|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1765 - January 31, 2005Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest 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. MAJOR KEEL PROBLEMS ON HELLOMOTO Three days ago, the starboard hydraulic ram that swings the keel failed after an oil seal blew. On Hellomoto we have two hydraulic rams in the event that one fails the other is robust enough to still swing the keel 100%. Having isolated the faulty starboard ram, the port ram was only just holding the keel at half cant, which was ok, but over the next few days the pressure in the system gradually failed, eventually this ram has also failed. With the keel swinging violently from side to side, I wrapped the strom jib sheets around each ram carefully. Gradually the keel had less and less range to swing, until eventually it was contained on the centerline. There was still an alarming fore and aft pitching of the keel in the bearing, so I tried unsuccessfully to lash the keel forward of the mast base. The only way to cant the keel would be to crash tack Hellomoto and let gravity do the work. With Hellomoto lying on her ear, I could then relash the keel before tacking back. It took me half and hour to re-set the lashing before tacking the boat back. I was covered in sweat. I'd gained 10 degrees of keel cant, just enough to stop the keel rocking on the centerline. Four hours later as the pressure in the lashings stretched, I would need to re-do the whole maneuver. As to the future and whether we can sail 5000 miles like this to the Finish in LSD, I dont know. Tomorrow we will try and repair the starboard ram and replace the oil lost. Realistically, we have to do this to give us any chance. - Conrad Humphreys Read the whole story: www.conradhumphreys.com UPDATE Brasil 1, the first Brazilian built boat in Volvo Ocean Race, is designed by Farr Yacht Design and is being built in Indaiatuba, São Paulo. Knut Frostad, skipper of Djuice Dragons in the last Volvo Race, was the responsible for choosing the designers. Frostad is an advisor and sailor for the Brazilian project. "I pushed for Farr Yacht Design because we did not have much time to develop the boat. In the last race, Djuice was the only non-Farr boat in the race. Although in some situations we were fast, in others we were really slow. Farr has a conservative approach and is always a safe approach," Frostad explained. Boat construction started in October, with 20 workers. Now, Marco Landi, the boat builder, has added 10 more to the construction team, among them two New Zealanders. The deck and the hull are in the final stage of lamination. Adrienne Cahalan, Brazil 1's navigator, is the only woman in the crew. She is a qualified lawyer with a degree from Sydney University, but her main career is in offshore and inshore navigation for round the world racing and weather routing. She was navigator aboard Steve Fossett's Cheyenne; a 125ft maxi catamaran, when they broke the Round the World Speed Record.- www.volvooceanrace.com/pages/news/news113.htm AC FINANCES Yesterday Salvador Senent, the Fiscal Councillor on Valencia Town Council stated that he was studying making another application to the Madrid Government over financing the Americas Cup that is based on the agreement made with Barcelona for the financing of the infrastructure necessary for the Olympic Games in 1992. He also added that Jordi Sevilla, the Public Administrations Minister, had also made another mistake in his declarations when he accepted what the Valencian Socialist party had told him that Valencia Town Hall was in debt to the tune of 707 million Euros. Mr Senent added that it was the Partido Popular and not the Socialists that ruled Valencia City, and that the true figure of the indebtedness of the Town Hall last year was 665 million Euros and that was without taking into consideration the amortization programme that is currently in place that reduces that figure considerably. - www.valencialife.net A POWERBOAT SAILORS LOVE TO BRAG ABOUT It takes a lot for hard-core sailors to admit they'd rather own a powerboat. For professional sailor Ken Read, it took a True North 38. "Everything about the True North design works. It has that same sense of efficiency that I demand when I'm racing." Inspired by the rugged, reliable New England lobster boats and built to the highest standards by the leader in composite technology, the True North 38 is converting the minds and souls of sailors everywhere. Learn more about the True North 38 or the new True North 33 at 619-224-6200 or http://www.pearsonyachts.com ROLEX MIAMI OCR After days of light air, Biscayne Bay produced some breeze for the final day of racing at the 16th annual Rolex Miami OCR - albeit interspersed with the squalls. "The storms would leave, and it would get light … and then you'd see them come again and you'd have to get over to the wind," said Laser Radial winner Paige Railey. Brad Funk's one point over Andrew Campbell he snagged not only victory in the Laser class but also the Golden Torch Award, given to the American sailor deemed to have the best overall performance among all classes. This was a very important regatta for the US racers sailing the 470 (Men and Women), 49er, Tornado and Yngling classes - it is their only regatta used for determining members of the US Sailing Team. Final Results: Finn (26 boats) 1. Christopher Cook, CAN, 23 2. Kevin Hall, USA, 33 3. Edward Wright, GBR, 56 470 Men (11 boats) 1. Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, NED, 21 2. Mike Anderson-Mitterling/David Hughes, USA, 32 3. Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, USA, 61 470 Women (9 boats) 1. Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, USA, 28 2. Erin Maxwell/Alice Manard, , USA, 63 3. Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer, DEN, 71 49er (17 boats) 1. Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding, USA, 16 2. Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk, UKR, 19 3. Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, USA, 22 Laser Full (46 boats) 1. Brad Funk, USA, 20 2. Andrew Campbell, USA, 21 3. John Pearce, USA, 46 Laser Radial (24 boats) 1. Paige Railey, USA, 18 2. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA, 20 3. Lenka Smidova, CZE, 21 Star (40 boats) 1. Andrew Horton/Brad Nichol, USA, 47 2. Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 54 3. Vincent Brun/Douglas Brophy, USA, 61 4. Mark Mendelblatt/Steven Erickson, USA, 66 5. Mark Reynolds/Phil Trinter, USA, 69 Tornado (11 boats) 1. John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree, USA, 5 2. Roland Gabler/Gunnar Strukmann, DEN, 11 3. Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle, CAN, 17 Yngling (8 boats) 1. Sally Barkow/Deborah Capozzi/Carrie Howe, USA, 22 2. Felicity Clark/Kari MacKay/Joanne Abbott, CAN, 30 3. Carol Cronin/Kate Fears/Jamie Haines, USA, 31 4. JJ Isler/Pease Glaser/Laura Schmidt, USA, 31 2.4 Metre (18 boats) 1. Stellan Berlin, SWE, 22 2. Marko Dahlberg, FIN, 38 3. Nick Scandone, USA, 48 Sonar (7 boats) 1. John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas, GBR, 14 2. Ken Kelly/Robert Jones/Andre Belcourt, USA/CAN, 25 3. David Schroeder/Keith Burhans/Bradley Johnson, USA, 32 For more information, including the latest results and photos: www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR For video of three days of racing: www.t2p.tv ELLEN Avoiding any technical failure and the preservation of B&Q is critical in the final stages of MacArthur's solo, non-stop round the world record attempt, if she is to break the 72 day, 22 hour and 54 minute world record of Francis Joyon. Presently, Ellen is 42 hours and 500 miles ahead of beating Joyon's RTW solo record passage, and to beat that record she must finish before 0704 hours on February 9. A collision in the night and a near collision with a whale a day earlier are sharp reminders what can still go wrong. "I hit something last night - I don't know what it was, maybe a fish or squid, I don't know but it wasn't huge, she said Sunday morning. "It went on the leeward rudder [and got stuck there] so I ended up doing a 360 to get that off. I gybed the boat so the rudder just lifted out of the water and it came off and drifted away. A day earlier Ellen had a close encounter with a whale. "I saw a whale very, very close to the boat and it was just in front of us, and sailed right over it. It went underneath our starboard float and as it went underneath us it blew its air tanks out and its nose came out of the water, and its back came out and I didn't see its tail but it must have been about 30 feet long. And sailing in upwind and reaching conditions over the next few days will tax the 75-foot multihull further. "There is a creaking noise coming from the mast is worrying me but there is nothing I can do about it," she explained. "I've got the headboard car in the best position possible on the mainsail track and if it's going to go, it's going to go. I feel I've done all I can do so just got to keep on trucking and see what happens." - www.teamellen.com SAVE TWELVE SECONDS PER MILE AND $25 Take a North U Trim Seminar and save 12 seconds per mile. Balance the power between your main and jib. Fine tune angle of attack, depth and twist to suit conditions. Control the shape and performance of your spinnaker. Set, jibe, and douse with confidence. Bring your questions. Leave with answers. Scuttlebutt Readers - that's you - save $25. Call to receive your discount, or add "Scuttlebutt Discount" to the comments when signing up on-line. North U offers a full slate of Weather, Cruising and Racing Seminars. Call 800-347-2457 or visit http://www.NorthU.com AND STILL THEY GET CLOSER PRB's lead over Bonduelle is now down to a very slender 22.3 miles, and over Ecover just 87.1 miles. Vincent Riou is level with Nantes, in terms of latitude and currently the lay line, when he would theoretically lay the finish on a single tack, is just south of Brest. Ahead the weather files seem to suggest he will reach the lighter winds first and have to take some losses as he sails through to reach the stronger wind out to the east of the high pressure system. PRB has seen her lead more than halved over the last 24 hours and with Bonduelle 179 miles to the east now, Le Cam may not have to sail as close to the centre of the high. Mike Golding is applying the pressure slowly, and is still very much a player in the final scene of this drama. He has come back to 87.1 miles, gaining 32.4 miles on the leader over the last 24 hours, and 2.9 miles on Bonduelle. On the latest schedule Ecover appears to be gaining a little more height on both the leading boats. Mike may have said today that it's not over till the fat lady sings, but can we hear the orchestra tuning up tonight? Leaders at 1900 GMT January 31: 1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 714 miles to finish 2. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 22 miles to leader 3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 87 mtl 4. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 1070 mtl 5. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 1077 mtl Complete standings of the 19 boat fleet: www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk NEWS BRIEFS * After six days of sailing, Orange II is heading due south towards the equator. She is getting ready to cross the doldrums on their far western side. On their sixth day, they cover 405 miles and are 482 miles ahead of the pace set by Steve Fossett's Cheyenne on their RTW fully-crewed record passage. www.maxicatamaran-orange.com * Quest International Sports Events (Quest), the organizers of Oryx Quest 2005, and the Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee (DAGOC) announced that DAGOC is to be the official Boat Sponsor of the Qatar Entry in the world's first non-stop around-the world race starting and finishing in the Middle East, Oryx Quest 2005. To be re-named Doha 2006, the boat skippered by Brian Thompson will compete against David Scully's Cheyenne, Tony Bullimore's Daedalus and Olivier de Kersauson's Geronimo. - www.qisel.com * Ocean Yacht Systems Limited has secured a major four boat order from Marten Spars, New Zealand. The order covers the supply of standing rigging for the Tripp 43 metre Sloop "Mystere", a Baltic 152 foot Sloop, a Hoek 84 foot Sloop and a 22 metre Reichel Pugh / Marten Yachts Sloop. This contract commences with delivery of the Reichel Pugh 22M to Marten Yachts, New Zealand, in March 2005. - www.oceanyachtsystems.co.uk J MIDWINTER CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT KEY WEST It was the breeziest KWRW in years - perfect for the record number of competing J's (29% of the fleet). Congratulations to Midwinter Champions Rick Schaffer (J/80), John Esposito (J/29), Tom Coates (J/105), Bill Sweetser (J/109), and George Petrides (J/120). Join the fun and link to a J class: http://www.jboats.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 Morgan Stinemetz: I don't believe that Rob Saunders can have it both ways in his guest editorial on the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. He says, "Finally, I wonder to what extent the media is to blame for only recognizing who crossed the finish line first and not who sailed their yacht best to win on handicap?" In the summary, he adds, "In today's world, we are all too eager to shift blame to someone else where ... actually the blame lies with us." Blaming the media for the way it covers race results is off base. You seem to infer that after-the-fact media coverage was what made certain racing teams possibly push their boats harder than the boats could take. That's putting the cart before the horse. Doubtless, the pre-race media coverage was skewed toward the bigger, more radical, sexier boats. It always is. What is more, it probably always will be. The guys with the big boats and the big bucks bask in that limelight; it's part of the reason they stretch the envelope. Line honors are something that even the non-yachting public understands. If the media is to concentrate on the winner on handicap, an unlikely event, then it is up to the race organizers to show them where the truth and the light lies. Don't shoot the messenger, Mr. Saunders. If there is blame to be passed around, it lies elsewhere. It reminds me of the Pogo comic strip: "We have met the enemy and he is us." * From Rob Snyders (In response to Rob Saunders comments about the Sidney to Hobart race): With all due respect, let the thread die. It's much more satisfying to find your own programs limits, rather than question others judgment. For those that want to push the envelope, let them push it. How often do you see a formula 1 race get called because of rain? Or a motocross event canceled because the track gets to rough? It doesn't happen often. It's usually a personal or team choice of choosing a slower pace rather than charging. If others want to slow their boats or find shelter, that's a decision for the skipper and/or owner. Those decisions are part of the excitement and allure of off shore racing. * From Bruce Thompson: While I agree with Rob Saunder's premise that no one is an expert out on the bleeding edge, that does not mean we can ignore that which we do understand. 1) While the Bass Strait might be comparatively shallow, that does not explain the keel failure in the Vendee Globe. 2) While the Sydney-Hobart took place in lower true wind speeds than the Vendee Globe, the apparent wind speeds were likely higher! Certainly, the failure rates were higher. 3) The trend in these boats is to try and meld an extremely low moment of inertia hull/spar design (in roll mode) with an extremely high moment of inertia keel design. The fact that we get huge bending moments when the waves provide forced excitation is totally predictable! What would happen when the bending moment exceeds the design basis? Snap, Crackle & Pop! * From Lindsay Curtis: I would have to say that the majority of Yachties in Sydney would be extremely pee-ed off by the TV journalists that do nothing more than call the Sydney to Hobart winner as the first to Hobart. In fact, once the Line Honours Yacht crosses, the RV coverage virtually dissappears ... unless there has been a major mishap (God forbid). Always, coverage of yachting events has been a problem for those of us that dream of the day there will be a Half Hour special on Yacht racing every Saturday or Sunday evening ... yeah I know ... after a hard race the last thing you want to watch is where you dropped the spinnaker in the piss, but how about those of us that can't do the hard yakka any more ... We just want to watch the action and hear the results ... and the best you can get is a 'Still' after the event. * From Eric Hanson (In defense of Ken Read after being lambasted in #1764): I don't believe Kenny to be generalizing anything, especially placing all amateur sailors into the "leaving early," and "partying all night" category. Having been both a pro and an amateur, I have seen the intricacies of both levels. The problem is not who gets paid what or why... the issue is whether or not an individual really wants to be there and how hard they are willing to work. Sailors who work hard, know their stuff, and don't embarrass themselves are going to be recognized as mature professional sailors. Those who choose to drink excessively, attend regattas for the social scene, or just don't care are recognized as well, however in a different manner. It seems to me that pros, and their sometimes lofty attitude, hold themselves to a higher standard than that of most amateurs and there's something to be said for that. The amateur sailors ought to look to the pros to learn the tricks and tactics that helped the pros attain such a status. I take every advantage available to sail with or more importantly against guys like Ken and Brad Read. Sure, this is a leisure sport for 95% of the people who participate, still for many this industry provides them with their livelihood, and believe me there are other jobs in this world that are more lucrative! Maybe we ought to put aside the angst between pros and debates about fairness of weights and measures, and just shut up and sail! * From Ralph Taylor: Spanish Socialists don't want to put 240 million Euros into a yachting event? Doesn't seem so odd, simply politically consistent. It is, after all, the Socialist Party. Good luck to Mayor Barbera on squeezing blood out of that turnip. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS One of the perks of being over 65 is that the things you buy never wear out. |
