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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 842 - June 22 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.
COMMENTARY Like any big organisation ISAF does sometimes make mistakes and not everything it does do works out as expected. Recent events at the Mid-Year meetings do however serve to confirm that democracy is alive and well. The big issues that have occupied column inches of sailing magazines and bytes of computer hard-drive have all largely been addressed. So you didn't like the ISAF Eligibility Code? It has been changed to fall into line with common sense and more critically the reality of the situation out in the big wide world. Waited too long for a new copy of the racing rules? The schedule has been revised for the rule revision process in four years time. Who knows, the rules might even be so well written now they will not need changing again. Even the vexed question of selecting the Olympic Classes looks to be moving in a sensible direction. Democracy has been hard at work. The concerns and fears have been addressed. The system certainly isn't perfect but it isn't all bad. - Peter Bentley Full editorial: www.sailing.org/makingwaves/makingwaves78/
TECHNOLOGY At places like MIT's Disruptive Technologies Laboratory, researchers are working on wearable-computer technology that they predict will justify the lab's name by disrupting many of our "normal" ways of doing things. Wearable computers are in everybody's future, they say, and for sailors that will have important consequences. Researcher Steven J. Schwartz predicts that wearable computers will change the way sailors interact with their boats, other crew, and the sea. "The equivalent of a desktop PC can be woven into micro-fiber, synthetic threads in clothing," he says. "When crewmen are equipped with wearable computers, sensors will let specified people know where that crewman is at any given time, and even how he or she is feeling. If something goes overboard and the person's heartbeat races, the skipper, a companion, or someone ashore can know it immediately from a message viewed through goggles, a clip-on monitor, or even an old-fashioned computer screen." Wearable computers can transform a single person into a Web site, combining communications, medical monitoring, and GPS navigation. "Today, communication among the crew can suffer because of the hierarchy of captain, watch captain, and so on. Information sometimes just doesn't flow. Wearable computers will allow messages to be received immediately throughout a network by whoever needs to know," says Schwartz. - David Liscio, Sail Magazine Full story: www.sailmag.com
UPGRADING 15 YEAR OLD INSTRUMENTS?
PROFESSIONAL SAILING Swedish Match Tour Leaderboard: Magnus Holmberg (SWE/Team StoraEnso) 95pts; Bertrand Pace (NZL/Team New Zealand) 61; Gavin Brady (ITA/Prada Challenge) 60; Dean Barker (NZL/Team New Zealand) 45; Peter Gilmour (USA/OneWorld Challenge) 45; Chris Dickson (USA/Oracle Racing) 42; Ed Baird (USA) 36; Sten Mohr (DEN) 32. - www.swedishmatchgp.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Ellen MacArthur: Whilst the Volvo Ocean Race is an interesting event to compete in, I am focused this year on racing both Kingfisher the Open 60, and the 60 foot trimaran 'Foncia-Kingfisher' with Alain Gautier in the Transat Jacques Vabre race. The latter is a two-up event from France to Brazil in November - which made it impossible to involved in a Volvo project in any full time way. I do hope however to be able to compete on one of the boats for a leg or two after Christmas - if anyone will have me. But I'd rather sail with the guys rather than the girls to be honest! I certainly wish Lisa good luck with the Nautor project. * From Mark Reynolds: You mentioned the lack of American's at Kiel Week. I certainly noticed that as well, Magnus and I are the only American's sailing in the Olympic classes here. This is the first year of the Olympic quadrennium but you see sailors in multiple classes from Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and of course from all over Europe here. Our top sailors should be here if we want to win Olympic medals! You can't get this experience in the US. I know that quite a few US sailors in 10 of the 11 Olympic classes are sailing in other European regattas this summer. Our Olympic Sailing Committee is doing everything they can to make it as easy as possible for our sailors to compete in Europe but the bottom line is that our team training for the Olympics is very under funded. There are now many nations that have much larger Olympic sailing budgets than the US. My educated guess is that the very successful British budget last time around was at least 3 times ours. Many countries put all of their resources toward fewer sailors and don't send a full team of 11 boats to the Olympics and I would hate to see that happen in the US. I can tell you more problems our team has but they can all be solved with more $. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: After three races, Reynolds and Liledahl have a 1-4-1 series and are leading their class with a 10 point edge over Nicola Celon from Italy in the 55-boat Star boat class at Kiel Week. * From Lorenz Jensen: It's always nice to hear about women being involved in our sport. However, at least in 1985 at the One Ton Cup in Poole, England and in 1986 in Palma/ Mallorca there was an all female entry - the German IOR 30.5 one-ton 'Rodeo'. * From Maggie McCormick: In addition to all of Dawn's other accomplishments, she is an all around nice person--personable, accessible, considerate and down-to-earth; a winning combination of talent, ambition and real-ness that make her an exceptional role model to girls and boys, women and men, sailors and non-sailors. (Real-ness and accessibility seem to be the qualities most often missing from many of the "rock stars" in our sport. All too often those qualities are replaced by "attitude.") I'd like to see Dawn get the kind of media attention and endorsement deals that are seen by Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and even Mia Hamm and Gabrielle Reece. (If Dawn wants them!) * From Gary Sander: Art Engel's clarification probably is clear to those on the national and international level but what about our local charity regatta where the proceeds go to the battered women. First of all, it will likely raise less that $10,000 and probably of no interest to anyone outside the community. We certainly encourage donations and advertising and make it a Category C and put that in the notice of race. Does ISAF or US Sailing have any interest in or restrictions on this type of event? * From Faye Bennet: The Adams Committee focus is on women's sailing, to widen and increase participation. One of the ways that achieves this is sailing in a different class each year. This year J22, next year J24. This year the Women's International Keelboat Championship will be sailed in the J22 a few days after the Adams Finals. They will use the weight limit and a crew of 4. This regatta, held every other year in this country, is open to all women. We do want a good showing of US women, and setting up the Adams Championship in this way provides the opportunity for those who wish, to develop a team. The matter was put to a vote of the area reps soon after I became Adams chair, and the majority felt that the weight limit and a crew of four was the way to go. We realize that this decision benefits some and is a detriment to others. Some days you win, and some days ... The discussions on this subject have been going on for some time now. It's settled now for this year, and it is too late to make changes. I invite, here and now, your participation in our deliberations both at the US Sailing Annual and Midyear Meetings and by snail or e mail.. Your timely input will be welcomed. Men too. * From Fred Schroth: How did the current collegiate singlehanded champion get insulted as "honorable mention?" Isn't the single best sailor in the country as proven on the water a rather automatic, golly whiz, no brainer All American? Bruce Mahoney not only won the collegiate singlehanded champs this year, he beat the current Laser North American Champion, paid his own way to the event and sailed without a coach. Why didn't Bruce have a coach? Bruce has been acting as a "player coach" for the University of Texas sailing team for the last few years. Some selection committees might make that a factor FOR choosing a kid as an All American. Apparently a kid who fixes the boats, organizes the practices, teaches his team how to sail very well, and wins the annual contest for best sailor is only worth honorable mention from the selection committee. No other current collegiate sailor has credentials that even come close to those earned by Bruce Mahoney. He is the obvious choice for sailor of the year.
TRANSPAC The trip took 32 days, an average of 162 miles per day. The nice part, said delivery skipper Yasuharu Ando. Ando, who speaks a little English, was that "it was only 20 per cent upwind and 80 per cent downwind." They experienced two storms but suffered no serious damage. Asked why they sailed the boat rather than shipping it, Ando explained with a smile, "We have no money." Shanakee II will be the largest and probably the most comfortable boat in Transpac 2001. James Warmington's Pedrick-designed 75-foot cutter is equipped with all roller-furling sails, electric winches, refrigeration and air-conditioning. Shanakee II is entered in the Aloha Division and may be the first boat to finish. The Aloha Division boats will start Monday, June 25, giving them a five-day headstart on the Division III and IV boats, and a six-day jump on the Division I and II fleets which do not start until Sunday, July 1. - Rich Roberts, www.transpacificyc.org Note: Thirty-three boats will sail in the Transpac Race, including three in the Double-handed Division and eight in the Aloha Division.
HEADSAIL TRIM The first step in the search for that perfect upwind leg is boat preparation. For most boats this means having the rig tuned for the given wind and wave conditions-too tight a rig and you'll lack power in moderate air; too loose a rig and you'll have trouble pointing upwind. If you're sailing in a one-design class, consult your sailmaker's tuning guide for the basic rig set-up. Regardless of what type of boat you're racing, you'll want to have a magic marker and a tape measure handy to document your rig and sail-control settings because having easy references for such things as jib-lead positions or halyard tensions can put you ahead of the game when the conditions begin to change. Before you even leave the dock, measure along the jib/genoa tracks on each side of the boat and make evenly spaced, numbered marks on the deck where they are easily visible to the headsail trimmer. The next person to get the power of the pen is the pit person or foredeck crew (depending on the location of the halyard and whose job it is to ensure the halyard tension is set appropriately for the sailing conditions). If you are sailing a larger boat, it is a good idea to create some sort of numbered gauge in the pit area and a mark on the halyard that can be measured against that gauge. If your boat's headstay has a foil system, it is also a good practice to put a mark on the foil and a corresponding mark on the luff tape of each headsail when the tension is right. And on some boats, like the J/24, where the halyards are cleated on the mast, it's a good idea to mark a gauge on the mast where the halyard exits the spar so that you can easily judge what the setting is where the halyard overlaps the gauge. - Rich Bowen, SailNet website. There's much more: www.sailnet.com
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Lisa Charles-McDonald Full interview: www.sailingworld.com/gps/
ONE-DESIGN RIGGING
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * July 13-19, 2002: Ford Cork Week, The Royal Cork Yacht Club, 'Run by sailors for Sailors.' www.fordcorkweek.com
WAY COOL
INDUSTRY NEWS
THE CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS |
