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SCUTTLEBUTT 1505 - January 27, 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. THE 32nd AMERICA'S CUP The Swiss defenders of the America's Cup yesterday formally opened the 2007 event to challenges with estimates of the likely number of teams trying to defeat Russell Coutts's Alinghi defenders put between seven and 12. Not only will the event be held in Europe for the first time in the cup's 153-year history, but the 32nd America's Cup will also features many new innovations. It will be the first to bring all challenger and defender racing activities under one authority and to include three build-up regattas a year from this summer until the competition from April-July 2007 in Valencia where the Spanish are turning their port into a venue of near-Olympic grandeur. In an attempt to transform the America's Cup into something embracing the public ashore as well as afloat, the Swiss America's Cup Management (ACM) team, headed by Michel Bonnefous and Michel Hodara, have released documents to would-be challengers. These show ACM to have far greater control than any previous organizer of the cup. The Swiss also plan an Expo-style cup village and full television, marketing and merchandising innovations under which teams will be required to put senior team members up for public appearances after racing as well as for press conferences. To enter, teams must lodge a one million euro (£700,000) bond. There is no entry fee, unless a challenge is lodged after Dec 17 this year. While rights have been tightened up, the Swiss have liberalized other rules as an added incentive to challengers. For example, any surplus revenue from the next cup will be distributed among the competitors who will need to raise £25 million to be viable, or double that before they can even think about matching the budgets of Alinghi or the leading challenger, Oracle BMW Racing. The limits on hull modification will now allow 60 per cent of existing 2003 generation boats to be altered, sufficient for defeated defenders Team New Zealand to take their controversial 'hula' second-skin false hulls off, or for Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge to turn their woefully uncompetitive boats to nearer the pace of the Alinghi and Oracle yachts. Heading the field of challengers will be Larry Ellison's Oracle team, who might yet prove to be the only entry from the United States. Team New Zealand appears on the cusp of financial viability while Patrizio Bertelli is working on a Prada Mk III team. One or both of his Italian rivals, Mascalzone Latino and the Toscana Challenge, may come to fruition while at least one of three French teams, Le Defi, K-Challenge and Team France, ought to come through. - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/275vn * The Deed of Gift, the amended Protocol and the Terms of Challenge for the 32nd America's Cup, along with Version Five of the ACC Rule, can be downloaded from the official America's Cup website: www.americascup.com OLYMPIC VOLUNTEERS With a new training programme starting, the Athens 2004 Volunteers Programme is now in full swing: volunteer applications have reached 138,000. Over 55,000 personal interviews have been conducted in Greece, and over 45,000 candidates living abroad or in the more distant parts of Greece are being selected by telephone interview and by special questionnaire in lieu of a personal interview. Offers of volunteer jobs to the selected candidates began in December 2003 with official written offers on behalf of Athens 2004. Volunteers are thus being placed in the posts where they will serve at Games-time. So far, over 3,500 volunteers are assured of their final posts. - www.sailing.org THE JOYS OF AN OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN (Following is a brief update from Team Atkins - Carol Cronin, Elizabeth Filter & Nancy Haberland - on their Yngling Olympic campaign for the past month.) We continue to live and train full time in Florida. Our days are long and busy. A typical day for us is to be out of the house early in the morning for one to two hours of physical conditioning. After a quick breakfast, we head to the boat where we meet with our coach and review the sailing plan for the day. We then spend six to eight hours on the water sail testing, fine tuning our boatspeed, going through practice drills, and occasionally racing. After returning to shore and making minor boat repairs for the day, we go through intensive debrief with our coach. The debrief includes photo and video review as well as a thorough scrutiny of each team member's performance for the day. Our days discussion usually continues well past the dinner hour, but it has helped us make noticeable progress is a short time. Expert coaches who have worked with us this past month include Ben Cesaer, Ed Adams, and Greg Fisher. This week, we are in final preparation for the Miami Olympic Class Regatta, which begins Tuesday. Seventeen teams are preregistered of which six are American entries. - http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/RolexMiamiOCR/index.htm FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS SAIL WET Quality sailing gear is expensive. Even the "budget" brand costs real money these days. If you are going to spend your hard earned dollars on anything it might as well be the best. Prices on Gill and Musto have recently come down. Sailing Pro Shop has them both and we are offering early season incentive programs for individuals and teams. We are also the home of Dubarry, Maui-Jim, Mustang and the now patented Dryshirt ™. Stop by our outfitting pages or call toll free and find out what you and your crew should be wearing in '04. 1-(800)-354-7245, http://www.sailingproshop.com NEWS BRIEFS * The 245 ft. (75 m) Mirabella V is nearing completion in Portsmouth, England and will head for the Mediterranean as soon as she is handed over to her owners at the end of March. This high profile yacht is creating a stir amongst elite charterers. Jacqui Beadon Yachts have had several clients requesting 'First Refusals' on specific periods in June, July and August. The feedback from the steady number of enquiries over the past year suggests that Mirabella V has captured people's imaginations and features highly on discerning 'must do' lists. Yachting Universe, full story: http://tinyurl.com/33luv * After a flurry of activity today at the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove, Florida, the registration roster for the 15th annual Rolex Miami OCR grew to over 700 sailors, representing 37 countries. The regatta runs from Tuesday, January 27, through Friday, January 30 on six racing circles on Biscayne Bay. Because it is an international ranking event for sailing and hosts classes chosen for the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Regattas, athletes already chosen for the 2004 Olympic Regatta in Athens will be competing alongside others who are still working toward being their country's representative. www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR/ * Final results from the Tornado catamaran North American Championships in Crandon Park, Miami FL (27 boats): 1. 380 Roman Hagara/ HansPeter Steinacher, AUT, 12; 2. John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree, USA, 19; 3. Olivier Backes/ Laurent Voiron, FRA, 28; 4. Mitch Booth/ Herbert Dercksen, NED, 33; 5. Leigh McMillan/ Mark Bulkley, GBR, 37. http://www.tornado.tc/uploads/documents/7.htm * Daily video shows of Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004 are now available on www.t2p.tv. T2Productions will be covering major regattas in the US and Caribbean. * Le Defi 2007 and Plante Explorer just made an agreement making it possible for the maxi-catamaran "Orange II" to use part of Le Defi's operational base in Lorient in order to carry out its preparation and tests for the attempt of record around the world, the Jules Verne Trophy. * Ludde Ingvall's green-hulled 80-foot Nicorette broke her mast in a 12-15 knot southerly breeze in the168th Australia Day Regatta. It has been a somewhat luckless summer for Nicorette. Following a major refit, she was forced to withdraw from the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race after damaging her new innovative canting keel system. - Peter Campbell * In a recent meeting of ISAF Windsurfing class chairmen and elected representatives at the London Boat Show, Peter Krimbacher (AUT) was elected to fulfill the rotating role of President of the International Windsurfing Association for 2004. Peter is also chairman of Windsurfing Austria. - IWA, http://www.internationalwindsurfing.com * The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), using US Coast Guard (USCG) statistics, has reported that boat registrations in the US reached 13.0 million in 2002 - up 154,000 or 1.2 percent compared to 2001. California replaces Michigan as the number one boating state in the country, with 1,051,606 boats registered there in 2002. Michigan, at number two, has a little more than 1,000,000 boats registered. Florida is at number three with 922,597 boats registered. - International Boat Industry * After a 30 hour windless period, Jean Luc Van den Heede's 84-foot aluminum monohull Adrien, has found some breeze again (albeit on the nose) and is rolling along again on its attempt to set a 'wrong way' record for a global circumnavigation. After 80 days at sea, his lead over the record set by Philippe Monnet is 19 days and 9 hours. - www.vdh.fr * There seems to be no stopping Francis Joyon (aboard the 90-foot trimaran IDEC - embarked on his solo non-stop round the world record). After crossing the Equator early Friday morning, this weekend saw the burly Frenchman tick off the Doldrums seemingly without missing a beat. Saturday through to Sunday morning he clocked up an impressive 349 miles while from 0900 yesterday until 0815 today he sailed a further 309. Barring disaster 73 days looks possible. - The Daily Sail, http://www.thedailysail.com * In a move seen as a positive sign for Bahamas-bound boaters, the Bahamas government recently announced a change in its Cruising Permit Fee structure to allow for two entries within a 90-day period rather than only one entry. The same fee scale announced on July 1, 2003, remains, however, by allowing two entries for the same fee, the rate is effectually cut in half for those who choose to frequent the islands more than once in a 90-day period. - Boat US, http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2004/january/bahama.asp SCUTTLEMART The Classified Ads section of the Scuttlebutt website is sailing's swap meet. Sell your boat, look for summer jobs or industry positions, and advertise your extra gear. View the categories at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds/ IS THE 18 FOOTER THE WORLD'S HARDEST DINGHY TO SAIL? "It is debatable between that and the 49er," says Howard Hamlin. "The little bit of experience I had in the 49ers was that you can get it into trouble with it quicker, but you can get out of trouble with it - you can work and manhandle it. But with the 18 once it is starting to go the wrong way, it's over - you're done. But on the 49er you have only got two guys, on the 18 you have the third guy and ever move you have one guy doing weight and balance. And on the 18 you have two rigs. They have to sail with one rig." - From an interview on The Daily Sail website: http://www.thedailysail.com/ LOOK! LOOK! One of the great designs of Camet International has been on the drawing board for some changes for 2004. The popular Camet 3000 Sailing shorts have been improved with a longer rise for a roomier fit while hiking, and a longer inseam. They were tested for over 2 months, and the feedback was excellent. Made out of a Breathable fast drying Supplex® with a reinforced Cordura® seat pocket for an optional foam pad. Visit our web page for more information on all our Sailing shorts, Coolmax shirts, Breathable Polo shirts, Mylar bags, Rash Guards, Belts, Caps, etc. http://www.camet.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) 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 Lee E. Jerry: was browsing through the 'Butt photo gallery for the event when I came across the second to last photo for Tuesday. Don't you just love it when a blatant rules infraction is caught on film? The photo shows a boat coming into the leeward mark with a person holding onto the shrouds with his right hand and leaning out over the lifelines holding the afterguy while the pole is being stowed. Maybe that crew should review RRS Rule 49.2 and particularly the associated rulings of ISAF Cases 36 and 83. Self-regulation and honesty are, unfortunately, rapidly disappearing from our sport. www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/keywest/ * From Ray Tostado: It seems that dreams have come and gone. While I respect the position that crew members and skilled skippers should make a living at their sport, what is now the case is that the Walter O'Malleys and Fox News method of marketing is in full control of the ACC event. The suggestion that the entire event might just be a two boat showdown there seems to be a question raised as to how "sporting" are the Swiss, if at all. It is suggested that if Oracle is the only challenger and if they win then the next cup will be in San Francisco. At what point is the term America's Cup even a factor at all? It is no longer the format envisioned by the founding fathers of the first event. Maybe Tony Blair should step in and claim it back under race protest and re-establish it as a British event. The original AC was held as a fleet race. The nasty Kiwis showed up with their mega boat and got shown the shortest distance around the course by a boat a fraction of their size and it weighed less than the mast rig on the monster. Imagine, every weekend around the world there are fleet races with faster boats and more exciting action on the water. It might easily be that the end of the ACC is about to occur. My question is "Who needs it?" What was once National Pride has now become personal vanity and wealth. * From Tim Patton: It is no secret that Paul Henderson and I do not see eye to eye on a number of subjects. I have, in his opinion, the naive belief that ISAF should be run with much more input from the troops in the trenches. This would include, not just the Olympians but everyone else who races sailing boats. Paul's tendency toward the confrontational and his tenacious approach sometimes scupper some good ideas. It is this same approach however, that has allowed him to get so much good done during his tenure as President. A double edged sword no doubt but no one can ever question that Paul has worked tirelessly for what he perceives is for the good of the sport. Paul is, in my opinion, "right on the money" with respect to the need to have more women involved in the management of our sport. The reasons for this are, to me, obvious and have been debated extensively at many levels. It is inevitable that women will play a bigger role in sailing. Let us make this a pleasant development and welcome them. To the dinosaurs out there who feel that they have some primal need to retain power, I say, "get over it" Good on ya Prez. * From Chris Ericksen: The letter posted by Maxwell Treacy in 'Butt 1503 made me smile. I respect his opinion that "a race is unfair when one or more boats get a lucky head start and are allowed to continue racing;" however, the point made by David Brookes in the same 'Butt is correct: the RRS disagree with Mr. Treacy. And I love his comment that racing sailors "want fair races where everyone starts properly" and that "the black flag...be used more readily in order for this to be achieved." This is what I call the, "Stop Me Before I Kill Again" argument, which says that racers are 'way too undisciplined to start cleanly and it's up to race officers to keep them from being over early by liberal usage of black flags. Maybe if Mr. Treacy was--as I am--both a racing sailor and a race officer, he might feel differently--especially after he's had a heated conversation with a rude sailor who'd been hammered by the Draconian sanctions of the black-flag rule. I myself rarely use the black flag because I hate to sit through the almost automatic protest hearings that follow black-flag races. * From Stephen Orosz: The discussion about whether PFDs should be mandatory keeps missing the key point; how big a problem is it really? According to the Coast Guard in 2002 (the most recent year statistics are available) there were a total of 750 deaths from recreational boating. Of those 750, 442 were drownings where a PFD was not worn. There were 82 drownings where a PFD was worn which shows that simply wearing a PFD is not the panacea that some would have you believe. But in any case, those 524 total drownings were certainly devastating and tragic if someone you care about was included in that number. But things need to be put into perspective. Out of those drownings most were associated with open motor boats (307) while sailboats account for only 11 drownings. According to the Coast Guard there were over 13 million numbered boats and according to NMMA estimates 71,644,000 people participated in boating in the United States in 2002. David Garman ('Butt 1501) is probably literally correct that smoking kills more boaters than not wearing PFDs. PFDs are valuable and people should wear them but a one-size-fits-all law makes no sense whatsoever. Education is working and the problem is relatively small. Keep it in perspective. http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_stats.htm http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/Boating_Statistics_2002.pdf http://www.nmma.org http://www.nmma.org/facts/boatingstats/2002/files/populationestimates.asp MUST SEE: We've just posted a photo on the 'Butt website that illustrates the 'powerboat problem' better than any letter possibly could: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/crash/ * From Peter Bateson (Concerning the proposed change in wording in the rules on Advertising and Entry Fees from 2005): Is it right that the advertiser should be allowed to foist his advertising onto an event, without paying the event for it? The event creates the opportunity for the advert to be seen, photographed and quoted in results. You want to display an advert at football matches, you pay for it. You want to put your advert into a prominent race: you should pay for it. Otherwise, for many keelboat events the rest of us will pay up to 10% or 12% extra in our entry fees as a direct result, since the event organizers will have to recover the lost income. That's an extra 10 to 30 pounds from every ordinary owner for each event affected. If there really is a need for a change for the Olympic and international dinghy classes, then make the ruling compulsory only for them, and leave the option open for the rest of us to have lower fees for those unsupported by advertising. Just remove that little word "shall." CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period. |
