weather and currents. Visit http://www.virtualskipper.com/yw.asp today and play online for FREE. VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot Just a week ago, the Vendee Globe fleet was enjoying fair weather sailing bending round the high pressure system in the trade winds of the Southern Atlantic. A few days later and 30 degrees of latitude further South, and the skippers have changed seasons - from summer straight to winter. Although it is in fact summer down there right now, the sea has shot down to 8 degrees from 28 degrees Celsius, and the air temperature has followed the same pattern. The skippers are finally getting out their thermal gear, sailing boots and foul weather clothing. Spells on deck at night are now much tougher. There has been no time to acclimatise at all, as the transition has been abrupt, and each skipper has had to adapt their routine. Their enemies in the next 5 days will be the cold and humidity, the latter being the worst of the two, as a dry cold is bearable, but humidity is a sneakier enemy, much more difficult to combat. When the humidity levels borders on 90%, it's unthinkable to hope that the cabin will stay dry. Inside a hull made of carbon sandwich, it is more comfortable as the structure is much better at isolating the outside temperatures. Inside a hull made of aluminium, where the thickness of the deck is around 3 mm, the temperature difference between outside and inside causes condensation to form on the ceiling. All clothing worn ends up soaking up this humidity as well. Some skippers have worked out their own heating systems, bearing in mind the constant war against weight gain and energy loss. The heat from the generator when it charges the batteries is an efficient source - in fact Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) admitted: "I'm using the generator to dry my socks." - http://www.vendeeglobe.com Standings: 1. Aquitaine Innovations, Yves Parlier, 2. PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux (+76 miles) 3. Sill Matines & La Potagere, Roland Jourdain (+120m) 4. Active Wear, Marc Thiercelin (+326m) 5. Sodebo Savourons la Vie, Thomas Coville (+327M) 6. Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur (+333m) 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 an e-mail address on request.) -- From John Fox FCSdesign@compuserve.com While I realize that Matthew Sessions comments on the Open 30 were highly edited, it seems to me as though he totally misunderstands the Open Class concept and also overlooks some of the problems with (offshore) one designs. An Open Class is just that, OPEN with very few restrictions on design. By nature it would be a development class where new ideas can be tested out and designs can be optimized around the requirements of the shorthanded sailor. What's wrong with (offshore) one designs like Mumm 30 et al? The fact is that even the most popular of these classes are only one design at a few events for a few years only. The remainder of the time, they must race under handicap rules or not at all. Events like the Bermuda 1-2 and New England's Solo-Twin continue to grow in popularity and it is evident that people like this type of venue. The growing popularity of the 6.5 Mini-class in Europe is a very good barometer that the time may be right for a 30 foot Open Class. There are already boats out there that might fit the Open rule quite well. The Quest 30 for example should be ideal and several of the boats Matthew mentions could probably compete under it. One has only to look at the cost of Open 60's with no restrictions on materials compared to the restricted Volvo 60 (Whitbred) class to see that open class boats can be in fact cheaper to build. -- From Sean Paterson seanpaterson@attglobal.net I would suggest that Matthew Sessions reads again the release about the Open 30 Class and also perhaps visits the Open 30 web site for a better understanding about the origins of this concept. There is nothing wrong with the existing One Design Classes that you mentioned however they are just that - One Design! The Open 30 has a basic rule of sizes, dspl, etc that allow different designers, builders, and materials to be used. If you wanted to build a carbon boat then fine, if you wanted to build a cedar/glass boat in your back yard for much less ($) then great. One of the stated objectives of the Open 30 Rule is to encourage shorthanded offshore racing as well as inshore. Having sailed Mini 6.5s and also competed in the 2 Handed Round Britian & Ireland Race aboard a 35' yacht I certainly would not like to go offshore in any of the 30' One Designs that you mentioned. Great yachts they are indeed when there 5 or 6 on the rail. Not for single or double handed! I fail to see where handicapping comes into the equation for an Open 30. As with the Mini 6.5, Open 50 & 60 the concept is simple...finish first. Sure this will not be a class that matches the amount of a Mumm 30's on the water but it does give the individual(s) a fast sensible option offshore where seamanship and safety are paramount. -- From Andrew Heathcote pyc1@global.co.za Paul Henderson, in his response yesterday to the criticism leveled at ISAF and its decision making process, took a shot at the Americans who have criticized him so vocally in recent issues of Scuttlebutt. If Mr. Henderson were to look clearly at the issue he would see that Scuttlebutt as it is an American publication, which one can therefore expect to convey the American viewpoint. This despite the fact that it is read by sailors worldwide. However being an American publication it is reasonable to expect that most of the correspondents are American. Mr. Henderson should instead take a step back and look at the issue as objectively as possible. If the general consensus in America is that ISAF is not doing a good job then so be it. If the American opinion is a good indicator of the worldwide feeling then as the leader of our sport he should endevour to sort the problem out. Mr. Henderson has, thus far, been a good leader for our sport, yesterday's letter seems to be out of character with the style of leadership he has shown until now. As a matter of interest, in how many southern hemisphere countries will one find a Yngling? -- From Mark Green mgreen@ecorp-real-estate.com Interesting that Paul Henderson, ISAF President, after taking such a cheap shot at United States citizens, apparently does not think he should be subject to the principles that make the United States the power that it is: democracy, freedom of information, free speech, rights to scrutinize and question the decisions of public officials, and the rule of law. -- From Simon Smith simon@smith.net It is depressing reading about the antics of the increasingly desperate women's match racers trying to reverse the democratically arrived at decision to introduce fleet racing for ladies. This sort of behaviour is insulting, selfish and patronising to women worldwide. Their stated objective is to get Olympic competition for, maybe, 8 of their 40+ elite teams that practice match racing around the world's major sailing nations. Hardly follows the Olympic ideal. The arguement that having to buy an Yngling, or two, is equally contemptible... who said sailing was meant to be cheap and why should women have an event that doesn't cost them much when the men's teams have to stump up money to buy their boats in the first place? If they want to go down the road of litigation they would serve the whole sailing world better by taking the IOC to court and getting them to lift their overall limit of 400 competitors instead of serving their own narrow self-interest. -- From T.L.Lewis - Another example of ISAF' questionable selection policies- have a look at the choice of multihull for the next Olympics. They have managed to choose a bastard boat which does not exist as a class at this time-a Tornado with double traps and asymmetrical spinnaker. Anyone who thinks that a current Tornado and its rig is designed to accept the increased loads these changes will produce should find some real "bargains" in the used boat sections of multihull periodicals over the next year. Can anyone say "Old Boy's Club" -- From Edward du Moulin ACUP98@aol.com After the 1988 catamaran controversy, there was considerable talk about changing the Deed of Gift. In the past, after certain controversial events, the Deed was changed through the NY court. In 1988 members of both the New York Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club supported the idea of a review. However, the ball was dropped probably with the advent of the San Diego Protocol which certainly has gone a long way to avoid court actions. A careful review of the Deed should produce some logical changes. However, over the long run, there is no guaranty that the changes would not lead to other problems. An example of an outdated provision in the Deed is the one that permits a two-masted vessel to have a LWL as much as 115'. In '88, this was an option which would have permitted the SDYC to respond to New Zealand 's 90' LWL single masted challenger with a two-masted boat with the 115' LWL. However, the catamaran was chosen because it could be designed and built in shorter time and at a greatly reduced cost. In making changes to the Deed, it is essential that the spirit and intent of the founding fathers are not lost. In spite of the wording of this venerable document, it continues to produce a sporting event of unmatched interest and intrigue. A committee including representatives from each of the four clubs which have held the Cup should be appointed to study and recommend carefully thought out revisions. -- From Ken Guyer kagptloma@home.com It is probably time to do a little house cleaning on the Deed of Trust for the America's Cup, but as Bill Trenkle said carefully and with lots of discussion. The deed is not that extensive a document. As we all learned in '88, it is actually readable for the layman! Gary Jobson said one of the changes is how a challenge is put in. "When the deed was written, it was envisioned there'd be one challenger." I would be careful of that one. It is good to keep the basis of the deed which calls for the defender to accept a single challenge. It has provisions which encourage mutual consent of the defender and challenger to alter "letter of the deed" races. The "challenger of record" becomes the organizer for the elimination trials of others who wish to challenge. In short it keeps the event neat and tidy should, as we found in '88, there be a dispute. THE RACE * Code One with Loick Peyron, Skip Novak and their crew have arrived in the Mediterranean where they will be now concentrating on the final preparation of their boat before taking part, on 15th, 16th and 17th December, in the Prologue of The Race in Monaco. All is well on the boat, which after a good fright in foul weather this weekend, sailed past Gibraltar in good conditions. For the Monte Carlo Prologue Loick Peyron1s catamaran will be carrying the name of "Innovation Explorer," while waiting for the names of its partners to be unveiled. * After arriving in the port of Barcelona on Sunday evening 3rd December, the maxi-catamaran Club Med began her final countdown before the start of the Monte Carlo Prologue scheduled to begin on December 14th. After a few days spent in the magnificent Portofino bay (Italy), the crew of Club Med headed back to sea last Saturday on route for the Catalonian capital. Another express crossing of the Mediterranean, because it needed only 24 hours for the giant catamaran to join Spain from Italy. Leaving in very light airs, the blue and yellow boat soon picked up the wind again reaching 34 knots to windward in a short chop. Hauled out yesterday morning in Port Vell, Barcelona, Club Med will be given a final check-up: a bottom scrub, inspection of the structures and a few final alterations. She will be re-launched on Monday 11th December and then our crew will head back to sea to join her future adversaries in Monaco. * Following her recent hull lengthening programme, maxi catamaran PlayStation, now 125 ft (38 m), is back on the water and sailing again. Skipper Steve Fossett reported early on Wednesday morning that last weekend's test sailing out of Southampton, UK had been successful and only minor final modifications will be made, mainly fine tuning of the new Cuben Fibre sails. The crew have now loaded the old suit of sails aboard for the delivery to Monaco for the Prologue of 'The RACE'. Steve Fossett: "We plan a final sail from Southampton tomorrow, then departure for Monaco on Friday. We are making every effort to arrive in time for the Monaco Prologue sailing events (15/16 December)." * Team Philips is 490 miles West of the Stornaway, Hebrides. After an evening in rough conditions with 30 knots of wind, the crew settled into a comfortable cruising speed of 22 knots. The wind went through to the East during the night increasing to 35 knots gusting 40 knots. They have now reach a lull in the wind and are making slow progress in an Atlantic swell. They are attempting to sail over the top of the deep depression which will give gales towards the end of the week. The Race website: http://www.therace.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS January 17-20: US Sailing National Sailing Programs Symposium, Shelter Pointe Hotel and Marina in San Diego, California. Designed for sailing program directors, staff person, school director, instructor, coach, board member, parent and sailing program volunteers. Early registration deadline is December 18. www.ussailing.org/training/nsps/2001/agenda.htm MAKE A NOTE OF IT! Note cards from Sharon Green's Ultimate Sailing Collection make the perfect stocking stuffer for all sailors on your list. 12 cards, 3 each of 4 images: $15.00. To see the cards and other great gifts under$20.00, check: http://www.ultimatesailing.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE Syndicates with build programs underway: - ASSA ABLOY Racing Team: Skipper - Roy Heiner, Co-Skipper/Navigator Mark Rudiger, Designer Farr Yacht Design, Builder: Green Marine, Lymington, UK (2 boats). - Illbruck Challenge: Skipper John Kostecki - USA, Designer Farr Yacht Design, Builder Killian Bushe, Germany. - Djuice Dragons: Skipper - Knut Frostad - Norway, Designer Laurie Davidson - NZ, Builder: Cookson Boats, Auckland, NZ (2 boats). - Team News Corp: Skipper - Jez Fanstone - UK, Designer Farr Yacht Design, Builder: Cookson Boats, Auckland, NZ. - Team SEB: Skipper Gurra Krantz - Sweden, Designer: Farr Yacht Design, Builder: Richard Gillies/Tim Smythe - Sweden. - TEAM TYCO: Skipper Kevin Shoebridge - New Zealand, Designer: Farr Yacht Design, Builder: Eric Goetz - Rhode Island, USA. Website: www.VolvoOceanRace.org SPONSORSHIP Barlo Plastics, Europe's leading independent producer of transparent plastic sheets and part of the Barlo Group plc, is delighted to have negotiated with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) to become title sponsor of the British Team for the 2001 Admiral's Cup, regarded as the world championship of offshore racing. The team will be known as the Barlo Plastics British Admiral's Cup Team 2001. In addition, Barlo Plastics have agreed to sponsor Robert Condon's IC 45 'Indulgence', which will be renamed Barlo Plastics and skippered by Adrian Stead, with Olympic Gold Medallist Ben Ainslie helming. Barlo Plastics will also be the title sponsor of the Admiral's Cup selection trials for the Farr 40 class. - Yachts and Yachting website Full story: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/ BOTY The Sailing World and Cruising World magazines' picks for the 2001 Boats of the Year will be announced during an 9 p.m. EST audiocast on the boats.com website on Thursday, December 7. Listen in as Gary Jobson announces the winners. Then stay tuned for interviews with Sailing World Editor John Burnham, Cruising World Editor Herb McCormick, and the award judges. http://www.boats.com/sailing You'll need the free Windows Media Player. To download, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/default.asp THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Sometimes it's not ambition; it's envy that drives people to the top. |
