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SCUTTLEBUTT 1800 - March 22, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. GOING HOLLYWOOD Hollywood announced a swashbuckling assault on the British-based Volvo Ocean Race in a highly original joint venture. The makers of the second in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the Walt Disney Company, will have their racing yacht built at the Green Marine facility in Lymington, Hampshire, in time to start the round-the-world race from Galicia, north-west Spain, in November. Helping with the initial funding of the £8m to £10m campaign is the Volvo Car Company (a joint holding with the Ford Motor Company) and Volvo AB, but the plan is to replace that funding from other commercial sponsors. The boat, to be named The Black Pearl, will then be used for the duration of the race, which finishes in Sweden in June 2006 and features stopovers at Cape Town, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Baltimore, Portsmouth and Rotterdam, to promote the film before its release in July 2006. In addition, Disney will use the race to develop video games and publishing initiatives. It is the seventh confirmed entry in the event - there are hints of an eighth in the wings-- and most of the 10-strong crew, and the skipper, will be American. The film's star, Johnny Depp, is not expected to be one of them, even though he enjoys sailing, but may make an appearance at a stopover or the New York pit stop. Disney wants the boat to do well and is thought to be talking to the likes of Paul Cayard, Kenny Read, and Chris Larsen to take the helm. "This takes us to a whole new level in terms of global profile and exposure," the chief executive of the race, Glenn Bourke, said. - Excerpts from a story by Stuart Alexander in the Independent, full story: http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/story.jsp?story=622394 Curmudgeon's Comment: The 'Pirates' campaign will be headed by Atlant Ocean Racing, the syndicate company of Richard Brisius and Johan Salen. TAKING SPONSORSHIP TO A NEW LEVEL Pirates of the Caribbean stars Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are taking to the high seas for real by joining a round-the-world yacht race, it was announced today. The Hollywood trio will help to crew a boat taking part in the gruelling Volvo Ocean Race. The vessel will be named the Black Pearl - after the pirate ship in the film - and its sail will feature a giant skull and crossbones. It is all part of a marketing stunt to promote the forthcoming release of the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The stars will split the race between them - Knightley will join the boat while it is in Europe, Bloom will cover South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and Depp will be on board when the yacht reaches the US and Brazil. Each will undergo rigorous training at the race HQ in Portsmouth. And while the rest of the crew must put up with the sort of living conditions yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur endured during her recent round-the-world voyage, the actors will be living in comparative luxury. A special "Hollywood-style" berth is being built for them on the boat. A spokesman said: "We will be laying on Egyptian cottons sheets, freshly cut flowers and special menus for each star." Knightley, 19, Depp, 41, and Bloom, 28, will take part in the inshore races at each of the main stopover ports. - Anita Singh, http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4292137 AMERICA'S CUP (The Daily Sail subscription website interviewed Tom Ehman, Chairman of the Challengers Commission about 'their issues' with the 2007 America's Cup. Here are a couple of brief excerpts from the story on posted online.) A fundamental issue the Challenger Commission is working on at present is how the results from the Acts will count come the Challenger selection series. Both ACM and the Challenger Commission are agreed that the Acts in the build up to 2007's challenger series will be weighted, the later Acts counting for more than the earlier. At present there is a dispute over the significance of the Acts that boils down to ACM wanting the final results from the Acts to count for a lot while the Challenger Commission want the Acts to count for less so that when teams start the Louis Vuitton Cup the playing field is more level. "The teams want to start on an even points basis, otherwise they are worried that the challenger selection series will be over before it even starts in April 2007," says Ehman. To give the Acts some relevance, ACM are proposing that the teams who finish in the top four should take the fast lane straight through to the quarter-finals of the challenger series. The Challenger Commission turned down this proposal six months ago says Ehman, but in February came up with their own 'San Fran Plan' using the Acts in much the same way Formula 1 teams use pre-Grand Prix time trials to get their place on the grid come race day. The Challengers are also worried about placing too much emphasis on the Acts when most will not be racing their new boats until 2007. - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com BOAT SHOES FOR THE SPORTSMAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING… The Gold Cup Collection from Sperry Top-Sider offers today's sportsman a new level of luxury and performance. Full deerskin linings and dual-density memory foam footbeds surround the foot in comfort. Non-marking TC4 rubber Vibram® outsoles provide anchor-like traction on wet or dry surfaces. Durable yet supple exterior leathers are both stain and water-resistant. And signature eyelets in 18K gold hold their rich, polished sheen through years of use. You can't find more seaworthy gear for your feet. Available at fine retailers nationwide and http://www.sperrytopsider.com OH MY! In a highly critical official report into Mirabella V's grounding in the south of France last September, the Isle of Man Marine Administration has brought into question rules used to calculate how big her anchors should be. The report also criticized skipper Johnno Johnston for deciding too late to move from a lee shore and for not taking measures 'to improve anchoring arrangements in the increased weather conditions'. Neither did the report's authors believe the vessel was in a suitable state of readiness 'given the high level of risk created by the yacht's position and the prevailing weather conditions'. It also highlighted shortcomings in communications procedures between the bridge and the engine room, where high noise levels meant the chief engineer couldn't initially hear the skipper's instruction to start the engines when the anchor was dragging. Although Mirabella's anchors were well in excess of the weight recommendations set by Det Norske Veritas, the classification society used by her designers, the rules failed to take into account the windage of the yacht's rig - only the hull and superstructure windage was accounted for. The report concludes: "the frontal area of the rig...should have been factored into the calculations for the size of the anchoring equipment fitted." If this had been done, the Lloyd's Register calculations (which exist for certain sailing ships) would have decreed that her main and secondary anchors be 80 per cent heavier at 1080kg and 756kg. As it was her heaviest anchor was just 600kg. - Excerpt from a story by David Glenn on the Yachting World website, full story: www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20050221140015ywnews.html RESCUE Oxnard, Calif. - A two-masted sailing ship with 20 crew members and students aboard went aground and was battered by waves near a rock jetty Monday evening, forcing dramatic rescues in heaving seas.Individuals in life jackets jumped off one by one and were picked up by rescuers on personal watercraft. All aboard were accounted for, the Ventura County Fire Department said on its Web site. The scene was broadcast live by KABC-TV Los Angeles, which reported that four people were rescued from the 58-degree water initially. Others leaped overboard as waves rolled the ship severely, pushing it toward the rocks. Rescuers on watercraft darted into the white surge and pulled sailors to safety. The vessel was identified as the Irving Johnson, a brigantine completed in 2003 for the Los Angeles Maritime Institute's TopSail Youth Program.The boat was being used for a seven-day team-building trip through the Channel Islands by students from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, said Laura Trulson, the institute's education director. Ten students and 10 crew were aboard the boat, she said. She did not know how the vessel got into trouble. The vessel is 90 feet long, with 4,450 square feet of sail, a rigging height of nearly 88 feet and a diesel engine. The sails were furled during the rescue northwest of Los Angeles. - Associated Press, www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/11195450.htm NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS US Sailing has determined its 2005 schedule for Adult and Youth National Championships. The 18 events, which begin in April and continue through November, will be hosted by different yacht clubs across the country and raced in a wide range of classes of boats. While some participants are selected by their sailing resume, the course to the majority of Championships is either open or based on a ladder structure that begins at the local club level and progresses to regional finals before reaching the National Championship. The complete schedule is posted: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/ TROFEO PRINCESA SOFIA Palma Mallorca - The first day of the 36 Trofeo Princesa Sofía - Madrid 2012 started with overcast skies and no wind with starts delayed until 15:00 hours. The Embat wind, 6 to 7 knots blew in most of the racing areas with smooth sea. Only one race was sailed by four of the participating classes: Yngling, Dragon, Laser and Laser Radial, while the Europe, Mistral, Finn, Tornado, 49er and the 470 will have to wait for better weather conditions tomorrow. The new Olympic discipline, the Laser Radial, has made a successful debut at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía - Madrid 2012. North American sailor Paige Railey has sailed a fantastic race and leads the overall results followed by British sailor Penny Mountford and German sailor Wiebke Schröeder, second and third respectively. A total of 488 boats representing 34 nations will be competing this week in Palma, with racing taking part in all of the Olympic classes except the Star and the new windsurfing discipline, the Neil Pryde RS:X. Racing continues through until Friday, March 25. - www.trofeoprincesasofia.org MIAMI NICE: DIAL "D" FOR DOMINATION It's a lot more fun to race when you've got a big smile on your face. At Acura Miami Race Week, it was hard not to notice the smiles of the top teams in the Etchells class, where nine out of the first 10 boats used Doyle sails. Or the bliss aboard Jonathan McDonagh's Champosa, Doyle-powered winner of the Mumm 30 class. Or the grin on the face of Gordon Schiff, who dominated PHRF-3 with four bullets in his Doyle-powered Mumm 36, The Wall. Are you ready to start smiling - and dominating - your class? Dial us at 1-800-94-DOYLE; http://www.doylesails.com CABO SAN LUCAS RACE Weather conditions improved across the race track over last 24 hours, steady winds at 20 - 25 kt from WNW. Bright skys with 6-10 ft. seas. Monday's 0800 position report projected Magnitude 80 finishing approx 2300 hrs PST Monday evening, with the next finishers approximately 0400 hrs Tuesday AM. Smaller boats are presently leading on corrected time. Falcon reports at 0030 hrs PST Monday AM that she had struck something, possibly a whale or fish and had lost her steering. She had difficulty rigging her emergency tiller, possible fouled prop. She was drifting S at 2 kt, but in no immediate danger. USCG Comsta Kodiak answered her distress call. USCG was successful in obtaining Mexican Navy assistance. At daylight Monday, Falcon completed emergency steering repairs and began powering to Turtle Bay. Class Leaders with 39 boats still racing- Class A: Scout Spirit, Bill Turpin; B: Mongoose, Dennis Conner; C: Morpheus, Jim Gregory; D: Tabasco, John Wylie; E: Peregrine, Simon Garland. - www.nhyc.org NEWS BRIEFS * The two remaining boats in the Oryx Quest 2005 are gobbling up horizons and spitting them out the back in 2-metre high rooster tails as they shred the planet. The speed on both boats has barely dropped below 20 knots for the last 24 hours. Doha 2006 is now 4521 miles from the finish with Daedalus 3464 miles further back. www.oryxquest.com/ * Personnel News: Christian 'Blumi' Scherrer, who already experienced in the America's Cup with Alinghi, Fast 2000 and One Australia, is the latest "purchase" by team manager Cesare Pasotti for the Italian "+39" America's Cup Syndicate. * West Marine's growth "going forward" will be achieved largely through the opening of new stores, according to Eric Nelson, the company's chief financial officer. "We currently have 377 stores in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. That gives us between 15 and 20 per cent market share. Our competition is about 4,000 mom and pop stores. That gives us lots of opportunity to grow by adding stores." Nelson said that the company plans to open 55 new stores in 2005, half of them being their traditional full-supply stores and the other half being new "express" stores. - IBI Magazine/Michael Verdon, full story, http://tinyurl.com/63zdv * The 2005 Harry Nye Memorial Trophy was given to John F. Koopman. The award is given to individuals who provide exceptional service to the Star Class over an extended period. Koopman has served as the Chief Measurer for the International Star Class since 1997, presiding over nine Star Class World Championships and the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. He has done excellent work developing new techniques to enforce our specifications, in an era when technical developments are testing the class rules. www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1lFhypqw * In the Global Challenge RTW ocean race, Imagine It. Done. is 10nm ahead of Spirit of Sark, who in turn, has pulled ahead of BP Explorer to the south by the same margin. So the top three are spread over 30nm with more than 2,500nm to go. - www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * Over 40 women are headed to St. Petersburg, Fla. next month to learn the art of America's Cup-style racing. From April 7-10, St. Petersburg YC will host the Rolex Women's Match, an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) grade 4 event. Established to introduce women sailors to match racing, the regatta's format features a combination of a skills and rules clinic taught by ISAF International Umpire Henry Menin, followed by round robin racing in Sonar keelboats on Tampa Bay. The winner of will gain an automatic invitation to compete in the Rolex Osprey Cup, an ISAF Grade 1 match racing event. - www.rolexwomensmatch.org * Western Australian yacht builder, Windrush Yachts, has finalized a six boat order for "Fremantle 505" hulls and shipped them out to the East and West Coast USA. - www.505.com.au STRICTLY SAIL PACIFIC - OPENS IN THREE WEEKS! Check out 300+ exhibitors and 100+ sailboats. Meet Kevin Burnham and Bruce Schwab. Attend US SAILING's Safety at Sea, North U, Pacific Cup prep or numerous racing seminars. Strictly Sail Pacific, April 13-17, Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. Advanced tickets are on sale now: http://www.strictlysail.com LIGHTNING SOUTHERN CIRCUIT The 2005 Lightning Southern Circuit has just finished. There are three regattas which make up the Southern Circuit: the Deep South Regatta at Savannah Yacht Club, the Miami Midwinter Regatta at Coral Reef Yacht Club, and the Winter Championship at St. Petersburg Yacht Club. While many sailors sail only one or two events, this year we had 26 teams which competed in all three events to qualify for the overall Southern Circuit. This year there were 32 boats at the Deep South, where they enjoyed strong winds and sunny skies. 41 boats sailed in Miami, where the winds ranged from light to medium-heavy. 58 boats sailed in St. Pete, where we were able to complete the regatta in just two days because of the picture-perfect conditions. Tito Gonzalez, Santiago Chile, defending World Champion, with his 16-year-old son, Diego, and good friend Fernando Gallyas, captured the overall Southern Circuit trophy followed by David Starck in second with Greg Fisher/ Brian Hayes finishing third overall. - Karen Johnson, complete results: www.lightningclass.org LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (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 Bruce Thompson: I would suggest that we modify John Griffith's proposal to designating the winner of the Transpac as the World's Fastest Sled (rather than boat). This is much more in keeping with the well established terminology of past competitors, who have referred to their craft as "sleds". And it is a recognition that these craft do not have to have a proven ability to go to windward without their keels falling off, a necessary trait to deserve the appellation, boat! Curmudgeon's Question: I wonder where do the multihulls fit into this proposal? * From: Name unfortunately lost in the editing process: I think ever racer in southern California has heard to some extent about the unfortunate events that occurred shortly after the Cabo race. My god this is not Sydney Hobart this is no wind Newport. Add these events to Pyewacket's cracking carbon half way to PV and Genuine Risk's inability to even make the starting line for the PV race, one really has to wonder what #*%^? If not one prominent racing yacht in southern California can make it 800 miles to Cabo San Lucas, Honolulu may just be a fantasy. P.S. I am the only one not able to download any information what so ever from Newport Harbor Yacht Club's web site. As of 0900 PST on 3.21 the only info available is this little report posted on Scuttlebutt. Curmudgeon's Comment: NHYC is doing a good job of reporting information and current standings. There is a race link at the bottom of the club's home page. When you get to the race page, use the results link: www.nhyc.org * From Taylor Grant (edited to our 250-word limit): All the talk about instruments and technology is great, and I love using it. But at times you remember when. Sailing on Robon a C&C 61 in the 1971 Bermuda we started with lots of basic wind gauges, etc. But the rules were different, no radio contact, no direction finder, no weather fax, no radar, etc. Yes they let us have a compass. Under the leadership of navigator Ben Mitchell Sr, we found Bermuda and managed a first to finish. As the weather worsened to hurricane strength and the boat took a pounding we were down to no gauges and no light on the compass. Everyone on board were dinghy sailors, we just sailed the boat, went fast and found the finish line. The rain was blowing horizontal and it was hard to see anything anyway. We beat Windward Passage, Blackfin, Ondine, etc. We were not the biggest boat by far. I still think sometimes all the instruments get in the way of feeling the boat, the wind and the water, and just going fast. I had the privilege of sailing on Red Rooster when she won the Fastnet Race and was a member of the Admiral's Cup Winning Team. Dick Carter, the owner and designer, was a believer of simple is fast. Very few winches, a tiller, and only two gauges, a wind angle and speedo and only one of each. The bottom line was that good drivers make a boat go fast. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why do people say, "You can't have your cake and eat it too"? Why would someone get cake if they can't eat it? |
