|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1487 - December 30, 2003Powered 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. ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART RACE First National Real Estate, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Michael Spies, has been declared the provisional Overall Winner of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, winning both the IMS and IRC divisions of the great ocean classic. When First National Real Estate crossed the line at 5:32 am this morning, only one yacht still at sea had a realistic chance of beating her on corrected time. The 34-foot Impeccable, sailed by 81-year-old John Walker, the oldest skipper in the fleet, had to finish by 2.45 this afternoon but was still some 15 miles from the finish of the 628 nautical miles race when time ran out. Officially, First National Real Estate's victory is provisional until all yachts finish, but the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Race Committee this afternoon confirmed that the boat could not be beaten. For 44-year-old Michael Spies, the win caps off a remarkable Sydney Hobart Race career. This is his 27th race south, with the highlight in 1999 when he co-skippered the Volvo 60 Nokia on her record-breaking line honours victory. Spies describes this win as just as sweet. "This is up there with 1999. It's hard to compare. With line honors only two or three boats can win, but on handicap twenty or thirty boats are a chance." * When the British chartered yacht Bounder pulled in alongside the new Yendys at the Hobart's Constitution Dock marina this evening, Sydney yachtsman Geoff Ross justifiably might well have felt somewhat disappointed. After all, Bounder was the previous Yendys which he sailed to an overall handicap win in 1999, and it had now beaten his latest Yendys on corrected time in the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. But Ross certainly not show his disappointment, leading his crew in three rousing cheers for Chris Little, Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and his British crew. In the past 10 hours 24 boats have crossed the Hobart line, with 15 yachts still racing. www.rolexsydneyhobart.com If you like photos of heavy air sailing, you must check this out: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/03/12-26SydneyHobart/ SOUTH AFRICAN AC SYNDICATE (Citing a story from Il Mattino, the 2007AC.com website is reporting the following.) Salvatore Sarno, general manager of the "Mediterranean Shipping Company" bought ITA80 to train a South African team for the 2007 AC. - Salvatore Sarno, head of the Cruising firm "Mediterranean Shipping Company" is a native Italian (he's from Rione Casolla) who lives in South Africa. - He's putting together a team down there, with people he's used to sail with. - He purchased ITA-80 for €uro 525,000 - They don't want to go to Valencia "only to be the most friendly team," but they definitely want to "beat the French, the Spanish, the three or four Italian teams, and the pair of American teams which might show up." They want "to prove there are other good sailors than Australian and New Zealanders". - They won't sail with Roy Heiner (Heiner is a dual citizen, Dutch and South African and trained Oracle for 2003 LVC) (Translator's note : After last Volvo, Heiner was rumored to discuss with South African businessmen for a 2007 AC challenge) - Francisco de Angelis will stay (for free) with the South African team for a month. Source: 2007AC.com website: http://tinyurl.com/yte6e WEATHER ADVISORY Weather you're headed south or braving the winter in the north, improve your inshore and offshore sailing skills in the off-season with the help of www.WxAdvantage.com - a comprehensive weather information resource. Bill Biewenga, a veteran ocean racer and weather router is available to coach you, your crew, or club; provide custom weather routing for offshore passages or to personally oversee the professional delivery of your yacht. Seminars available. Bill brings 320,000 ocean miles and 17 years of weather routing experience to every project. For more information, email billbiewenga@compuserve.com today or visit http://www.wxadvantage.com RUSSELL COUTTS Back in his homeland for the first time since winning more America's Cup races than anyone in history, Coutts laid to rest a website-generated rumor that he had split from Alinghi and their Swiss backer, Ernesto Bertarelli. "Of course I am still with Alinghi," said Coutts, interviewed by Kiwi sailing commentator Peter Montgomery. "Certainly in America's Cup sailing there are rumors that go around and that was one of them." * What is plain is that, while he was the lynchpin of the entire Swiss effort last time, Coutts now has only the responsibility of Alinghi's Cup defense in 2007. That he has nothing to do with America's Cup Management's hosting of the next Cup is also clear from his comments about the Cup venue and Cup Class boats. Valencia in Spain was ACM's pick but Coutts favored the strong bid from Lisbon/ Cascais in Portugal. "I think that would have made a fantastic America's Cup with conditions like Fremantle [the popular 1987 venue]," he said. And in place of modest revisions to Cup Class boats agreed for 2007, Coutts would have plumped for near-identical hulls but thrown open appendage, rig and sail design. "There are ways it could be done quite cost-effectively," he added. "It would have been pretty interesting and would have brought a lot back into the sport in terms of technology." Bertarelli's decision to split Alinghi in two after winning the Cup to create Alinghi Sailing Team and America's Cup Management is something Coutts agreed with. "Certainly it takes all of my time to focus on Alinghi," he said. Coutts also debunked suggestions that promoting design co-ordinator Grant Simmer into the general manager's role, reduced his own status. "We've shuffled various roles around inside Alinghi. A third of the sailing team is new and a quarter of the design team is new, and that's required the shifting of responsibilities. People can make rumors out of this and that's fine. One way or another, in every America's Cup since 1995, people have ranked me as the underdog and I am very happy for them to do it again." - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/362rq SKIFFS In 2002 skipper Howard Hamlin and crew Mike Martin and Andy Zinn from California became the first Americans ever to beat the best skiff sailors in the world and win the J.J Giltinan trophy. The team is now down under again to defend their title in the "world championships" of 18 foot skiff racing on Sydney Harbour this week. The J. J Giltinan trophy is considered the holy graille of the skiff sailing - Australia's equivalent to the America's Cup. "Experience is a key factor in this sport, "Hamlin said, "but we raced on the European circuit in July and hosted a regatta in San Francisco last September, so we are probably better prepared than ever this time, and have a great sponsor in West Marine to support our campaign" The seven heat series gets underway on January 3 and concludes on January 11. NEWS BRIEFS * Winds shifted to the south for day three of the Orange Bowl Regatta where 620 youth sailors, age 8-18, are competing in eight classes on four courses on Biscayne Bay. Four more races were completed. Some titles have been determined before the final race(s) tomorrow, others are still in contention. - US Sailing website, full story http://www.ussailing.org/news/2003/OrangeBowlDay3.htm * The largest offshore race in Australia - Strathfield Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race - starts Friday January 2nd. Last year, the race record was smashed in this 'warm water' alternative to the Sydney to Hobart Race by the high tech sixty footer Bob Oatley's Wild Oats. She beat Russell Crowe on Ludde Ingvall's Nicorette/ Travelex by more than an hour. But Ludde Ingvall's Nicorette, having retired from the Hobart race is now back in Sydney, undergoing repairs. Faster than ever with her canting keel, she will be on the starting line on Friday. www.rpayc.com.au ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL Lynn Wright and the crew of his Après Ski - Mike Robinson and Michelle Langlois - have been awarded US Sailing's Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal for coming to the aid of a fellow mariner in distress. The incident occurred on September 17, 2003, when Pat Mitchell, skipper of a Moore 24 named Free Flight, was sailing in the "Wet Wednesday" race at the Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club on Lake Tahoe. It was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing at 25 knots with waves of up to four feet when Free Flight experienced a deathroll (the boat capsized to windward until the mast hit the water and then quickly righted itself). Mitchell fell overboard into 60-degree water without a personal floating a device. TheAprès Ski crew dropped their jib and deployed a Lifesling to bring Mitchell on board after he'd been in the water for nearly 20 minutes. www.ussailing.org/safety/Rescues/ THE WINNER AT KEY WEST RACE WEEK ALREADY DETERMINED KWRW is still three weeks off but the Dryshirt™ has already been named the winner of the event. Many of the serious teams have recognized that staying dry and out of the sun's damaging rays keeps the crew fresh and less drawn down by the real effects of exposure. The Dryshirt™ sheds water through a recently patented 3M process while maintaining its breathable feature. Coolmax™ and Dryfit™ materials are not similar to the revolutionary Dryshirt™. There is still plenty of time to have your team's logo put on the shirts and delivered before Key West. 1-(800)-354-7245 or http://www.sailingproshop.com/dryshirt.htm CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar 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 Joe Erwin: I heard from my non-sailing sister-in-law who lives in San Francisco that Mount Gay caps --- with specific regatta names embroidered on them --- are on sale in a few shops in her area. I thought you had to "earn" those caps by being key crew (or the owner's son) on the boat. Is this true? If so, what's the story behind it? I hope they have not become just another retail commodity, instead of the badge of accomplishment, however modest, they used to be. I must say, I have seldom felt so much power as I did at one of the NOOD's, when as a deputy PRO I was the Mount Gay caps to distribute among the race committee. Have you ever had a Senior Judge say to you, "Could I please have one of those Mount Gay caps?" * From Michael H. Koster, PHRF-Narragansett Bay Handicapper: I do not know which PHRF area Douglas Messer hails from (Butt #1486), but in my dealings with PHRF which include handicapping in Narragansett Bay, and also obtaining ratings from New England and YRALIS, these areas strive to rate boats "on demonstrated performance". It would be helpful to all PHRF handicappers, if Mr. Messer could list the adjustments he feels are needed to bring more casual racers back into racing. I suspect that most handicappers would be more than willing to consider suggestions that would enhance PHRF. The goal of PHRF is to rate boats so that they are on a level playing field and that tactics and boat handling should determine the final outcome of a race. In our area, we do not rate the crews, just the boat. PHRF members also have an appeal process available to them if they are not satisfied with their local PHRF rating. To the best of my knowledge, even the appeal process will look at the "demonstrated performance" for the rating in question. For many years now, I have participated in PHRF events where rating bands are 5-10 seconds for a class. I have also been in events where the bands are 30-90 seconds. Typically, it is the 'attractiveness' of the event which determines the participation numbers, not the PHRF handicaps. * From Mark Weinheimer: I have sailed in a number of series in different boats - one design, PHRF, Portsmouth, etc - in which one was not allowed to drop a DSQ. Might this be an effective way to discourage "rule push" while still allowing for relief from the random disasters which invariably occur in a long race series? Seems simple enough to me. I also can't believe it is possible to legislate against camping on a fellow competitor any time during the racing - it is one of the most effective weapons in the quiver. Lastly, the concept of reducing the last race of the Olympics to the top seven boats in an effort to boost media ratings is absolutely repulsive. To disallow the rest of the fleet from the most prestigious event in the world is not only misguided, but elitist. If the medals have already been decided, good for them. The rest of the fleet is still racing for their own pride of place, no matter where they are in the final standings. This is likely the biggest thrill many of these competitors will have in their lives - representing their countries to the best of their ability - and to winnow the fleet not only disparages them, but changes the game for the remaining sailors. It's much easier to match race the boat you need to beat in a smaller fleet. I thought that's what we were trying to avoid. * From Fietje Judel: In Scuttlebutt 1486 Graham Kelly claimed that IMS is favouring the light and fast Transpac 52´s, in England it is claimed that IMS is favouring heavy and slow boats, in Germany a J-22 became winner of the 2003 ranking list in class 4. Seems that IMS is not as bad as some people say. * From Bruce Thompson: If we reflect on the revisions to the RRS for 2001-2004 we find these facts: 1) In the effort to make the rule book less intimidating to a novice, the revision was a failure. The book has as many pages as its predecessor. What the novice needs is something like the old Harken flyer with the proposed simplified right-of-way rules with illustrations. 2) The revision obsoletes the universally accepted use of yellow, blue and red shapes with a decided lack of visibility to the racers from the use of flags. 3) The revision deleted the alternate starting methods for single and multiple fleets with adverse effects on multifleet starts. The 2003 submissions to ISAF included a pre-warning signal! The current system is biased toward single class starts. Remember when we just sent a fleet under general recall to the end of the line? 4) The sailing public was just as poorly informed and consulted about the changes in the starting techniques before they were introduced as the recent Olympic changes. This is not record of complete success. * From Bill Simpson: Having served as a judge for quite a while (old rules and new rules), I disagree with some recent comments that the new rules are "worse." Note that RRS Part 2, When Boats Meet, contains thirteen rules on five pages. OK, rule 18 takes up two pages. But that's it. My experience is that there are far fewer protests than before, largely because of rules 14, 15 and 16. And 18.3 helps to relieve troublesome traffic jams at the weather mark. As for the idea that people don't want to "go to the room," I suggest arbitration be tried. We used an arbitration process at the J/80 Worlds at Ft. Worth Boat Club this year very successfully. In ten races, we had a total of 17 protests filed and we had only two hearings. The rest (88%) were settled "outside the room" by arbitration. And all were done right after the boats got into the harbor, well before dinner and partying. Made for a swift settlement on all issues and was a big plus for the regatta as a whole. (But judges with experience are needed to execute arbitration properly.) CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." -Ann Landers |
