|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1257 - February 7, 2003Powered 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 emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. FORMAT FOR THE 2006 AMERICA'S CUP (Richard Hazelton, editor of 48 Degrees North, did a long interview with OneWorld skipper Peter Gilmour that is now posted on the magazine's website. Here's an excerpt in which Gilmour discusses the America's Cup Regatta format.) "I think the running of the Cup should still stay with the defender. It's part of the long history of the event which is its greatest drawing card. They do need to take a look at the original deed of gift and remove all the interpretive resolutions that have been added. All these "band aids" that were supposed to be improvements have just provided new avenues for exploitation and change. Remove resolutions like "sailing on her own bottom", and clarify "designed and built". They can put country restrictions on technology, but sailors should be able to sail for who they chose. There are lots of good sailors from countries who will never have an America's Cup campaign. They should get their chance, just like athletes in other sports. "Here's a bit of radical thought; I'd like to see the America's Cup become an annual event. A regular event on everyone's yearly calendar, like the Super Bowl. That would make it much better property for TV and the media, rather than following one event for years, each year it would be a new thing. "I think it would also get people's thinking away from all the money spent on development and testing. The more time you have, the more time you have to pour in effort and money. A yearly event would totally change the focus of each campaign with more emphasis on speed than development. "I also think it's up to the "senior" sailors to get the "money people" in check, the people that are pushing the lawyers into all the litigation. People are hired now just to be litigious and annoying. I'd like to see the element of sportsmanship return to the America's Cup." - Peter Gilmour, full interview: http://www.48north.com/feb_2003/gilmour.htm JULES VERNE TROPHY * GERONIMO: The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran set a new record for the passage from Ushant (start line) to Cape Leeuwin this morning, after 26 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes and 13 seconds at sea. Geronimo passed the second cape of the course - the south-east tip of Australia - 3 days, 2 hours and 29 minutes ahead of the time set by Bruno Peyron and his crew on Orange last year. Nevertheless, skipper Olivier de Kersauson and his 10-man crew continue to struggle against extremely difficult conditions. Forced to return a long way north to avoid the "worst of it", Geronimo continues to make headway in "an enormous and terrible beam sea. Added to that, we've got Tropical fronts sweeping through the area we're sailing in. The result is an appalling Indian Ocean with no chance of the boat gliding as she should. Even as far north as 45 degrees, there are still 7- or 8-metre waves. If you're happy to make 10 knots, that's okay, but going any faster under these conditions is almost impossible", explained Olivier de Kersauson. - http://www.grandsrecords.com * KINGFISHER2: The final miles to the Equator are proving to be painstaking - Kingfisher2 is making slow progress in a breeze just averaging 3 knots in the last hour. Temperatures on board are high - frustrated by the lack of wind and the 29 degree water temperature. At this speed it will take Ellen and her crew another 15 hours before crossing into the Southern Hemisphere. Weather router Meeno Schrader explains the weather dilemma facing KINGFISHER2 once they cross the Equator: "The Trade Winds are expected to fill in from the SE between 15-17 knots and hold steady down to about 20 degrees south giving the guys a good, fast run. But it is at around 20 degrees south that they will have to deal with the St Helena high pressure zone and it is not going to be easy to pass through. The high will be separated into two different 'bubbles.' The second bubble prevents Kingfisher2 from cutting the corner by taking a more direct course south of South Africa and also is at threat from a developing frontal system from the SW which will weaken the winds and further complicate the situation for Kingfisher2. Kingfisher2 Day 7 Summary (http://www.teamkingfisher.com): - 0 hours, 29 minutes ahead of Orange - 14 hours behind pace of Geronimon - Day 7 24 hour run: Kingfisher2-418 nm, Orange-401 nm, Geronimo-419 nm - End Day 7 distance to go: KF2-21760 nm, Orange-21768 nm, Geronimo-21538 nm LAYLINE PERFORMS AT KWRW '03 Layline congratulates our customers for bringing silverware home from Key West Race Week: Robin Team's J/120 Team Work (1st PHRF 5 and voted PHRF Boat of the Week); Bob Harkrider's Bad Boys (1st) and Donald Wigston's Whipper Snapper (2nd) in the C-28R fleet; Team Treat/Davis' Olson 28 Dr. Evil in PHRF 6 (2nd); Jim Hightower's Farr 37 Hot Ticket in PHRF 8 (1st); Bruesewitz/Mitchel's Contumacious (2nd) in the Tarten 10 fleet; Ed Tillinghast's J/27 Aeropagus in PHRF 9 (1st); and Mark Milnes' S2 7.9 in PHRF 10 (3rd). Performance equipment available for your winning team at: http://www.layline.com STEVE FOSSETT As his 125' racing catamaran rides at dock in Cadiz awaiting a powerful weather system to propel him and his crew on their planned East-West TransAtlantic sailing record attempt, American adventurer and aviator Steve Fossett twice took to the skies Wednesday - to achieve an extraordinary double record success, shattering the speed marks for U.S. TransContinental passages for both non-military jet and for unlimited turbo-prop aircraft. Leaving San Diego, California early Wednesday at the controls of his Citation X twin-engined jet, Fossett and regular co-pilot Doug Travis (USA) took advantage of winter westerly winds to achieve a new fastest-ever continental crossing by any non-military jet - reaching Charleston, South Carolina in just 2 hrs 56 mins 20 seconds - an average speed of 726.83 mph (1169.73 kph) - breaking Steve's own 3 year-old mark of 693.14 mph (1115.51 kph). Without waiting to avail themselves of Charleston's famous southern hospitality, Steve and Doug streaked back to San Diego, where Steve joined his old friend Joe Ritchie (USA) in the cockpit of Ritchie's Piaggio Avanti twin turbo-prop. With Ritchie as pilot and Fossett as co-pilot, the pair flew the same course, reaching Charleston before midnight - in just 3 hrs 51min 52 secs - an average speed of 546.44 miles per hour (879.46 kph)- and a huge improvement over the previous record set in 1986 by General Chuck Yeager and Renald Davenport on a course from Los Angeles to New York at 454.79 mph/731.92 kph. In addition to the new coast-to-coast marks, Wednesday's flights set new segment records from Dallas to Atlanta - 733 mph in the Citation X, and 577 mph in the Piaggio. (All records pending ratification by the National Aeronautics Association) - http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ ISAF TEAM RACING WORLDS Auckland, NZ - With an unorthodox strategy and help from an America's Cup navigator, the United States finally broke its run of silver medals to clinch gold at the Team Racing World Championships in Auckland today. The American team, coached by OneWorld afterguard member Kevin Hall, beat traditional rival Great Britain 3-0 in the final on a sparkling Waitemata Harbour. Before it got there, the US team had to overcome defending champion and home team New Zealand in the semifinal, breaking an historic pattern on the way. The pair has finished 1-2 in the last two world championships with the United States team from New England always the bridesmaid. A disappointed New Zealand team managed to win the bronze medal beating Ireland 3-0 in the sail-off. US team captain Tim Fallon said his team was thrilled and relieved to finally break its unwanted streak. "Even in the national team racing championships, my team-mate Graham Woodworth and I have won five silver medals but never a gold. Fallon, aged 27, put his team's success down to three reasons having Hall as coach for the first time, a good team "karma" built over five years together, and a regatta strategy involving little team racing. "Our biggest asset is our speed around the race course. Our crews are all really fast," he said. "Our strategy was to not do too much team racing we've done so much of it in our lives it's ingrained in our heads, so we just concentrated on getting around the track fast." It was a strategy which paid big dividends for the lightweight US team, who clinched the gold with three come-from-behind wins in the final against the strong British line-up. FINAL STANDINGS 1. USA 2, (Tim Fallon, Karen, Renzulli, Graeme, Woodworth, Leigh, Woodworth, Ery Largay) 2. Great Britian 2 (Steve Tylecote, Mel Hughes, Pete Barton, Sally Cuthbert, Rob Sherringham, Richard Guy) 3 New Zealand 1 (Andrew Ardern, Karen Lambert, Andrew Murdoch, Rebecca Murdoch, Hamish Murdoch, Josh Galbraith) 4. Ireland 1; 5.Great Britain 1. www.nzteamracing.com FRED KIRSCHNER The California sailing community lost one of its staunchest supporters and successful skippers Jan. 23 when Coronado Yacht Club's Staff Commodore Fred Kirschner, 73, died of heart failure at his home. Kirschner was an active member of CYC for almost 50 years. He was named commodore in 1965. In 1975, he was elected commodore of the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs. He also brought honors to the club - from a second-place finish in the PC Nationals one year to returning the revered Lipton Cup to CYC in 2001, when a home-team crew led by Willem Van Waay sailed Fred's Schock 35 Kathmandu II to victory over San Diego Yacht Club. Kirschner competed in numerous point-to-point races, including three Transpacs, but the accomplishment that gave him the most gratificationwas the record he set for the Newport-to-Tahiti race in 1994 as skipper of his first Kathmandu, a Santa Cruz 70. Kirschner was not only well-known for his racing triumphs, but also for his support of junior sailing on the bay. In 1996, Mr. Kirschner was awarded the Alonzo de Jessop Award by the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs in recognition of the contributions he made to boating. - The Log, full story: http://thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=13365 NEWS BRIEFS * Economic pressures on EDS have forced them withdrawn support for the forthcoming EDS Round Britain and Ireland Race for the Open 60s. Challenge Business, the race organizers said, "We are well advanced with the race preparations and are reluctant to cancel the event. And, as reluctant (as) we are to announce this information, we feel it is only fair for the competitors to be made aware of the situation." Challenge Business reports they are "actively seeking an alternative solution." - www.challengebusiness.com * The Yacht Racing website has posted an interesting 'Test Drive / Boat Review' of the new Tom 28 sportboat: http://www.yachtracing.com/boatreviews/tom28.htm * Nearly 100 members of the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club turned out at the Bitter End YC booth at the Strictly Sail Chicago Boat Show to hear about the Musto Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championships, and Dry Creek Vineyard Pro Am Regatta. A drawing was held for a 4 day/ 3 night stay for two during the SSC/Pro Am events this coming November 1-8, and the winner was Al Grigalunas from Chicago. BEYC will be holding a similar party at the Strictly Sail Miami Boat Show, on February 13th, from 5-7 pm, dockside (Bayside Marina) aboard the M/V Oystercatcher. A 4 day/ 3 night package to the SSC/Pro Am events will be given out there as well. SSC members can enjoy a day at the show, finish off with some refreshments and snacks. - www.beyc.com HARKEN, DID YOU HEAR THAT? Why that's the sound of savings. Remember that "To Do" list from the end of last season? Don't be left scrambling when things blow up during the first race of the season. Attack the list now! Annapolis Performance Sailing reminds you that preparation is the first step to better finishes. That's why for the month of February, APS will do its part by offering you an additional 10% off our every day discounted Harken prices. That's a full 25% off Harken. Now do your part and take advantage of this APS/Scuttlebutt exclusive special... http://www.apsltd.com/scuttlebutt.asp 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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Peter Huston: If we changed a couple of the names and circumstances in the Affair de Coutts/ Butterworth, we'd basically have the script for a cheap daytime soap opera. Seems like the short version of this psychodrama is very simple. Russell and Brad just went with the biggest wallet. And in this day and age, who can blame them. Obviously, they learned the lesson early on of "if you can't figure out who's the chump in the deal, it's you". He said, she said. So what. A simple business dispute. And both sides end up winning basically. Where would Dean Barker be today if Russell had stuck around TNZ? But what confuses me about all of this is the absence of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Why did the RNZYS let this get out of control in the first place? Doesn't the Deed essentially say something about "friendly competition between nations via yacht clubs"? With all the noise about "returning" to pure nationality requirements of the crew, maybe we ought to also get back to the notion that clubs run the teams of their entry. And for anyone who believes in that, here's a newsflash, J.Lo will replace Farr as Ellison's designer, and Britney will be calling tactics for Dicko in the next Cup. Can't we put aside this money nonsense and get on with the racing? Doesn't sound like anyone ended up in the poorhouse, in fact, it's the opposite. Let the racing, and the inevitable protest over the Hula, begin! * From Barry Auger: What's Rick Hatch talking about? No entertainment for a month between LVC and AC? Just pay some attention to the peeing match between Russell, Brad and the boys in Black. It's just like a soap opera: if they didn't have the month interlude, they wouldn't have the time to dump all over each other. Is this part of the America's Cup? You bet it is! The only player in this game I know is Tom Schnackenberg who used to live in Vancouver and sailed with us when he was learning what end of the scissors to hold, making his sails with Howard Macken. He was a gentlemen then and as far as I'm concerned still is. And probably so are the others. So one can only conclude all this posturing is merely psych out, which is what the hula is going to turn out to be too. Miss all this? Not on your life Rick. * From Russ Lenarz: I agree with Mr. Rick Hatch 100% in Butt 1256. The break between the LV Cup final and the sailing of the first race for the Americas Cup has been way too long. Personally I could care less why Russell C. and Brad B. left Team NZ or all the speculation on who is going to win. The only way we are all going to find out is for them to start racing. I feel that the long break has taken the focus away from the actual race and given far too much time to he said, they said that, and those that only can wish they were in the position that Team NZ and Alinghi are facing in the upcoming race. Even the NFL figured out that two weeks was too long between the playoff finals and the big game. People lose interest after a long break. * From Sean Jeffery: Certainly Martin Balch could not have seriously believed that Alinghi ever considered holding the next AC in Auckland if by chance they might win. One must consider these points: *Berterelli would love to be the first man to bring the AC back to Europe. *The financial gains for both Bertarelli and the hosting country/ club would be huge to hold it in Europe. *Both Bertarelli and Trouble have already stated that the AC will not be a truly big event until it is held in Europe. *The opportunity to defend in your known home waters is a definite advantage. Just because NZ has a infrastructure in place would not even interest Bertarelli. All would agree that some of the antics of Blackheart have damaged NZ's image, but isn't this the perfect excuse to say you aren't going to hold the AC in NZ because of them. How about concentrating on what is going to happen when TNZ wins the cup. This might be more appropriate talk form a kiwi. * From Judy Cook: There are lots of illustrations on Tim Kent's website of what grass-roots effort can do to keep this program running. I heartily agree with the comments in today's issue that this campaign is the bright spot in our sport that has taken a lot of flak over recent events and shows just how much impact even a small contribution can make. - www.everesthorizontal.com/news.html * From David DeHorn (In response to David Tabor's comments regarding the generosity of Brad Van Liew and others helping out a fellow sailor Tim Kent): It does happen in other sports. If you followed the 2001 Tour De France, during stage 13, Jan Ullrich, Lance Armstrong's main rival that year, crashed into a 20' ravine. With the opportunity to blow the race wide open, Lance waited for Ullrich to catch back up to him, and also asked him if he was ok. I'm glad to see that we are good sports in sailing, but we are not alone. It is just unfortunate that we don't hear about these types of "feel-good" stories as much as they really happen in sailing as well as many other sports venues. * From Dave Cramb (Regarding Laurie Davidson's comment in 48North ('butt 1256) "the NZ boats are plainly illegal (with the Hula) under (IACC) Rule 26B"): Rule 26B reads: "Devices on the surface of the hull whose purpose is to alter the water flow of the boundary layer are prohibited" (sic). With all due respect to the great yacht designer, surely it is not the boundary layer that the Hula aims to modify for performance purposes, but rather the entire flow by altering the hull's form. The effect on boundary layer appears in fact to be negative due to the transition. I don't see the Hula contravening the intent of rule 26 or any other rule, as I'm sure the measurers have already considered. Yes, "The Hula clearly gives extra effective length from a device that's not technically part of the hull but acts as part of the hull". But which rule says you can't do that? It'll be interesting to see if TNZ actually use the Hula or whether it's just been a ruse to keep the competition, and us, occupied. Go Hula! THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION You know it's 2003 when your reason for not staying in touch with family is because they do not have e-mail. |
