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SCUTTLEBUTT 1557 - April 8, 2004Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest 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. AMERICA'S CUP There could be between eight and 12 challengers for Europe's first America's Cup, which will be held off Valencia in 2007. At a get-together at the venue, around 17 prospective challengers have met the Swiss organisers and other interested parties including the defending Alinghi team and the Spanish hosts. Three groups stayed away to remain incognito - from south-east Asia, Germany/ Poland and the United States - and the recently unveiled South Africans were not there either. But a 30-50 per cent conversion rate from 20 or so teams gives the likely turn-out in three years' time. Italy is heavily represented with five possible teams. Other teams will be long shots. Going up against Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing for fellow Americans is especially tough. Team New Zealand, the beaten defenders, sent their technical chief, Andy Claughton, rather than chief executive Grant Dalton to the gathering, a hint that Dalton is keeping his powder dry. All the signs are that TNZ are close to their £55 million budget, with a Middle East airline tipped as title sponsor. The mood in Valencia is optimistic. The major infrastructure works start this summer and a television plan, a headache in recent America's Cup series, is geared to audience ahead of revenue. Tim Jeffery, Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/2k5ac CHANGING TIMES The Southern Ocean Racing Conference - a Florida corporation known to racing sailors around the world as "SORC" - has reached an agreement with Peter Craig and his Premiere Racing organization, which will step in and produce the Miami event beginning in March 2005. The Marblehead, MA based company has built Terra Nova Trading Key West into the top annual keel boat event in North America and one of the elite race weeks on the international racing calendar. "SORC has had a remarkable run," said spokesman Bob Meagher. "However, the business of regatta management has changed over the years and it's become too much for the clubs to handle themselves. The consortium of five Yacht Clubs was formally established in 1941, founding a series of five point-to-point races that included stops in Nassau, Key West and Havana, Cuba during the first "Southern Circuit". Over the years the SORC has been a condensed history of American ocean racing with the circuit ultimately growing to 6 races spread over 4 weeks. Its popularity would peak in 1973, before changes in offshore racing designs and increasing demands on the leisure time led to waning interest in distance racing. The current format of an intense week of windward / leeward day racing off Miami Beach made its debut in 1990. Acura has been the title sponsor at SORC since 1999. The Miami Beach Marina will remain the Official Site for this mixed-class event (One Design / PHRF / IMS). Premiere Racing is in the process of polling boat owners, class organizations and the industry to determine the ideal racing dates going forward. The Thursday to Sunday racing format will continue with the 2005 regatta dates to be announced later this month. Information and details on the Miami regatta will be posted on the Premiere Racing web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com MORE AMERICA'S CUP Australia's OzBoyz Challenge announced that Michael Dunstan will be the skipper of their America's Cup 2007 syndicate. At just 22 years of age, Dunstan is Australia's leading match racer with an ISAF World Ranking of 28. A graduate of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron youth training program, Michael is a two times Australian Match Racing Champion, as well as winner of the Australian Youth Match Racing Championships in the 2001 and 2002 World Series Yachting Super Nines. He was also runner up at the 2000 World Youth Match Racing Championships in New Zealand. The core team members competing with Michael include Adam Garnaut, Nick Partridge, Seve Jarvin and Paul McKenzie. Their first event will be the Trentino Garda Cup in Italy at the end of April. It will immediately be followed by the Elba Cup which is part of the Swedish Match Tour. Then the team will compete in Croatia, England, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, France and other venues yet to be confirmed. - www.ozboyzchallenge.com ULLMAN SAILS STRING OF VICTORIES Ullman Sails congratulates Robert Hobbs, racing his B-32 "Abbey Normal," and Peter Wormwood on his 27-foot catamaran "Deuce Coupe" and their crews for a string of victories. Over the past three weeks on Tampa Bay, they won their classes in the Anchor Cup, Michelob Cup, and Suncoast Race Week. Mono-hull or multi-hull, Ullman Sails designers are dialed into the winning numbers. Also mark your calendar, as Ullman Sails in Newport Beach will conduct an Ensenada Race Weather Seminar on Tuesday, April 13th at 7:00 p.m. For reservations call (949) 675-6970. Visit our website at http://www.ullmansails.com FOR THE RECORD At 15:45 GMT Wednesday afternoon, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran passed the famous rock that symbolizes the exit from the Pacific and the seas of the Southern Ocean. Geronimo reached this waypoint after 41 Days, 16 Hours and 27 Minutes at sea, which is 10 hours ahead of the current Jules Verne Trophy holder (Bruno Peyron), but 48 hours behind Steve Fossett's new round-the-world record. Now the Atlantic opens ahead of the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran; its southern half looks tough, but with following winds. Remember that this leg of last year's attempt proved catastrophic, with an almost total absence of wind. Day 41 update: 403 nautical miles covered in 24 hours, at an average speed of 16.79 knots. www.trimaran-geronimo.com JULES VERNE TROPHY (Curmudgeon's Comment: We are getting a lot of e-mail question how Steve Fossett could demolish sailing's round the world record and not be awarded the Jules Verne Trophy. Following is a story we ran in issue 1517 on February 12 that explains the situation.) A significant political complication with Fossett's bid for the outright round the world record is that technically he is not going for the Jules Verne Trophy. Although ostensibly the same, in fact they are not. "The Jules Verne Trophy is the Trophy. The record is the round the world record," says Fossett. "We're going for the official round the world record which is certified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. We would be very pleased if they present us with the Jules Verne Trophy, as they have presented previous round the world record breakers. "The complication is that their rules call for a payment in order to be eligible for the trophy and for your first year of eligibility it is 30,000 Euros, for any subsequent years to be eligible it is 11,000 Euros. I've told them I'm willing to pay what my competitors are paying. Olivier and Bruno would be paying 11,000 Euros this year and I said I'd pay that too. They have not accepted that offer. "I don't think that is the end of the discussion. Of course, we'd have to break the record first. If we were to break the record I'm sure there would be another discussion over our eligibility to receive the trophy." Other parties (other than Fossett, we should point out) have questioned exactly what Jules Verne Trophy competitors get for this money. - Excerpt from a story posted on The Daily Sail website, full story: http://www.thedailysail.com/ NEWS BRIEFS *Steve Fossett is already starting to lay down plans for his next challenge - flying his glider into the stratosphere. "Then," said Fossett, "I think we'll go for the 24-hour world speed record and see how we get on with that." - Sue Pelling, Yachting World website, www.yachting-world.com * Olin J. Stephens (Hanover, NH) has been named winner of US Sailing's W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. National Sportsmanship Trophy. The trophy will be presented to Stephens at the 75th anniversary celebration this summer of Sparkman & Stephens, a yacht design and brokerage firm of which Stephens is a co-founder. While Stephens was nominated for the award after a specific instance in which he demonstrated fine sportsmanship behavior, his true dedication to the sport is legendary throughout the sailing community. "He sets a great example for other sailors to follow," said Dean Cady, chairman of US Sailing's Sportsmanship Committee. - www.ussailing.org/sportsmanship * Yachting World magazine has been re-launched. The May issue of this magazine for serious sailors might have the same basic ingredients, but it looks very different, with busy news columns and glossy features … and reads differently too. Additionally, the May issue, which is published today, celebrates 110 years of continuous publication. For more details: www.yachtingworld.com/yw/home.htm * Patrick Whetter and Spike Thompson, the founding partners of Mallorca based Vela 2000 who have been aligned with the Doyle Sails camp for the past two years as DoyleVela Superyacht have packed up their sail bags and joined Elvström Sobstad. - www.thesuperyachtcup.com/ INTRODUCING NEW 36FT DAYSAILER BY SPARKMAN & STEPHENS Sparkman & Stephens designed the M36 for Morris Yachts. Classic looks and high performance are perfectly combined for hour-long sails on your own or weekends with family. The carbon spade rudder, high aspect ratio bulb keel, self-tacking jib, and carbon spars are standard along with top quality and pedigree. http://www.sparkmanstephens.com/design/boards.html CONTACT SPORT Raymarine Warsash Spring Series, Warsash, Southampton, UK - An eventful day in the 1720 fleet started badly before the racing had even started with Ian Southworth dropping his rig on the way to the first start, but more was to come. Splash test dummies was leading the first race of the day but was involved in a bad collision with G&T forcing Splash Test Dummies to retire. G&T faired little better when their backstay broke 3 legs later with their rig coming down. Mad Cow and Gul also had separate collisions and forced both to retire from the last race of the day having posted good results in the previous two races, especially Gul with a 1st and a 2nd. - Bang the Corner website, Full story: www.bangthecorner.com/default.asp?m=da&id=11147 * USA Today recently interviewed Peter Well, the winner of the US Mistral Men's Olympic Trials. Here's an excerpt: USA Today: Are Mistral races like auto races with the close proximity? Are you "trading paint" like they say in NASCAR?" Peter Wells: Oh yeah. Definitely. It's not uncommon, to come in especially at the marks, the buoys where you round, everyone comes together and it's very common to have high-speed collisions, get knocked off your board. People go flying, people go through each other's sails, people get knocked in the head with other people's booms and rigs. There are a lot of collisions when it's windy. It's actually pretty exciting to watch. Unlike a sailboat or a car, there's no steering wheel or rudder to turn you. You do everything using your feet and using the sail to turn the board. They're not the most maneuverable things in the world, so there are some spectacular crashes. USA Today: Do you ever have close encounters with fish or other seafaring creatures? Peter Wells: We race in some exotic places around the world. I've hit giant sea turtles at high speed and had my fin ripped out of the board. You get flying fish that come along and hit you in the ankle. There are some flying fish that actually go through your leg if they hit you hard enough. I've hit manatees in Florida and sea turtles. You see sharks every once in a while if the water's clear. You try to stay out of the water as much as possible. - Full story: www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2004-04-02-wells-10_x.htm EBAY UPDATE At our distribution time, no bids had been listed for any of the three major sailing sponsorship auctions being held on the eBay website. The auctions' 'Buy it Now' prices range from $9 million to $45 million, but Team Adventure has a bargain-priced minimum bid of only $1,000,000. While this does not meet the auction's reserve price, it almost certainly guarantees the bidder his or her Andy Warhol-described "15 minutes of fame." Below are the dates and times that each auction ends, plus an abbreviated link to the auction data: - Sausalito Challenge-America's Cup (Apr 9, 2:00 PDT): http://tinyurl.com/2angu - Kan-Do-Volvo Ocean Race (Apr 11, 6:00 PDT): http://tinyurl.com/3hg67 - Team Adventure-Oryx Cup (Apr 13, 8:30 PDT): http://tinyurl.com/35w9w THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT At Kaenon Polarized, we like to see what's coming. If you're young, talented, and keen to improve your skills, you attend the CISA Advanced Racing Clinic. Congratulations to all attendees and regatta winners: Parker Shinn, Allie Blechler, Josh Leighton and Spencer Johnson, Adam Roberts and Nick Martin, Myles Gutenkunst and Mandy Sackett, and Ryan Ramming and Cameron Stuart. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. Available at TeamOne, APS, Island Sports, Boat Locker, Sailing Supply, Svendson's, Seattle Sunglass Company, Alain Mikli NYC, Paragon NYC, Edward Beiner, Sunglass and Optical Warehouse, Lombardi's, Sport Chalet, and West Marine. http://www.kaenon.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 Magnus Wheatley: Peter Huston's excellent Guest Editorial yesterday certainly hit the nail on the head when he said, "Some people are stunned that Russell might not sail for Alinghi in the next Cup." Stunned isn't the word, amazed more like, where did that come from? Left field? Team Alinghi are always at the greatest pains to point out that Russell just needs a little time away and that he very much is, in the words of Mr Bertarelli "keen and in the program." And there's really no reason to doubt them. However if this persistent rumour proves to be true then is Alinghi effectively dead in the water? What are the dream team of Brad, Warwick, Simon, Murray and Deano going to do? Can't see them hanging around without the greatest skipper the Cup has ever seen who could probably win the event with his eyes closed. Isn't it time that the excellent Alinghi PR machine quashed these rumours once and for all or should we start looking at San Francisco accommodation for 2011...Great venue by the way! * From Ian Jenkins, Perth, Australia: To Steve Fossett, having the Jules Verne Trophy on the mantelpiece must be about as essential as having a copy of Penthouse with you on a honeymoon. Wake up Bruno- Mr. Fossett has the real thing. (And right now, I hope it feels real good!) * From Jon Guth: First Bruno Peyron congratulates Steve Fossett and the Cheyenne crew for breaking the record, and in the very next sentence all but dismisses it as not being within the reference of the Jules Verne Trophy, accusing Fossett of individualism and of harming the public interest? Sounds like sour grapes from Mr. Peyron - perhaps as a result of his recent failed attempt with what appears to be an inferior boat. So what if Cheyenne's record is not within the bounds of the Jules Verne as he claims? Could he please explain how the public interest, that he seems to be so concerned with, was harmed? Could that perhaps be the 'French' public interest he is speaking of? As part of the sailing 'public', and a casual observer of the RTW record attempts, it seems to me that Fossett and Cheyenne have advanced the sport and extended it's global reach, and regardless of any trophy, are worthy of being called the fastest around the planet under sail. * From Andrew Besheer: Is it just the translations, am I reading too much into the comments, or are other folks a bit put off at the backhand congratulations that Peyron and DeKersuason seem to have offered to the Cheyenne team on their round the world record? Every release seems to say great job and then it contains a big "but" statement such as: but you didn't set the Jules Verne record and that's what we are using as our benchmark. I realize that Steve Fossett is far too much of a gentleman, but if it were me, I would tell the lot of them (comme on dit en francais): Mangez moi! * From Rich Jeffries: Did anyone else notice that USA Today, April 6, had a short mention in the Sports Update section that Steve Fossett and his 12 man crew just broke the round the world record in a 'hot air balloon'? So much for national awareness. * From Reto Corfu: Hiking on a keelboat hard on the back? Dr. McCoy should try sailing a Laser (while driving around the continent living in a rusty van for a year). I don't want to knock the Laser - I love the boat and the class, I think it's the most competitive fleet in the world and the purest form of racing; but it's also gotta be the most painful boat to sail - after a herniated disk I had to quit. The combination of straight leg hiking and the kinetic movements required to get the boat rolling smoothly over waves (don't want to start a rule 42 debate, but that's how you keep a Laser moving in breeze) has to be one of the worst things you can do to a lower back. Coaches for youth programs everywhere should encourage young athletes to spend as much time stretching and strengthening their core and lower back as they do perfecting that roll tack! * From John McBrearty: Reading all the comments re: handicapping and lifelines my initial impression is that nobody likes sailboat racing "as is". Well, I do! Had a great weekend with "the boys", we didn't sail as well as we would have liked, but we were completive and had fun! Maybe we should take a leaf out of the most popular sport in the world, soccer (the real football), and have rule changes once or twice every fifty or so years. * From Andrew Brown: Please keep the thread about rating systems going as long as you can stand it. The constant stream of confused/dissatisfied owners is a great asset for all of us involved in Selling/ Building/ Racing/ Administering One Design fleets around the world. There is definitely a need for a rating system in sailing as well as OD. Go the box Rule! * From Dave Culp: Is anyone else as nervous as I, noting the close proximity (well within mortar, RPG range) that Oryx Cup and Quest 2006 boats will be sailing to Iraqi shores? Or am I just worrying unnecessarily? * From George Bailey: Seeing some really neat action photos of big boats with tilting ballast keels recently provoked the observation that those suckers would produce a whole lot less drag if they could be tilted just a bit further - so that the bulb came right out of the water! Then I realized that carrying the weight to weather and out of the water - the natural next evolutionary step for the tilting keel, is already done. It called a multi-hull. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS I joined a health club last year - spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there. |
