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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 560 - May 2, 2000GPSWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton on Monday gave the go-ahead for letting boaters, motorists and hikers use a satellite-navigation system with the same pinpoint accuracy as the military has long enjoyed. Clinton ordered that at midnight GMT (8 p.m. EDT) on Monday night, the U.S. military stop intentionally scrambling the satellite signals used by civilians to improve the accuracy of Global Position System receivers tenfold. The decision, based on four years of deliberations, is likely to be a boon to the GPS industry, which is already expected to double in the next three years, from $8 billion to more than $16 billion. The possibilities for increased commercial use are wide: air, road, rail and marine navigation, precision agriculture and mining, oil exploration, telecommunications, electronic data transfer, construction, recreation and emergency response. Consumers who have bought GPS receivers for boats, cars or recreation will find that they are 10 times more accurate when the military ceases disruption of the signal beamed down from orbiting GPS satellites. The White House said it should generate greater acceptance of the system. ``In plain English, we are unscrambling the GPS signal,'' said White House science adviser Neal Lane. ``It's rare that someone can press a button and make something you own instantly more valuable, but that's exactly what's going to happen today.'' - Reuters, NY Times Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-clinton-gps.html AMERICA'S CUP (The following is an excerpt from a story by Allan Johnston on the Sailsail website.) Over the last few days I have fielded a number of calls from overseas reporters asking if I could confirm rumours from within Team New Zealand. Will Team New Zealand be Team New Zealand next time? Maybe not if Jim Clark and Bill Koch are doing something. Could they be setting the bar higher for others like Prada or Benetton to follow? Are they buying their way into a trophy by buying the top crew? The real question is - is Team New Zealand going to be able to keep the team together? It has been asked by a number of people in Auckland; will Team New Zealand become an old boy network of old mates giving old mates jobs? I for one don't think Brad (Butterworth) or Russell (Coutts) are that blind but time will tell. Bill Koch was the man behind the Amercia3 chellanger in 1992 and the Girls team in 1995. At that time, Bill made a smart move by paying all his crew the same money - that stopped a lot of in house fighting as I see it, a very smart move. Bill Koch spent a lot of time in New Zealand over the recent Amercia's Cup as a so called reporter. He seemed to be trying to undermine the Kiwis by exposing every little bit of tension that TNZ may or may not have had. It has been said that Bill Koch is working with Jim Clark, let see. After the America's Cup had finished, there was a lot of talk of division within Team New Zealand about the handing over to the new grade. One thing that was made obvious by certain crew members, was that they felt they were being under paid - like Gerry Maguire who said, "Show me the Money", and why not? Up to 20 of Team New Zealand's crew may be sailing for Netscape's Jim Clark. Myself, I think most of it is hog waste, however if someone offered me a $38,000 signing bonus and $230,000 a year for six years deal, I wouldn't have to think hard about defecting. I know for a fact first hand that Seattle is a very nice place to live. From what I have been told, the Team New Zealand boys were paid 50-80,000 NZ$. Of course the boat builders and the likes would not be making that. Young talented sailors are like football players - they jump ship sometimes, and for the right money maybe I might too. - Allan Johnston, Sailsail website Full story: http://www.sailsail.com/news/news-article.asp?Articleid=356 JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE (Bowman Mark Sims wrote the following account of the Key West to Baltimore Race as seen from the deck of the R/P 73, Zephyrus IV.) Gusts to 50, but for the most part low 40s. It actually seemed to be laying down when it (the rig) went. We had done a 403 N.M. day point-to-point. Boat was cruising in the low 20's with bursts to somewhere over 30. The knot meter was recording wind speed when we launched off the wave faces. We lost two spinnaker poles the night before. The first in a roundup in 42 knots. It snapped a meter short of the inboard end, the kite wiped the pole around the head stay and ended up in back of the boom with the pole now entangled in the mainsheet with the jagged end resting up on the hatch. It was pitch dark out so I am glad I did not have to see that 30-foot weapon fly around like a monstrous baseball bat. That took almost an hour to sort out and get going again. We waited until dawn and a watch change to reset the kite. We had to re-rig the spare pole, which meant I had to go outside the bow pulpit and re-reeve the forguys. I DID NOT LIKE THIS AT ALL! Code 3 up and we were tearing up a bit of ocean again. Steady 25's on the fun meter - just another bizarre day at the office. Now imagine us blasting down waves, with the 25-foot remains of the broken spinnaker pole lashed to the weather lifelines. Both ends of it are broken off. 'Curly' took off a monster wave and down we went doing close to 30 when we shoot through a wave. The bow buried back to the mast, water was shooting out the back end of the broken pole like a high pressure hose. When the bow cleared, the forward end of the pole now looked like mushroom. We all laughed for about 30 seconds until we buried the bow again and this time the water was now hurling the carbon fiber shrapnel back at us in the cockpit. Two foot long spears. A little lesson learned. Wrap a towel over the forward end! An hour later, BANG. Second pole broken in the same place. Code 3 still on the bow with pole now gone. The wind is piling on again. Mid 40s. We are thinking of reefing but cannot do so with the kite up. We spike away the kite and drop it safely. Still doing 18 knots steady under full main. We set the blast reach and are back screaming along in the mid-20s. It is around a watch change and almost all of us are on deck together. Bill Biewenga and Dobbs Davis are below packing the Code 3. It seems as if the wind might be lightening a little. We get a little puff, maybe 41 knots and the biggest bang you have ever heard went off. The mast just sheared in half about 4 inches above the deck. There is a lot of carbon at the point, but it did not seem to matter. Now is one of those moments when time seems to slow down. Colors are bright and crisp. The rig, still absolutely vertical, glances off the deck about a foot in front of its normal home. It skips ahead another foot then plunges STARIGHT DOWN through the deck. It is still vertical! Then the top mast fold and the rig buckles in two other places. Now time resumes its normal pace. Chris Kam and I dive below an each toss on deck a life raft. They probably weight about 75b lbs. apiece, but we tossed them onto the deck like they were nothing. Bertrand readies the rafts. Meantime, down below we have 6 feet of mast trying to mash everything in site. Bill B. and Dobbs dive for the back of the boat to get away from the rig which literally dropped in on them. The navigators already have the emergency antenna up and have radioed a distress call to the Coast Guard. We were incredibly lucky as to where the mast came through the deck. It went through the head taking out the carbon head area then kissed down the inside of the hull. If it had not done this in this manner I am absolutely certain that it would have gone right through the bottom of the boat. Everybody in life jackets we work at cutting the rig away. The crew worked quickly, covered in hydraulic oil and carbon, and spread their talents from stem to stern to remove the standing and running rigging. We save what we can. This takes about 30 minutes or so. Coast Guard is called and the do a fly by. I was very happy to see my tax dollars at work right then and there. We rendezvous with a Coast Guard Cutter and they escort us in to Morehead City N.C. I was one of the lucky few who rode with the owner in a chartered plane to Baltimore (I had a flight I could make back to Santa Barbara I got there quickly). Next thing I know I am standing in Baltimore International in dripping wet foul weather gear and sea boots. I have carbon splinters all over and hydraulic fluid smeared all along the back side of me. The airline people where none too happy to see me. Nor where the poor folk who encountered me in the men's room as I did my own version of a shower in the sink. I bought myself a large steak dinner in the airport and a double scotch. I must say, of all the rig failures I have seen, this one was by far and away the most frightening. - J. Mark Sims LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Michelle Master Orr - Wow, I am so impressed with the news that a group of wealthy American's are attempting to "buy" some of TNZ's top guns (sarcasm dripping)! The United States will certainly prove an already known fact, that we are the wealthiest nation on earth. If this syndicate does come to fruition, and it is successful, it will definately NOT prove that American's are dominant in winning the cup back. In fact, I think it would accomplish the opposite, proving that American's are so weak, that we have to go outside the country to buy talent. Afterall, isn't this what many other syndicates have done? Aren't we, as Americans, always quick to point out the designers and other talent behind successful campaigns are American? And when we point this out, aren't we trying to discredit the true victory of a nation? I hope this article is just an awful rumor, and these wealthy backers contribute to some American talent. Also, please, if you 12 anonymous people are looking to name the new boat, I think you should call it Bendict Arnold, or Guns for Hire? -- From Adrian Morgan - If the story that some wealthy Americans will buy the entire Kiwi America's Cup team t is not an example of crass cultural imperialism, I don't know what is. To poach a few team members has always been fair game, but the whole team? The deadline, given the nationality rules, is fast approaching. The history of the cup is littered with nastiness and the name of the game is winning. US technology has often been used against the home side, and there are many of examples, not least the exclusive use of Cuben fibre by the Italians this time. But to buy the whole team when victory was denied on the water? Where's US pride? Can't win fair and square so get out the chequebook eh? It would mark a new low in the cup's history if the US stooped to such levels. Sour grapes of the sourest kind. -- From Doug Lord - Wow! If New Zealand is really in such dissaray after such a spectacular job over the last 6 years plus something is very wrong!! And if the only way for us to win the Cup back is to buy Team NewZealand then I say that this great event has finnaly bit the dust!! It would be one of the greatest collapses in sports history- not just of team New Zealand but of the whole Americas' Cup. -- From Jack Mallinckrodt (Re Buying TNZ) - The ultimate crass humiliation of American yachting. -- From Chris Ericksen - Thanks for excerpting Herb McCormick's NY Times article on the seasoned US Olympic Sailing Team. The excerpt failed to note that JJ Isler herself is a past medallist, in the Women's 470 in Barcelona in 1992, and that Pease Glaser-whom I believe medalled in Women's 470 at a Goodwill Games back in the 80's-has been on the US Sailing Team for 13 years. Great depth of talent on that boat-and two of the nicest women you'll ever meet in sailing. Curmudgeon's comment: Actually, McCormick's story gave much of that information - it was just not in the portion of the piece I excerpted for 'Butt. -- From Andrew Campbell SDYC (With response to the NY Times Article, about our veteran Olympic team) - I think that I speak for all the junior sailors in the US when I say that we're coming on fast, and the fact that there were four high-school and four college kids at the Laser Trials is proof of just that. Not to mention the double-handed fleet which is making big strides. -- From Ken Rose - I am delighted to see the way my comments on the North/Sobstad patent controversy has prompted such healthy debate in Scuttlebutt. However, some of the points raised do call for an answer. I feel that the comments of Bert Brown are not only misleading but grossly unfair. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER was there any consideration of Banks Sails keeping the fundamental concept of using the load bearing corners as the focal points of panel layouts - triradial sails - under wraps. Although our "Starcut" spinnakers were not actively marketed until 1969, they were there for the sailmakers of the world to see, to think about, to copy and develop for themselves without constraint or royalties from 1960 onwards, when the first one was used by the winner of a world championship, attracting significant media attention. What was completely new at the time was the concept of using mathematics - analytical geometry - to evolve sail shapes. This was totally alien to the sailmaking world at the time triradial spinnakers were first developed and it was therefore understandable that it took a long time for other sailmakers to adapt. But adapt they did - eventually. And the satisfaction I feel from this exceeds immeasurably the monetrary value of any royalties that could have drawn from any patents. I am sure that Ben Lexcen must feel the same about his winged keel that "lifted" Australia ll to a magnificent victory in the 1983 Americas Cup and has lifted the performance of hundreds of yachts since. HAVANA CUP It is with deep regret and extreme sadness that I must inform the participants of the Havana Cup 2000 and the sailing community at large that on Friday April 28, 2000, Ocean Racing Ventures received a (Cease and Desist Order) from the United States Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pertaining to this year's Havana Cup. In compliance with the Order all activity pertaining to the preparation and organization of the Havana Cup ceased effective April 28, 2000. As many of you are aware, Ocean Racing Ventures has worked diligently during the past 5 years to abide by and follow ALL U.S. laws, acts, and regulations regarding travel to Cuba. Ocean Racing Ventures has always addressed every request by the Treasury Department to inform Havana Cup participants of the travel restrictions under which we operate. At no time during our discussions with the Treasury Department did they imply that we were violating any laws. They have even commended us on occasions for making sure that everyone was aware of the requirements for traveling to Cuba. While we do not entirely agree with the Treasury Department, out of respect for their authority and the U.S. Government we faithfully comply with all Orders. Ocean Racing Ventures will continue to work with the Treasury Department to find ways to keep this classic race alive. The Treasury Department officials that we have dealt with have always been helpful and cordial, and we feel that there may still be options available for the future. - Ocean Racing Ventures Additional information: http://www.havanacup.com CORRECTIONS * The Lewmar Cup/NOOD Mumm 30 class was won by Mirage, USA 29, but the skipper was John Sweeney and the boat owner was Tim McCarron. The team, which includes Annapolis North sailmaker Matt Beck and Gary Jobson's future replacement Tucker Thompson, is training for the Mumm 30 World's in Miami. - John Sweeney * Roy Disney's Pyewacket was not the second monohull to finish the Newport to Ensenada Race. That distinction properly belongs to Don Hughes' R/P 70, Taxi Dancer. OLYMPICS Portsmouth, RI-Beginning April 19 and continuing through August 31, 2000, United Airlines will donate miles to the 2000 U.S. Olympic Yachting Team and the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) through a new program, Fly for America's Team. To register, visit www.united.com/moments or by phone at (800) 447-6772 (code 32). Be sure to designate U.S. Sailing. Both program participants and Olympic athletes will earn miles. Travel before August 31 and receive a savings certificate good toward a future flight. United will donate a minimum of 1% of passenger flight miles to the U.S. Olympic Committee fund, for a maximum total of 25 million miles. If you choose, 50% of the miles you donate will be allocated to US SAILING. Visit United Airline's website for further rules. - Penny Piva US Sailing website: http://www.ussailing.org ADRIFT DOWN UNDER Part II of Sailing World's four-part report about Canadian sailors Noah Purves-Smith and Jonathan Dick's overturned Tornado catamaran off the coast of Sydney is now online: http://www.sailingworld.com/2000/04/Adrift2.html THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If you remember the '60s, you weren't really there. |
