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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 692 - November 17, 2000VENDEE GLOBE - report by Philippe JeantotIn the North of Gran Canaria there is an imaginary gateway, through which all the skippers in the Vendee Globe 2000 must pass. It is one point where a precise ranking can be made, and a rare moment, which allows us to film the boats in proximity to land and recuperate as well their pictures on cassette or film. From late afternoon yesterday the gateway got pretty busy as the varying routes of the fleet all began to converge and one by one they sailed through, some in sight of another boat for the first time in days. To continue the route Southwards, the choice to pass to the right or left of Gran Canaria was critical, as this rather round and built up island (the summit is 1950 metres high) can cause the wind to either shift, ease off or funnel through. Within 10 hours, eleven boats had crossed this gateway. The rhythm hasn't slacked one bit. The top boats already have one day's advance on the previous race leader from 1996, which was Parlier. This is no doubt an effect of the pace set by the leaders, and of the improved potential and preparation of the new boats. However, this 15% gain on the reference time does not represent so much the better speeds capable by the boats as the more favourable weather which has been experienced in this first week of the Vendee Globe 2000. Standings: 1. PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux, 2. Sodebo Savourons la Vie, Thomas Coville (+46 miles) 3. Aquitaine Innovations, Yves (+47m) 4. Active Wear, Marc Thiercelin (+66m) 5. Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur (+66m) 6. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois (+94) 7. Sill Matines La Potagere, Roland Jourdain (+104m) Race website: http://www.vendeeglobe.com HOT GIFTS FOR UNDER $20! Great ideas for the sailor on your list: Ultimate Sailing Calendar, Ultimate Sailing 3 Screen Saver, America's Cup and Ultimate Cruising Adventures Screen Savers, T-shirts, note cards, and poster, all featuring the brilliant sailing photography of Sharon Green...each under $20.00. Shop online at www.ultimatesailing.com THE RACE Both masts ON team Philips have been successfully stepped and the sails have been attached The starboard mast was stepped at 0815 on Thursday 16th November. Team Philips is now back in Dartmouth where the crew have bent sails onto the masts. Team Philips was towed up the River Dart leaving Dartmouth at 0600 hrs. She arrived in Totnes at 0730 and the starboard mast was stepped immediately. The new bearing arrangement at the base of the mast fitted perfectly. "Everything went smoothly this morning and we will be working hard to prepare the boat to set out to sea. We can't wait to be back sailing again. Team Philips will now do the talking." said Skipper Pete Goss. The port mast and wishbone was successfully stepped on Monday. The crew will begin sea trials as soon as the final preparations have been completed. This is not likely to be until early next week. The trials will be out of Dartmouth to begin with to allow the boat to be worked up slowly. - Team Philips website Full story: http://www.teamphilips.com/index.cfm?ArticleID=3240 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From J. Joseph Bainton (edited to our 250-word limit) - Folks should recognize that match racing is an expensive undertaking in terms of regatta management. In a typical match race regatta, the event starts with somewhere between eight and 18 teams, which means in the early rounds between four and nine flights racing concurrently. Each flight requires its own judge's boat and of course judges, each of whom has to be flown to the event, fed and housed. Only elite fleet racers are offered the opportunity to match race and thus hone their match racing skills. Thus match racing will never become a popular sport if one defines a popular sport as one in which thousands of people of widely varying skills participate for fun and an elite few participate for money. If we want to challenge elite fleet racers to compete in circumstances requiring a skill set similar to the skill set that makes them elite fleet racers, there are possibilities far more entertaining than match racing. Larry Suter's point about a two car NASCSAR race is well taken. Seeing 16 A/C boats racing for all the marbles would be a lot more interesting to watch than any of the recent America's Cups. Fleet racing would also diminish the relative importance of technology. A great crew with a slow boat will never win a match race against a well-sailed faster boat. In a fleet race, a slightly slower boat has a far greater chance of winning. Suspense keeps people from changing the channel. -- From Kyle Clark - I agree with Larry Suter about the elimination of match racing from the America's Cup. While I would also agree that the immediate chances of that happening are slim and none, most of my non-sailing friends cannot understand why I think the A-Cup is exciting. Without my background knowledge of the behind-the-scenes activity, it probably would be for me also. In San Diego, we saw fleet racing during the World Championships that preceded the Cup by a year. My friends DID find that pretty spectacular and always wanted to know more about what was going on, only to lose interest when the match racing started up again. The average guy wants action and the potential for close situations and sometimes carnage. If one boat gets launched on the first leg, there is probably a battle going on somewhere behind. Two guys battling it our for third can still be pretty exciting. Maybe if the powers that be re-instituted the fleet-racing Worlds prior to the Cup? Sure, everyone would be using older boats but the average Joe wouldn't know the difference. They might, however take notice and maybe learn a little more so that the actual cup races might seem a LITTLE more interesting and keep their attention longer. -- From Scott J. MacLeod - Larry Suter and Blake Middleton have obviously not been to a Swedish Match Tour event in recent years where one event, the Swedish Match Cup has over 30,000 spectators watching the finals alone. I guess it was "boring" for the 79 boats and shore side spectators that crammed the harbor in Bermuda to watch the finals between Chris Dickson and Russell Coutts at the Colorcraft Gold Cup. Match Racing (Swedish Match Tour and America's Cup) is the only discipline that receives consistent television coverage around the world. The Swedish Match Tour distributed over 144 hours of coverage to over 140 million television households worldwide. We distributed $650,000 in prize money. What other area of the sport even comes close? The 49'ers? Whether you like it or not, the facts are that the America's Cup is the biggest media and commercial event in our sport and Dennis Conner (Mr. America's Cup)is the most well known sailor in the world by far. I have seen the various ideas on what will make the sport "as big as Formula 1" but these ideas never seem to come to fruition. Sailing is a niche sport, will always be a niche sport and should be packaged and promoted as a niche sport. If you want to find the discipline that most sailors (at least 80%) participate in, then cruising should be the next "big thing" -- From Ben Jarashow (edited to our 250-word limit) - Match racing can be relatively boring, because most people honestly don't understand it. Team racing, on the other hand can get people excited anyway for several reasons: It's more exciting to watch. It's match racing with guts, sailed in dinghys, and everyone goes for the throat, rather than playing mind games. If you were an non-sailor, which would you rather see, two Solings in a speed battle off the starting line, or six Vanguard 15's tacking furiously up the beat in order to gain advantage? Moreover, in team racing, you get more judges on the water, which in the US should generate interest. Plus, it's cheap. Three new V-15's cost US$15,000 total, and another few bucks to get all the nice amenities you want. You can sail them away that day. How much is a new J/22 to get 100% set to race? Much less a Soling? Team racing as it's practiced currently, is co-ed. For US events in the V-15, I've seen a minimum weight limit (for all 6 team members) of about 400 kg. This is perfect size for 3 normal sized guys and 3 normal sized girls. All right, reality is I know there is a little while to go before this catches on to the point that I could seriously tell everyone I think it should be an Olympic discipline, but in the 1999 Worlds, there were 18 teams from 13 countries. -- Tom Donlan - Although I recognize that the world won't change just because one guy says so, it seems to me that ISAF misses the point in putting so many classes in the Olympics. After reading 'Butt contributions about athleticism and the unsuitability of various classes for various things, I suggest: Athletic event: Open fleet sailing in the Laser, with weight classes. Test of technical skills and smarts: Team races in a heavy old-fashioned keelboat like the Shields or the Atlantic - a different one every four years. -- From Rudy Enzmann - Recently it seems the ISAF has been under intense attack regarding decisions made pertaining to woman sailing at the IOC - in particular fleet racing over match, and the Yngling over the J/22. It seems there is a mentality out there that assumes delegates from far and wide gather to politically "screw" sailors everywhere. I think this is in very bad form - the delegates who travel to these functions put in an immense amount of time and effort and make the best decisions they feel will benefit the sport. I too was somewhat surprised about decisions made however, rather then assault the ISAF I had a discussion with our delegate who was in attendance at the conference- after getting the full side of the story it was evident that the best decisions were made in the interests of the International sailing community - I think we often seem to forget that sailing is a global sport not just North America. How about we thank those who give them time towards our sport rather then attack and get the full side of the story first? ACHIEVING DOWNWIND PERFORMANCE (There are specific techniques that can help you make gains while sailing downwind. Zack Leonard discusses how improve your downwind performance and technique in part three of his story on the SailNet website. Here is a brief excerpt.) As you enter the two-boat length circle and establish your rounding position in the pecking order, you can then slow down and wait for the boats directly ahead to round, giving you room to maneuver after you round. But how can you slow a boat that's sailing downwind? The most effective way to slow down is by dousing the chute early, or dropping your centerboard early. Another way is to over-trim your mainsail-almost to the to centerline-to decrease its efficiency. A third way is to move crew weight to the wrong place. In a dinghy you can sit in or on the transom to drag the stern and slow down. And the final way is to use the rudder. One quick lesson on technique here: The rudder can be a very effective brake when it is turned all the way over. But that will make the boat turn, won't it? Not always. A radical thrust of the tiller from one side all the way over to the other will stall the flow of water over the rudder. For a moment or two it won't be steering at all, just dragging, and then the water will find its way back around the rudder and it will begin to steer the boat again. At that moment, you need to shift the tiller or wheel all the way to the other side, hard. That will continue the stall and braking action. While this technique is extremely effective in smaller, lighter boats, it's a lot less effective in big keelboats. If you experiment with all the above techniques, you will become more proficient at waiting your turn and rounding right next to the mark. And, if you execute the mark rounding in this way, it will give you the freedom to continue on port tack or tack right away to clear your air. As for the rest of the downwind leg, developing good, smooth boat handling will allow you to jibe the boat to take advantage of each shift, puff, or wave, as well as respond to the movements of the boats behind you in order to maintain clear air. And, staying aggressive with the waves and puffs will help you put some distance on the fleet while they break out the sandwiches and eat your dust! - Zack Leonard, SailNet website Full story: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/racing/index.cfm?articleid=leonar0023&tfr=fp EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT HERE! The last time you bought a sail did you ask about the cloth? Sailcloth.com is a new web site by Bainbridge International designed especially for the boat owner and sailor. It is packed full of easy to follow information and handy tips to explain why you should be talking to your sailmaker about a better quality cloth. http://www.sailcloth.com WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Racing was abandoned for the third and final scheduled day of 505 and Flying Dutchman pre-worlds racing. Both fleets launched and sailed to their courses in 8-12 knot conditions, but the breeze built quickly to 25 knots and the RC, mindful of the forecast for even stronger winds, sent both fleets back to shore prior to starting a sequence. The beat back to the launching beach was spectacular, with most 505s informally racing back. With masts raked most of the way back, and the boats depowered for the conditions, the 505s were trying to fly as they flew over the Indian Ocean waves - we had the entire centerboard out of the water on one wave. All teams returned to shore without incident, and competitors watched from the beach and the bar as the breeze built during the afternoon, probably reaching something well over 30 knots. There is no racing scheduled for today; those 505s and FDs that had not yet completed event measurement and registration are doing so. Competitors are making final preparations for the World Championship. Race 1 is at 11:50 local time, tomorrow, the 17th of November. - Ali Meller, VP International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association YNGLING (What's a Yngling? The Torresen Sailing Site answers that question with the following.) The Yngling a 21 foot keel boat will be sailed in the 2004 Olympics in the Women's fleet race event. It was designed by Jan Linge who also designed the Soling. The Yngling was designed in 1967. Since Linge designed it with his son in mind, Yngling means youngster. Weighing 1390 pounds, the Yngling is generally sailed with 3 crew. Optimum crew weight is 400-500 pounds. There are 4000 Ynglings with builders in Norway, Switzerland, Australia and the USA. The 2000 World Championships were sailed this July in Denmark. The winner was an Austrian crew skippered by Rudi Mayr. Sailors from 10 countries attended. The 2001 worlds will be sailed in Newport Rhode Island. The Yngling looks very much like a smaller Soling. It has a similar upswept bow and long flat run to the stern. - Torresen Sailing Site Full story: http://www.torresen.com/sd/default.htm INTERNET STUFF MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Nov. 15 - With the number of desirable Web addresses growing scarce, the board that administers Internet names prepared to issue the first viable competitor to the .com suffix in more than a decade today. The board, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann, is expected to select several proposals for new suffixes, called generic top-level domains, and the private companies that will manage them, on Thursday. Top contenders for new domains include .biz and .web. Icann's board will also consider releasing new domains for personal use, like .i, and special-purpose use, like .union or .museum. Under the plans being considered, for example, a physician named John Doe could start a personal Web site at johndoe.nom and a site for his private medical practice at johndoe.health. The decision by Icann, an agency created by the Clinton administration in 1998 to oversee the Internet's structure, will begin the largest structural change to the Internet since the late 1980's, when the last top-level generic domains were issued. While other domains, like .org and .net, were created to differentiate organizations, the distinctions have largely been lost as groups, commercial and otherwise, have rushed to stake out property in cyberspace. The .com domain is by far the most popular, with more than 20 million names already assigned. As a result, a wide range of interest groups have descended upon the board meeting in this Los Angeles suburb, seeking to benefit from the registration rush that is expected to follow a new suffix release. - Chris Gaither, NY Times Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/16/technology/16DOMA.html THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL Before you criticize a man, you should walk a mile in his shoes. That way, you are a mile away from him and you've got his shoes. |
