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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 942 - November 12, 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.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE Once out in Table Bay, the eight-strong fleet, set up with full mainsail, number one jib and full water-ballast, jostled for position in the starting area which was positioned approximately 500 metres to the north west of Cape Town Harbour entrance, with two blue and yellow Volvo buoys as inner distance and outer distance marks. At the ten-minute gun, fired by Robert Norrman, managing director of Volvo Cars South Africa, a large fog bank was seen on the horizon, temperatures dropping rapidly. Two hundred spectator boats were pushing close to the fleet, churning up a huge wash, while above, eight helicopters circled like vultures. The whole fleet made a clean start on starboard tack with djuice choosing the favourable pin end of the line, next to the breakwater. Tyco was the first boat to tack onto port, the rest of the fleet followed, forced by the shoreline to tack out. Djuice continued to work the shoreline, sailing into clear air, Amer Sports One and News Corp hard on her heels, with illbruck and Assa Abloy covering each other. The wind dropped to 10 knots as the fleet sailed into the fog bank, but the fight continued, the lead changing with every tack, Amer Sports One losing precious distance as she bore away hard to give way to illbruck now back on starboard tack. News Corp was the first Volvo 60 to reach the gate, three miles up the race track, followed by illbruck 30 seconds behind her and djuice 5 seconds behind illbruck. SEB rounded one minute behind djuice with Assa Abloy right on her transom 10 seconds behind. There was a gap of one minute 20 seconds before Tyco turned through the gate followed by Amer Sports One five seconds behind her and Amer Sports Too a further two minutes 10 seconds later. The fleet continued to sail on the wind, the wind still decreasing, News Corp was leading illbruck, djuice, SEB and Assa Abloy inshore on starboard tack, while Tyco, Amer Sports One and Amer Sports Too opted for offshore route on port tack.
Positions at 1600 GMT Sunday November 11: Event site: www.volvooceanrace.org Daniel Forster took an incredible photo of the fleet slicing through the fog, see: www.boats.com
ONE DESIGN 35 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DeVos also collected trophies for winning the 1D35 Midwest Regional Series and was named the class' overall Season Championship Series winner. This last award was determined only after today's final results were tallied, since this was the last qualifier of the seven-event series. Windquest's scores of 4th in Yachting/Key West Race Week, 2nd in the Annapolis NOOD Regatta, a win at the Chicago YC's Verve Cup, and today's National Championship victory gave her a four point margin over the Season Series Runner-up Joss, owned and driven by Owen Kratz of Houston, TX. Nick and Tina Worth's Widowmaker of Norfolk, VA earned third place in this overall season series. The Terra Nova Yachting/Key West Race Week will be the next stop on the 1D35 class calendar, where 20 entries are expected. -- Dobbs Davis
Top Five: Complete results at www.1D35.com
ULTIMATESAILING.COM HAS A NEW LOOK
PLAYSTATION GRABS ANOTHER RECORD They achieved their goal, with a new record of 2 hours 33 mins 55 secs, over 36 minutes faster than the previous mark (pending ratification by the WSSRC). When Steve set the prior mark (3 hours 35 minutes) aboard the trimaran Lakota his crew included Ben Wright, Dave Scully and Helena Darvelid - all of whom were on PlayStation for this record attempt. "This is a special satisfaction for all of us. Back in 1994 we thought the best conditions would be a north wind - and today we had really excellent conditions. We saw 39 kts top speed on the back side of the island. Wind was between 25-30 kts the whole way. We needed 1 tack (at the Needles) and 1 gybe (at Bembridge) all the way around". Navigator Stan Honey: "This was a perfect race. The boat was great, the crew were sharp, and we had great conditions."
PlayStation's Crew As for the Cowes-St Malo Channel Record, Steve advised that no suitable weather pattern was on the horizon for the next week " so we'll all go home now and keep a watch out for another opportunity this season." Fossett Challenges: http://www.fossettchallenge.com World Sailing Speed Record Council: www.sailspeedrecords.com
TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE Leading the fleet by just 45 miles into this meteorological phenomenon is Kingfisher-Foncia (Gautier/MacArthur). One thing is clear and in the minds of all the multihull skippers: the first to leave this zone and round the Ascension Islands will be the most likely to win this passionately close transatlantic race. In the monohull fleet, all Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm (Bobst Group - Armor Lux) could say was "Groumph!" as he looked at the 195 mile gap between his boat and the leader Sill Plein Fruit (Jourdain/Le Cleac?h). The red boat is in a formidable position 80m ahead of Voila.fr (Gallay/De Pavant) coming up to Cape Verde. Just off the African coastline, however, SME Negoceane (Sanso/Dumont) and Fila (Laurent/Rufini) have moved up to 4th & 5th place respectively, even leaving last week's dominant leader Ecover (Golding/Hutchinson) in 6th place. The first signs of frustration are now showing on the faces of leading Open 50 team Alex Bennett & Paul Larsen on One Dream One Mission. An unexpectedly wide high pressure ridge has flummoxed them, as they try to battle themselves out of its grip without losing their slimmer 15 mile lead over Saving (Le Youdec/Bacave) still South of the Canaries.
Multihull Positions at 1300hrs GMT
Open 60 Monohull Positions at 1245hrs GMT
Open 50 Monohull Positions at 1245hrs GMT Event site: www.jacques-vabre.com
WANNA SEE SOMETHING SLICK?
DRY CREEK VINEYARD PRO-AM REGATTA Additionally, Ed Baird's four wins earned him the award for top 'Junior' skipper. It was not quite as easy to determine the king of the Masters Division. The curmudgeon, Butch Ullmer and Rod Johnstone all had three wins, and the first tiebreaker failed to break the logjam. However, after applying the second level tiebreaker the judges awarded the top prize to Johnstone. Unlike the light and shifty conditions of the first eight matches, the final two days of the event were sailed in big breeze. All of Freedom 30s had reefs tucked into their mainsails before they left the dock. With only subtle wind shifts apparent on the warm flat waters of the BVI's North Sound, boatspeed became 'king.' The Pro-Am Championship uses a Triple Race format, which is a three-boat match race with a rabbit start. The winner of each match gets one point while the second and third place boats get nothing. The guests of the BEYC serve as crews for the ten invited skippers - five of which sailed in the Masters Divisions, while the five contemporary rock stars were grouped into what was called the Junior Division for lack of a better term. Everyone agreed that the presence of the 50 members of the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club, who were gathered at the BEYC for their Annual Meeting, helped ratchet up the quality of the crew work to new high levels this year. It was also hard to ignore that the parties definitely ended later. Final Results: 1. Ed Baird (4) & Tom Leweck (3) 7 points; 2. J. J. Isler (2) & Rod Johnstone (3) 5 pts; 3. Peter Isler (1) & Butch Ullmer (3) 4 pts; 4. Robbie Haines (3) & Lowell North (0) 3 pts; 5. Marie Bjorling (0) & Keith Musto (1) 1 pt. -- www.beyc.com
SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA Once on the racecourse, many of the skippers surely must have questioned if they'd made the right decision. The rescue boats had their hands full in the early afternoon, until attrition ultimately weeded out those less prepared for the breeze-on conditions. Eliminations for the finals were held in three classes - Laser, Rhodes 19 and Hobie Wave. Professional sailor Ed Baird danced through the Hobie class without taking a transom during the entire three race series. Kristen Lane from Marin County, California, with the help of husband Peter and Marie Lee, won the Rhodes class with a similar record, but much tighter competition. In the Laser Class, there were four boats still in contention at the final weather mark. Donn Zinn from Annapolis, Maryland lead around that mark where he promptly capsized. This opening the door for Nigel Musto, son of the former UK Silver Medallist Keith Musto, to win his second race and the three race series. However, because there were (initially) 12 entries in the Laser Class, the second place boat also advanced to the finals. That spot went to Swedish match racing champion Marie Bjorling when she surfed over the top of Layton Lee just two boat-lengths from the downwind finish line. The experience Ed Baird gained by qualifying in the Hobie Wave immediately showed in the finals. Neither Musto nor Bjorling had ever raced a multihull before, which hurt them in the short three race series. Baird had straight bullets to claim the 2001 SSC Championship ... not to mention a bottle of Mount Gay Rum, a magnum of Dry Creek wine and the new model stainless steel Musto Competition watch which will be introduced early next year. However the big winner may have been Kristen Lane. As the top-finishing amateur, she received an invitation to return for a complimentary week at the Bitter End YC during next year's Pro-Am Series. Final Results: 1. Ed Baird, 3; 2. Nigel Musto, 6; 3. Kristen Lane 10; 4. Marie Bjorling 11. - www.beyc.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Bruce Miller: Comments on arbitration. We have found that there is sometimes a marked difference in the verbal description of the incident between the arbitration and the jury hearings. It requires a very focused arbitrator to give a decision withour offering reasons. The competitor can take that information and "go to school" before the jury hearing. The arbitrator should only give the reasons for his/her decision after the parties accept the decision. Even with that "preview" of a hearing, the competitors can learn something and carry it over to the jury. I agree that the arbitrator should be available to the jury perhaps as a witness to the "facts" as previously presented. * From Hamish Reid: I completely support Rene Appel's argument regarding the validity of unrestricted pumping in the Olympic boardsailing class. I am completely horrified at Mr Henderson's response! The olympic boardsailing class represents the epitomy of sailing athletism - exceptionally talented sailors combined with elite standards of physical and mental strength, fitness and agility and is well worthy of Olympic status. His argument that anyone can be fit is simply ludicrous. Does he really believe that elite levels of fitness are a learned / trained state exclusive of the innate talent of an althlete? His comment would suggest that a relatively sedentry person such as myself could train and win, say the Olympic Marathon - the ultimate expression of fitness. I don't think so. It's clear Mr Henderson has a hidden agenda here - I wonder if he's brave enough to enlighten us? * From Jim Champ: In my opinion the reason why Paul Henderson has been an oustanding success as ISAF president is that he's not afraid to talk in public or upset people, and to an extent has been successful in removing some of the obscurity and secrecy surrounding ISAF machinations. As a result he's upset people who knew how to manipulate things in those circumstances, but I believe he's made ISAF much more relevant to the ordinary sailor. I may object to some of the things ISAF has done in recent years, but at least I have some idea why...
WEST MARINE GIVES $50,000 TO SCHOOL SAILING Since West Marine began its partnership with ISSA in 1999, 125 new school teams have benefited, the company says."High school sailing is one of the fastest-growing scholastic sports in America today," said Michelle Farabaugh, West Marine senior vice president of marketing and strategic planning. "It is one of the few activities where both males and females can compete on the same level.". Based in Niantic, Conn., ISSA provides training, organizes races and runs a national championship system through seven regional districts and local leagues. The ISSA now includes 275 school sailing teams nationwide. West Marine said it plans to continue its contributions to the ISSA in 2002. New high school teams interested in joining the program should contact Larry White at ISSA, P.O. Box 397, Niantic, CT 06357-0397.
INDUSTRY NEWS Company founder Gert Frederiksen will have an ongoing role in the business, contributing engineering and product development expertise. Louis Sander, currently completing a 3 year assignment in Australia as Ronstan's Marketing and Development Director, will return to Europe to assume responsibility for Ronstan's European operations including the Danish company. -- www.ronstan.com * Sydney Yachts celebrates the half-century mark for the Sydney 38. Orders for the successful One Design have passed 50, with 35 sold into the Australian market. -- www.SydneyYachts.com * On 1st November 2001 the management of Ancasta International Boat Sales Limited successfully completed a management buyout of Europe's largest boat brokerage network. Nick Griffith and Lis Robinson, who were appointed as Managing Director and Financial Director respectively of Ancasta International Boat Sales four years ago, head the new management team. -- www.anacasta.co.uk * Wayne L. Burdick, CEO of Beneteau USA, Inc. has recently been promoted to the office of President. Madame Annette Beneteau Roux, the Chairwoman of Groupe Beneteau, has always held this position and this is the first time that the sitting CEO has been awarded the title of President. Burdick joined Beneteau USA 4 years ago. Since his commencement in 1997, the company has seen over an 80% increase in sales as well as an equivalent dramatic increase in production at the plant in Marion, SC. Before joining Beneteau USA, Burdick was the President of Jeanneau America. -- www.beneteauusa.com
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
