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SCUTTLEBUTT 1532 - March 4, 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. SAILING PIONEER He's a pioneer of the professional sailor movement. But Steve Erickson says he had no idea where he was headed after he won the 1984 Star class gold medal at the tender age of 23. "I had the opportunity to make a little bit of money and do what I love doing," says the five-time America's Cup veteran and two-time Star world champion. "I didn't think it was what I'd be doing in my early 40s." Since he concluded his second tour of duty with the Prada syndicate last winter, he's been enjoying free agency. He sailed the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race on Skip Sheldon's Zaraffa and has been coaching U.S. Olympic hopeful Meg Gaillard and Mark Ewing's Farr 40 Riot. He's also returned to the Star after a decade-long hiatus and joined forces with three-time Olympic medalist Mark Reynolds in pursuit of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Star berth. When asked if his generation had an advantage in being the first true group of professional sailors, Steve replied, "I've got a theory. Essentially, there's a group of us 40-year-olds, say from Paul Cayard, who's 45, on down to John Kostecki, who's 39, that came out of the '80s and was able to make a living and occupied the space. The universe of pro sailors that solely race boats is 200 to 300 people, maybe more. But it's not 3,000. It's a small group. We've occupied that space all through our 30s and I have a strong feeling that's why there aren't a lot of 30- to 38-year-old pro sailors. But you're seeing a lot of 22- to 30-year-olds making a push at it now." Sailing World provides this great interview with Steve, which includes his experiences with Tom Blackaller, the Prada America's Cup campaign and his current Star Olympic campaign: http://tinyurl.com/29xup NEW EVENT FOR MATCH-RACE TOUR Stamford, CT. (March 3, 2004) - The Swedish Match Tour has announced that Portugal will host their newest event on the professional match-race tour. The Portugal Match Cup, scheduled July 26-31, will commence the 2004-'05 Swedish Match Tour. Organized by Justino de Sa Machado and the Sun Sailing Team, and including strong backing from the Portuguese government the event features an 150,000 Euro, approximately $181,000 (based on an exchange rate of $1.2), prize purse, which makes it the richest event on the Swedish Match Tour. The 2003-'04 Swedish Match Tour offers a total purse of $800,000. The Portugal Match Cup helps to increase that sum to near $1 million for next season. In conjunction with the inaugural event the Swedish Match 40 also will make its tour debut. Pelle Petterson, designer and skipper of Sweden's 1977 and 1980 America's Cup syndicates, designed the five-person crew 40-footer especially for the match-race tour. "We've seen significant interest from organizers around the world wanting to become a part of the tour," said Scott MacLeod, director of the Swedish Match Tour. "The new event in Portugal helps affirm the Swedish Match Tour as the premier professional sailing series. The new Swedish Match 40 will be sailed for the first time by some of the world's top match racers and there's significant prize money involved." The Cascais Naval Club will host the activities for the Portugal Match Cup, and racing will be held off Cascais, on Portugal's southeastern coast. The venue was a finalist to host America's Cup 2007 before Valencia, Spain, won the rights. Cascais made the short list due in part to its wind conditions. The field of 12 teams will race in six of the powerful Swedish Match 40s, built by Maxi Yachts in Sweden. The organizers have already received interest from some of the world's leading match-racers, including current tour leader Peter Gilmour's Pizza-La Sailing Team and three-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts, skipper of Cup champion Team Alinghi. The 2003-'04 Swedish Match Tour resumes in April with the Long Beach Yacht Club's annual Congressional Cup, off Long Beach, CA. Tour stops follow in Italy, Croatia and Germany before the 2003-'04 season wraps up with the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand, Sweden, in July. - Sean McNeill, Swedish Match Tour Public Relations TRIVIA QUESTION Next week's Star Bacardi Cup will be the final tune-up before the US Trials in the class. Mark Reynolds, who has won the event seven times, is tied with what sailor for the most wins at the event? (Answer below) TEAM ULLMAN SPEED ADVANTAGE FOR 2004! For over 30 years Ullman Sails has progressively grown into one of today's premier sailmakers. Dave Ullman and a worldwide team of dedicated and talented professionals have put Ullman Sails at the forefront of sailmaking. Utilizing the latest cloth and construction technologies, Ullman Sails has developed the fastest and most durable sails possible. For the 2004 racing season, whether at local club events or in International Grand Prix competition, give yourself the Team Ullman Speed Advantage. For great service and competitive pricing, contact an Ullman Sails loft or visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION (The following are excerpts from a recent ruling by the US Government. We have chosen to include only parts of it in the interest of avoiding a political debate, but the amended proclamation does seem to impact those who have an interest in boating between the US and Cuba) By the authority vested in me (George W. Bush, President of the United States of America) by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Proclamation 6867 of March 1, 1996, based on the disturbance or threatened disturbance of the international relations of the United States caused by actions taken by the Cuban government, and in light of steps taken over the past year by the Cuban government to worsen the threat to United States international relations. Section 1. The Secretary may make rules and regulations governing the anchorage and movement of any vessel, foreign or domestic, in the territorial waters of the United States, which may be used, or is susceptible of being used, for voyage into Cuban territorial waters and that may create unsafe conditions, or result in unauthorized transactions, and thereby threaten a disturbance of international relations. Any rule or regulation issued pursuant to this proclamation may be effective immediately upon issuance as such rule or regulation shall involve a foreign affairs function of the United States. Sec. 2. The Secretary is authorized to inspect any vessel, foreign or domestic, in the territorial waters of the United States, at any time; to place guards on any such vessel; and, with my consent expressly hereby granted, take full possession and control of any such vessel and remove the officers and crew and all other persons not specifically authorized by the Secretary to go or remain on board the vessel when necessary to secure the rights and obligations of the United States. Sec. 3. The Secretary may request assistance from such departments, agencies, officers, or instrumentalities of the United States as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this proclamation. Such departments, agencies, officers, or instrumentalities shall, consistent with other provisions of law and to the extent practicable, provide requested assistance. The complete amendment of Proclamation 6867 is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040226-11.html FOR THE RECORD * Bruno Peyron and his 14-man crew decided Tuesday night to temporarily withdraw from the Jules Verne Trophy, because of the technical incident discovered yesterday. "We dove to inspect the damage, took some pictures, analyzed the situation with the shipyard, and we have to face the facts: we do not have the possibility to repair the broken part ourselves. We're at 80% of our potential, and it's not possible to tackle such a challenge if we're not at 100%", says Bruno Peyron. Will they take another go at it, later? "It remains an open question, and we wish to study all the possibilities before taking a premature decision. We're coming back to start again, that's for sure! But when, we don't know." - http://www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/ * Steve Fossett and his Round The World record attempt team on the 125' maxi-catamaran Cheyenne crossed the longitude of Australia's Cape Leeuwin, the second of the 3 major Capes on their RTW attempt 25 days, 14 hours and 8 minutes after taking the start at Ouessant Island off the French coast. Their time was 3 days 17 hours faster than the 110' catamaran Orange I, the current RTW record holder, achieved to this point in 2002. Watch captain Brian Thompson wrote Tuesday night: "We are blasting along tonight at up to 34 knots, racing ahead of a cold front that is approaching us from behind, the faster we can move, and the longer we can stay in the prefrontal conditions of flatter seas and reaching winds at 120 TWA. We are looking at our best day's run so far for today. We have 2 reefs and the staysail up and 25 to 30 knots of breeze." - http://www.fossettchallenge.com * The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran continues her southward dash to the Equator, having covered 444 nautical miles on Day 6. She's now heading straight for the Doldrums, which are covering an exceptionally wide area at present. None of the simulations of this passage, which are re-run every six hours using different computer models, look encouraging. There's no easy way through to the east or to the west. However, a more precise analysis has helped the team select the least bad option, which the crew will undoubtedly tackle with characteristic enthusiasm. - http://www.trimaran-geronimo.com/index.php?lang=en SCUTTLEBUTT CONTEST If you were at the 2004 Acura SORC last week, or if you are a regular Farr 40 sailor, you should do well in this week's Scuttlebutt contest. On Thursday, March 4th at 9:00am PST, a new photo gallery from the '04 SORC will be added to the Scuttlebutt website which will include several photos asking for information. The first three 'Buttheads to submit completed contest entries with the correct information will win themselves a Scuttlebutt Sailing Club cap. The link will only be good after 9:00am PST so don't try getting a jump on the fleet (a white boat won't even help, but high-speed access might). Good luck: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/acurasorc KEEP YOUR EYE OPEN Cost effective wireless instrument information and system control - Ockam introduces OS4 EYE. Load Eye software on your PDA (Pocket PC) and your Ockam connected WiFi PC. View multiple pages of instrument data, set cals, averaging and controller functions, track trends on stripcharts, all in your pocket. - hiking hard on the rail or monitoring performance from your bunk! For detailed information and software download, visit http://www.ockam.com or http://www.ockameurope.com NEWS BRIEFS * Funeral services for Kelly O'Neil Henson are tentatively planned for 1:00pm on Friday, March 5, 2004 at Holy Family Catholic Church in Auburn, WA. A memorial service will follow on Saturday, March 6th at the Seattle Yacht Club, tentatively scheduled from 4:00-10:00pm. Those desiring to make donations are encouraged to do so at her three favorite charities: the First Place School (http://www.firstplaceschool.org/), the Seattle YC junior sailing program (http://www.seattleyachtclub.org), and the education of her son - The Louis Henson Fund (c/o RBC Dain Rauscher, 1201 Third Avenue, #2500 Seattle, WA. 98101 Attn: James O'Neil). Additional information is available at rmitchell@premiernwp.com * The Notice of Race for the U.S. Match Race Championship is now available on the US Sailing website. The event will be held September 21-25, hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club, and raced in Sonars. Also available are the NOR's for the local eliminations for US Sailing Areas ABC and GHJ. - US Sailing, http://www.ussailing.org/championships/POW 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 Drew, Christine and Madison Petrou: Thank you for being a friend, thank you for all the candy, thank you for your unyielding energy, thank you for our wonderful wedding photos, thank you for all the laughs. We will miss you. * From Steven Levy: Everyone who races on Puget Sound has a Kelly story; she was an unforgettable ray of light in our often-cloudy climate. We were rounding Blakely Rock in our Schock 35, fighting for the lead, when we cut it too close and hit an underwater spire a dozen yards from the Rock. Our keel bounced up onto the spire's flat top, six feet or so below the surface, and there we stopped. Kelly was a few yards away in her inflatable, with her cameras, her golden retriever, and now a face full of laughter. When she saw we could neither sail nor power off the spire, she motored over and said, "Throw me a line." She tied it to her transom, a couple of our crew slid out along the boom, and together we got Fuzzy Logic off that rock - but not before she had taken the requisite pictures of our predicament. Kelly embodied racing on the Sound - fun, friendly, joyous, full of champions but not rock stars. Her photographs captured that spirit - because she exemplified it herself. Her work was artful without calling attention to itself, focusing so clearly on her subjects that it was easy to not see the artist she truly was. Kelly's death is shocking. We are all surprised by death, but Kelly was as truly, richly alive as anyone I've ever met. Folks like Kelly are just not supposed to die. * From Jeff Carlile: Kudos to Bill Cabrall for his thoughts on the benefits of his Olympic campaign. His is a succinct, pointed, and poignant story of keeping things in perspective. He offers that he'd gladly drive his kids cross-country to sail with Buzz Reynolds--I'm thinking I'd gladly do the same to sail with Bill. This one is going on the fridge and I hope my sons read it frequently. * From Peter Harken: Liz Cabrall said it best by far regards the Olympic Trials controversy! I don't believe there is any of us that took a stab at the Olympics, and didn't make it, that would've traded the effort and experience for anything regardless of the sacrifices, underfunding if any except your own, plus the all-through-the-night sleepless driving of a beat-up, old, smelly van all over the country with a good ol' mutt beside you and a bag full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! What could be better than that, except to win the trials, a challenge available to all! Curmudgeon's Comment: If you missed the Cabrall story, here is the link: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/0302cabrall * From John McBrearty: (Re: Weight limits) Any rule that deprives a willing participant in our sport the chance to participate must be viewed with extreme suspicion. Big guys and gals can be an asset in certain conditions; conversely, smaller bodies are sometimes an asset. Letting anyone who wants to race can only be good for our sport. * From J. D. Stone: Mike Esposito in 'Butt 1529 thinks big people are wrongly excluded from Etchell racing. What about the lightweights? If you are not within 60 pounds of the max weight, you will generally not be competitive. So what does the class do - re-design the boat to somehow make boats even no matter what the crew weight is? Get real! The whole purpose of one design racing is to have as much equality as possible on every boat competing so that sailing skill alone is being tested on the race course- and not who can put the most beef on the rail. Any experienced Etchell sailor will confirm that upwind in winds over 15, the heavier rail weight gives a distinct advantage. The rule as it stands makes perfect sense and even a heavier crew can compete if the other two are lighter. As for the lightweights, the class allows a crew of 4 - so it is possible to be close to max weight (627 lbs). The class has been down this road before, solved the problem and should not revisit this issue just because some Butthead (reader of Scuttlebutt) thinks it's not fair. * From Andrews Hooker: My condolences to Keith Grzelak on the loss of his friend Brien Duncan. As an emergency room nurse, avid racer for 48 years, and past president of the Lake Yacht Racing Assoc. (oldest YRA in NA), I agree whole-heartedly that AEDs must be available on the water. In '94 at our annual regatta held in Toronto, a crewmember grinding on an 8-meter was struck in the chest with a winch handle when a pawl broke. This sent him into ventricular fibrillation. Crewmembers from his and nearby boats performed CPR until he reached shore on a chase boat, but the 20-minute trip was too long of a delay. An AED available on the water may have saved his life if used within the magic 10-minute window. Since then, we have mandated an AED be available on the water (chase/mark/pin/First Aid boat) at all LYRA Regattas and at the Youngstown Level Regattas (my home club). Getting an AED to a down crewmember within 10 minutes can greatly increase his chances of survival. A designated first aid or chase boat can go to where it is needed instantly, whereas an RC boat may be hesitant to lift anchor in the middle of a start or finish. * From Glen Dickson (edited to our 250-word limit): Regarding Anton Huggler's letter suggesting that college sailing should be conducted in Olympic/International class boats, I have a question: did you ever sail collegiately? The singular beauty of college sailing in the U.S. is that it is sailed in simple, non-tunable boats, allowing competent sailors to hop in and be competitive without having to worry about technical details like mast sag or shroud tension (you have the rest of your life for that). The simple boats also allow many non-sailors to get introduced to sailing as crews, and many of these people fall in love with the sport and continue to sail after graduation. Finally, most of the venues that host regattas would be ill-suited to trapeze and/or spinnaker boats (could you see racing 49ers on the Charles River?) and most Olympic-class boats would be ill-suited to the rigors of boat rotation and communal maintenance. I agree that college sailing in the U.S. is probably poor preparation for big-course, Olympic-class racing. The people I know who have done Olympic campaigns have gone to Europe for that, either after college or during a break in studies. Our Optimist and Laser programs are certainly "coherent" enough in this country for identifying young talent, and perhaps teenage hotshots would better serve their Olympic dreams by postponing college and pursuing international competition directly. But one shouldn't dismiss college sailing as just an end unto itself---unless you don't value a lot of fun and a great learning experience. TRIVIA ANSWER Mark Reynolds' impressive seven wins at the Star Bacardi Cup is still only good enough to equal that of Ding Schoonmaker of Miami, FL, who garnered his victories between 1953 to 1977. CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATION "When someone throws dirt at you, remember, all they are doing is losing ground." - Ben Franklin |
