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SCUTTLEBUTT 1681 - October 4, 2004Powered 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. ISAF WORLD SAILING GAMES 2006 With the publishing of the website (www.worldsailinggames2006.at/) and the presentation of the program the official kick off for the ISAF World Sailing Games 2006 is done. During a press conference attended by ISAF Director of Sailing Jerome Pels the organizers presented the structure of the World Sailing Games. The venue will be the Lake Neusiedl, Austria's biggest lake and well known from a large number of major events: 470 Youth Worlds in 2003, 2002 Mistral European Championship and Laser Radial European Championship in the last years. Lake Neusiedl offers very good wind conditions, especially in May. The average water depth of 1.5 metres will not allow for a keelboat event, and as a replacement Team Racing will be introduced. The nine events are: - Single-Handed Men and Women - Double-Handed Men and Women - Windsurfer Men and Women - Multihull Open - High Performance Double-Handed DinghyOpen - Team Racing There will be a qualification series over the first five days. To reduce the time to reach the race areas the fleets will be located at five towns around the lake. For the finals the top 10 ranked sailors in the current ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be seated. This system offers a large number of countries and the best sailors in the world at the World Sailing Games. - ISAF website, full story: www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=8075 BOOK REVIEW "Sir Peter Blake - An Amazing Life" reads for the first three-quarters like a rollicking story of the great sailor's amazing adventures at sea. But in the last few chapters, the book's pace accelerates and its emotional power punches as author Alan Sefton delves into the breakup of Team New Zealand, angrily dismisses rumours about secret millions being squirreled away, and ends with Blake's tragic death in 2001. The Team New Zealand turmoil was primarily over how power was to be transferred from Blake and his trusted lieutenants to Russell Coutts and a new guard after the 2000 America's Cup defense. It had become obvious to Blake that some people were working against him. "For three of our very key sailors, Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth and Tom Schnackenberg, their egos are seemingly out of control. And there is not much doubt that they don't trust me any more," Blake wrote. Blake said he was not prepared to put up with it and could not understand what he had done to deserve it. "I am exceedingly disappointed that people I thought of as good friends could have so little allegiance and respect ... " Sefton uses another document, this time notes Blake prepared for an April 1999 meeting with the trio, to illustrate the depth of Blake's frustration and the seriousness of the rift. The team was imploding and the team's image was being torn apart, Blake wrote. "Can you tell me what I have to do to get this to improve, apart from shooting myself?" Twice, the book says, Blake had the backing of the board to sack Coutts and Butterworth, but did not do so because he knew they were so crucial to the team. As Sefton explains it, Blake's authority was being subverted by their attempts to wrest control of any future defenses. - Excerpts from a book review by Eugene Bingham published in the NZ Herald, complete review: http://tinyurl.com/55r8f VALENCIA The sailing crews of the eight teams racing in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 2 and 3 underwent their final preparations on the water ahead of the first meaningful racing in Valencia, Spain, the Host City of the 32nd America's Cup. The Race Committee for the Louis Vuitton Acts set a race course for practice matches on Sunday, and many teams took advantage of the opportunity for some last minute speed tuning against the opposition. After a short delay to allow the wind to increase and stabilise, racing began in light conditions, with a six to eight knot breeze. Team Alinghi renewed acquaintances with its old rival from the 31st America's Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, while Team Shosholoza and +39 faced off in a series of starts between the first two Challengers to register for this America's Cup. There was some close action on these starts, as both teams battled hard in this 'friendly' match. Racing in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 2 begins on Tuesday with a full set of eight pairings on the schedule. - www.americascup.com FIGAWI FOUL WEATHER BOOT BEATS WINTER BLUES If it's ice and snow, it's H20, and no one knows frozen or flowing water better than the inventor of the boat shoe, Sperry Top-Sider. This winter, keep your feet warm, dry and planted firmly on the ground with Sperry Top-Sider's new Figawi Foul Weather Boot. Featuring wave-siped rubber outsoles for wet or dry traction, seam-sealed construction, nubuck uppers, and toasty sherling linings, the Figawi boot is engineered to perform in the teeth of a squall or in the face of a mud-soaked city street. Available in brown/sherling or charcoal/gold. Visit http://www.sperrytopsider.com GLOBAL CHALLENGE The 12 yachts in the Global Challenge set off in spectacular style Sunday. Thousands packed into Gunwharf Quays causing traffic chaos in the city. The fleet powered up the Solent, eager to start their ten month adventure, being chased hard by an incredible flotilla of support boats of all shapes and sizes with their wake turning the water into a blaze of white waves. The weather today was a constant force 4-5, building later in the afternoon to force 6 or 7 with lumpy seas making it a bumpy ride for the smaller boats. Helicopters swooped down through the fleet desperate to get 'the picture' that would make the front pages Monday. After passing the needles close together, the fleet has now split into two camps. Pindar, Barclays Adventurer, VAIO and Team Save the Children have opted to take a more southerly route, perhaps trying to avoid the worst of the tide as it turns against them. The eight-strong pack on the right of the line heading west, on the other hand, will be hoping that the predicted wind shift from South-West to West will put them in position to reap the rewards of the new wind direction first. At present the forecast predicts an increase to gale force 8, building from the South-West during the night. By midday on Monday it will decrease considerably and shift to the West, with light conditions expected on Tuesday. - www.globalchallenge2004.com/ COMMENTARY This is the first time the (Global Challenge) race has not had a title sponsor. (Race organizer Sir Chay) Blyth's bottom line may say otherwise, but the race is richer for it. The Challenge's core is easier to see: crews who come from all walks of life but leave with bonds closer than family; personal odysseys that reward privation and tedium with enriching experiences; and above all a darned good race. Look at the Solent and it is evident that here you do not have to have the fastest boats for the best competition, just enough yachts of a similar speed. And these Challenge 72s are built to get their crews safely through the toughest, remotest waters in the world. The 190-odd sailors in the Global Challenge may be amateurs but the winds, waves and currents pay no heed to that. - Excerpts from a story by Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/4nzrk MAJOR MONEY Fulfilling a commitment outlined in the Protocol for the 32nd America's Cup, AC Management published its accounts for the period ending June 30th, 2004. It is the first time the organization responsible for the America's Cup has operated in such a transparent manner with regards to its financial position. The total budgeted revenues for the event are forecast at 210 M€. With expenses budgeted at 195 M€, there is an anticipated surplus of nearly 15 M€ which is to be split between the challenging teams (45%), the Defender (45%), and the event organizer (10%) as per the Protocol for the 32nd America's Cup. Revenue until now has been raised through the Host City fee, the main partner Louis Vuitton, partners Endesa and Grupo Santander, and supporters, Adecco, Ford, Nespresso, and Dockwise. Forecast expenses include (as a percentage of overall expenses) Start-up costs at 3%, Marketing and Commercial costs at 10%, Communication and Media at 21%, Race Operations at 13%, General Operations at 39% and General and Administration at 13%. "We see this occasion as a natural part of fulfilling our mandate," said Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management. "It is important that in this new era of a bigger, more dynamic America's Cup, the event organizer is fully transparent, and accountable to its stakeholders - the teams, our partners, our host cities, and the public who support us. Our expenses to June 30th represent just six per cent of what is in the budget…so that means we have 94% of our work left to do. " The next accounts, cumulative to December 31st 2004, will be presented near the end of the first quarter of 2005. - www.americascup.com OFFSHORE EXPERIENCE Bill Biewenga, veteran ocean racer and weather router is available to coach you, your crew, speak at your club, or provide professional delivery of your yacht. Bill brings over 320,000 ocean miles and 17 years of routing experience to each project. For information, email billbiewenga@compuserve.com or visit http://www.weather4sailors.com CITIBANK J/24 WORLDS Noroton, CT, USA - Jens Hookanson, Middletown, RI (USA) has won the 2004 Citibank J24 World Championships, beating Jeff Johnstone, Portsmouth, RI (USA). Johnstone was in the lead going into day five, and lead after the first race, with a 10th place finish to Hookanson's 11th. It came down to the last leg in the last race of the regatta to determine this year's world champion. When Hookanson came in 2nd in the next race and Johnstone crossed the finish line tenth, we had a winner. Both teams were tied with 69 points each, but in a double tie breaker - both had won one race, but Hookanson's second place today vs. Johnstones's third place in race six, gave the title to Hookanson. "Our goal today was to sail the best we could, and not concentrate on anyone in particular," Hookanson said. "Jeff was quite a bit ahead of us today, and he beat us in the first race, so we're happy the RC got off another race. It could easily have been Jeff winning today; we had the cards lay a little bit in our favor, and had things go for us the right way today." Team members who share top honors with Hookanson: Tactician PJ Schaeffer, Ralph Kinder, Jock Hayes, and Larry Colantuano. - Andrea Watson Final Results (9 races with one discard): 1. Jens Hookanson, USA, 69 pts 2. Jeffrey Johnstone, USA, 69 pts 3. Skelley/Crockett, USA, 80 pts 4. Alejo Rigoni, Argentina, 90 pts 5. Satoshi Kume, JPN, 91 pts 6. Andy Horton, USA, 101 pts 7. Brad Read, USA, 107 pts 8. Zaleski/Zaleski, USA, 118 pts 9. Rossi Milev, CAN, 151 pts 10. Yutaka Yoshida, JPN, 153 pts Event website: www.j24worlds.com For video clips of the regatta: www.t2p.tv NEWS BRIEFS * Oct. 3 - Two 60ft trimarans dismasted in moderate conditions during training yesterday. With the final ORMA Grand Prix of the season due to start off Marseille tomorrow, so the nine teams taking part were making final preparations or were our training today. This afternoon in relatively benign conditions with a sea breeze not exceeding force four, Stève Ravussin's Banque Covefi dismasted, followed minutes later by Thomas Coville's Sodebo. - The Daily Sail, full story: http://tinyurl.com/58bjh * After a week or so the "Sailing Billboard" web page disappeared, along with the rest of the website and Sausalito Challenge joined the splash page only club. That's websites with only a home page and an "under construction" sign. Interesting thing is the statement that the sponsors "are the world's most technologically advanced companies. Note plural sponsors. Note these companies are not some of, or amongst, the most technologically advanced they are the most technologically advanced. - Excerpts from the Mariantic website, full story: http://www.mariantic.co.uk/ac/six.htm#ibm * Now you can watch BMW Oracle and Alinghi at the UBS Trophy, "Shark" Kahn in Key West, Terry Hutchinson and Gavin Brady in the Senator's Cup, world championships, overnight racing on the Chesapeake, capsizes, wipeouts, and man overboards, interviews with champions, and even instructional videos free on the internet. T2Productions provides sailing shows on demand, and currently has 65 shows from 21 events throughout the US and Caribbean available for viewing on line. The shows are available free on demand anytime in dial up. Members can watch them in high speed, full screen versions. - www.t2p.tv * As the future of the French syndicate Le Défi seemed a bit grim, the prospective Challenge could finally have succeeded in funding its 2007 campaign. The Spanish agency Mmediapress.com published today four pictures showing the French shore team posting Renault's logo on hull of the boat. Details are not available yet, but considering the size of the logo, Renault should be more than a supplier. - Cup in Europe website, www.cupineurope.com/LatestNews/2007LeDefiLN3.htm VISIT VANGUARD SAILBOATS IN ANNAPOLIS Come visit Vanguard this upcoming weekend at the Annapolis Boat Show. They will be at the H-2 dock and will have a Laser, Sunfish, Vanguard 15, Club 420, Pico, Nomad, Optimist and Zuma on display in the new 2005 colors. There will also be Pram sailing for kids and a Nomad available to take out as well. Stop by to learn more about their Free Gear Program, to see the 2005 colors, to go for a sail and just to say hello. They look forward to seeing you! For more information on Vanguard and their products visit http://www.teamvanguard.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 Doran Cushing: The U.S. government is pursuing its prosecution of two Key West, FL, sailors - sailmaker Michelle Geslin and her partner Peter Goldsmith - for their organizing efforts behind a regatta to Cuba in 2003. Out on $50,000 bond, the couple are facing up to 15 years each on felony charges of "organizing travel" to Cuba. The trial date is Nov. 8. A defense fund has been set up at www.defendcubasailors.com which allows the public to review the circumstances of the prosecution as well as donate to their defense and receive a commemorative t-shirt for the cause. * From Phil Richmond (re Mike Martin's comments in 'Butt 1680): Only new technology in the Olympics? The older classes relegated to weekend club racing? OK, I guess that logic would also require that the equestrian events be replaced by dirt bike motorcycles and that 'Segway' drag racing replace some of the slower and older style track & field events. Say, come to think of it why not just have Jet Ski racing instead of sailing events! Technology is but one factor in event selection and should not be too near the top of the list on selection criteria. Inventing a new boat or altering an older boat design so as to deliberately obsolete the supporting older boats in classes in which individuals have made substantial time and monetary investment is a poor way to illustrate to the sailing community the thoughtful leadership of ISAF or the Member National Authorities who also attempt to present themselves as being responsive to their existing membership. In the past some of the newer design classes whose very existence was heavily dependant upon their selection to the Olympics have not had an exemplary record of financial stability. That happened to some extent because they were not raced in a meaningful manner outside of the Olympics. If viewer ship is dependant upon relevance to the audience, then I would suggest that excluding the "weekend warriors" in favor of mythical "future sailors" may not get you what you think is needed. * From Chris Green: I was really disappointed to see that the selection for the multihull at the next Olympics is between the Tornado and the Hobie 16. It seems that the selectors are missing a trick here. The Hobie 16 is a beach cat and despite having worldwide popularity cannot be taken seriously as a high performance cat by today's standards. Cat design has progressed hugely over the last two decades and it would be a big step backwards to choose the Hobie 16 for our top sailors. The Tornado is still a great boat but is now so expensive to compete in at the top level that it immediately restricts it to sailors with deep pockets or considerable financial support. If there's only going to be one multihull, then it should be a modern, high performance cat that is affordable and widely available. So why do we have to look any further than Formula 18. These boats have proven to be hugely successful worldwide, with large fleets in Europe, North America and Australasia. The sailors love them and the sponsors love them so how come they aren't even being considered? For Olympic sailing to survive, it needs to be moving forwards not backwards! * From Al Russell (Re Olympic Sailing): I've been a "Weekend Warrior" for 25 years and even I find Olympic Sailing boring. I think questions have to asked why are all the classes small boats with small crews? Why can't we get more variety? In Cleveland hundreds of boats race every weekend. These boats are PHRF rated with a average size of 30 Ft. They carry a5 to 7 man crew. I think that the hundreds of "Weekend Warriors" would enjoy watching a boat they could relate to. I've suggested replacing the Europe with a Mumm 30. The Mumm MM 30 is high performance, high technology. Fun to watch. It would be great to watch Olympic quality sailors handing the MUMM 30 .Due to the crew weight limit most the Mumms carry a mixed crew. * From Graham Kelly: The article about deteriorating lashings on lifelines (Scuttlebutt 1668) brought to mind a start several years ago in the Schock 35 Nationals, in which a swaged sleeve on the lower lifeline gave way just as the crew hiked hard, immediately after the starting signal. The consequences were similar, and I have never seen such a look of astonishment as were on the faces of the crew, once they regained the surface. It was comical, but as noted in your article, the implications were serious indeed. On another occasion, a crewmate went straight over the side (at midnight along the face of Molokai), when an un-taped pelican hook on a lifeline gate unhooked as the boat tacked. The issue does not appear to be one of rope lashings versus turnbuckles, rather as noted in the article, it is an question of attention, caution, and regular inspection. * From Ted Livingston: I was glad to see the positive responses to Gordon Livingston's surprise that Mr. Kahn had protested his own son "Shark" in the Mumm 30 Championship. The same racing rules apply to all competitors. Twenty or so years from now, as "Shark" looks back over the incredible support his father has shown him (and other junior sailors), the greatest gift he's ever received from his dad, may very well be that red code B flag. * From Jens Herberg: The correction regarding Volvo Ocean Race chief "Glenn Brooke's" nationality was correct, however, his name was gotten wrong. His name is Glenn Bourke, a heck of a sailor, a heck of a nice guy and the holder of multiple Laser World Championships among other accomplishments. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why is it that no matter what color of bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white? |
