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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 945 - November 15, 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.
LOUD BANG FROM THE BACK OF THE BOAT Shoebridge heard what he described as a "loud bang from the back of the boat" at midday. An immediate inspection by the crew revealed cracks in the carbon fibre taping on the rudder stock between the two bearings. The crew has been in contact with the yacht's designers and the builder to assess the situation. They have put clamps around the rudder stock to try and prevent more damage occurring while sailing the boat in a conservative manner to reduce the loads on the rudder. After a second loud bang at approximately 2100 hours GMT, it become obvious the shaft was close to shearing off between the two bearings. The crew have now taken down the sails and rigged the emergency rudder. They have also prepared all the watertight bulkheads as an extra precaution. They are waiting for daylight to further analyze the situation, although they are preparing to sail back to South Africa. The exact port and their plan for the remainder of the leg has yet to be decided. Morale onboard is good, Shoebridge said: "They [the crew] are taking to the job in hand. It's obviously shattering news for us. Things were going really well but we have to worry more about the safety of the guys and the safety of the boat." The Volvo Ocean 60 yachts are required by race rules to carry an emergency rudder system. In addition, the watertight bulkheads will ensure the safety of the yacht should water penetrate the hull. In the 1993-1994 Whitbread race, the crew of Brooksfield successfully sailed 1000 miles through the Southern Ocean to Fremantle, using a similar emergency rudder after a rudder bearing failed causing the rudder to break away from the hull. Three of the Tyco crew, British sailors Tim Powell, Gerry Mitchell and Steve Hayles, will be getting a distinct feeling of déjà vu as eight years ago, rudder problems on their Whitbread yacht, Dolphin and Youth, caused them to put into the remote Kerguelen Islands to affect a repair. The other yachts enjoy the fast roller coaster ride between icebergs that quickly counts down the miles to Sydney. Assa Abloy excels in these conditions, taking some miles from all of the other boats at every sked.
POSITIONS on November 15 @ 0400 GMT:
FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT Well, the keel fell off again. This time on (USA) 49 however and I had the pleasure of being on board. After several hours of running downwind through the Hauraki Gulf we turned upwind to do some testing. The wind was only about 16 knots but there was a fair swell running and on port tack we were right into it. After only about two minutes of being trimmed on hard, a big bang and over she went. Being experienced at this now (unfortunately), nearly everyone sprang over the side and didn't even get wet. I just stood on the side (it didn't seem that strange at the time) of the boom and started picking up stuff that was floating around the cockpit. Radios, cameras and such. My feet didn't even get wet until we cut the main halyard to drag it off the mast. We were able to salvage nearly everything from the boat including all the sails. We were under tow with two pumps running in under an hour. Big nasty squalls started rolling through at this point, blowing 40 knots at times. After about six hours of towing (we were probably 18 to 20 miles from Auckland when the bulb fell off) we got to a small cove in the lee side of island where a crane barge was waiting for us. We got the boat back upright, secured it for towing and started heading for home about 8 pm. I went home at this point on a chase boat but when I arrived at the base this morning the boat was in the shed with the rig out. Almost no damage to the boat other than roasting all the electronics and the lost bulb of course. We already had new fins on order but we will have to retrieve the bulb as we have no spare. It was a long, wet, cold, nasty day but everyone got through it safe and sound but it does put a little damper on our whole program. Nothing we haven't seen before though and we should get through it just fine.
AMERICA'S CUP Today, Vincenzo Onorato threw his Portoferraio (Elba Island) HQ for Mascalzone Latino Challenge open to the media today. At this occasion, it's for the first time mentioned that the building Team is working to built the new boat, designed by Giovanni Ceccarelli, who is to be delivered on April 2002. - Haurake News, www.hauraki-news.com/LatestNews/Mascalzone-LN.htm * RNZYS Commodore Peter Taylor said they were expecting at third Italian Challenge within the next two weeks. The IACC-City Challenge is said to trying to buy ITA 48 (Luna Rossa II). Macs Cup Reports has been told that the Japanese will be also going to put their hat in the ring in the next two weeks or so. But is there enough room in Auckland for 13 challengers? - Macs Cup Report
ONE-DESIGN
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Sir Peter Johnson: Fietje Judel ('Butt 944) says that it should not be forgotten that ORC created an international rule. Actually it should be forgotten rather quickly, since it is not true. What happened was that individual sailors got together under the leadership of Olin J.Stephens for the purpose of combining two existing well-supported club-run rules, those of the Cruising Club of America (CCA) and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC). After this was done it was necessary to install a body to administer the resulting IOR, so ORC was formed, but only from countries that had used the old CCA and RORC rules. The I-word was not permitted by the then IYRU. As the CCA and RORC rules were thus abolished, the combined system started instantly with about 10,000 certificated yachts. This is worth remembering because of current calls by Judel and others for a top-down 'global' rating rule under ISAF. This should be recognized for the fantasy that it is. Will ISAF somehow punish those who decline to use it, because they prefer one of the numerous other systems already regularly in use? * From Graham Kelley: The USSA Arbitration procedure can be helpful, but in difficult cases it breaks down, especially if one of the parties subsequently changes his story about the underlying facts after the arbitration hearing. This year at the Gollison/ North Sails Regatta in Long Beach, the USSA arbitration procedure was improved by conducting the arbitration hearing before two judges. The parties were given opportunity to tell their stories, without outside witnesses, and were then given the option of accepting an Arbitration Penalty. If the parties were not willing to do so, then the hearing became a "Protest Hearing" before the same judges, with each party then permitted to call witnesses. The Sailing Instruction provided for a time limit for each party to present their case, but the judges routinely interpreted these as 'soft limits' and granted a reasonable amount of time for the parties to present their evidence. The benefit of this procedure is that the hearings were much more streamlined than the USSA 'arbitration, then protest' procedure. In my opinion, the USSA procedure makes resolution of tough cases even more difficult, because different evidence is presented at the second hearing. A principle benefit of arbitration is that it is an opportunity for inexperienced competitors to have the rules explained by the judges. It also permits experienced sailors to resolve disputes quickly by removing the threat of "capital punishment." In both cases, the fact that the same judges hear the arbitration and the witness testimony contribute to a just and speedy resolution. * From Sherwood Kelley: The reason there are less protests is that the 360/720 rule works. The ultimate judge is peer respect, and that respect or lack thereof, is the best deterrent to bad sailing. Nobody wants to come back to the dock knowing that they won a race because they abused a rule. More (vague) rules do not enhance fun in racing; the purpose of the current form is simplicity and clarity where in the past it took an attorney to interpret them (and not many of those guys were any better at it)...but you do need to learn them (just as everybody did at one time with the old ones); Open hearings is a great idea...too much "pomp and circumstance" recently; to educate on-the-job so to speak would be good for all. Some of the guilt for this "pomp and circumstance" rests with the personalities of some on the RC, not the racers. Let's find a way to open it up. Progress!!! This is good for the sport. * From Barry Ault: Paul (Henderson) is a primary force in the constant battle to ensure that the "New World" (read US and Canada) have the influence on international sailing that we do. If it were not for Paul, we would be merely two quiet votes in a thunder of micro members. One reason Paul has been effective is because he has always spoken his mind regardless of who might not like it. We need to thank him for that. The things that make the Olympics popular (and profitable) are the drama and excitement of competition. Like Mark and JJ earning come from behind medals. 9 metre sails being rowed around an airless lake by super fit lightweights sounds more like aerobics than sailing. I hope it finds a home on pay-per-view. Lets go back to actually sailing windsurfers. The current equipment will be every bit as exciting as the other Olympic classes in any wind. And we will hang on to a huge audience that our sport badly needs. * From Eric Sanford (edited to our 250-word limit): Windsurfing is quite a bit different from sailing a small boat (Laser, 49er, etc.), and worlds away from sailing anything bigger. It is a physical sport (not that sailing a larger boat is not, just that there is not one second where you can relax if you wanted to - in windsurfing if you stop being physical, you fall in the water: period.) Therefore pumping a sail to get the board up on a plane, and ultimately go faster, makes perfect sense. Trimming the sheets on a large boat is essentially the same thing, whether you want to admit it or not: you are working the wind, trying to gain as much forward momentum as possible. Yes, a stronger sailor (windsurfer) can probably work the sail faster and longer to gain an advantage, but this is only relevant if the entire race is held in under 5 knots of wind - not something based in reality. A better sailor, given equal conditions, will always win over a stronger one. The reason for this is the new windsurfing equipment which has been developed over the past 2-3 years. Very strong, wide, light, fast boards - capable of planning in 6-8 knots of wind - combined with large sails 8.0m to 12.0m, have completely redefined our sport. Planning, after all, is what it's all about in windsurfing. If you're simply drifting along you might as well be sitting down. * Hugh Elliot: For the information of your readers, ISAF President Paul Henderson's Guest Editorial contains a basic conversion error. 205 kg (the proposed crew weight limit for Women's Yngling Keelboat) is 450 lbs not 550 lbs.
FOR THE RECORD The two adventurers had been averaging 250 nautical miles a day since leaving the South Atlantic ten days ago, but two days ago their boat speed dropped dramatically and their daily run was only 164 nautical miles. Wilson and Biewenga set sail for Melbourne from New York on September 19, in pursuit of a sailing record set by the American clipper ship Mandarin, almost a century and a half ago. The Mandarin, an American square-rigged sailing vessel, logged 69 days, 14 hours, port-to-port in the winter of 1855-56, while carrying prospectors to the Australian Gold Rush. To beat Mandarin's record, Great American II must arrive off Williamstown, Melbourne, before 5:21 pm, summer time, on November 28. The attempt to break Mandarin's record is the latest education adventure program undertaken by Wilson's Boston-based sitesALIVE! web site at http://www.sitesalive.com. Using satellite communications, Wilson and Biewenga share their daily experiences with schoolchildren who link to an accredited curriculum delivered on the Internet to classrooms throughout the United States and Australia. - Keith Taylor
QUOTES FROM THE BOATS
COMPASS CALIBRATION
AWARDS
TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE In the monohull fleet Sill Plein Fruit (Jourdain/ Le Cleac'h) holds onto an incredible 104 mile lead over nearest rival Voila.fr (Gallay/ De Pavant). Kito de Pavant reported a blown spinnaker on Voila.fr, which has since been repaired, and now the hunt is on just 20 miles behind them, with Casto-Darty-BUT (Moloney/ Turner), Ecover (Golding/ Hutchinson) and SME-Négocéane (Sanso/Dumont) sweating blood & tears to gain vital miles as they battle for third place. - Mary Ambler, www.jacques-vabre.com/pages_uk/accueil_uk.htm
AROUND ALONE "Around Alone" was founded in Newport in 1982. Following preliminary staging in Providence, the fleet will begin the race off the coast of Newport, crossing the Atlantic to England's southern coast, proceeding to Cape Town, South Africa; New Zealand; and Salvador, Brazil. The first competitors are expected to cross the finish line in Newport in the spring of 2003. Already over 20 experienced sailors from 12 countries have officially registered, with the deadline for entries set in March 2002. - www.aroundalone.com/
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS |
