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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 831 - June 7, 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.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE "I am glad we now have the qualification race behind us and have put in more miles than any other team with new boats," says Knut Frostad, sporting a smile despite the little rest the team has had over the last four weeks. "It started out well with winds very much in our favour. We left Chesapeake Bay in record time and then had the thrill of surfing the waves at 25 knots. The breeze died for a day or two and we ended up sitting on a mirror waiting for it to come around again - which it finally did, but not before we had experienced some pretty tough upwind conditions in the Bay of Biscay and stressed the boats and the rigs to the limits for three days in a row. "The boats performed very well, sustaining a little damage but nothing of any concern. Designer Laurie Davidson has been very good to us. Bowman Mikael Lundh hurt his leg when up the mast during a sudden tack but aside from that the whole team is doing very well. The team on djuice 2 raced us very hard and to the last mile we have been in full race mode on both boats. I am most impressed that by next week we will have done three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race with less than 40 hours in port. That's hard racing for anyone and good training for us. We are certainly looking forward to the last months of training and then the race itself." The boats spent 28 hours in Annapolis before leaving for La Rochelle where they will now spend only 12 hours, restocking with food and diesel before sailing to Gothenburg. The boats are in a hurry to make the official christening of djuice on June 16 where Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjeb¿ will do the honours of christening the race boat. Sissel is one of the most well respected and recognized artists in Norway. Event site: www.VolvoOceanRace.org
BUILDING A RACING TEAM Many programs have crew members, but successful boats have a team that functions as a whole. That is one of the biggest differences between success and disappointment on the racecourse. In the successful programs, each team member commits to the schedule agreed upon. It is understandable that everyone might not be able to make every event, but they should make an attempt for the sake of the team. If a team member cannot be at a scheduled event or practice, he/she should take on the responsibility to replace him or herself with a suitable substitute-someone who is as good, if not better, all for the sake of the team. The formula works because, as the adage goes, a team is always stronger than the sum of its components. Everyone knows that there is strength in numbers, and there is nothing better than the fun and satisfaction that comes from developing as a team, getting to know each other better, and doing it all while playing a sport you love! Take a look at your own racing program and consider how you implement the five Ws. With a little attention to detail, and some off-season planning, a stronger team is just around the corner. - Betsy Alison, SailNet website. Full story: www.sailnet.com
STEINER ADMIRAL GOLD BINOCULARS ON SALE
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Peter O. Allen, Sr: Your report of Peter Bentley's article on Amicus IR2000 demonstrates people's general naivete about handicap racing. He wrote, in part: "The really big question it seemed to me was what were boats like Nokia Communicator doing in amongst the Beneteaus and X-Boats? The answer in the Case of Nokia was clear for all to see. She was winning." Of course she was winning. She is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built racer. Such boats recruit and just naturally attract top racers as crew members. Such boats are rarely raced by the unskilled amateur. After discounting the Windex, there is very little similarity between such a boat and a Swan, Beneteau, or X-Boat, whether production or modified. It is the height of optimism to expect any handicap rule to provide a level playing field between rocket ships use as Nokia and anything that looks much like a traditional racer/cruiser. It would be nice if some method could be developed to let a 20 year old Swan and boats such as Nokia race on the same course on an equal footing. While occasionally that may happen, most of the time such a race will be an unequal contest. * From Glenn T. McCarthy: What are the "Rules" of the World Speed Sailing Record Council? What are the categories or classes of boats? What are the steps for ratifying a speed attempt? All I could find was something on ISAF's site that just lists current record holders http://www.sailing.org/info/wssrc2001.asp * From Dave Gruver: The article on Football vs. Sailing was interesting, perhaps a bit over the top. Comparisons of one sport to another will always be with us and they are often put forward with an agenda that says "my sport is harder than yours". I think any sport played at the highest levels is always tough, and comparisons are always difficult. Each sport is its own package of issues, but the bottom line is that if you enjoy it- then that's the sport for you. Personally, I have always seen sailing more akin to Baseball. Baseball is also a sport that is played with no defined time limit, little or no direct contact between players (at least if played normally), and fields vary across the league. Baseball is also a game of mental challenges, as well as bursts of physical finesse and strength. When trying to explain sailing to non sailing friends, baseball analogies have proved to work well -though the concept of more than two teams on the field at one time would be interesting. My friend Kirk Utter summed it up nicely years ago, in a curmudgeonly comment sort of way - "The difference between a sport and an athletic event is; that in a sport you can always hold a beer with your other hand". * Carol Newman Cronin: Andrew Palfrey's comparison of sailing to football sent me back to reread the best writing I have ever come across about describing sailing to non-sailors: the first chapter of Dave Perry's "Winning in One-Designs." I thought Palfrey's analogy sounded familiar, but I was shocked by how close the wording was to Perry's almost 20-year-old text. Palfrey should give credit where credit is due for most of the main points of his comparison, even if he carries them further than the original. * Joe Bousquet: Andrew Palfrey may be the Australian Yachtsman of the year but he also plagiarized Dave Perry's words and ideas in comparing sailing and football. One of the Fundamental Rules concerns Fair Play and Sportsmanship. For 'Buttheads who want the original, pick up a copy of Dave Perry's Winning in One Designs, my all-time favorite book on racing technique. * Mike Mastracci: The entertaining little tidbit describing the game of sailboat racing by Andrew Palfrey (Scuttlebutt #830) was, unfortunately, plagiarism. If you look at Dave Perry's "Winning in One-Designs", third edition, pp. 19-20, you will see the same description, almost word-for-word.
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - John Kolius
YOUTH MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP Straume/ Stunzi swept the ten-race, one-throwout series by winning nine races, and completed the championship with nine points. Their nearest competitors was the team of Thomas Tullo (Staten Island, NY) and Daniel Leone (Toms River, NJ), who took second place with 20 points and won the second race. They had five second place finishes and four third place finishes. Trevor Capps (Shalimar, FL) and Thomas Sukolski (Fort Walton Beach, FL) took third with 25 points overall. Winners of the 2001 US Youth Multihull Championship qualified for the 2001 ISAF Youth World Championship in Crozon-Morgat, France on July 2-12. This is only the second time in history that multihulls have been included at the World Youth Championship. The winners also become members of the US Junior Sailing Team. Team members receive advanced coaching prior to the World Championship. - Penny Piva Rego Complete results: www.ussailing.org/multihull/results.htm.
MUST SEE
PENFOLD'S POINTERS One good way to get a transit, is to park up right off the back of the committee boat, about 2 boat lengths from the line and find a good reference point through the end of the line to the shore. This transit is then two boats length SAFE at the committee boat end, will be one boat length off the line at the middle, and ON the line at the pin. This SAFE transit can be used to sail down in the last minute - in the knowledge that you're not over or as a great guide when holding station at the 'boat end... If you can get a traditional "ON the line" transit to work with it, you can almost pinpoint your position away from the line at any time, using a bit of mental trigonometry... Finally, always try and line up with something that won't move... I got a transit on a white blob on the shore one time, that turned out to be a removal truck... Yes we were over!!! By Penfold, BOATmagic website More pointers: www.boatmagic.com
THANKS DAVE
SWIFTSURE RACE In years past, Juan de Fuca Strait's fickle fogs, unpredictable winds and strong tides have tested and taxed seamanship, stamina and teamwork. This year, conditions were near perfect as more than 250 yachts completed in various race categories covering distances that ranged from 76 to 140 nautical miles. Dragon Fly set a new Cape Flattery multihull record of nine hours and three minutes which was one hour and 17 minutes better than McGarry's elapse time in 2000. There were light winds at the start but westerlies built steadily through the day to 25 knots and held all night. The spinnaker runs home provided surfing conditions for some light weight yachts. McGarry said Dragonfly is redefining the Swiftsure as "a day race with a couple of beers and back home for dinner." In fact, he and his crew had the ride of their lives coming home. "We were running about 25 knots, sometimes close to 30, and there was water flying everywhere." Other winner include: Cape Flattery Race (heavy): Opus, Joe Da Ponte; Cape Flattery Race (light): Snake Oil, James Marta; Juan de Fuca (light): Woodstock, Mike Woodward; Juan de Fuca (heavy): Corvus, Tom Kerr; 30 Foot Express Light :Scout, Kirk Palmer; Exhibition Race: White Cloud, Steve Johnson. Full results: www.swiftsure.org
COLLEGE SAILING
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
