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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 829 - June 5, 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.
AMERICA'S CUP Craig McCaw has underwritten the development of the team, but needs a major sponsor to help foot the total bill. "Our funds are limited, not limitless." Ideally OneWorld would like to feature one major sponsor to keep the boat "clean", like Prada did in the last America's Cup. And while Prada spent about $100 million on their challenge, it would only take about $20 million to be major sponsor of OneWorld. With about a third of their total campaign money already spent on design, trial boats and team members, OneWorld feels it now has a very impressive package to offer a sponsor, reflecting Craig McCaw's philosophy of under-promise and over-deliver. "We've made a lot of progress," says Peter Gilmour, sailing director for OneWorld. "We feel the level of knowledge brought to this campaign by such veterans as Head Designer Laurie Davidson, has put us way ahead in our development over the other teams." Indeed McCaw has assembled an impressive team, and is using the collective knowledge and experience of designers, sailors, and organizers to focus in on the good things various teams did in the last Cup and incorporate them into the OneWorld program. While the design team toils over a hot computer to get that extra hundredth of a knot, the sailors are out honing their sailing skills all over the world. For skipper Peter Gilmour, the Grand Prix Match Racing Circuit provides the closest thing to America's Cup competition. "It not only has the top sailors in the world, but also some of the aura and media coverage of a major event. We rotate the team through the circuit; bowmen, mastmen, trimmers, afterguard." "The whole team is aggressively chasing a variety of sailing experiences, such as the Volvo ocean race. Each one brings back an idea they've picked up - ways to work halyards or a new clip, that we look at using on the OneWorld boat." After spending some time in Seattle, the OneWorld Challenge Team is now heading back to New Zealand to do three weeks of testing. - Richard Hazelton, Editor, 48° North Sailing Magazine Full story: www.48north.com
SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Weiser took early control of the finals, winning the first two matches and then watched in horror as Schumann, ranked 17th in the world, refused to go down, winning the next two to force a fifth and deciding match. In the fifth match Wieser took command, winning the start, and sailed a clean, controlled race. Wieser had to sail through a myriad of conditions over the four-day regatta. "Lake Constance brought of us everything you could think of this weekend. Sun, light wind, rain, heavy wind. We just tried to stay consistent and minimize our mistakes." In the petit-finals, Phillippe Presti of France defeated Rod Davis of the Prada Challenge two matches to one. Presti dropped the first match of the first-to-two-wins PF, but came back to win two straight matches and claim third place in the regatta. Earlier in the day all the semifinals were completed. Wieser and Schumann dispatched of Davis and Presti, respectively, in short order by winning two straight matches each and advancing to the finals. The event's final day featured idyllic conditions: bright blue skies and autumnal temperatures with winds in the 14-16 knot range. - Shawn McBride FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Marcus Wieser (GER) 2. Jochen Schumann (Swiss Challenge) 3. Phillippe Presti (FRA) 4. Rod Davis (Prada Challenge) 5. Karol Jablonski (POL/Team MK Cafe) 6. Chris Dickson (Oracle Racing) 7. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN/Team Marienlyst) 8. Jesper Radich (DEN/Team Steff Houlberg) 9. Magnus Holmberg (SWE/Team StoraEnso) 10. Neville Wittey (AUS/Team Wittey) 11. Morten Henriksen (illbruck Challenge) 12. Luc Pillot (FRA). www.sports.com/sailing/swedish_match/
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VENDEE GLOBE Not one of the three podium skippers would commit either way for the next VendŽe - Roland Jourdain (Bilou) "No comment", Michel Desjoyeaux "I might, I might not" and Ellen "we'll see, I can't say definitely no". Bilou continues at present to race his monohull 'Sill' and will line up against Ellen and 'Kingfisher' at the EDS Atlantic Challenge in just a few weeks time. Both skippers are also crewing onboard 60 foot trimarans during the year, keeping their options open. Meanwhile Vendee winner MichDesj continues his search for sponsorship in time to build a new trimaran for the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race in 2002, but plans to line up against the other monohulls in 'PRB' at the Grand Prix inshore event (intense races of just 3 to 4 hours) in Quiberon June 15-17th. All of the skippers spent the afternoon with the race organization for a debriefing and discussion on safety and other aspects of the race, the first time that they have all been together since before the start. Philippe Jeantot, the originator and organizer of this event promised to have the rules fixed by April 2002. With interest in the race at an all time high, and a limit on the number of entrants likely to be imposed, discussion of qualification criteria was already on the agenda. Pre-race favourite Yves Parlier, the 'Robinson Crusoe' of this event after his amazing survival story following his dismasting, also has new plans with 'Hydropter', a space-age flying machine that skims the water on hydrofoils and was conceived with French aerospace companies to break as many speed records as possible. - Kingfisher Challenges, www.kingfisherchallenges.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Dieter Loibner: Mr. Henderson will be pleased to learn that the ISAF eligibility code, even after its modification, is ferociously enforced, even by unlikely sources. Sunday, June 3, the San Francisco Folkboats held a tuning clinic at the docks of the venerable Golden Gate Yacht Club. It was early and a cup of coffee seemed like a good idea. Sporting casual dress code (my blue blazer went AWOL 35 years ago) and armed with an artificial smile I made my way upstairs to get a cup of Java in exchange for hard currency. Instead of serving me the brew, the bar tender who gladly took my money on earlier occasions, asked for my membership card. Ah, sorry. "Member in any other club?" he demanded to know. The magic moment to whip out my Scuttlebutt card had arrived. But shoot, that most important document sat on my desk at home. "Coffee yes," the voice of authority lectured me, "but with a $10 surcharge." Ah, no bleeping thanks. The lesson here: Never leave home without your Butt-card. Especially when you want to get coffee at a club that challenges for the America's Cup.
BOOK REVIEW I've read Rob Mundle's 'Fatal Storm' about the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race É and loved it. It's a wonderful book. So I guess I really didn't need to read another book about that race. Wrong! While the subject matter of G. Bruce Knecht's book is also the '98 Hobart Race, it's a very different story. Knecht focuses on just three boats in the race - 'Sayonara', 'Sword of Orion' and the 'Winston Churchill'. By so doing, he's able to dig deeply inside the heads - and into the hearts - of the skippers and crews to provide a very personal perspective. In the process, it's impossible for the reader not to feel a deep connection to those sailors and to their predicament. You don't have to be a racing sailor to enjoy 'The Proving Ground.' It's a very well written story that will be thoroughly enjoyed by thousands of non-sailors. Why? Because this is not just a book that you read - it's a story that you experience. Footnote: This appears to be one of those rare times when the Curmudgeon is in the mainstream of public opinion. 'The Proving Ground' received a 'Five-Star' rating from Amazon.com readers.
A GATHERING OF THE EAGLES Conner will be sailing his recently acquired Reichel/Pugh 50 Stars & Stripes, formerly Morning Glory, among the big handicap boats that rate NSRW's conditions and competition a highlight of the season. His strongest rival may be Mike Campbell's new Transpac 52, with Madrigali, an Olympic bronze medalist, calling tactics. Many of the other elite sailors can be found in the high-profile one-design classes such as Farr 40, 1D35 and Melges 24. The Farr 40s and Schock 35s will weave their Pacific Coast Championships into the event. The Melges 24s will feature it as their Western Open and the Santana 20s as their Western Regionals. Other one-design classes expected to compete include J/120, J/105, Olson 30 and Express 37. - Rich Roberts, www.Premiere-Racing.com
ILLBUCK Being the first Volvo Ocean Race campaign to announce gave Illbruck several advantages over the competition. They were able to buy the choice of boats from the last race and as Kostecki points out, the EF boats were the only equal boats built for that event. Meanwhile in Annapolis, the Farr office were able to spend more time on the design and Kostecki believes that they are the only Volvo team who signed up for all three stages of Farr's latest R&D programme for this race. "We feel we are more informed and will have more options in our decision-making process," he says not revealing much on what the added research should bring their campaign. He does say that the new boat is a refinement from last time. No surprises there either. "It's a bit narrower on the waterline beam. It is more suited for all around sailing rather than just ocean sailing. This affects the deck layout a little bit. These boats are still sailed with very few people on deck." Kostecki also got the first pick of crew and while other campaigns have still at this late stage to sign up a complete squad, he has been working with the core Illbruck team for more than a year now. Three more crew were signed up last November and since then the Illbruck crew has been complete. * But the main luxury of having had the most time has been on the sail development program. "In the last race that was one of the key things to boats having a speed edge," Kostecki says. Looking after Illbruck's sails is Rob Hook who worked with the EF team four years ago and who has been able to continue that sail development programme. "We were able to basically start at the top level from the last race." - James Boyd, madforsailing website Full story: www.madforsailing.com
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FAVORITE PART
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * Aug. 7-9, 11, 12, 17-19:á Verve Cup Race Week, Chicago YC. www.chicagoyachtclub.com * November 3-10: Annual Meeting of the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club, held concurrently with the Pro-Am regatta at the Bitter End YC on Virgin Gorda in the BVI. SSC members will race for the SSC Club Championship, plus have the opportunity to crew for Ken Read, Russell Coutts, Ed Baird, Peter & J.J. Isler, Keith Musto, Butch Ulmer, Rod Johnstone, Lowell North and/ or the curmudgeon. - www.beyc.com
PENFOLD'S POINTERS So today's tip is a basic skill... How to get it back on it's feet ASAP... And very simple it is too... First, blow the vang ... This might do it on it's own and if so, watch out for the Chinese gybe as soon as you get upright again, so get ready to pull it back on... If the vang has no effect, blow the halyard ... Not the guy or the tack line or the sheet (if it's still in) So it is essential to make sure straight after the hoist that the halyard is free to run and in lots of breeze that someone is programmed to go straight for the clutch. As soon as the halyard is blown, the boat will come up. Now if you're really sharp you can bear away immediately and bounce the thing straight up again, or if you've had enough excitement, start pulling the kite back in over the side! - Penfold, BOATmagic website For more pointers: www.boatmagic.com
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COLLEGE SAILING The three-day event is being co-hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA. Today's west winds were puffy and shifty. One complete round robin was sailed in Johnson Flying Juniors (FJs) and Parker Larks. After the 66 races were completed, the twelve teams were split into a six-team championship division and a six-team consolation division. The championship division sailed one of two planned mini-round robins today in FJs, while the consolation division finished both mini-round robins in Larks. In the team racing discipline, two teams each sail three boats at a time. The team with the better combined score at the finish is declared the winner. Standings in the Championship Division: Georgetown 14-2, Harvard 13-3, Dartmouth 13-3, Charleston 10-6, Old Dominion 8-8, Hawaii 8-8 Final Standings in the Consolation Division: UCSB 15-6, Washington 12-9, Texas 9-12, Michigan 6-15, Eckerd 3-18, Minnesota 0-21. - Derek Webster, http://www.collegesailing.org/2001/
ICSA/RONSTAN WOMEN'S ALL-AMERICANS HONORABLE MENTION: Whitney Besse, Sophomore, Brown; Corrie Clement. Sophomore. Old Dominion; Carrie Howe, Sophomore, Boston College; Thalia Pascalides, Sophomore, Dartmouth. www.collegesailing.org/00awards/01women.htm
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