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SCUTTLEBUTT 1980 -- December 5, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.DARK HORSES They may have been the dark horses of the Volvo Ocean Race, but ABN Amro Two and Brasil 1 surpassed themselves by arriving in Cape Town second and third respectively at the end of the first leg yesterday. It was an especially satisfying moment for Seb Josse's young crew aboard ABN Amro Two, who had been expected to be overshadowed not just by Mike Sanderson's hugely experienced team on ABN Amro One, but by every boat in the fleet besides Grant Wharington's ill-equipped Sunergy. Instead, ABN Amro Two finished only 6½ hours behind the senior ABN boat. It had been suggested Josse's men were mere ballast for Sanderson's crew, but they have proved themselves to be much more than that. Similarly, Torben Grael's Brasil 1, the first Brazilian entry, had been expected to struggle. You had only to look at Brasil 1 floating in the dock before the start of the race alongside Neal McDonald's Ericsson to see that it was heavier in construction and less sophisticated in its refinements. "A stock car compared to a Formula One car," was how one of the Brazilians described their boat. Yet it was Brasil 1 that came home third, with Ericsson stuttering to the finish after chronic keel system problems in fourth. Scott Beavis, the New Zealand watch captain of ABN Amro Two, said: "Being young and not knowing when to slow down was a big factor for us." This was an excellent result for skipper Josse, who raced around the world alone last winter in the Vendee Globe and was a front-runner until hitting ice in the Southern Ocean. -- Tim Jeffery, the Telegraph, UK, http://tinyurl.com/c2omp * Last Friday, Sunergy and Friends achieved the third fastest for a Volvo 70 so far in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race with a run from noon to noon of 503 nm, averaging 20.9 knots. "Our 540 nm target was based around ABN Amro One's run (estimated), and was becoming achievable as time rolled on, projecting forward our hourly runs. However sensibility took over from ego, and we are now down to a jib top and staysail, and are still cruising along at and 18 to 19 knot average, but with a great deal less stress," wrote navigator Campbell Field. * While Neal McDonald (Ericsson) is confident enough in the boat's overall condition to ask the crew to step straight back on board today to look at some new sail designs - an area in which he is playing serious catch-up - the craft then comes out for 10 days. Special permission has to be obtained to change the interior structure and design, and applications are being made by four of the seven teams to do just that. Paul Cayard's Pirates Of The Caribbean is locked away in a repair shed, Bouwe Bekking's entry movistar has had major surgery, Ericsson will be beefed up and even Brasil 1, which had no structural problems, has applied to make changes ahead of tackling one of the most hostile and desolate marine environments on the planet. -- Stuart Alexander in Cape Town, the Independent, http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article331039.ece * Volvo Ocean Race Official Shipping Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, has to come to movistar's rescue and has diverted their freighter, MV Toronto, to Puerto Real Shipyard in Spain, close to Cadiz, to load movistar onto the deck Friday night. Skipper, Bouwe Bekking said, "The boat, if the plans goes in the proper way, will be at South Africa on the 16th or 17th and, after tuning the boat, we will have her ready to go to the water in one or two days. We are looking forward to starting the training programme again on the 18th December." * Ericsson lies joint second overall on points - having rounded the scoring gate off Fernando da Noronha, Brazil, ahead of Brasil 1 and Seb Josse's ABN Amro Two. Ericsson navigator Steve Hayles, described the speed advantage of the ABN Amro boats as "impressive." Hayles also thought, however, that the weather had dealt Josse, and Mike Sanderson's ABN Amro One a generous hand. "Historically this is a light-to-medium downwind leg. This year it was medium-to-heavy conditions." Whether the ABN pair also have a design edge to see them through the race is a question yet to be answered. In Hayles' mind, they could not have had better conditions to show their form. "I think we've seen the biggest difference between the boats that I think we could see," he said. -- Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, UK, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/7fbos Leg One Standings: 1. ABN Amro One, Finished 2. ABN Amro Two, Finished 3. Brasil 1, Finished 4. Ericsson Racing Team, Finished 5. Sunergy and Friends, 613 miles to finish 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired 6. Movistar, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "What a strange life we lead?" -- Neal McDonald, Ericsson skipper HATS OFF TO HALL CUSTOMERS Every time Eric Hall sails in a regatta, he gives away his Hall hat. For 2006, our goal is for Eric to make it through the sailing season with his own hat. So, this week only, you'll receive a free Hall hat for each hat purchased online. That's two for one, so treat your entire crew to a nifty new hat. And don't forget to fill out your Hall Spars & Rigging Wish List. Every Wish List order receives a 2006 Harken Ultimate Sailing Calendar by Sharon Green (limited quantity). http://www.hallspars.com SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia -- Peter Gilmour won what he described as a "fairytale event" when he defeated Russell Coutts 2-1 in the final of the inaugural Monsoon Cup, the 50th event of the Swedish Match Tour. Gilmour and Coutts put on a spectacular final, replete with lead changes, come-from-behind wins and finish line penalty turns. Gilmour's crew included Rod Dawson, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Tatsuya Wakinaga and Yasuhiro Yaji. Coutts' crew featured Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner and Jann Neergaard. In the Petite Final, Sweden's Björn Hansen continued his torrid sailing and defeated Lindberg 2-0. Hansen won both races outright, although there was a disputed umpire call in the second race. The call could've gone against Hansen, but the umpires green-flagged it. Chris Dickson, who won the Round Robin with a 9-2 score, had to settle for fifth place after Hansen defeated him in the quarter finals. -- Sean McNeill, www.SwedishMatchTour.com Monsoon Cup Final Standings: 1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 14-7, ($26,400) 2. Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing Team, 14-7, ($15,800) 3. Björn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net, 10-10, ($10,500) 4. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 9-11, ($9,500) 5. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 10-5, ($8,400) 6. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 9-5, ($7,400) 7. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand, 9-5, ($6,300) 8. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Racing Team, 8-7, ($5,800) 9. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) K-Challenge, 4-7, ($4,700) 10. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa Challenge, 3-8, ($4,200) 11. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia, 2-9, ($3,100) 12. Sally Barkow (USA) Team 7, 1-10, ($3,100) Swedish Match Tour Standings: (After 4 of 9 Stages) 1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 48 points 2. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 37 points 3. Ben Ainsle (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 30 points 4. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 29 points 5. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 25 points T. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 25 points 7. Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing, 20 points T. Gavin Brady (NZL), 20 points T. Mark Mendelblatt (USA), 20 points Curmudgeon's Comment: The highlight shows from the first two days are on the Tour player. Just click on the TV in the left hand margin, select the Highlights tab and the programs should be the first two selections. Also, there's a file on the Web site called Golden Memories, where sailors reflect on the first 49 events of the Tour, http://www.swedishmatchtour.com/default.asp?m=displayarticle&id=26254 BRRRRR The cool weather over Northern Europe this past week or so has been a harsh reminder that winter is here and the end of year is coming up fast. The Port America's Cup on Valencia's Mediterranean coast hasn't been spared the cold weather, but that hasn't dissuaded several of the Cup teams from continuing their training. "The conditions aren't perfect over the winter, but every day we get is a day where we can jump forward on the some of the better teams (who aren't sailing)," is the way Iain Percy the skipper on +39 describes the programme for his team. "They, probably rightly, think they need the break more than the practice. But for us, we need the practice more than the break, so we'll take any good day sailing that we can." Work is continuing on the Port America's Cup with the biggest project being the opening of the canal on the northern side of the port which will allow direct access to the sea. This canal will be open for use in mid-January, allowing the teams to be on the northern race course within minutes of leaving their bases. Along the sides of the canal, two new marinas are being built, providing several hundred new berths for pleasure crafts in Valencia. The first of these, with nearly 300 slips, is due to be ready for the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 10 and 11 in May. Work is also proceeding on the America's Cup Park, several of the team buildings as well as the new building that will host the Foredeck Club next year, all with an eye to creating an incredible environment for the 2006 Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts and beyond into 2007. -- Peter Rusch POP QUIZ! Racing upwind on the first part of a beat in no current, you know that further up the leg there's one knot of current running from left to right. Which way should you go to set up for the current? Are you sure? Enter your answer to this and other quiz questions, and you could win a prize at NorthU.com, plus get info on special gifts and upcoming seminars for all sailors: http://www.NorthU.com LASER RADIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS A record thirty nine countries from 39 countries and 6 continents took to the water today for the first two races in the qualifying races for the Laser Radial Men's and Women's World Championships in Fortaleza, Brasil. After two weeks of training in big breeze the light 9 to 12 knot winds were unexpected and caught a number of sailors in all the fleets by surprise. Number one ranked, Paige Riley USA posted two consistent 4th places to take fourth overall Riley said, "I'm pretty happy. I was surprised by the light wind because I thought it would be 'nukin' but I think it is good because it makes the whole regatta more interesting. Women's fleet overall after 2 races: 1. Sarah Steyaert FRA 4pts; 2. Sarah Blanc AUS 6pts; 3. Larissa Nevierov ITA 6pts; 4. Paige Riley USA 8pts; 5. Jennifer Spalding CAN 9pts; 6. Karin Soderstrom SWE 11pts; 7. Anna Tunncliffe 12pts; 8. Sara Winther NZL 13pts; 9. Penny Mountford GBR 14pts; 10. Florencia Cerutti ARG 16pts. Men's fleet overall: 1. Eduardo Couto BRA 4pts; 2. Daniel Jacobsson BRA 6pts; 3. Alexandre Tinoco BRA 7pts; 4. Andreas Perdicaris BRA 9pts; 5. Tiago Rodrigues BRA 9pts; 6. Fabio Dutra Pillar BRA 12pts; 7. Gonzalo Barclay PER 12pts; 8. Igor Lisovenko RUS 13pts; 9. Dany Stansic SLO 13pts; 10. Max Andrews NZL 13pts. Full results: www.laserinternational.org NEWS BRIEFS * Dassault Systèmes has become the latest supporter of K-Challenge, the French team for the 32nd America's Cup. The world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products, from conception to maintenance. Dassault Systèmes can count around thirty clients in the leisure boat construction field, including naval architects and shipbuilders. * For the second consecutive year, British yacht Leopard of London is the first ARC yacht to cross the finish line in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. As an entry in the Open Division due to her size of 96 feet, Leopard of London will not be a part of the ARC results. -- www.worldcruising.com/arc2005 * The Provisional Notice and Conditions of Race for the centennial Bermuda Race, Newport Bermuda 2006, is now online. "We are expecting to smash the participation record of 182 boats set in 2002 by an impressive amount, by 30 to 40 boats," quipped Andy Cox, Commodore elect of the RBYC. "A dozen conventional 80 to 90 foot Maxis should be on the line with scores of other boats in the 50 to 80 foot range. -- http://www.bermudarace.com/ * Carl Crafoord has been recruited to establish Lewmar pty, a wholly owned subsidiary in Sydney, Australia. Crafoord, 45, as a member of Lewmar's senior management team, will be responsible for business development for Lewmar and Navtec, the company's Titan winch handle business, and Southeast Asia outsourcing projects. Crafoord will also provide marketing support to the company's distributors in that large region of the world. Crafoord formed Harken Australia pty in 1993 and served as its Managing Director until his appointment at Lewmar. * Last week it was reported in Scuttlebutt that airport officials in Cape Town, South Africa were trying to determine if it was the landing of an Antonov 124 carrying the Pirates of the Caribbean Volvo 70 that caused runway damage at Cape Town International Airport. To help take some of the pressure off the Pirate team, Scuttlebutt has posted a photo gallery of other airplanes that have experienced a wide variety of problems: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/planeprobs * Correction -- International sailing writer Tim Jeffery issued a correction to his story from The Independent which we carried in issue 1979. Jeffery wanted our readers to know that ABN Amro One's win was not the first non-Farr boat victory for 20 years. Jeffery explained that djuice was first into Kiel at the finale of the previous race on the short hop from Gothenberg … and offered his apologies to Laurie Davidson and Knut Frostad. MAN OVERBOARD! A dark and stormy night...no visibility...bow man washed overboard...a crew's worst nightmare. But with SeaMarshall automatic water-activated beacons and our new SarFinder homing receiver, a potentially tragic situation is turned into a successful rescue. To find out more about SeaMarshall rescue gear contact Chip Barber: mailto:admin@chbarber.com; http://www.chbarber.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Skip Ely (in response to Robert Bausch, et. Al regarding animal rights vs human rights): If I don't feel the same as you (our opinions differ) I should be banished from the planet? It is fortunate that this sort of banishment is forbidden by basic human rights (in the western world anyway). With respect to the unfortuate (for the sailors) event of hitting a large seacreature at any speed, it is exciting and dangerous! Large sea creatures should be banned from basking in the top 15 feet or so of the oceans, it that too much to ask? it is important to take loss of an animal in perspective. In the U.S. around 25,000,000 birds die each month by flying into windows. 15,000,000 deer are killed each year by running into cars (Millions more are torn apart by lions however). Almost every time a sailboat hits a sea creature of this size we hear about it (at least in ocean races), how many creatures are hit by freighters drawing 30+ feet and traveling 20+ knots. Sail boats are really not an issue when it comes to the animal kingdom. In general we should be thankful that no humans were injured or killed (a distinct possibility) in this incident. The death of the shark was incidental, and inconsequential from a global perspective. Let's move on and talk about sailing! Curmudgeon's comment: Good idea Skip -- this thread is officially dead. * From Nevin Sayre: Why do many kids age 11+ drop out of sailing? At that age they exert their own choice, and often choose cool board sports- skate boarding, skim boarding, surfing, wake boarding, etc. Sailing has a very cool board sport that kids love - windsurfing. Give them some luv. Bob uses France as an excellent example. Over 1,000 ISAF-approved windsurfers (the Bic Techno 293) are used in Junior Sailing Programs in France alone. They find windsurfing makes better, more confident sailors, and makes their dinghy programs more attractive. (Not to mention France is light years ahead in Olympic and Junior competition.) This summer my local club, Vineyard Haven, as well as others, purchased fleets of eight Bic Techno 293s (for less cost than two more club dinghies). While the Optis and 420s rarely have left the racks other than an organized class or race, the windsurfers were out playing all the time with ages 7 to 70. Twelve year olds are enthused by the new variety offered. Tennis four teenagers who dropped out, are returning for new fun with a sail. Aside from being cool, fun, and making better sailors; windsurfing has proven attractive because all sizes do it (with modern equipment), it's quick to get out on the water, and because 90 percent of windsurfing is non-competitive. For full disclosure, I work in the windsurf industry. But my motivation comes from my 8 and 13 year olds who love dinghies largely because of windsurfing. * From Bill Crane: Last month the JSA of Long Island sound announced that Bruce Kirby's new 14 foot "Pixel" dinghy will be used for youngsters who have either graduated from the Opti, or are interested in sailing in a multi-crewed boat with jib and spinnaker. As one who has sailed this boat many times, and whose Opti-sailing daughter has raced it, we as a family cannot speak highly enough about the boat, and believe it offers a solution for kids in sailing programs who have, (for one reason or another), outgrown the Opti and are not ready for the 420 or Laser/Radial. * From J.P. Clowes: People keep comparing the Volvo Ocean race to Formula 1 racing. That is OK as far as it goes, but when you are talking about a breakdown the comparison has to stop. In Formula 1 if your engine breaks the worst that happens is you walk back to the pits while a Tow Truck tows your car, and you lose the race. In the VOR if you have a bad breakdown, you can't just call a tow truck and swim to your next stop. People can die. * From Bill Pentleton (bpentleton@hotmail.com): I recently sold some items from your classifieds to a man named Eric Bohman and due to computer operator error, the only part of his email address I have left is ebohman. He sent a check and I no longer have a way to contact him. He is a Scuttlebutt reader and thought you might have him in your database and could advise the best way to get a message to him. He has yet to re-contact me and I have two winches to send to him in California. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor! |
