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SCUTTLEBUTT 2053 - March 17, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.MOVISTAR ARRIVES IN RIO Twenty-six days after leaving Melbourne, movistar finally docked in Rio to signal the end of another tortuous leg and the start of another intense period of wholesale repairs. They crossed the Rio finish line at 13.11 local time, adding three points to their overall tally, which leaves them in fourth place just one and a half points behind Pirates of the Caribbean. As soon as they tied up, the shore crew went into action, starting on a list of works and repairs that is longer than the Cambodian alphabet and which must be completed in nine days before the in port race on March 25th. Extra hands have been brought in to help, including Russell Bowler, president of designers Farr. It had been a frustrating time for everyone said skipper Bouwe Bekking. He swept aside any suggestions that the crew were still unhappy with the boat and the shore crew, following the revelations from a team meeting in Ushuaia that certain members of the team felt the repairs were not standing up to the rigours of racing. "A lot of people were scared, but I gave them the option of getting off in Ushuaia and was very happy that apart from Spike, they all decided to keep going. The boat goes really nicely but we've had our fair share of issues and it would be nice to put them all behind us. His frustration was shared by all the crew, commented watch leader Mike Joubert. "We have not had much wind so it's been pretty frustrating but the guys have got a pretty good sense of humour. We went through the intense disappointment of knowing we could not win the race any more, then we started to joke about it then reached a stage when it wasn't funny any more so we just had to deal with it and get on with it. Joubert was the most outspoken crewmember during the Ushuaia meeting and at one stage claimed he had 'zero faith in the boat and in the people fixing it'. But arriving in Rio, he said he was confident the problems could be resolved. "We do have some fundamental issues with the boat that are being resolved and that is a good thing. If we did not know what the problem was, we would be in much more trouble. If she was slow, we would be more worried. At least we know we can fix the boat and make it strong and we feel absolutely confident that it can be fixed. The point of the meeting in Ushuaia was that we wanted our boat sorted out and we wanted it sorted out now so we could race it. We are tired of delivering it around the world." Two crew changes have already been announced with Noel Drennan and Iker Martinez due to join other sailing projects temporarily before joining up once more with the crew in Baltimore. ~ www.volooceanrace.org Volvo Ocean Race Standings: 1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 49 points 2. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 35 points 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 30.5 points 4. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, 28 points 5. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 26.5 6. Ericsson Racing Team John Kostecki, 21 points NEAL MCDONALD SPEAKS The situation on Ericsson has been obvious to all who have looked at the campaign. In the two legs when we have managed to complete the course in the absence of keel or other structural issues we have been in last place. So something had to be done. We were in a rut and it would have been difficult to stop it getting worse without making some major changes. Disappointed, frustrated - yes, these are the words that have cropped up repeatedly in our conversations over the past couple of days. But by staying on board while John Kostecki takes over as skipper means that I am in the position to help do something about putting Ericsson back where she deserves. This race is unfinished business. For sure I thought about quitting, but this is the decision the group came to. That said, I don't think we should be afraid of taking tough decisions in the future. The objective remains to get the best result we can. What was especially difficult was to come through a tough and demanding Southern Ocean stage and step ashore straight into frank and robust discussions. The keel problems on the first and second legs have not helped our results, but we cannot hide behind them. What I can say is that their effect was much greater than simply a technical failure that produced one bad result and one retirement. It meant that our heads were down trying to solve this problem, and didn't leave time or energy for the campaign overall. Not sailing that second leg denied us the chance to learn about our sails. By putting the boat on the ship to Melbourne we knew it would be costly in terms of knowledge lost, but it has proven greater than we anticipated. Now John is skipper and I am comfortable with that. Funny to think that I was chasing him in the last race -he was on the winner Illbruck, with me skippering the runner-up Assa Abloy. It does not need to be said that I respect John's abilities. That was why he was already in our team for the in-port races. ~ Excerpt from a story written by Ericsson's former skipper Neal McDonald posted on the Daily Telegraph website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/kh3uz CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar MAGNUS HOLMBERG SETS THE PACE Angra Dos Reis, Brazil -- Magnus Holmberg was the clear winner of the Group A round robin at the Brazil Sailing Cup, Stage 5 of the 2005-'06 World Match Racing Tour. Holmberg and his Victory Challenge crew advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the $100,000 match-racing regatta after winning the round with a 4-0 record. Behind him there's a three-way tie for second between Ed Baird (USA), Gavin Brady (NZL) and Thierry Peponnet (FRA). The three finished with 2-2 records. Local qualifier Daniel Glomb was fifth in the group at 0-4. Group A enjoyed a pleasant 10- to 12-knot northeasterly this morning that made for fair racing. As Baird said, "Yesterday was very frustrating. Today was much better." After Group A finished its round Group B took to the water and completed two flights before the wind died away and an almighty tropical squall, complete with thunder, lightning and buckets of rain, put a halt to racing for the day. It was a good call by the race committee. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia crewman Antar Vigna got a shock from lightning while touching the boom vang. Ben Ainslie (GBR) and James Spithill (AUS) are tied for the Group B lead with 2-0 records. Dean Barker (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR) are 1-1, and Cameron Dunn (NZL) and Staffan Lindberg (FIN) are 0-2. Group B is scheduled to complete its round robin tomorrow morning. The format of the Brazil Sailing Cup calls for the top three teams from Groups A and B to advance to the Quarterfinal Round. The bottom teams from each group advance to a Repechage Round that will determine the other two quarterfinalists. In the event of a tie between three or more teams the Sailing Instructions call for a sail-off among those teams, if time permits. If time doesn't permit, the tiebreaking system in Appendix C of the Racing Rules of Sailing will be applied. The race committee hasn't decided whether it will conduct the sail off. If they decide to use the system described in the appendix, Baird and Brady would advance to the quarters. ~ http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/ GREAT PHOTOS FOR YOU COMPUTER -- FREE An incredible screen saver with 20 new photos, including images from some of the world's top photographers, has just been posted on the UK-Halsey web site. Colorful racing and cruising action scenes. Juice up your PC and amaze your friends and business associates. It's free for downloading. And when you're on our site, take the latest animated rules quiz or check out some useful software for crew management and sail evaluation. Nice part: it won't cost you a dime. Check it out: http://www.ukhalsey.com EXPLORING THE INNARDS (The Daily Sail subscription website explored the innards of Volvo Ocean Race leader ABN Amro One and made some very interesting observations. Here are a couple of brief excerpts.) What is most evident from a crawl around down below is that the division of space (ie the bulkhead positions) are markedly different to the Farr boats. Most noticeably there is a substantial bulkhead (ie a full bulkhead with cut-outs) around 3m forward of the companionway and closer examination reveals one of ABN Amro One's secrets - she has one less bulkhead (and therefore saves this weight) compared to the first generation ABN Amro Two. A principle difference between ABN Amro One and the interior of the Farr boats is that on the latter the companionway is not joined to the front underside of the cockpit which one might imagine to be a structurally significant union. The reason for this is to make it easier for sails down below to be thrown across the top of the engine box during manoeuvres rather than having to lug them forward and then across and back. In the event however few sails are kept down below - teams prefering 'to stack' them on deck. In fact the whole stacking set-up down below is different from the Farr boats. For example forward the aft bulkhead and astern of the media station there is a massive empty area, which on a cruising yacht might amply accommodate a king-sided double bed and this is where some sails are stacked in strong downwind conditions. "Our big stacking area is aft. We don't ever have sails down the side, only pre-start and the finish," says Sanderson. ~ www.thedailysail.com RESCUING HISTORY How would you like to be the proud owner of a very inexpensive 1984 Judel/Vrolijk One Tonner named SudPack? Make an offer, but understand she's up a tree. Several trees, actually. Or howzabout a 1966 Westerly 30 for $5,500? It's for a good cause. There's little on the Gulf Coast that didn't take a battering from the hurricanes of 2005, and that includes the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi, which says that its mission is, "to preserve and interpret the maritime history and heritage of Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast." The museum is housed in a former Coast Guard barracks built in the 1930s. The building survived Hurricane Camille, but Katrina poured a 30-foot tidal surge across Deer Island, carrying away pine trees that "acted like torpedoes" as they crashed through the complex, according to museum staff. Like other nonprofits, the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum accepts boats as donations, and sells them for sustenance. This is, unfortunately, a time when the Gulf Coast market is overstocked with fixable boats that have taken a whipping. Sud Pack is described as lodged in several trees, with no hull damage, boom and back stay broken. If you'd rather have a shot at a fully restored, ready-to-go runabout, for example a 1956 Century Resorter (mahogany on oak, with silicon bronze fasteners), the museum is raffling off a beauty in a drawing scheduled for August 29. ~ Excerpt from a story by Kimball Livingston on the Sail magazine website, full story: http://sailmag.com/maritimemuseumbiloxi/ NEWS BRIEFS * Three-time America's Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts grabbed a narrow advantage on the opening leg of the Dubai Match Race Challenge. Coutts edged 2-1 ahead of Jes Gram-Hansen after three 20-minute match races as the two-day event got under way off Dubai International Marine Club. The event's opening match race was the first time that the Russell Coutts 44 racing boat had been seen in competitive action anywhere in the world. Gram- Hansen's crew is built around the Italian-based 2007 America's Cup challenger, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team. * The UK sailing fraternity is firmly taking Sail 4 Cancer into their heart with 2006 witnessing over 400 boats jointly supporting the charity in four different one design classes at events during this hectic season. Laser SB3's, J80's, Squibs and RS800's are all taking to the water for Sail 4 Cancer. Sail 4 Cancer raises significant funds for cancer treatment and research through the organization of high profile sailing events. The charity also provides sailing opportunities for cancer patients and their families, in the hope that their quality of life may be improved. ~ www.sail4cancer.org * If the manner in which headsails are measured has ever puzzled you, there is a thread on the Scuttlebutt Forums called "Jib vs Genoa" that might clear things up for you. After a bit of debate, forum user John Tormey steps up with a decent explanation and picture of how it is done. Here is the thread to view and comment: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/0317 * The Global Ocean Challenge 2007/08 (GOC) -- the first ever solo-double global ocean race -- announced that four additional entries have been received, bringing the total to six. Of those entries, two are in the solo 50 Division, one in the double-handed 50 Division, one in the solo 40 Division and two in the double-handed 40 Division. In addition, race organizers have received 69 emails from sailors registering their intent to enter the race. ~ www.gochallenge.net AWESOME PERFORMANCE Congratulations goes out to Robert Hughes and the crew of Heartbreaker for winning the highly competitive Farr 40 class and claiming boat of the week honors at the Acura Miami Race Week. One great performance deserves another, and that's why they chose Ockam Instruments. Heartbreaker utilizes Ockam's superior processing power and the amazing Matryx graphical display technology. Known around the world for performance, accuracy and reliability, Ockam Instruments are not just for grand prix yachts. We have instrument solutions for everyone looking for a distinct competitive advantage. For more info, contact Ockam. mailto:lat@ockam.com OVERPOWERING In Issue 2051, we put out a request for readers to submit their stories from Acura Miami Race Week. The first submission came quickly, and at 3,885 words, pretty much closed out the competition. Here are two excerpts: * We immobilized his arm against his side. Steffi called me with worry in her voice. take a look at his leg. he is bleeding too. I looked down and saw his sock and right shoe were bright red, soaked with blood and it was dripping down the side. I raised his storm gear to find a three inch gash, down to the muscle belly of his left leg. Bleeding profusely. I got the medical box, and we moved to the bow of the boat so I could attend to him without being disturbed by the lowering of sails. Within minutes I rinsed the wound removed his bloody shoe and sock and dressed the wound, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding. * Sunday was glorious. Gordon went to the bathroom with the Sunday newspaper. Wow, he yelled loudly, "I am in the paper." I read it when he got out. "Ettie Vows To Win" was the headline, and the article featured Gordon and the Sazerac for five paragraphs. Everything was there, how he had been coming in Second for the last few years, how the last time he got first place was ten years ago. Then the five paragraphs were followed by ONE paragraph that described the rest of the billion dollar boats, international racers, Transpac, the Patches that split its deck. The paragraph began with the word, "Meanwhile.. " If you raced in PHRF-4 at the Acura Miami Race Week, or heck, have ever raced at all, you will want to take a look at the complete report: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/0314 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 Peter Johnstone: Neal MacDonald is a class act, amongst the top all-round sailors in the world. 14's, 18's, Whitbread, Club Med, Volvo, or wherever. . . .he is the glue that holds together boats, teams, morale and motivation. Ericcson is damn lucky to have him in any role. Neal, you deserve success. * From Bob Fisher (Ref: Trivia Answer): It was incorrect to say that Baron Bich's America's Cup entries failed to win a single race in the challenger series. In 1980, France 3, with Bruno Trouble at the helm, beat Australia in one race in the semi-finals of the challenger series (this was pre-Louis Vuitton Cup era). If you were there, you would not have forgotten the smile that spread across the face of Baron Marcel Bich - he even spoke (briefly) to a journalist as we followed him on the dockside. * From Kimball Livingston, Senior Editor, West Coast, Sail: Alas, we are misled by the outtake alleging that in Baron Bich's three campaigns for the America's Cup, he never won a challenger race. In 1980, France 3 made it through both Sverige and Lionheart before going down to Australia 4-1 in the final challenger trials. Her one win over Australia was more of a fluke than a triumph -- no discredit to skipper Bruno Trouble -- but the French crew hit the dock partying as if they had just won the Cup, and the crowds poured down from Thames Street to help them celebrate. The way I remember it, champagne was spewing all around, hats were flying, and the guys on the boat were throwing each other into the water and making a huge commotion. In the midst of this melee stood a figure apart, one Marcel Bich in his familiar white suit, and no one was slapping him on the back, no one was spraying him with champagne, no one threatened to toss him into the drink. (Monsieur Le Baron did not have a reputation as "one of the boys.") Eventually, Himself walked to the rail, took nose in hand, and grandly stepped over the side. * From Frederic Laffitte: Correction to yesterday's Trivia. In 1974 Bich did build a France II contender, however she revealed to be slower than France 1, so France 1 was chosen to race the challenger series and indeed lost all the races. I know I was on the boat. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION "I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty." ~ George Burns Special thanks to UK-Halsey Sailmakers and Ockam Instruments. |
