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SCUTTLEBUTT 1805 - March 29, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. TRANSPAC 52 CLASS (Ian Walker, who will skipper Eamon Conneely's new TP52 Patches this year, examines the class in a story posted on The Daily Sail subscription website. Following are two brief excerpts.) With 29 boats currently built or on order the prospect of a first TP52 Class World Championship (assuming ISAF status) in 2006 is mouth watering. This summer's European regattas, which could have 15 boats on the start line, should be quite a sight. The rate at which this class is growing is phenomenal, especially when you consider the fact that new boats cost approximately 1 million Euros and campaigning a boat with no sail or professional crew limitations has the potential to be very expensive. Quality boat builders and designers are rubbing their hands together, but no doubt they are all quite nervous to see how their creations will fare against everyone else this summer. Unlike most one designs, the TP52 Class is run by an Executive Director on behalf of the owners. It is not heavily influenced by any one designer or builder. Tom Pollack has done a great job at shaping the class but it will need some strong leadership to keep both the current predominantly owner driven US teams and the newly formed largely professional European Teams happy. While professional helmsmen are permitted on the European Med Circuit the class rule for anywhere else in the world (including any Championship events) will remain owner or amateur driver. I predict many former Olympians and professional skippers who are now Cat 1 being in great demand. Another thing to note is for any change to the TP52 Class Rule or bylaws a 'super majority' of 80% is required. - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com THE RED FLAG When you think you've been fouled and want to protest, how quickly do you need to get your protest flag up? In his book 'Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing' Dave Perry wrote: "Rule 61.1(a) requires that it be displayed "at the first reasonable opportunity." My best advice is that the "first reasonable opportunity" is normally immediately after the incident. Remember that the purpose of the rule is to provide a visual signal to the other boat, and to any other boats in the incident or vicinity, that you intend to protest because of that incident. Any delay at all only raises the likelihood that the boat being protested won't be aware of that fact, or that it won't be clear for which incident your flag is being displayed. "The timeliness of the flag issue is the cause of some acrimony in our sport, generally arising when a boat's protest is refused because the protest committee decides that her flag was not displayed soon enough after the incident. Often it is suggested that the flag requirement is less important when the other boat is fully aware of the protesting boat's intent to protest, e.g. after a collision and an immediate hail of "Protest." I agree that it is frustrating when a protest is refused on a technicality rather than resolving the rules issue contained in the protest. But the rules are carefully worded to provide safe and fair racing, and that would be undermined if protest and appeals committees were permitted to overlook the requirements in rules when they decide that the "intent" of the rule was satisfied." "Does the flag have to be flown on the starboard shroud or anywhere else in particular?" No. The flag must simply be "conspicuously displayed." There is no requirement in the rule that the flag need be put anywhere in particular. The test of "conspicuous" is whether the flag is initially highly visible to the protested boat. In many cases the starboard side of the boat may be the worst (least conspicuous) place to display it. Notice also, that the flag can be displayed simply by holding it up and waving it at the other boat, which you can do as you head for the location where you will attach it. Note also that "conspicuous" applies not only to the location of the display but to the actual size of the flag. In US Sailing Appeal 66, the Appeals Committee decided that a 2" by 8" flag on a 40-foot boat was not of sufficient size or of suitable proportions to be "conspicuously displayed." - Excerpt from Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing, by Dave Perry, full story: www.ussailing.org/member/library/urrs20041222.htm To buy the book: www.ussailing.org/merchandise/detail.asp?product_id=71031 BIG WIND Santa Barbara, California - Opening Day for the Hobie Tiger World Championship was more than blustery for the 88 international teams who are racing off the beach. The first race got off in 18-20 knots, and later built to 25 with some gusts to 30 knots, which was about the boat speed going downwind for those daring enough to put up spinnakers. Several past world and national champions as well as Olympians are competing from 14 countries. With seas building, the race committee prudently canceled the remaining races scheduled for today as quite a few sailors were having trouble righting their boats in these heavy conditions. Lots of broken boats and sails. Four to six boats beached south of the harbor. The vast majority of the fleet has 89 points after only one race of the round robin series. Races are scheduled to resume Tuesday morning. Event website: http://hobieworlds.com/tiger2005/ LIVING IT UP @ NEWPORT SHIPYARD Dock with the finest yachts in town, where July brings the Newport Bucket & Rolex Swan Americans. Looking for the most action and the best yacht services and repairs? Newport Shipyard offers all this wrapped up with the warmest welcome in New England. Call 401.846.6000 or visit www.newportshipyard.com AGAINST ALL ODDS South Africa, despite its vast coastline stretching along two oceans, is not a nation of sailors. Notoriously ferocious winds at the Cape and a mostly rocky shoreline make taking to the sea treacherous, as the rusting hulks of wrecked freighters dotting the coast attest. Few black South Africans have ever been on a sailboat, and the white sailing elite is a small one. Sports such as yachting--long the domain of the rich--never have been a particularly good fit for Africa or other parts of the developing world. Nonetheless, South Africa, by scouring talent from a sailing school for the disadvantaged, pulling in amateur sailors, setting Cape Town boatmakers to work and even recruiting a few well-muscled rugby players, has cobbled together a national America's Cup team--one that has given the wealthy competition at least occasional reason to take note. In preliminary racing in Europe last fall, the novice South African team bested one group of Italian competitors and managed in another race to temporarily pull ahead of a top-rated U.S. team backed by computer software billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle. "The looks on their faces we really enjoyed," British sailing manager Paul Standbridge remembers, as the fledgling South African crew, sailing a secondhand boat, slipped past the professionals. "That was more fun for us than winning the America's Cup is for some people." Geoff Meek, a top South African yachtsman and the crew's skipper, warns that the team, for all its hard work, will lack experience going into the lead-up competition, and that means a big win in 2007 is unlikely. But "we give a little color," he said. "It's boring if it's only about money and hiring the best in the world. - Laurie Goering, Chicago Tribune, full story: http://tinyurl.com/43bkh ORYX QUEST 2005 RTW RACE Team Daedalus has officially entered the Indian Ocean after a quick transit of the South Atlantic. They are still technically in the Roaring Forties but the weather seems less fierce after the weeks spent in the deep south. Their course is almost due east as they ride the fringe of yet another Southern Ocean low enjoying strong, gusty westerly winds. Their speed for the past 18 hours has not dropped below 20 knots as the old girl, the yacht that is, eats up the miles on the home stretch up the Indian Ocean. At 0027 GMT Tuesday Brian Thompson's Doha 2006 was 2592 nm from the finish with Tony Bullimore's Daedalus 2820 miles further back. - www.oryxquest.com/ GLOBAL CHALLENGE RTW RACE "Straight line speeds are the name of the game at the moment," Duggie Gillespie, skipper of Spirit of Sark. "Heading for a low pressure system which we hope will be our last kicking before leaving the furious forties." The feeling of the 'last kicking' seems to be reflective across the whole fleet, David Melville, skipper of BP Explorer continuing: "This is the beginning of the end of Leg 4. There will be fewer opportunities to rectify mistakes and it is vital to maintain concentration on trim and boat speed in order to advance. However the weather is noticeably less cold which makes the tasks a little easier." Lead skipper Dee Caffari on Imagine It Done said, "We had a constant breeze over night but we'll see a lighter patch before we cross the top right corner of a low with some strong winds in. We are fighting hard to gain miles over Spirit of Sark (15 miles back) and BP Explorer (27 miles from leader) to give us space before we hit the light airs ahead of them and allow them the chance to catch up concertina style." - www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ RUMORS ARE TRUE Camet International has the outstanding reputation of always being the best in design, quality, and service. The Camet sailing shorts are the leaders in technology and comfort. They are made out of a breathable, fast drying Supplex with a UV rating of 40+ (blocks 97.5% of UV rays) and reinforced with a Cordura seat patch to insert an optional foam pad. Camet has a variety of men's and women's shorts, pants, and colors. New smaller sizes in the 7000 pants. Coolmax shirts, Canvas shorts, Mylar bags, etc. Visit the Camet website at http://www.camet.com NEWS BRIEFS * "Teachers, boat builders, authors, over 175,000 miles of cruising" reads the inscription on the Seven Seas Service Award plaque. The Seven Seas Cruising Association announced the presentation of this award to Lin and Larry Pardey at their 2004 cruising party in Melbourne, Fla. The Pardeys recently celebrated 37 years of voyaging onboard their two boats, 24-foot, 4-inch Seraffyn and 29-foot, 6-inch Taleisi. They have sailed from the Atlantic Northeast coast, south around Cape Horn, and onward to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. During those 37 years, they have written 10 books and presented over 300 seminars in 10 different countries. - The Log, www.thelognewspaper.com/news/newsview.asp?c=150733 * Kennebunkport, Maine - Barry R. Acker of Eastsound, Washington has assumed the duties of President of the Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design. Acker, a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, he has been the Dean of Students at the Stoneleigh Burnham School in Greenfield, Massachusetts; Headmaster of Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington; Headmaster of Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine; and the former role of Superintendent of Schools on Orcas Island, Washington. He is an accomplished grant-writer and has served on the boards of numerous community and educational development programs. SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING - A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. - A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. - A snail can sleep for three years. - Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. - Almonds are a member of the peach family. FOR SALE Flirt IRC49, Corby design from 2002, fully optimized in 2004. Flirt has the best of everything including a substantial sail wardrobe, carbon spars, B&G electronics etc. Class winner at many premier regattas in UK and Caribbean. Owner launching larger yacht soon, so no reasonable offer refused. Details from mailto:brokerage@oystermarine.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. This is not a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Bob Merrick: I couldn't agree more with Doran Cushing's comments about giving kids the opportunity to race in higher performance boats like catamarans. There are a few such opportunities out there right now. The Hobie class is running a Hobie 16 Youth North Americans in Ventura California this July. The Hobie Cat Company will provide twenty new boats for the event. What a great opportunity for some aspiring young catamaran sailors to give it a go. There is an NOR with details on the web site www.HCA-NA.org. US Sailing will be running their Youth Multihull Championships in Florida this August. Check out the US Sailing site for info. We've got a growing group of kids racing in Hobie 16 regattas all over the country. I'd encourage any young sailors out there who are looking for something different to give it a try. Don't fear the speed - fear the addiction. * From Ron Rosenberg (Response to Doran Cushing regarding ORCA Elite Youth Clinic and Cat sailing - edited to our 250-word limit): You bring up an interesting point about catamarans and youth sailing. We all know how difficult it can be to try to be everything to everyone, our basic mission for the ORCA Clinic (www.ORCA-racing.org) is to offer talented, enthusiastic, young athletes the opportunity to dramatically improve their competitive sailing skills, and to support their efforts to chart a course towards their future sailing goals. The most successful of these youth clinics is CISA. CISA is not only the pioneer of youth racing clinics in the USA, but 25 years later they are still the undisputed masters, and they were more than happy to generously support our ORCA Clinic efforts as well. You asked for X-Games style excitement. We are planning to have representatives from some of the Olympic Classes on hand to take these young guns for a spin in some of the Olympic Classes. Consider this your formal invitation to provide an Olympic Tornado Cat - with or without a driver. We feel proud and fortunate for coaching staff we have assembled thus far. Many of the young athletes who plan to attend have told me that they are very excited to have an opportunity to work with this coaching staff. At least one our coaches has campaigned a Tornado in the past, and between some of our other coaches, we have more than a decade of Tornado Olympic level coaching experience between us. Remember, even Olympic Medalists John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree grew up sailing slow, one-design monohulls. * From Alun James: I'm sure its been said but surely it is warranted to say it again. Leaving Russell Coutts off the water for the Americas Cup is surreal, politics and other BS aside it will be a shadow of its former self. Bertarelli "innocently" (yeah right) shelled out $10M (I think) to get NZ in to the cup on the pretext that not having them there would make the event a sham. Pardon? Am I hearing right? Can anyone explain the disconnect to me? The next AC will be like F1 without Shumaker or the rugby World Cup without the All Blacks or (for the State siders) like the World Series without the Yankees. * From Chris Upton: What will the unintended consequences be of Disney's sponsorship in the next Volvo Ocean Race? Sailing, because of its requirements of intellect and money, will not be able to grow organically like other sports. But could the Disney sponsorship bring more people out to try? Yacht clubs and sailing organizations have a well funded opportunity to promote the sport and should reach out in tandem with the sponsorship and movie. Maybe this deal will simply make it easier to get crew for a Wednesday night beer can series. I'm willing to bet if we bring these curious people along, maybe, just maybe, one or two will join the fleet and eventually own their own boat in time. Why bother whining about how multinational corporations structure a sponsorship deal? Let's use this opportunity to build our sport. * From Gunther E.Hering: There has been too much bashing about with the upcoming race series which now calls itself the America's Cup. It has absolutely nothing to do anymore with the original Deed of Trust and the "friendly Competition between Nations". It has become the quagmire of corporate egos and legal shenanigans. For this reason many clubs have decided to withdraw from this farce, since their Corinthian members are no longer prepared to finance syndicates for such activities, viz. the decision of the NYYC, the original defender and guardian of the AC. I can only applaud the NYYC for this choice. I hope that Messrs. Coutts and Baird find better things to do next season. * From Niels Kisling: Please inform the world that I am available NOT to sail in the next America's Cup. For my lack of service, it will only cost the team that chooses not to use me $1500 and a 6-pack of Carlsberg beer. * From Ted Ritter: Is it only me, or is anyone else tired of daily news tid-bits about the America's Cup, an event 2+ years away? * From Julie McErlain, Port Fairy Australia: More Extreme Sailing - While the Press does notice sailing when amazing speeds and records are broken, as we take our hats off to Michael Blackburn's Bass Strait crossing in a Laser, spare a thought for these un-noticed adventurers: In late January this year, 3 'couta' boats - classic gaff-rigged timber open boats - (one was 26ft, two were 23ft) - each with three crew, left Queenscliff, Victoria to cross Bass Strait and reach Hobart in time for the Aust Wooden Boat Festival on 12th Feb. They not only crossed Bass Strait in weather which caused one large passenger ferry to return to port, one boat sailed down the East Coast to Hobart, while the other two 23 ft boats journeyed via the rugged West Coast of Tasmania, reaching Hobart after an epic 14 day trip. Their preparation for the trip was exceptional - the trip must have been done for love not publicity - I doubt that any other couta boat owners will be in a hurry to follow them and try to beat their 14 day record! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!' - Dave Barry |
