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SCUTTLEBUTT 1968 -- November 16, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.GUEST EDITORIAL -- Charlie Cook The Olympic format agreed upon last week was the result of a careful balancing of the interests of all stakeholders: sailors, sponsors, media and event organizers. Olympic aspirants spend years and countless sums training for and competing in the Olympics. They put their lives on hold. They want to compete in a fair event, with the best sailors winning the Gold. They don't want a format that amounts to nothing more than a lottery. Corporate sponsorship has become the lifeblood of Olympic campaigns. Media exposure is the currency of those sponsors. The more live TV coverage and other opportunities for exposure the better - for all sailors. Literally billions of dollars are paid to the IOC for the right to cover the Olympics. The IOC have made clear that sports must adapt to this reality or be eliminated from the Olympics. This is an issue at all levels of the sport. Try explaining to an Editor who sends a reporter and photographer to an event why the winner isn't event sailing on the last day. The organizers of Grade 1 and World and Continental Championships of Olympic classes are also stakeholders. Whatever format was decided upon for the Olympics is likely to trickle down to other events. Clubs want a format that's inclusive, and easily managed. Some of the more radical proposals included an elimination series leading to a three race winner-takes-all final series for four boats. That would certainly have made for interesting live TV coverage on the final day of each event. But, especially given conditions expected in Qingdao, it would have reduced the competition to a lottery. In the end, the sport would have been changed, in many ways for the worse. The format settled upon represented a compromise in the best sense of the word. The new format addresses the interests of all stakeholders. The potential for a lottery is greatly reduced; the best sailors will win the medals. A larger number of sailors will gain exposure through live TV coverage. The final race will be meaningful and interesting to the media. Finally, this is a format that organizers of Grade 1 events and class championships can implement. Early returns have been overwhelmingly positive. The IOC are reported to be pleased with the format. The mainstream media think it's a good approach. Most importantly, it didn't "change the game" for the most important stakeholder - sailors around the World. -- Charley Cook, ISAF Council Member (Group P - USA and CAN) EXPOSING THE SECRET Anacortes, Wash. -- Shhh. There is a secret within the Anacortes boat-building industry, and the only clue is a building with several BMWs parked in front. After several months of preparation, the BMW/Oracle America's Cup racing team is about to begin construction of its first of two racing boats in a nondescript building on Anacortes' industrial waterfront. And as the crews prepare to lay a carbon-fiber skin into a mold made by Janicki Industries of Sedro-Woolley, secrecy and security have been ever present. for good reason. Competitors in the 32nd America's Cup have prestige and esteem at stake in the race, and boat design and construction are closely guarded secrets by the teams. "Now we go into the secretive phase as we go into this year," said Tom Ehman, external affairs director. The boat will be built inside an unassuming brown and orange industrial building and then baked in a covered oven outside. There may be a small ceremony when the boats are completed in a few months, but that is not likely. The finished hull is top secret and is usually unveiled just days before the race. "It is hard to tell what is going on in every other team. It is all pretty secretive," said Ian Burns, the design team coordinator. "The whole thing, the America's Cup, is a game of advantages, (such as) what the other team is thinking." The BMW/Oracle boats are the only entries being built in the United States. But they won't be finished here. Once the major components are ready, they will be sent to Spain for assembly and for the race, which takes place in April 2007 in Valencia. Each of the two boats requires about 30,000 hours of construction and 200,000 hours of research and development, according to the team. The BMW/Oracle racing team brought 18 construction workers and their families to Anacortes for the year. -- Randy Trick, Skagit Valley Herald, full story: http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/articles/2005/11/14/news/news01.txt INTERNATIONAL SAILING SUMMIT Several presentations highlighted, through statistical and anecdotal evidence, the marked decline in watersports participation, by as much as 6-8 per cent per annum according to Tim Coventry of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and by even greater margins in the latest report produced by the sporting goods manufacturers' trade body, SGMA International. In contrast, European Boatbuilder editor Phil Draper reported that mainstream yacht production, from 6m right up to superyachts, was healthy and concluded from research that it was likely to remain so. Reversing what seems to be an irresistible march towards exclusivity in sailing remains a key theme of the ISS, founded and chaired by Ronstan International's managing director Alistair Murray. Introducing the one-day conference, Murray affirmed the summit was about quality delegates, not quantity, and confirmed that there were many key personalities among the 85 participants present from 16 countries. -- Excerpt from a story on the Sail-World website, full story: http://www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?Nid=19986&RequestTimeOut=180 BE THE ULTIMATE GIFT GIVER! At the Ultimate Sailing website, you will find a great selection of Ultimate Sailing products that are sure to please the Ultimate Sailors on your list. Calendar, book, notecards, and custom prints featuring the fabulous photography of Sharon Green. http://www.ultimatesailing.com APPROACHING THE DOLDRUMS As shore managers scratched their heads over how best to return crippled yachts to the race track, navigators of the leaders on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race were rolling the tactical permutations for the dive south through the trade winds. Adrienne Cahalan had given Brasil 1 a 57-mile lead over Steve Hayles in Ericsson as both chose an easterly option. Speculating to accumulate were the two ABN Amro boats, a further 13 and 17 miles behind. In Portugal, both movistar, skippered by Bouwe Bekking, and the Paul Cayard-led The Black Pearl looked increasingly likely to make major repairs and still try to complete the first leg from Vigo to Cape Town. The fifth-placed Australian entry Brunel Sunergy has already left Porto Santo, Madeira, after completing repairs to the boom attachment to the mast. -- Stuart Alexander, The Independent, full story: http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article327296.ece Tuesday, 2200 GMT Position Report: 1. Brasil 1, 5248 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team, +35 miles 3. ABN Amro One, +39 miles 4. ABN Amro Two, +39 miles 5. Sunergy and Friends, +466 miles 6. Movistar, +909 miles 7. Pirates of the Caribbean, +965 miles Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com BEKKING OPTIMISTIC DESPITE 'SICKENING' IMPACT Movistar was damaged on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the start from Vigo. "It was a crunching, sickening noise. In that moment, it could be anything," Bekking recalls of the moment when the Volvo 70 crash-landed off a wave. On the starboard side, the flat panel anchoring one end of the giant hydraulic ram which swings the keel through an 80-degree arc was detached from the structure either side of it. On the opposite side, the main ring frame bulkhead had a three-inch tear. Russell Bowler, the engineering partner in Farr Yacht Design, spent 20 minutes aboard for his initial inspection. "I think the Farr office will offer us a solution," Bekking said. "We have to accept it and finance it so it will be our say as to what we will do." His worst fear is that the insurers say Movistar is unsafe. This seems the least likely outcome. The most probable is that repairs can be done in Portugal, in which case Bekking believes his crew could leave Portimao by Dec 2, complete leg one and be in Cape Town for Boxing Day's In-Port race there. "Scoring no points is what we're trying to avoid," said Bekking, mindful that Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean is also damaged and docked in Portugal at Cascais. "There are still a couple of points to grab, especially if Pirates decides to retire and go directly to Cape Town." -- Excerpt from a story by Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/9f5za THROUGH THE DOLDRUMS In the Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 Monohull class, there is now more of a triumvirate heading up the fleet, as Jean Le Cam and Kito de Pavant on Bonduelle have had a relatively magical route through the Doldrums to the East of the course compared to the others, and is now 36m behind Sill et Veolia (Jourdain / MacArthur) in 2nd, who in turn have dropped back to 19m from leaders Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron on Virbac-Paprec after a difficult night sailing in heavy squalls. The Open 60 monohull leaders are still under the influence of the Doldrums for a few hours yet, but are all reporting signs of the trade wind conditions in the skies. As the multihulls are crossing the Equator at the latest position reports, the top three ORMA 60 trimarans are launching in a tacking battle to the Ascension Island turning point in the SE Trades. The sea state is renowned to be rough in this area too, and so looking after the structure and rigging will be paramount on this leg of the race. Banque Populaire (Bidegorry / Lemonchois), leading from Géant (Desjoyeaux / Destremau) by 42m, pulled off a winning counter-tack earlier today to reposition nearer to the rhumb line and ahead of Gitana 11 at the same time. Giovanni Soldini and Vittorio Malingri, the two Italian skippers on ORMA 60 trimaran TIM Progetto Italia, which capsized 450m West of Freetown at 0515 Monday morning, were picked up around 2000 hrs by the supertanker Capbari which was en route to Mexico. There is no current information about a possible transfer of the two skippers before the tanker reaches Mexico. Giovanni spoke to the Race organization around 2100 hrs from on board the tanker about the chances of salvaging his trimaran. "I don't think we can salvage the boat. The starboard float was smashed by the mast, which broke into three pieces and was heavily damaged." http://www.jacques-vabre.com/pages_uk/accueil_uk2005.htm FOR THE RECORD Olivier de Kersauson' Geronimo continues to power her way towards the islands of Hawaii in her quest to set a new World Sailing Speed Record Council record for the transpacific Los Angeles Honolulu Challenge. After 48 hours, Geronimo was close to the halfway point in the 2225 mile race, and the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran has been traveling at an average of 21.75 knots overnight. The maxi trimaran has covered 261 miles in 12 hours with the team covering over 500 miles for day two. "We're just getting to the point of being ahead of the record now," said USA crew member Larry Rosenfeld. "It was pretty slow going at first and then very rough seas from a bad direction and now finally we can let her run. We have been doing 23-28 knots last watch." -- www.superyachting.com NEWS BRIEFS * Time is running out for US Sailing members to make their nominations for the 2005 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards. Only one male and one female can prevail, and they must be U.S. citizens. Nominations will closed or November 30, just six days after Thanksgiving. After the nomination period ends, a shortlist of nominees is presented to a panel of noted sailing journalists who discuss the merits of each, and vote by secret ballot to determine who will be honored … and receive their specially engraved Rolex watches. To make a nomination online: www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex * On-line registration for the 2006 US Sailing Rolex Miami OCR is now open. The is expected to bring together hundreds of sailors from about 30 countries to Biscayne Bay from January 22-27, 2006. The event, ranked as Grade 1 by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), is a mandatory event for the 2006 US Sailing Teams as well as the Canadian Team; a country qualifier event for the 2007 Pan American Games; and one of the first Grade 1 events for the new Neil Pryde RS:X board. Registration information and other regatta and Winter Circuit information can be located at www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR FREE SHIPPING AND NEW PRODUCTS Team One Newport is offering free ground shipping for the month of November!! We have some really cool new items like the Ronstan light-weight Windbloc jackets, the Timbuk2's Bag In A Box, Kaenon sunglasses, Freestyle's navigator compass watch, Blue Performance Cockpit bags, Patagonia's baby bunting (can't forget those future sailors!), Henri Lloyd' North Sea jacket, Gill's Coast Warm jacket, Railrider's Micro-fleece tops, and Musto's MPX Race jacket. Don't forget Sharon Green's Ultimate Sailing calendar, Onne Van der Wal's World of Boating and lots more at http://www.team1newport.com - or call 800-VIP-GEAR and talk to us!! 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 Richard Spindler, Publisher / Executive Editor, Latitude 38: Winning is everything" isn't killing the just-concluded 750-mile Baja Ha-Ha Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas with stops at Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria. The 12th running of the annual event was the second largest ever, as 525 sailors sailed on 132 boats that included everything from Mariner 31 ketches to big Swans, with a few J/Boats and Santa Cruz designs thrown in for good measure. The starts of all three legs featured superb sailing. But when the wind died, as it often does along the coast of Baja, most of the boats motored to the next port for potlucks and parties. Two boats did sail the entire course: Nels Toberson's Morgan Out-Island 41 Bronco - which waited out 40 hours of calm in the first leg - and Michael Ganahal and Leslie Hardy's 60-ft modern schooner Millennium Falcon. The philosophy of the Ha-Ha is that everybody who finishes in a winner, and the worst any boat can do is tie for third in class. While rallies certainly aren't the solution for what ails competitive sailing, the Ha-Ha left over 500 sailors in Cabo with big smiles on their faces. Did we mention that about 35% of the participants were woman, and that seven of them were skippers? * From Andy Steiner: The Whitbread/Volvo Management Team has done it again! With all the experience of Ocean Races available over centuries they still have a talent to find the worst solutions for what is supposed to be a modern ocean race. In the beginning of the Around the World Races amateur crews were allowed without any experience with the result of many injuries and the loss of lives. Then came Steinlager who had a huge advantage, in fact it wasn't really a race! Where were the rule makers? The VOR 60 was a reasonable start for a new era, except that the boat was too small and only professionals could participate with a chance for success. The whole concept went from one extreme to the other. But the 60s were probably half the price of the 70s. Now the VOR 70: in my opinion a complete failure in concept. Who would want to do the Paris - Dakar in Formula one car? The formula one car would not survive the first turn. And that is exactly what has happened. What would be the difference if the boats were much more conservative and simpler and cheaper? Well, there would be twice as many boats and the sponsors would all have a big smile on their faces! * From David Greening, Naval Architect (edited to our 250-word limit): The only reckless disregard by boat designers in respect of high-performance race boats is in accepting a commission for a boat built to a rule and a race area that may be mismatched. The responsibility for the safety of the crew must be with the race organizers and class administrators who define the type of craft and the race area. If you give a designer a rule they are going to work to its limits, in this case the limits are proving inadequate. The V70 rule requires yachts to meet the Essential Safety Requirements of the Recreational Craft Directive for Boat Design Category A - Ocean. So in the case of buckling bulkheads, is it appropriate to apply scantling standards that are intended for leisure craft and where the defining ISO standard is still only in draft form to around the world racing yachts? I am on record in the UK press as suggesting that the limits set by Category A - Ocean are marginal and are driven by commercial pressures from European mass production boat builders, I believe that there should be a Super Category A - Trans Ocean, which puts a greater emphasis on survivability. In the case of the Orma multihulls, you have to question the wisdom of short handed sailing this type of craft in heavy weather. After all many of the high profile racing yacht structural failures in the past year would have resulted in fatalities if it were not for EPIRBS, GPS and Inmarsat. * From Ralph Taylor: Guess I'm in a minority of Scuttlebutt readers, thinking that ISAF did OK in balancing entertainment values with fairness of competition when it changed the Olympic sailing format. I see nothing wrong with adding a race that eliminates all but the best 10. It cuts the fleet down to manageable size of boats with reasonable prospects. At this level, that promises to be tight racing. The added final race takes on more importance, with its double points. The leading three boats are in danger of losing their spots.(Recall Apollo Ohno in Salt Lake.) But (Run the math.) it will still be nearly impossible for 10th place to move up to the podium in one race. Where I see some danger is to "fair sailing" & outside assistance, if boats conspire to team up to impede someone ahead in the score * From John Arndt (re coaching): My general perception view point is that too many people think that sailing is a competitive sport rather than a recreational activity. Kayaking used to be an elite competitive sport practiced by a few white water daredevils. They remain purists that look down their noses at the common paddler. But Hobie's business went through the roof when kayaking stopped being a sport and became a recreational activity in which anyone could participate. When kayaking stopped focusing on competition and winning and started focusing on fun the industry flew and is majority of Hobie's business today. I love racing and it's a terrific way to enjoy sailing but not the only way. There are numerous ways to sail that don't require coaches, rules, marks, committees, membership, high tech gear or all the rest. All one really needs is a breeze, an open patch of water, a hull or two and sails. Then you can 'have a Hobie day' or any other kind of fun, relaxing, enjoyable family sail on the water. To each their own. Here's a great quote re: learning to sail and racing from this month's Latitude 38: 'About eight years ago, my wife gave me sailing lessons at OCSC,' said Joe Ferrie, a Berkeley resident and computer programmer at Oracle. 'She hasn't seen me since!' * From Linda Simpson: I hope you are going to follow up today's quote/observation (Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner) with the second half of Benjamin Franklin's quote: "Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote." CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." -- Dorothy Parker |
