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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 570 - May 16, 2000
STAR WORLDS - Report by Dave Gendell
Four months ago, childhood friends Gavin Brady and Jamie Gale had never
taken a close-up view of a Star boat. But on Monday evening, the New
Zealand national flag was flying from the yardarm at the Annapolis YC
clubhouse after the pair sailed to victory in the second race of the
Nautica 2000 Star Class World Championship Regatta.
"This is a bit of a surprise really," said Brady, 27, after the race. "We
didn't expect to win any of these races. Our philosophy going into the
regatta was to sail ultra-conservatively and just finish in the top 20."
Brady and Gale in are Annapolis sailing to earn New Zealand a spot on the
starting line at the 2000 Summer Olympics set for September in Sydney (six
national spots will be determined this week in Annapolis). A top 20 finish
in the regatta should not only guarantee a spot on the line in Australia,
it should also ensure that Brady and Gale will be on the line with the full
support of the New Zealand yachting establishment.
The duo were fifth Sunday, having ground through 29 places between the
first windward mark and the finish. And today, they started, according to
Brady, "in the 40s or 50s" but quickly moved forward. "It was a magic
beat," Brady said. Of course staying in front of a fleet packed with some
of the planet's finest sailors, including 12 Olympic Medal Winners, is
enough to challenge even the most confident young sailors.
The Kiwi victory was solid. They rounded the first turning mark in second
on the heels of Staartjes/Vandenberg (BEL) and soon thereafter established
a lead they would not relinquish. There were points in shifts and lulls
where they might not have been the furthest along on a given leg but they
were never crossed.
The Nautica 2000 Star Class World Championship Regatta is hosted by the
Annapolis Yacht Club. Racing continues through Friday May 19. Six races are
scheduled. - Dave Gendell
REGATTA LEADERS: 1. USA 7995 Mark Reynolds/Magnus Liljedahl 1-3 4 points;
2. NZL 7939 Gavin Brady/Jamie Gale 5-1 6; 3. USA 7425 Douglas
Schofield/Robert Schofield, Jr. 7-6 13; 4. USA 7996 John MacCausland/Phil
Trinter 3-12 15; 5. ITA 7879 Pietro D'Ali/Ferdinando Colandinno 11-5 16;
6. CAN 7876 Ross MacDonald/Kai Bjorn 16-2 18; 7. NED 7981 Mark
Neeleman/Jos Schrier 17-9 26; 8. SWE 7855 Mats Johansson/Leif Moller 2-25
27; 9. IRL 7763 Mark Mansfield/David O'Brien 10-17 27; 10. BER 7988 Peter
Bromby/Lee White 9-20 29.
Event website - http://www.annapolisyc.com
WORRELL 1000
Leg 7 of the Worrell 1000 turned into an endurance test as light winds
dogged the fleet for most of the night. The wind was 12 knots from the
Northeast at last night's start, but it died altogether between 1 and 3 AM
and the fleet sailed in a very light Northwesterly through the night.
Smyth and Struble of team Blockade runner extended their overall lead,
winning this leg by 3 minutes and 40 seconds over Rudee's Restaurant,
sailed by Brett Dryland and Rod Waterhouse. Brian Lambert and Jamie
Livingston of Alexander's on the Bay were third, followed by Team Holland,
and then one hour later by Team Sunnucks.
After the lead pack finished, the breeze kicked in hard from the Northwest
at 25-32 knots. It got extremely cold and the waves offshore looked like a
sawblade from the beach. Most of the sailors wore drysuits, but several
were caught unprepared. Brad Cavanaugh of Van Dyke Racing was wearing a
pair of board shorts and a cotton sweatshirt. He was cold, but happy that
his boat was able to finish after the beating they took on the rocks the
previous night. Scott Klodowski of Team California looked a little ragged
after he finished. He spent most of the night "calling the dolphins". He
was seasick 6 or 7 times and got cold from inactivity in the lighter air.
"We each spent a little time wrapped in the spinnaker for warmth," said
Kodlowski's teammate Brendan Busch. "Once the breeze filled in I got back
into it and felt a little better," said the dazed Kodlowski.
The English team of William Sunnucks and Mark Self sailed the whole race in
the top group only to run afoul of navigational problems in the last few
miles. A frustrated Mark Self described their problems, "We were doing
well and it went pear shaped. We had the wrong waypoints in our GPS. We
sailed around in circles for an hour, then we stopped and asked a fisherman
where we were. We couldn't figure out if we were here or not." Quite an
existential navigation problem. - Zack Leonard
THE LEADERS: 1. Blockade Runner Beach Resort, Randy L. Smyth & Matt H.
Struble 2. Rudee's Rest., Brett A. Dryland & Rod J. Waterhouse (00:34:52
Behind leader) 3. Alexander's on the Bay, Brian J. Lambert & Jamie B.
Livingston (01:29:32)
Full story and results: http://www.worrell1000.com/
MONSTER BOATS
Steve Fossett's Maxi Catamaran PlayStation crossed Ambrose Light in New
York Harbour and headed across the Atlantic. Skipper Fossett and his total
crew of 13 will aim at the 10 year old TransAtlantic record (held by Serge
Madec on Jet Services V 1990 6 days 13 hours 3 mins 32 secs) - and at the
unfinished business of last December's TransAt - when a 60 kt squall 8
hours out broke 4 mainsail battens and forced a retreat to Newport, Rhode
Island.
After 10 1/2 hours (report 10.05 GMT Monday 15.5.00) a total of 191 miles
had been covered - average 18.2 kts. 10.05 GMT 40.26.850 N 69.36.250 W
Current Spd 21.6 kts.
Meteorologist Chris Bedford on Monday morning: "It is looking pretty good -
we'll see a big hurdle late on Day 2 when they'll have to weave through a
trough around 60 degrees W (in the area SE of Sable Island off Nova Scotia)
to avoid being becalmed in the central Atlantic by high pressure. They've
got to go north of the trough but south of any ice. After that, the long
range forecast is improving for good winds on to the UK."
Website: http://www.fossettchallenge.com/
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250
words max) and to exclude personal attacks or irresponsible statements.
This is not a chat room. You only get one letter per subject, so give it
your best shot and don't whine if people disagree.
-- From Jamie & Lou McWilliam - Morgan Larson's letter regarding "pretty
boring sailing" in the Star and Soling classes and his aversion for "these
slow, lumbersome boats with not always fit athletes" is at best ridiculous
and at worst offensive. His suggestion that in order to move into the
future all Olympic sailing must be in skiffs exposes an almost unbelievable
lack of understanding of what it is that makes sailing a lifelong
fascination for its participants.
The tactical and technical aspects of winning yacht races are at least as
important as your recovery rate or bench press ability. It is this that
makes sailing, like golf, a game that is hugely enjoyable for people of all
ages, shapes and sizes. As for the suggestion that retaining these
keelboats in the Olympics may contribute to the demise of our sport because
he does not see them on TV, is he suggesting that we can anticipate today's
generation of teenagers perming their hair, rubbing themselves down with
body oil and heading down the park to compete in the local wrestling
tournament? Who cares if champion sailors aren't built like Olga Korbut or
Steve Redgrave?
-- From Mark Herrmann (In reply to Morgan Larson's comments on 5/15) - I
have to agree with Morgan that taking the 49'er out of the Olympics would
be a big mistake. In my opinion, the Olympic Classes should be composed of
boats that are challenging both physically and mentally AND that cover a
variety of weight categories. The 49'er is obviously challenging and it
appears to allow men in the light to middle weight ranges to sail on equal
terms given similar levels of skill and conditioning.
It makes me wonder, however, why the Men's 470 class is not under more
scrutiny. The US Fleet could not even turn out a separate men and women's
division for the Olympic Trials, and when combined that total was less than
15 boats. I do not doubt the quality of sailors who competed at the
Olympic Trials. I only question the inclusion in the Olympics of two boats,
both double handed, that cover the same weight range.
Perhaps it is time to reevaluate the Olympic Classes based on the weight
categories of the sailors (i.e., light, middle and heavyweight) like they
do in other Olympic sports where weight does play a significant role in
creating a level playing field.
-- From Chris Caswell - Regarding the comments on the laws against using
foreign-built boats for PR purposes, I can assure 'Butt readers that the
Coast Guard takes great interest in enforcing those rules. At the last
A-Cup in San Diego, Yachting Magazine chartered what turned out to be a
foreign-built boat to carry several dozen of their very best advertisers
out to watch the racing. Returning to the dock, they were met by a horde of
Coasties with clipboards, who informed everyone that they were aboard an
illegal charter and the proceeded to interview each and every person
aboard, who had to produce identification and provide full details of their
relationship with Yachting. Besides being an incredibly embarrassing
moment for Yachting and it's ad staff, the fines were said to be substantial.
-- From Peter Holmberg - Regarding the restrictions of sailing foreign
built IACC yachts for marketing and training purposes, there are US built
IACC yachts available, notably the legendary and indestructible USA 11 from
Team Caribbean.
-- From Chuck Skewes - I have sat back and listened (read) all of the AC
Seattle hoopla knowing that a lot of it was a bad rumor but now I know that
almost all of it is a bad rumor. As a person very into the Seattle racing
scene I can tell you that Craig McCaw has not been on the race course and
as far as my knowledge does not have a sail boat of any size in Seattle.
John McCaw however the brother of Craig McCaw does often have a sailboat
here in seattle and had a large day sailor (125' Sloop) named Extrabeat.
This is also the same boat that was at Bill Kochs 1995 compound. Since the
reports have the wrong person owning the wrong boat interested in the
Americas Cup I would tend not believe any of these rumors and tend to agree
with Morgan Larson that the Kiwis are using these rumors as a bargaining chip.
-- From Russ Lenarz - In regards to the recent comments concerning
Americap. It is my opinion that US Sailing has not done a very good job in
promoting this system at all. There is a definite need for an intermediate
system that fits in between PHRF at the local level and IMS as the grand
prix level. For the gentleman in Newfoundland my suggestion is to look into
the IRC concept under the IR 2000 Rule developed by the RORC if US Sailing
will not allow the use of Americap in your area.
CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Scuttlebutt has given Dan Nowlan, Offshore Director,
US SAILING an opportunity to respond to Russ Lenarz's concerns, as well as
to views previously expressed on these pages:
- I agree with both of Russ Lenarz's observations. There is a definite
need for an intermediate system between IMS and PHRF and US SAILING did not
do a good job promoting AMERICAP.
Ten months into this job as Offshore Director I have found that in the
realm of handicap racing there is one inexorable fact. That fleet is
divided between those that trust only in measurement rules and those that
mistrust them and demand the simplicity and inexpensiveness of PHRF. Hence,
US SAILING is pursuing an intermediate rule tailored for each group.
AMERICAP II and RATINGS PLUS.
The AMERICAP concept presents the opportunity to have a more user-friendly
VPP based measurement rule. Now improvements have been made to the rating
model, inequities and errors in boat data are being resolved, races are
being dual-scored to highlight problem areas and, most important, a working
party of racers is guiding the efforts. This revitalized effort is termed
AMERICAP II.
PHRF was developed when almost all boats had similar characteristics. The
world has changed, and the fleets are now populated with "one-way" boats
that don't get the fairest ratings under traditional PHRF. Working with the
US SAILING PHRF Committee, the Offshore Office, actually the Research
Director, Jim Teeters, has developed a VPP based system named RATINGS PLUS.
Using only the information found on the typical PHRF certificate it can
calculate the change in base rating for different courses and differentiate
between light and heavy winds. This concept is in the check out process and
should be on line later this racing season.
- For Bruce Parsons in Newfoundland. AMERICAP II is not in a form suitable
for export. However, US SAILING would be pleased to issue certificates for
your fleet. Contact me at DanNowlan@ussailing.org for information.
- For Tucker Strasser. The Board of Directors of US SAILING concurs with
your view that its resources should not be spent on administration of IMS
or AMERICAP II. Consequently, I have direction to insure they are self
supporting. However, there is historical disagreement with your position
regarding non-involvement in the development of measurement rating rules.
Members, through donations of their time and money, have been contributing
to the development and evolution of rating rules for years. - Dan Nowlan,
Offshore Director, US SAILING.
CORRECTION
In my America's Cup story in the NY Times on Sunday, a portion of which
appeared in 'Butt 569, I made a significant error and would like to set the
record straight. In the story, I said that Charlie Barr and Russell Coutts
were the winningest cup skippers in history. While those two skippers do
hold the record for consecutive victories in cup competition (nine), the
winningest skipper is, of course, Dennis Conner. Dennis was the starting
helmsman in '74 (record 4-0), and skippered the winning boats in '80 (4-1),
'87 (4-0), and '88 (2-0). And he chocked up three more wins in the '83
series in which Australia II ultimately prevailed. My sincere apologies to
all readers, and especially to DC... - Herb McCormick
ROLEX IMS OFFSHORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
With preparations for this July's Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship
2000 getting underway around the world, it has been confirmed that two of
the winning Italian yachts from the 1999 event, Vittorio Rava's 39-foot
Frers design Winterthur Yah Man, and Raul Marinuzzi Ronconi's Beneteau 40.7
Drake, will be traveling to America to compete. A third Italian entry,
Vincent Onorato's new Farr 43 Mascalzone Latino, also has been confirmed.
The Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2000 will be hosted July 14-19 by
the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) at its Newport, Rhode Island station known
as Harbour Court. Sponsored by Rolex, the regatta is organized by NYYC
together with last year's event host Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) under
the authority of the Offshore Racing Council, and it is sanctioned by the
International Sailing Federation. The competition, which will award a World
Championship Trophy and a Rolex timepiece to the winning yacht in the Racer
Division and the winning yacht in the Cruiser/Racer Division, will be a
part of the second biennial New York Yacht Club Race Week.
According to Tommaso Chieffi, who won the 1999 event's Middle Boat Division
with Winterthur Yah Man, he will skipper the boat again with many of last
year's crew returning." - Barby MacGowan
Notices and entry forms: http://www.nyyc.org
MATCH RACING
Rolex has expanded its sailing activities to include title sponsorship of
the Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship, scheduled for
November 25-December 2 in St. Petersburg, Fla. In its third year, the
annual event, organized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF),
makes its North American debut at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club (SPYC),
having been held previously in Dubai and Italy. For the competitors--24
international teams of four women each--SPYC will provide two fleets of
Sonars. The club also will provide race management for a round-robin
series and "knockout" rounds for quarterfinals, semifinals and finals,
which will include on-the-water umpiring for up to 218 matches over seven
competition days.
The regatta will be headquartered at the St. Petersburg Sailing Center, a
city-owned facility operated by SPYC. "This will be the first women's world
match racing championships at which the competitors officially are
preparing for an Olympic medal event," said SPYC Vice Commodore and Event
Co-Chair Pat Seidenspinner, referencing the resolution recommended by ISAF
to the International Olympic Committee that a women's match racing event be
included in the 2004 Olympic Regatta. A Rolex timepiece will be awarded to
the winning skipper.
The ISAF will invite the regatta's entrants based primarily on world match
race rankings as of this summer. "The top eight sailors on the list will be
invited, and then ISAF will select the other representatives from many
different countries," said Event Co-Chair Tom Farquhar. As of April 11,
Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) and Cory Sertl
(Rochester, N.Y.) were second and tenth, respectively, in the world match
race rankings for women, while another high-profile sailor, Dru Slattery
(Marblehead, Mass.), was sixth. Ranked first was Great Britain's Shirley
Robertson, with the event's defending champion, Denmark's Dorte Jensen, and
The Netherlands' Klaartje Zuiderbaan ranked third and fourth, respectively.
- Barby MacGowan
Website: http://www.spyc.org
INDUSTRY NEWS
The Olympic Sailing Committee of US SAILING, national governing body for
the sport, has announced that Yale Cordage of Biddeford, Maine, is the
official line supplier of the US Sailing Team through the year 2004. The US
Sailing Team, named annually, is comprised of sailors ranked top-five
nationally in each of the 11 Olympic events. - Jan Harley,
http://www.ussailing.org
DISASTER
"Climax," SWYC's Alec Oberschmitt's Barnett 52 became disabled in the
waters off Cabo Falso near Cabo San Lucas on the night of May 12, 2000, and
is reportedly in pieces on the beach. The boat was returning home from the
San Diego to Puerto Vallarta and MEXORC races and had recently been fitted
with a new keel in Acapulco. According to sources, the rudder allegedly
detached, and the new keel ruptured the hull. The well-known Southern
California local racing boat is, as far as is known, unsalvageable. All
crewmembers were reported safe. - http://www.sdsailing.com
CALENDAR
June 19-23, Boatscape.com Block Island Race Week,
http://www.Premiere-Racing.com
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
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