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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 718 - December 28, 2000SYDNEY TO HOBART RACEBumblebee 5 retired from the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race this afternoon after a crewman was injured when the 62-foot pocket-maxi's keel bulb fell off. Skippered by international yacht designer and America's Cup legend Iain Murray, the vessel reported the incident to race control during its mandatory 'sked' at 2.05pm today. The New South Wales yacht was some 50 nautical miles northeast of the Tasmanian coastal town of St Helens when the keel bulb fell from the base of keel about 1pm. The crewman suffered injured ribs. His condition was not available. A yacht's keel is shaped like a fin. It is filled with lead ballast and fixed to a yacht's hull underside to give a vessel stability, resisting the lateral force of the wind and sea. A keel bulb is commonly found on modern ocean racers. Torpedo shaped, it is an essential to maintaining stability. Bumblebee 5 owner, John Kahlbetzer, was not onboard. He was understood to be in Hobart playing golf at the time of the incident, anticipating his yacht to finish sometime tomorrow. Bumblebee 5 was running seventh in the race for line honours. It was sailing upwind in a 20 knot southwesterly when the keel bulb detached. Its retirement brings to 18 the number who have pulled out of the race which began on December 26, with an 82-strong fleet. Sagacious V, a former overall race winner in 1990, has retired from the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race after her skipper Ian Paterson was thrown onto the yacht's deck, resulting in suspected spinal injuries. The yacht retired to Eden and was met late last night by an awaiting ambulance which transferred Paterson to Pambula District Hospital. Paterson is currently undergoing x-rays and further medical assessment. - Peter Campbell, Media Director, 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The Leaders, December 28, - 14:05 PM: 1 Nicorette, 107.93 miles to go, 2. Wild Thing, 135.13 miles to go, 3. TYCO, 142.38 miles to go, 4 Illbruck, 143.40 miles to go, 5 News Corporation, 151.34 miles to go, 6. Assa Abloy, 154.46 miles to go, 7. Nokia, 174.64 miles to go. Event website: http://www.syd-hob.telstra.com.au/index.cfm YACHTING KEY WEST RACE WEEK KEY WEST, Fla. - The only official hand count Florida will see is complete, and Yachting Key West Race Week 2001 is the winner. The Jan. 15-19 regatta has a record number of 327 entries. The fleet totals 66 more boats than last year's millennium regatta and is well clear of the 271-boat record fleet from 1999. "To say that we were overwhelmed by the number of entries would be an understatement," said Premiere Racing's Peter Craig. "We've never really come close to the 300-boat limit in past years, which is why we were reluctant to turn boats away. We haven't slammed the door on anybody. The owners were probably as surprised as we were." Providing a fourth racing circle has enabled the event organizer to accommodate all entrants. "The 300-boat limit was there for a reason," Craig said. "By adding a fourth race circle we're able to be inclusive while providing the quality racing that owners have come to expect in Key West." There are 50 foreign entries from 20 countries, and 32 states are represented, led by New York, Maryland and California. The fleet breakdown includes a record turnout in most one-design classes: Farr 40 (37), J/105 (25), Mumm 30 (31), Melges 24 (59), J/80 (25), 1D35 (20), J/29 (17), PHRF (103), IMS (10). Skippers and afterguards include the biggest names in sailing, such as Russell Coutts, Ken Read, John Kostecki, Dean Barker, Buddy Melges, Mark Reynolds, Ian Walker, Dave Ullman, Vince Brun, Robbie Haines, John Kolius, John Cutler and Gavin Brady, to name a few. - Rich Roberts The preliminary scratch sheet, PHRF handicaps and location of the four divisions can be found at http://www.Premiere-Racing.com THE RACE Things are getting busy in Marina Port Vell. Christmas Day and Boxing Day (a public holiday in Spain) really enabled the Catalonians to discover the village, thousands of people thronged in to admire the 6 boats lined up, and to discover the attractions proposed on site. As for the boats, the big news of the day comes from Innovation Explorer with the addition of two new members of crew: Olympic medallist Yves Loday, and the first and only woman to participate in The Race: Helena Caputo-Novak, the wife of Skip Novak, co-skipper of the boat. Born in October 1961 in London, Helena started sailing at an early age with her brother Paulo, himself later becoming a crewman, notably on Gatorade in the 1989 Whitbread. Her first Atlantic crossing dates back to 1986 (Transat des Alizes), and she crewed with Bruno Peyron on Explorer holding the Pacific crossing record with him. "This decision is very recent, and I'm starting to get used to the boat having delivered her from Antibes to Barcelona, however I'm not a professional sailor," Helena insisted, "My profession is first and foremost that of journalist, specialising in foreign politics. In fact I was supposed to be leaving in two weeks to cover the Israeli elections! Work continues on the boat, on the rigging and the trampoline's No need for words, each one goes about his particular job, ticking off the tasks listed on the 'menu' of the day. On Team Adventure, yesterday's sunshine enabled a good part of the boat to be emptied and dried out. "Today we've loaded the safety equipment and the personal effects of the crew," declared Peter Grubb, the maxi-catamaran's Project Manager. Stores will be loaded tomorrow or the next day when all the crew are back on board. There's some lamination work on the programme for Warta-Polpharma for part of the crew, and reception and packing of the food for the others. A job that will take two days because Roman Paszke, the skipper has decided to take enough food for 85 days. On Team Legato, a small tank has to be replaced and packing of the food should normally start today. The composition of the crew is being finalised. All is quiet though on PlayStation and Club Med whose level of preparation is almost perfect. The Race website: http://www.therace.org GOOD STUFF Have you ever wished you could find all of your sailboat hardware needs in one stop? At Sailing Supply we are distributors for Harken, Schaefer, Lewmar, Ronstan, Forespar, Spinlock, Davis, Titan, Holt Allen, RWO, Tylaska, Wichard, Samson, Yale, Marlow, Loos, Gill, Camet, Johnson, Hayn, and ACR, plus much much more. Our rigging shop makes custom halyards, sheets and standing rigging every day. At Sailing Supply we have the knowledge to support the products, and the service to support our customers. Please give us a call at 1-800-532-3831 or check out our website at www.sailingsupply.com VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot For the leading boats in the Vendee Globe 2000, there is no doubt that this race is a planetary regatta with a hellish rhythm of a transatlantic. Not a moment to breath, not a single error allowed without paying dearly for it. Each day the skippers eagerly await the position reports to know if their strenuous efforts from just the last few hours have paid off, or if the time, in which they have snatched some precious sleep and reduced sail a little, has not lost them too many hard fought miles. In the lead still, Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) has worked his way well ahead of the worst effects of a small low pressure bubble, which emerged much to the surprise of his main rival Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagere). He has become temporarily encaged in its centre, and at the last set of positions was still crawling along at 6 knots this morning. In 24 hours Desjoyeaux has pulled out a 165 mile lead over Bilou1, and third placed Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) is now roughly the same distance behind him. Behind these three, the gaps are extending progressively, and the top 8 boats now count 1000 miles between them. Will the Pacific Ocean turn the standings around? Anything could happen with 50 days remaining and 12,000 miles to go still. However, to be comfortably ahead here for Desjoyeaux, who was pleased to know that the others are falling into line behind him, is giving him the chance to maintain a loose control of the fleet without risking any dramatic options. For the second half of the fleet, the regatta mentality is secondary now to that of survival. Some skippers have had their race abruptly transformed into an adventure, where this circumnavigation has rudely changed their horizons and forced them to find other motivations than victory. Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) revealed over the radio chat that he has worked out a plan to get his boat past Cape Horn under a further modified jury rig, in order to face the upwind conditions in the Atlantic. In around 8 days he will stop at Auckland Island, 280 miles south of New Zealand, to get into shelter and carry out an operation to join the other end of his mast on top of the current rig and extend it to 18 metres in total. "After 10 days I should be able to set off again with a boat which can reach good average speed and face the Atlantic. If I don't break the 18 metre mast, I could still add the 10 metre boom that I have. In my head I was programmed to make it all the way round so psychologically, it's some way to keep up my moral, if I'd abandoned, that would have been the final straw for me." Standings on December 27 at 15:00 UT: 1. PRB (Desjoyeaux) 2. SILL Matines La Potagere (Jourdain) 168 miles behind, 3. Kingfisher (MacArthur) 369 miles behind leader, 4. Active Wear (Thiercelin) 557 miles behind leader, 5. Sodebo (Coville) 603 miles behind leader. Website: http://www.vendeeglobe.com SEEING THE WIND (Olympic silver medalist Bob Merrick believes that one of the most useful skills on the water is being able to discern when a puff will hit, and how strong it will be. Here are two excerpts from his story posted on the SailNet website.) * One of the skills that often separates the best sailors from the rest of the fleet is the ability to see the wind. This is critical because it enables them to consistently get to the windier side of the course and thus sail faster than their competition. How do they do it? Well, seeing the wind directly is obviously impossible, but there are a number of ways to indirectly see what the wind is doing farther up the course. Keeping an eye out to windward for the behavior of flags and other boats is one important way, but these clues are not always available. Veteran sailors know that the most consistent way to see the wind is by observing how it effects the water. * The best way to practice spotting puffs is to spend time trying to predict when you're going to sail into them. This is a great way to improve your sailing because you can do it by yourself in any boat that can be single-handed. To run the drill, just sail upwind and try to spot puffs ahead of you. In the beginning, don't worry about tacking for puffs. When you see a puff, try to predict how many seconds it will be before you sail into it, then start counting down the seconds. If you hit the puff at zero you've done it perfectly. After practicing upwind, turn around and do the same thing downwind. After a while, you'll also develop the ability to discern how strong a particular puff will be, which is valuable information because it allows you to anticipate the effect and trim accordingly. Sailing into more wind can greatly increase your boat's speed, but in order to get to the best puffs you need to get a good look upwind. Standing up on the deck will get your eyes a little higher up off the water, which is a good way to get a better view. On most boats you can't sail the whole race standing on the deck so it becomes especially important to stand up and get a look to windward before the start of a race. - Bob Merrick, SailNet website Full story: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/racing/index.cfm?articleid=merric0018&tfr=fp PV RACE Plans for the Del Rey YC's 2001 Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race call for five PHRF classes in the Racing Fleet. There will be two handicap classes in the Cruising Fleet, as well as a five-boat class in the new Performance Fleet. This latter group will make the same three stopovers as the Cruising Fleet and may use their engines for propulsion if winds become light, but will be allowed to fly a spinnaker, and will be given only one PHRF/OWC handicap for the entire race. - http://www.dryc.org February 9 Start---Cruising Fleet February 10 Start---Performance Fleet February 14 Start---PHRF C and PHRF D February 15 Start---PHRF A and PHRF B February 16 Start---PHRF AA February 25 Start of MEXORC COLD WATER SAILING It is time for small boat sailors to get ready for the cold sailing. Topping your list should be Camet 2001 neoprene hiking pants. The Heavy Cordura padding covers the reinforced battens that have been designed for effective hiking. Available in the suspender style with the adjustable elastic shoulder straps or the high waist style with an adjustable waist belt. Also check out the Kiwi ? length Hiking pants, they protect your knees and keep you warm. Either will help you hike longer and harder ... keeping your little buns warm. http://www.camet.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS February 3: SCYA Women's Sailing Convention, Bahia Corinthian YC, Corona del Mar, CA. Workshops for all levels from novice to expert, with elective subjects offered. Keynote speaker - 2000 Silver Medallist J.J. Isler. http://www.scya.org AMERICA'S CUP (Following is an excerpt of a story Rich Roberts wrote for The Log.) George L. Schuyler was born a hundred years too late to be one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, but he thought like those guys. Schuyler, the sole surviving owner of the silver ewer won by the boat America at Cowes, England on Aug. 22, 1851, turned it over to the safekeeping of the New York Yacht Club in 1887, with a few strings attached. Like the forefathers, he wanted to ensure fair play and protect the concept from mischievous rascals pursuing their own personal interests. Those strings were written into Schuyler's Deed of Gift, a 1,280-word document with intent as clear and pure as a Hawaiian sunrise. From the start, though, Schuyler's noble but naive notion for "friendly competition between foreign countries" has come under assault by competitors looking for an edge. That attitude has given us the America's Cup we have come to love today. The hostility peaked in 1988 when Michael Fay issued his rogue big-boat challenge for New Zealand. Repelling that stroke was no problem; Dennis Conner beat it back two-zip with a catamaran. Cats were then outlawed, but Fay's bid introduced a far worse horror into the America's Cup: lawyers. Since then no decent team would leave home without one. Italy's Prada had a whole legal staff that would put the Florida shysters to shame. So much for friendly competition. As for "between foreign countries," what happened to patriotic rivalry? In years past boats had names like Freedom, France, Australia, White Crusader and America this-and-that. Then we had Prada, promoting women's high fashion. Now we'll have Oracle, peddling software. A projection shows an interesting lineup of helmsmen for the next go-round at Auckland in 2002-3. Peter Gilmour, an Australian, and Chris Dickson, a New Zealander, will drive American boats. Russell Coutts, a New Zealander, will drive a Swiss boat. John Kostecki, an American, will drive a German boat. There is a good possibility that Rod Davis, an American emigre from San Diego living in New Zealand, will drive the Italian boat, and an outside chance that Bertrand Pace, a Frenchman, will take a turn at the helm for New Zealand's defenders. Doesn't anybody sail for his own country anymore? At the moment, the only one for sure is Ken Read, the returning helmsman for Conner's Stars & Stripes. "God bless America," Read commented. Is that bad? I don't know. I'm old-fashioned. I still long for the days when Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio played for the same teams their whole careers. Indeed, where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A sailor must earn a buck or a franc or a lira or a deutsche mark anywhere he can these days - but, billionaires hiring globe-hopping mercenaries to sail their boats? I don't think it's what Schuyler had in mind. - Rich Roberts, http://www.thelognewspaper.com ON THE TUBE ESPN will be broadcasting their 7th annual International Year in Sailing program presented by Rolex. This 30-minute presentation gives a fast paced overview of the sport of competitive sailing as it exists today. Included in this program is the America's Cup, the Olympics, the Kenwood Cup, the Women's Match Race Worlds, Lightning North Americans, Sears, Beamis and Smythe junior regattas and Ellen MacArthur's spectacular victory in the TransAtlantic Race. This program airs on Saturday, December 30 at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT) on ESPN2 and on Tuesday, January 9 at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT) on ESPN. - http://www.jobsonsailing.com/ THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why do we drive on a parkway, and park on a driveway? |
