SCUTTLEBUTT No. 694 - November 21, 2000
GUEST EDITORIAL
I started racing big boats in July 1994 on a New York 36 doing running
backs, the first time I'd been back on a sailboat since my teen years
sailing Lasers and Albacores in my native Canada at summer camp. For three
seasons I stayed in that position, then, having met a number of other
sailors and skippers through many local regattas, began crewing for
skippers from a J24 to a Sweden 45, from City Island up to Cedar Point in
Westport, CT. I've done Block, Manhasset Bay spring and fall series, J30
nationals, most of the major LI Sound regattas.
I'm dying to do Key West and SORC and have the strength and skills to be
useful. But year after year I have failed to find a boat to take me; taking
a week away from work in the hope of snagging rides off the dock is not an
ideal way to go. I was willing then, and still am, to crew in cold, wet
weather, to drive 45 minutes each way to a club, devote entire weekends to
racing. There are more women like me out there, but we need a lot more
pro-active encouragement.
I've never, in five summers racing at clubs all over LI Sound, seen more
than 2 or 3 women in any 7-10 person big boat crew - the idea of a 50/50
ratio is excellent and long overdue.
Women's reluctance to join or stay in this sport have as much do to with
skipper's attitudes as those of their male-dominant crews. The women I know
who do sail love it with a passion, but we need to spread the word to other
athletic, competitive women, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands.
If you truly do want more women competing, and moving up to higher levels,
seek out high-energy, adventurous post-collegiate women (not just
teenagers) already enjoying or competing in other sports. Post notices on
bulletin boards at major athletic clubs, YWCAs, fitness centers, even
sporting goods stores where women athletes shop. And once you get a
committed, talented woman to join your crew, treat her decently! Too often,
fellow crew, male, indulge in adolescent behavior or gutter language;
neither is necessary and both are a major turnoff. Worse, as new women
racers learn the ropes, too often male crew jump in, unasked, to "help"
them, taking over their job.
Teach, train, coach - but don't "help" by undermining our position. It's a
powerful disincentive if you pride yourself on athletic skill, strength and
team spirit to be excluded, patronized or ignored. We're out there. Come
find us! - Caitlin Kelly (freelance sailing writer for Quokka, the NY Times
and others.) Tarrytown, NY
CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Yes - I know I killed this thread recently. However
Caitlin's well-written message deserved airing, so I've decided to reopen
the thread for the rest of this week only.
VENDEE GLOBE - By Philippe Jeantot
As if in a repeat performance of the last edition, it is the same two
boats, PRB & Aquitaine Innovations, who are in a masterful duel in this 4th
edition of the Vendee Globe, as they cross the Doldrums. Yves Parlier
(Aquitaine Innovations) was ahead when he entered the Doldrums to the East.
The first to slow up, he has now forfeited his lead to Michel Desjoyeaux
(PRB), who lies a few degrees to the West in a slightly more stable wind.
The impressive average speed of 15 knots held by these leaders have
diminished as the winds have as well. In fact, they entered the Doldrums at
approximately 8 North. This zone seems to be spreading further to the East
from 25 West.
Michel Desjoyeaux, in the better position, has taken advantage here and
pushed out a 30 mile lead overnight. Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) is in
between the two in longitude and has slowed up as well: "I am a bit too far
in the East. Well, I was trying to see if I could cut through but it hasn1t
worked out." The group of Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagere),
Thierry Dubois (Solidaires), Thomas Coville (Sodebo, savourons la vie) &
Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) have all gained from taking a more Westerly
route earlier on. They have retained some speed and are closing the gaps ahead.
One of Ellen's autopilots failed earlier and caused an involuntary gybe,
slicing the mainsheet on its broken block. Despite keeping up the best
speeds, she is also finding the route hard going: "Footing off again to the
west, bit annoyed I didn't stick to my original plan...I think I'm learning
a lot still on the weather, this is a really tough place for it."
Race website: http://www.vendeeglobe.com
THANKS DAVE
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NIPPON CUP
Spectators were kept right on their toes for hours as former three times
world match race champion Peter Gilmour defeated up and coming Sydney
skipper James Spithill by 3 matches to 2 to win the 2000 Nippon Cup Grade 1
Match Race.
In a hard fought finals series sailed in excellent 10-15 kt winds off
Hayama Marina Yacht Club, Japan, Spithill took the first match, Gilmour the
next then Spithill the third. In the 4th match, Spithill defended a narrow
lead all the way but Gilmour closed for a photo-finish awarded to Gilmour
by inches. The fifth and deciding match saw them neck and neck around the
course with Gilmour slipping through by a boat length on the final run.
Magnus Holmberg defeated Sten Mohr 2-1 in the petit final. - ISAF website,
http://www.sailing.org/today/whatsnew.html
Final results: 1st Peter Gilmour, 2nd James Spithill, 3rd Magnus
Holmberg, 4th Sten Mohr, 5th Luc Pillot, 6th Tomislav Basic,
7th Y.Funazawa, 8th Franchesco de Angelis
More information www.hmyc.or.jp
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words
max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a
bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so
give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.
-- From David Shore - Re RNZYS acceptance of the Swiss Challenge for the
Louis Vuitton Cup. What's all the fuss about a challenging yacht club
holding an annual regatta on an arm of the sea? Is this another example of
old requirements in the Deed of Gift that should be revised to reflect
modern times? None of the challengers travel to the event by sea anymore.
-- From Rick Hatch - While it would be a great event format, until the
400-athlete limitation for the Olympic Regatta changes, team racing won't
happen. Sailors, their MNA's and ISAF need to mount a MAJOR lobbying
effort with their national Olympic Associations and the IOC to expand the
athlete limitation and the number of medal events, so that classes with
excellent attributes - the Soling, the Finn and the Star - aren't at risk
from policy decisions, while creative new event formats can become a real
possibility.
As for the America's Cup, anyone who's watched the furious tacking and
gybing in team racing will quickly conclude there would be an inordinate
amount of "down time" in IACC boat team racing, for EXTENSIVE repair work.
In the meantime, I would encourage sailing fleets everywhere and their
organizing authorities to promote team racing events. With greater
exposure, team racing can become recognized both within and outside the
sailing fraternity as a format that is the equal, both in terms of calibre
and profile, of any fleet racing event or match racing championship.
-- From Charlie Shumway - Match Racing to the knowledgeable sailor is
boring. After the start there is generally not much to follow. On the
other hand team racing is so much more exciting with specific strategies at
various times, speed the race up, slow the race down, set a trap, take a
boat out, and if we have three boats to a team simply inform the non
sailor, that ten points wins, but eleven loses. With colored sails and
color coded boats, we might look, act and feel more like an NBA team, which
could attract real sponsors, because the public might have a real interest
knowing it is not a matter of the best boat, most money, etc., etc., etc.
For my money I would rather race a team race than any other aspect of the
sport, and I think in a few years more and more people and the public will
come to this realization. What it will take is a Gary Jobson, or Peter
Isler to start trying to promote Team Racing for the media. New York Yacht
Club asked Gary and Annapolis to sail in this years Hinman Masters, I ask
them now to come next August in Newport in Sonar's for the Second Hinman
Masters Trophy. Any other club, which might have a great interest
simply respond to NYYC.
-- From Jim Scurlock - 'Butt's Americas Cup story mentioned the Dusseldorf
Yacht Club Challenge needed scrutiny because among other things it is not
"located on the shores of a sea". Neither is the Seattle Yacht Club
(Oneworld Challenge).
-- From Ken Brooke (re: ISAF Rule changes) - Most of the rule changes made
by the Rules committee can be readily implemented around the world at the
date decided by ISAF but we in the antipodes have on a number of occasions
been faced with problems associated with the 6-month difference between the
Southern and Northern season starts. Changing the advertising rules at Jan
1 will be one such. The two year moratorium essential.
As for displaying an individual recall signal without sound - Totally
ridiculous!!!
THE RACE
Team Philips left Dart Marina, Dartmouth at 0900 on Monday 20th November
for sea trials. She returned at 1730 after a good, productive nine-hour
sail. The crew were able to calibrate all of the strain gauges and load
cells, practice sailing under differing sail configurations and looking at
ways of minimizing chafe to the miles of rope on board.
"It's been a first class day. Exactly what we wanted. A good mix of wind
conditions which enabled us to do some good hard sailing in the morning and
as the wind dropped off in the afternoon, meant we could do some fine
tuning of the sail trim and other exercises. We have been able to strike
some things off the job list and we look forward now to going out as the
weather permits us over the next few days." said Skipper Pete Goss.
The crew will be slowly working up Team Philips over the next couple of
weeks. They will be carrying out a series of day and overnight sails to
test each area of the boat.
The crew plan to leave the UK for Monaco to join the other competitors to
the RACE at the beginning of December. She will then take part in a series
of sea trials before racing from Monaco to Barcelona on 18th December. The
RACE starts from Barcelona at 1400 on 31st December 2000.
The crew will be concentrating on the sea trials and the performance of
Team Philips - there will not therefore be a great deal of information
coming back from the boat for the first part of the process. Once she is
sailing for Monaco, the raceviewer should be up and running on this site
which will give you up to the minute information on Team Philips. - Team
Philips website, http://www.teamphilips.com/
MORE ON THE RACE
(Skipper Cam Lewis speaks candidly about his Team Adventure campaign in an
interview with Nikki Herisset and Laure Fay posted on the Sail-Online
website. Here are two important excerpts from that story dealing with the
budget.)
* We are still working on sponsorship and it is the key to our success
and participation in the future event. We need desperately to get a sponsor
or two signed on in the near future to keep this program rolling. Some
progress is being made, but we do not have an answer yet. There are only
contracts and our boat remains clear of any sponsors today. We have a lot
of great suppliers that will get some other space as soon as we get it
sorted out in a week or two, but those are non-cash contributions.
* We need funding, whether they are sponsors of the private type or of
the corporate type. We do not have enough money to compete in The Race
right now. We need roughly $ 2 million to pay the entry fees, crew,
salaries, insurance, communication, food, etc. - Nikki Herisset & Laure
Fay, Sail Online website
Full story:
http://www.sail-online.com/html.cfm?Activedoc=article.cfm&rep0=news&NumArticle=1620
STARTING IN A BIG FLEET
(Brad Read reveals how his team of homeboys won the 2000 J/24 Worlds by
keeping their eyes on the prize and their minds open. Here's an excerpt
from an interview with Read on the SailNet website.)
The key was the starts. What you'll find in big fleets like this that are
mixed with international sailors is that everyone gets on starboard tack
with two minutes to go and just sits there and luffs. So the big packs get
bigger and the low-traffic areas get a little more spread out at about one
minute. Because of that, you can't do the usual port-tack approach below
the line like you would in most events around the US. We saw many of the
Americans and all the college sailors trying to do this, but you just can't
see the holes from below when everyone is bunched up so early. On the first
day I scared the living crap out of Jay by setting up above the line,
trying to eyeball the low traffic areas. It was really risky because if we
couldn't get back to the line, we'd have been screwed. But you have to stay
above the line to spot the holes. When we spotted our hole, we would either
jibe or tack into it with a minute left. If you came in underneath the
pack, you just couldn't find a hole. That really paid off for us. - Brad
Read, SailNet website
Full story:
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/racing/index.cfm?articleid=readbr0003&tfr=fp
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505 WORLDS
Durban, Republic of South Africa (61 boats) - In what is becoming a
frustrating pattern, there was no racing on Day 4 of the International 505
World Championship. This time the RC waited until noon to abandon for the
day, in the hope that conditions would be reasonable for racing in the
afternoon. The RC sent boats out to check wind and sea conditions several
times this morning. An early wind check saw readings of 45 knots, this
abated to 35 knots at a later check, and then in the late morning the wind
was reported to be as low as 15 knots, though with frequent squalls of 25+
knots going through, and with large breaking seas, and poor
visibility. Given the conditions, and the offshore breeze, none of the
competitors were surprised when racing was again abandoned for the day.
We expect to be racing two races a day from now on, in an effort to get in
five or six races before the event ends on Friday the 24th. If we do race
in very windy and/or wavy conditions, we will probably be racing on the
same course as the Flying Dutchman, so that rescue boats can be
concentrated on the one course. - Ali Meller, VP International 505 Class
Yacht Racing Association
Results of the only race run so far: 1. USA Howard Hamlin / Peter Alarie,
2. SWE Krister Bergstrom / Thomas Moss, 3. GBR Ian Barker / Daniel Cripps,
4. USA Andy Beeckman / Ben Benjamin, 5. GER Martin Goerge / Rainer Goerge,
6. GBR Ian Pinnell / Nick Powell, 7. USA Mike Martin / Steve Bourdow.
Web Site: www.mscworlds2000.co.za
INNOVATION
One of the most radical ideas to hit dinghy races began at the Houston
Yacht Club last weekend; the first-ever Vanguard 15 Lunar Regatta. Tower
stadium lights were trucked in to line the jetty as thirteen Vanguard-15's
adorned with glow sticks and flashlights competed in over 20 knots of cold
winter breeze. As if things were not challenging enough, the course
required starboard mark roundings for the benefit of the over 100 spectators.
Spectators lined the jetty avoiding the biting cold by remaining in their
cars, honking their horns as boats screamed within 20 yards before flying
around the jibe mark. 1999 Vanguard National Champion, Kevin Funsch,
described crossing the fleet on port as "truly frightening, but a blast."
The 5 race event was won by Baylor U. college sailor Brent Marsden, second
place went to ICYRA North American Singlehanded Champion, Bruce Mahoney.
Farley "Frogman" Fontenot was third. HYC is hosting the V15 National
Championship next October. - Jonathan Goddard, Houston YC
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Freedom of the press means you don't have to iron clothes.
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