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SCUTTLEBUTT 1871 - June 30, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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. PAY AS YOU GO Once an obscure segment of the sport, round the world racing has now become front-page news. With the advent of sponsored yachts, the participation of well-known sailors, and Internet race reporting keeping us onboard, these adventuresome events are now enjoying immense credibility and respect. These races have helped to foster the professional sailing industry, which has in effect, made it harder to get a berth on a boat. A serious commitment to the sailing profession is required to become recognized as a crew candidate. With a limited field of teams successfully gathering the resources needed to organize a competitive entry, the demand for available crewing jobs far outnumbers the supply. So what happens to folks that have a dream of racing around the world, but do not have the desire to commit to the sport full-time? Two events have come to their rescue: the Global Challenge and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. These two events have provided the public with an open opportunity to compete on the grand stage and circle the globe. And all it costs is money. Both events are British-based and both provide berths for a price for amateur crews to sail around the world. Each event owns a fleet of identical yachts, and provides qualified skippers to lead each team. Crew can either sign up for the whole race, some of it, or just one leg. However, that is where the similarities end. Sir Chay Blyth initiated the concept with the first race of this kind in 1992, which has also been run in 1996, 2000, and 2004. Now known as the Global Challenge, it is dubbed "the toughest yacht race ever." The course takes the fleet around the world the wrong way against the wind and currents. There are seven legs to the race, with four of the legs over 6,000 miles each. The twelve Challenge 72s used in the 2000 and 2004 races are heavy and tough enough to pound their way around the globe. If the Global Challenge race is a taller mountain than you care to climb, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race might be more to your liking. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of Clipper Ventures, has organized the Clipper race every two years since 1996, and provides a more diverse route with a greater variety of weather patterns and six more port stops than the GC 04 (click for course). The Clipper 2005 will be using a new fleet of ten 68-foot yachts, eight feet longer than the original Clipper fleet, but weighing 2 tons less. The new fleet is expected to be 25% faster than their predecessors, and notably faster than the much sturdier Global Challenge fleet. There is more to this story: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/05/br/ VICTORY AT SEA Portsmouth, England - About 250,000 spectators gathered Tuesday on England's southern shores to watch a reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar, the naval engagement 200 years ago that destroyed Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain. Crowds sipping beer or having picnics lined the beaches of this harbor city, home to the Royal Navy, to watch the re-creation of the battle in which a British fleet commanded by Nelson defeated the larger fleet from France and Spain. The battle took place Oct. 21,1805, near the southwestern coast of Spain. By the end of the fight, about two dozen French and Spanish ships had been put out of action, while the British had lost none. But Britain's battle hero died in the engagement. Nelson suffered a fatal injury when a bullet pierced his lung, coming to rest at the base of his spine. On Tuesday, nearly 170 vessels from 36 countries, including France and Spain, arrived in the Spithead channel off Portsmouth for the commemorative events. The festivities began with an International Fleet Review, a tradition going back six centuries. Queen Elizabeth II, in her role as Britain's lord high admiral, and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is the admiral of the fleet, boarded the Endurance. The vessels on the water included some from the United States: two Navy warships, a Coast Guard ship and a civilian tall ship. They were among the 58 foreign vessels that had traveled to Portsmouth from around the world. A fleet of 17 historic tall ships from five countries engaged in the staged fight, involving gunpowder and pyrotechnics. - Excerpts from a story by Sarah Price Brown, LA Times, full story: www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-trafalgar29jun29,1,874159.story JUST VISITING Russell Coutts, a three-time sinner of the Americas Cup, was in Valencia yesterday to present his new project: the Lexus Racing team that will be competing in the Queen Sofia Sailing Cup Races. Mr. Coutts took his new team out for a training session in Valencia Bay yesterday, and on his return he stated that the experience had been 'fantastic', but that 'something has to be done about the state of the water as it really is very dirty'. However, he added that the Americas Cup would be a truly wonderful show for Valencia. He also let slip that his disagreement with Ernesto Bertarelli, the President of the Alinghi syndicate appeared to stem from the fact that Mr. Bertarelli favoured Valencia as the site for the next Americas Cup races, whilst he was in favour of staging the races in Lisbon. - Valencia Life Network, publisher@valencialife.net STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Not a dinghy sailor? Don't sport a Maxi? Ah, so you're likely a keelboat racer! Tired of dealing with minimalist dinghy gear or cumbersome big boat foulies? Introducing Gill's new Keelboat Racer gear. Uncompromisingly designed using waterproof 4 Dot™ fabric, all non-essential features have been removed to reduce fabric overlays, maximize breathabilty and aid in freedom of movement. Featuring an active cut and lightweight fabric, it's the perfect solution for those once stuck in the middle. Dinghies to maxis, Gill and Annapolis Performance Sailing have you covered. Check out Gill's Keelboat range at APS… http://www.apsltd.com/scuttlebutt IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN The latest release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings today sees the introduction of the new Olympic event definitions whilst there are three new leaders, which include Spain's new team of World Champions. Great Britain emerge from this Rankings' release as the most successful nation, winning the battle of the last Rankings' release with the Ukraine. The latest release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings today sees the introduction of the new Olympic event definitions whilst there are three new leaders, which include Spain's new team of World Champions. Great Britain emerge from this Rankings' release as the most successful nation, winning the battle of the last Rankings' release with the Ukraine. This release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings marks a turning point in the sailing year. With the conclusion of the ISAF Grade 1 Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany the European tour now goes on focuses on the Olympic classes' individual World and Continental Championships. There were several bright spots for North Americans - most significant of which is the 1-2 hold on the Laser Radial standings by Keamia Rasa (CAN) and Paige Railey (USA) plus Tania Elias-Calles (MEX) in tenth. Carol Cronin, Liz Filter, Nancy Haberland (USA) although no longer campaigning as a team are ranked tenth in the Yngling standings; Mark Mendelblatt (USA) is the sixth ranked Laser sailor; the Star class has three North American crews in the top 10 - 6. Paul Cayard/ Brian Sharp (USA), 7. Ross MacDonald/ Mike Wolfs CAN) 9. Mark Reynolds/ Anders Ekstrom (USA) plus #11 Geoge Szabo/ Eric Monroe. In the Tornado ranking, John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree (USA) are # 7; Tim Wadlow/ Pete Spaulding (USA) are the ninth ranked 49er team … and when we looked for the Kieler Woche 470 winners Michael Anderson - Mitterling/ David Hughes (USA) we found them … ranked number 45. Okay. - http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6fFh5pA8 BUSY BAY Beginning next week, San Francisco Bay will be in the spotlight for the next two months as the host to some of premier events of 2005: the 29er Worlds, 470 Worlds, 18 Skiff Internationals, Etchells Worlds, and the Rolex Big Boat Series. To support those competing in these events, Scuttlebutt has teamed with Sailflow.com to provide complimentary wind forecasting for the San Francisco Bay area. SailFlow.com is a subscription service that maintains a network of weather sensors throughout the bay (and the US), and specializes in translating this information into real-time weather reporting and accurate forecasting of wind conditions. Enjoy this complimentary service at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/weather/sf FOR THE RECORD Tuesday, June 28 - Two extraordinary sailing machines have left Cadiz, Spain and set out on Route Of Discovery in search of speed, satisfaction and, possibly, a world record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, east to west. They are bound for San Salvador in the Bahamas, and machine #1 was introduced to you last week: the ever-interesting, ever-fragile, foil-freak known as Hydroptere.. Machine #2 is a more traditional, yet still awe-inspiring, Open 60 trimaran, one Sodebo, skippered by world-class French skipper Thomas Coville. Coville is after Francis Joyon's solo crossing record of 11 days, 3 hours, seventeen minutes. Hydroptere is after the outright record of 9 days, 13 hours, 30 minutes. Sodebo appears to be averaging about 20 knots, and Hydroptere looks to be doing about 15. - http://www.wetasschronicles.com/ And - it appears that Francis Joyon is about to try again to set a new single-handed Atlantic record from New York to The Lizard with his giant trimaran IDEC. The time-keepers for the World Speed Record Council will be ready to record to the nearest second the start of his attempt, which Francis himself admits is a rather Herculean task. "It's the most difficult record to reach in single-handed racing. Just think! An average speed of almost 18 knots," Joyon said. Yet, the window in the weather that he has been waiting for for so long (IDEC has been in New York since 10th April) seems finally to be appearing. The single-handed record now held by Laurent Bourgnon, Primagaz, 7 days, 2 hours 34 minutes and 42 seconds (June 1994) ULLMAN SAILS DOMINATE LONG BEACH RACE WEEK! Ullman Sails dominated Long Beach Race Week; winning 9 of the 13 classes. 1st J/105's; 1st J/109's; 1st J/120's; 1st Melges 24; 1st Olson 30; 1st Schock 35; 1st PHRF 1; 1st PHRF 4; 1st PHRF Random Leg. With 120+ boats competing in 13 classes, 22 of our customers collected trophies in 12 classes. From One Design sails to Grand Prix racing yachts, our customer continue to prove that our sails are the "Fastest Sails on the Planet." Come see how affordable a set of the "Fastest Sails on the Planet" can be. Call or visit online at http://www.ullmansails.com NEWS BRIEFS * 'One World, One Dream' is the motto for the Beijing Olympic Games. The slogan is said to fully reflect the essence and the universal values of the Olympic spirit - unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation and dream. The motto also manifests the core concepts of the Beijing Olympic Games - Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics. The Games of the XXIX Olympiad - Beijing 2008 will take place from August 8-24, 2008. - http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6fFh5pB2 * After the six races with one discard Alex Zimmermann (PER) holds a single point lead over Alexandre Alencastro (BRA) in the Optimist NAs on the Caribbean island of Tobago. But the real story is places 4 and 5 over-all and North American leadership held by Trinidadians Anthony Alkins and Matthew Scott. Added to the scores of team-mates in 24th and 30th places this has put Trinidad in as third seeds for tomorrow's team racing championship. The U.S.A. had a better day and with four sailors in the top 16 are second seeds to Peru. - www.optinam2005.com/ * Competitors at the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship hosted by Cedar Point YC were tested in 10-20 knots on Wednesday - 420s full on the wire, Lasers full hiking and all boats are really moving fast. After seven races with one discard Emily Dellenbaugh & Leigh Hammel are at the top of the 420 standings - just ahead of Tyler Sinks & Myles Gutenkunst. Thomas Barrows heads the Laser full rig fleet with Kyle Rogachenko the top Radial Laser. The event website is really doing a super job with live streaming race reporting while the sailors are on the water. - http://tinyurl.com/976dh * Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac will debut the new FlagShip transponder on up to 75 boats, enabling spectators to track racers' hourly progress via the Web. FlagShip Integration Services Inc. custom built the new, smaller and more robust transponder to enable many more features and two-way communications. FlagShip will be responsible for all transponders and race tracking during the 2005 competition. This year, Mac Race captains voluntarily signed up to be among the 75 boats to pilot test the new transponders. During the race, competitors and others can go online and track the progress of transponder-equipped boats: http://chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac * Clipper Ventures plc which owns the rights to the Clipper Round the World Series, the 5-Oceans single-handed yacht race and Zapcat Racing, will relocate in November from Southampton, where it has been based for the last six years, to new premises at Royal Clarence Yard in Gosport. Following their return from the fifth round-the-world race in summer 2006, Clipper Ventures will bring its two fleets of ocean racers, comprising eight Clipper 60s and 10 new Dubois 68s, to their new home in Gosport. - www.clipper-ventures.com FREE ADVERTISING The Scuttlebutt Classifieds is your free advertising option for selling your stuff, looking for stuff, or promoting your job openings. The collegiate racing season has just ended, which has prompted a surge of college coaching openings. Find it all at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/classifieds LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (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 Mark Jardine: I was gobsmacked by Bram Dally's guest editorial and can only assume you ran it in Scuttlebutt to provoke reaction from readers. The one boat per country rule is essential to encourage a broad participation of nations competing at the Olympics - the IOC place a strict quota on the number of competitors that sailing can have and reducing the diversity of nationalaties would be a disaster for propagation of our sport worldwide. An Olympic campaign is expensive in any sport - to compete you are trying to reach the pinnacle, you can't do this on the cheap. The Olympics does promote growth in our sport - this is done through aspiration and gives national sporting heros. Mr Dally's ideas to 'fix' the Olympics are ludicrous - choosing six classes from a hat could result in all competitors in a class being from a single nation. It would also cause chaos with second hand markets and make costs spiral. Who says all the top 20 in a certain class want to compete in the Olympics? You can get involved in the dialogue - talk to your MNA who is represented on ISAF. Sailing at the Olympics isn't perfect but a radical overhaul is the last thing the sport needs, just constant refinement and quality, understandable television coverage. * From Hugo van Kretschmar: If people like Britt Hughes developed the backbone to take action against boats or crews who do not render assistance - rather than just air their grievance in Scuttlebutt (or more commonly in the club bar) maybe the few boaters who don't take their obligations to help those in danger more seriously would be brought to account. Both the ISAF Racing Rules (Rule 1.1 - Helping those in danger) and every international maritime code or standard could not be clearer on this fundamental responsibility. I've tried twice in my earlier capacity as a volunteer yachting administrator (after having nearly drowned along with my 10 year old son under very similar circumstances to those described by Britt Hughes) to take third party action for not rendering assistance (because no one else would) and was amazed how the aggrieved parties ducked for cover once the going got tough (i.e. lawyers getting involved - which they inevitably will). Needless to say, in the absence of the necessary support from participants/witnesses to the event, I failed on both occasions - and spent three years fighting a defamation action brought against me as a result! * From Roland Schulz: The righteous breast beating of Scuttlebutt armchair admirals with 20/20 hindsight and no knowledge the actual incident overlooks an important issue of judgment in rendering assistance on a crowded racecourse in difficult conditions with heavy and un-maneuverable yachts. While I cannot speak to the incident at BIRW as I was not there, I was involved in an incident of rendering assistance that makes me hesitant to condemn the actions of competitors with out a clear understanding of the facts and conditions that existed. The facts and motives of those involved the BIRW incident need to be carefully discovered before condemning the actions of the other competitors. Fortunately, Mr. Hughes had the discretion not to name the individuals otherwise the chattering lynch mob would have strung up their reputations with out a hearing. * From Chris Ericksen: Sharon Pearson's comment on the MOB incident reported by Britt Hughes in 'Butt 1889 that "some sort penalty must be assessed in situations such as this" was in fact touched on by Ralph Taylor in the same issue ('Butt 1890): this seems to be a violation of rule 1.1 and is subject to sanction by a protest committee. The sad part is that somebody needs to do something to get to a hearing, but fewer and fewer sailors--and even fewer race committees--are willing to do so. Over the last month I've been to five different regattas and in nearly all of them I heard sailors complain that folks barged starting lines, shoved in at marks, hit marks, hit each other, rocked or sculled, and nobody did anything about it--including the complainers. Ah, well, as I always say, everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die; everybody wants better observance of the rules but nobody wants to be a cop in our self-policing sport. * From Dave Irish: Relative to the advert in Scuttlebutt #1870, please know that at its meeting of 14-15 May, 2005. the ISAF Council decided as follows: 1. Council approved: (a) That ISAF proceed as quickly as possible to obtain an international standard for trapeze and hiking harnesses. (b) That ISAF undertake a program to alert sailors to the dangers of entrapment by harnesses, and ways to reduce the risk of entrapment. (c) That the Equipment Committee and the Racing Rules Committee review the current working of RRS 40.2 and consider making a submission to modify or rescind that rule, or defer its effective date. 2. Council approved the original recommendation from Equipment Committee as amended above. (which was) (1) The RRS 40.2 - (text to be effective 1 January 2006) shall be deferred. (2) Implement new RRS wording when there is an appropriate external standard for these devices which can be invoked by the new rule. (3) ISAF to initiate a Small Boat Safety training initiative through MNA's, the Classes and media. * From Ted and Louisa Jones: We are saddened to learn of Dick Johnson's passing (Scuttlebutt 1869). This quiet and unassuming man accomplished much on the international yachting scene but was also a source of inspiration, support and counsel on the local level in North Carolina, where he and Louise lived when they were not in the USVI. Dick was a charter member of the Beaufort Yacht Club and the Morehead Beaufort Yacht Club which it became. Dick was a guiding force in establishing the MBYC in splendid quarters on the Newport River, a few miles south of the Johnson's ICW home. Dick gave freely of his financial and business expertise as well, helping to guide the reincarnation of Coastal Cruising Magazine, of which we were editor and publisher. But most of all we were honored to know Dick and Louise as friends. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Louise and her sons for their loss. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Some people are like Slinkies . . . not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs. |
