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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 823 - May 25, 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.
UPDATING A CLASSIC Merlin was given a canting keel bulb in 1997, a new rig in '98 and now Beiley has added a daggerboard between the keel and rudder to improve pointing ability. Object: "To lay the west end of Catalina [Island on the Transpac Race]," Beiley said. Off the wind, the board comes up. "My numbers tell me it's going to be faster than the boat has ever been," said Beiley, who has joined the crew. "If the wind is straight down the tailpipe, we could be right there with everybody." Bill Lee wholeheartedly approves of the new look and modifications. "We launched that boat in February of 1977, so she will be a quarter-century old next year," he said. "More people have had fun going fast on Merlin than on any other boat." - Rich Roberts For photos of Merlin's Reata and some of the brand new boats sailing the Transpac Race: www.transpacificyc.org
FOR THE RECORD There is speculation within the crew, most are favouring New Caledonia or Fiji and Xena's bowman Bradshaw Kellett is amongst those who have packed some swim shorts, because its going to be warm anywhere. The three StarTrack satellite tracking units aboard Grundig Xena have been put into 8 hourly sleep mode. A signal from Sail-World technical coordinator Daryl Krasu's desktop computer to the StarTrack system will send a wake up signal to begin the 60 second reporting cycle which will track the record attempt on the Grundig Xena mini-site on www.Sail-World.com. - Rob Kothe, Sail-World website
GREAT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS! $20 AND UNDER
ELLEN
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * Rob Emmet President, pyacht.com: US Sailing's recent press release announcing that West Marine is the "Official Marine Retailer" of our governing body fails to mention that West Marine is now actually the organization's "Exclusive Marine Supplier". On May 2, 2001 I received a message from Penny Piva Rego at US Sailing stating "While we appreciate your business, the nature of certain business arrangements precludes advertising by two competing companies. Because of this multi-year agreement, as of May 15, 2001, US Sailing will no longer be able to run the pyacht ads on www.ussailing.org." As a corporate supporter of US Sailing for the past two years, I feel blindsided because pyacht.com was never given the opportunity to participate at this level. I question whether this association is in the best interest of our sport, call upon the industry and membership to examine the deal more closely and request that the board of US Sailing rescind the contract. * From Norbert Bajurin, Commodore, Golden Gate Yacht Club: As Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, I would like to respond to Mr. Robert's story which appeared in Scuttlebutt 820 as some of his article is factually incorrect. The GGYC is a "not for profit" organization. We have no common stock and we cannot offer ourselves for sale. Never was a form of payment, loan, or donation ever discussed between the Golden Gate and Oracle Racing. The GGYC is looking forward to a membership increase which has been customary for all challenging clubs in the past America's Cup efforts. The Golden Gate and Oracle Racing have a common objective together to promote sailing as a sport and to return the America's Cup back to the United States. In 1999 the GGYC renegotiated it's lease with the City of San Francisco giving us the advantage of having a yachting facility positioned at one of the most prestigious locations on the San Francisco Bay. It also enabled us to restructure our business plan to grow as a yacht club and to promote the good of boating to our community. Like most other clubs throughout the world we cannot claim that we have the experience in the America's Cup arena. It is for this reason that we welcome three members to our board of directors from Oracle Racing, all of whom have past Cup experience. The St. Francis YC is our neighbor and their members are always welcome to visit our facilities and to be part of our enthusiastic effort in the challenge. * From Don Zinn: In response to Rich Roberts comment on protest fees. Unfortunately the rules do not have a definition for frivolous protests. Depending on the situation your frivolous protest is my blatant port starboard. In our self governing Corinthian sport it is the competitor's responsibility to uphold the integrity of the sport by protest. CURMUDGEONS COMMENTS: Don, I think we can assume that Roberts had his tongue planted squarely in his cheek when he suggested keeping the bar closed until all protests were resolved.
AWARDS A paraplegic sailor who uses a normal wheelchair in a modified layout below deck and who crawls about when above, Lauwers suffered his disability after a motorcycle accident in 1990. Then had to re-learn his sailing skills over a seven-year period while building his own yacht in a wheelchair, despite breaking his back for the second time. Has undertaken several ocean voyages, including two Sydney-Hobart races, and completed as skipper the 1999 Osaka Cup, a two-handed race from Australia to Japan. Last August became the first sailor with a disability to sail solo around the world. His non-stop and unassisted voyage took seven months and two weeks, starting in December of 1999 from Melbourne and ending on August 10 of 2000. He had to contend with severe rigging trouble and major steering problems along the way. - www.worldsportsacademy.com
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
WEEKEND WARRIORS
PENFOLD'S POINTERS Remember all that crouching up by the mast in dinghy sailing? Remember how slow your dinghy went when you sat too far back? Why should it be any different in a sportsboat? Get forward - as far forward as you can get without putting any weight on the foredeck/bow. Having the weight in the back of the bus is fine when you're planing in waves - but in little wind, you're giving yourself NO chance... So, if you're rubbish at remembering this basic point, my tip is twofold. Nominate a member of your happy band to be "trim monitor" to keep reminding everyone to get forward again after every tack, hoist, gybe and drop. - BOATmagic website More pointers: www.boatmagic.com
OUTTA HERE
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