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SCUTTLEBUTT 1880 - July 14, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. CIRCUMNAVIGATION The Lymington Optimist Flotilla had a change from individual competition this weekend, to attempt the first known Optimist circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight for 18 years. On Saturday 9 July three Optimists helmed by a team of 11 sailors aged between 11 and 14 years old completed the voyage in 11 hours and 11 minutes exactly, smashing the record of 13 hours 55 minutes set by Athens Olympic Medallist Nick Rogers in 1987. Thanks to the timing of the spring tides and near perfect sailing conditions with a 12-18 mph north easterly breeze and a sunny day, the team who met at Lymington at 4 am and set off from the starting platform at 05.08. At any one time three of the team were sailing, one in each of the three support RIBs ready to transfer, and the remainder taking a brief rest on the Mothership yacht and keeping a supportive eye on the proceedings. All transfers between Optimists and RIBs (practiced in two previous rehearsals) were accomplished swiftly in motion wasting no time. There was only one capsize all day when just after rounding the Needles the sailors were met by strong katabatic gusts off the high cliffs. Members of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club race committee greeted the team home just after 4.15 pm, and for their "finale" they sailed in pairs across the line until each sailor had officially crossed the finish. -- Jane Porter, jane@porterhome.info CRUNCH On Tuesday afternoon the South African America's Cup-Team Shosholoza lost their new carbon rig while training off the coast of Valencia. At a boat speed of 9 knots, the 35 metre long carbon-fibre mast broke approx. one metre above the mast heel. The new mast had been installed on Monday - the day before the failure. Shosholoza had participated in the last Acts 4 & 5 in Valencia with a new boat but a used replacement mast. No one was hurt in the accident and the hull didn't suffer any major damage. "That's the America's Cup, pure and simple! Just as with Formula 1, the teams will always test out the bounds of technological feasibility to be faster than their peers," says Salvatore Sarno, Shosholoza's Managing Director. "We continuously run the risk of failure, but if you just want to stick with the conventional or outdated and never chance anything you might just as well withdraw from the America's Cup. We have made important experiences for the future. To be sure, we are not pleased about the accident but I'd rather have the mast breaking during one of our tests than later during one of the acts." For the next America's Cup acts in Malmö (August 24th - September 3rd 2005) Team Shosholoza will fall back upon the mast bought from Team Alinghi, which had already been used for the last two acts in Valencia. For Malmö the competition sails will be recut to fit the spare mast. Simultaneously, a replacement mast will be constructed. - http://www.sachallenge.com/site/ QUESTIONS? A good question, and one that the French sailing hero will no doubt be asking himself as he ponders the dramatic shipwreck of his yacht, on the cape of Penmarc'h. Just hours after setting the fastest time for a single-handed crossing of the Atlantic, and nearing a victorious welcome on the French coast, Francis Joyon nodded off. What happened next was the most frightening experience he says he has ever endured on a boat. "I suddenly woke up, when I heard a huge crash, when the boat came down in the breakers between a six-metre-high rock to my left and another one to my right. I was stuck there in the middle. I had managed to go aground on the most vicious rocks you can find off Penmarc'h Point." Claudio Stampi, a sleep expert and director of the Chronobiology Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, has spent years training sailors including the British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur to cope with sleep deprivation. "This is entirely typical," says Stampi. "Immediately after the event, the person starts to relax and the effects of sleep deprivation will surface and cause accidents. We see this type of accident every day." Shift workers are especially vulnerable to the condition. Joyon thinks that he was not travelling fast enough to trigger an alarm that should have woken him as the boat veered off course. -- David Adam. The Guardian, full story: www.guardian.co.uk/life/thisweek/story/0,12977,1527581,00.html ULLMAN SAILS WIN J/22 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, AGAIN! Congratulations to Tjarco Timmermans' Dutch Team for winning the 2005 J/22 World Championship. Timmermans' team with Jurjen Feitsma, Fanny van Leeuwen and Ivan Peute, so dominated the fleet through a wide range of conditions that with a 23 point lead, they chose to opt out of their final race. This is the second straight year that Ullman Sails has powered the J/22 World Champion. When boat speed is clearly a dominating factor to good regatta performance, only one sail maker can deliver the "Fastest Sails on the Planet". Contact your local Ullman Sails Loft or visit on line www.ullmansails.com CENTENNIAL This weekend marks the 100th Anniversary of the New York 30, one of North American's oldest and grandest one-design class. There will be a special celebration at the New York Yacht Club, in Newport, RI . In addition to being one of the first known production boats (18 were built between January and April of 1905) these 43 foot Herreshoff designed and built class of New York Thirties established much of the standards of one design racing as we know it with, among other things, the first documented rules on professional sailors, hauling restrictions, and sail purchase limitations. The class went on for 30 years as the most competitive and noteworthy racers of their time. Remarkably, of the 18 built, 12 are known to exist, with nine in sailing condition, and seven restored to museum quality perfection, complete with 900 sq foot gaff mainsails and immaculate mahogany brightwork. This weekend, as many as eight of these famous yachts will be racing in Naragansett Bay and will be dockside at Harbour Court for public viewing. (The ninth, owned by Mr. Bertelli, of Prada America's Cup fame, is currently in Italy.) For more information, look under "racing" at www.nyyc.org or visit www.ny30.org MATCH RACE RANKINGS It's been a good week for Peter Gilmour. So far he's won the Swedish Match Cup Regatta which also gave him the top spot on the podium for the 2004-2005 Swedish Match Tour. And now, he has edged Ed Baird off the top spot on ISAF's new match racer rankings list. This particular set of men's ranking is particularly important because the top 11 will receive invitations to the ISAF Match Racing World Championship 2005 in Calpe, Spain from September 12-17. (The eleventh ranked sailor will get invited because number 2 ranked Ed Baird is the defending World Champion, and gets an auto-invite.) This invitation list now includes: Ed Baird (USA) - Defending Champion; Peter Gilmour (AUS); Mathieu Richard (FRA); Russell Coutts (NZL); Philippe Presti (FRA); Paolo Cian (ITA); Sebastien Col (FRA); James Spithill (AUS); Ian Williams (GBR); Björn Hansen (SWE); Staffan Lindberg (FIN); plus Santiago Lopez-Vazquez (ESP) who will be invited by the hosting Real Federación Española de Vela, Real Club Náutico de Calpe. For the third female rankings' release in a row Claire Leroy (FRA) maintains her position in the number one spot and she now looks like a dominant leader with almost 2,000 points separating her from second place. Former number one, Maire Bjorling (SWE) beat Leroy in the semi finals of the ISAF Grade 1 Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand but failed to defend her title when 2003 World Champion Malin Millbourn (SWE) beat her 3-0 in the final. That loss combined with Bjorling break from match racing last year sees her drop to third place, as she is now counting only seven events in her points total. -- www.sailing.org TRANSPAC If the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race had a yellow jersey, the crew of disabled sailors from Challenged America would be sharing it right now. Like Lance Armstrong in France, the four men and able-bodied skipper Joshua Ross from San Diego climbed a mountain in the Pacific Ocean Wednesday to stand closer to Hawaii than any of the other 32 boats from the four classes of smaller boats that started Monday. As cold winds increased to 20-25 knots from the northwest, morning position reports had Challenged America's Tripp 40, B'Quest, 2,059 nautical miles from the finish on Day 3 of the 2,225-mile race---that, despite sailing one man short because Jeff Reinhold had to stay behind because of an elbow infection. Grant Baldwin reported from the communications vessel Alaska Eagle: "Another long cold night with NW winds 20-25 knots, 100% overcast, still no sun. The entire fleet now seems to be in the breeze. Rather unpleasant night with lots of wind and lumpy seas. Some ate dinner twice." -- Rich Roberts, http://www.transpacificyc.org/ NEWS BRIEFS * Gill North America has renewed and expanded their decade-long partnership with US Sailing. As part of the new four-year agreement, which runs through 2008, Gill NA has been named "Exclusive Technical Apparel Supplier/Sponsor" to the US Sailing Teams. Through the multi-year partnership, Gill North America will outfit the US Sailing Team, the US Disabled Sailing Team and the US Youth World Team with foul-weather marine gear packages and championship gloves, bags and other Gill equipment. Gill NA also anticipates outfitting the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in Qingdao, China. -- www.gillna.com * Dom Mee plans to traverse the North Atlantic from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada to Exmouth, Devon, England in a 14-foot ocean going kite-boat. The crossing of over 3500 miles is estimated that it could take seventy five days to complete. The boat will be equipped with satellite communication and navigational equipment, with email, VHF and location tracking systems supplied by 7E Communications. -- www.dommee.co.uk * Over 300 boats from 14 states and four countries will gather in Newport for Sail Newport's Volkswagen Newport Regatta®, July 15-17. The regatta is 21 years running and continues to attract top sailors for three days of racing on five separate 'circles' staffed by 200 volunteers on Narragansett Bay. In addition to trophies, the 19 winning skippers will get the keys to a new Volkswagen Jetta for two months. Sail Newport also receives boat support and race committee volunteers from Ida Lewis YC, New York YC, Newport YC, Barrington YC and Vanguard Sailboats. -- www.sailnewport.org. * Red Flags - The Global Challenge Race Office has been notified of several 'Intentions to Protest' after the tricky light winds start of the final leg in La Rochelle. Imagine It. Done. has protested Barclays Adventurer for "failing to keep clear as windward boat as required by RRS," and BG Spirit reported that they intend to lodge a similar protest against Imagine It. Done. Eleven of the 12 boats are still clustered within sight of one another as they head for the Portsmouth finish line which is less than 450 miles away. -- www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * The new look Crew.org.nz "mark II' was recently launched with a focus on daily sailing news and feature stories within New Zealand. This site hopes to build the profile of sailing within New Zealand. It features an unofficial ranking system for 1000 NZ race yachts, and has instigated Race Clinics, which are monthly seminars aimed at improving the skill level of our local race fleets. News is updated daily and new features added every month by a small team of writers around the country. -- http://www.crew.org.nz/ * This past weekend 165 sailors participated in the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship hosted by the Brant Beach YC. Sailors were treated to almost perfect sailing conditions with eight races being sailed in over two days. The regatta, the first ever to host 4.7, Radial, Full rigs and a separate Master event drew some of the top sailors in North America. In the Full Rig competition the overall winner was Vincent Porter of Lake Geneva YC/ Harvard University. The Radial Fleet was won by Kyle Rogochenko of Toms River YC while Christian Cremar of Sayville YC was first in the 4.7. -- http://bbyc.net/LaserACCs/index.htm# * Two San Diego teams - George Szabo/ Eric Wilcox and Doug Hart/ Zach Brown - lead the Snipe National Championship regatta at the San Diego YC. However Floridians Augie Diaz/ Pam Kelly, Ernesto Rodriguez/Leandro Spina and Peter Commette/ Sheehan Commette are all within striking distance after a day when San Diego delivered near ideal conditions, with white caps on the water for both races on Wednesday afternoon - the first day of the Heinzerling Championship Series. Complete results: www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/snipe/ResHeinzChamp.htm * Races 2, 3 and 4 of the Silva J/80 World Championships were sailed today in Falmouth (UK) under the burgee of the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. Light south to south easterly breeze predominated. The USA's Glenn Darden remains in fifth place in the 52 boat fleet trailing the Swedish leader, Mikael Lindquist by some 22 points. Kevin Sproul (GBR), Ruairidh Scott (GBR) and L Abignoli (FRA) occupy the other spots in the top five. The fleet is hoping for a little more breeze tomorrow. -- Yachts and Yachting Website, full story: www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=18044 HIRING WATERFRONT MANAGER Long Beach YC in Long Beach, CA is seeking a sailing professional to oversee the waterfront operations, and deliver a high level of service to the members. The position requires experience in race/regatta management, chartering of sailing vessels, and marina management. Send resumes to Ronald Banaszak, General Manager at mailto:rbanaszak@lbyc.org IN MEMORIAM Derek Baylis, the patriarch of a well-known Bay Area sailing family who was part of the original team that produced the (then) revolutionary Barient sailboat winch, died at his Point Richmond home Monday. Mr. Baylis was 81 and had suffered from cardiac ailments. His daughter, Elizabeth Baylis, learned of her father's death 30 minutes before she was about to board a Cal 40 sailboat for the start of the famed Transpacific yacht race from Long Beach to Honolulu. "We all decided Derek would be outraged if she jumped ship at that point," Mr. Baylis' stepson, Tim Salz, said of his stepfather's immutable devotion to yacht racing and its traditions. Baylis is survived by his wife, Stacey Finn Baylis of Point Richmond; two sons, Will Baylis of Tiburon and Trevor Baylis of Soquel (Santa Cruz County); a daughter, Elizabeth Baylis of San Rafael; a stepson, Tim Salz of Mill Valley; and eight grandchildren. -- San Francisco Chronicle, full story: http://tinyurl.com/cnx2n 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 neither 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. And please save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From Olin Stephens: As a dinosaur I may have missed something in the description, today's Scuttlebutt, of the righting tests of the VO 70, MovieStar, but to me, there is very little assurance of safety when a part of the crew must be in the cabin to operate the keel controls to stablize a capsized yacht. Who knows where or in what condition may be either the crew or the keel mechanism after a capsize at maybe 20 knots. May I add a strong second, hearty agreement, with Jack Mallinkrodt's analysis and opinion on the subject of rating rules, pros and cons.. * From George McCroskey: My head feel like it gonna 'bus' open! PHRF, IRC, IMS, IOR, MHS, VPP, LBJ, LSD, XYZ, on and on and on! I'm a grinder, for crying out loud, on a twenty plus year old Frers fifty and all this ratings ranting has me losing focus. That being: race hard, sail fast, try not to break anything, avoid the stupid mistakes, and get to the finish as fast as possible. Put me on a boat that is in good repair, along with crew who know what they are doing, some decent sails, get somebody behind the wheel who knows how to do it, and in most cases respectability in the beer tent/nearest saloon after the race will be the result. Maybe even a flag from time to time. * From Matthew L. Thomas (edited to our 250-word limit): I'm always interested to read the debate about handicapping, but I think we often miss the point. Rating systems are designed to allow different boats race against each other. Racing hones sailing skills and binds clubs together. Therefore, any system that encourages more people to compete is a good one. I'm a pro sailor, but these programs represent only a small part of the sailing community. Too often, it's not much fun for recreational sailors to compete against us. I'm a firm believer in having all local, club racing run under a "golf" handicap system. This forces the good guys to stay on top as every time you do well, your rating increases. It encourages the recreational sailors to show up as they now have a realistic chance of placing. It also encourages the good sailors to work with and sail with the average sailors. This gets more sailors on the water. More sailors on the water, sailing regularly, helps everyone! Sells more gear, generates more club membership and increases the fun factor! Golf handicaps work because it encourages the average sailors. They can race a few times, get a rating and sail a half decent race and place high in the pack. Suddenly, this is fun. Now they start to look at to how to do better ... invite better sailor's to sail with them, buy new sails, fair hulls, etc. This is what a rating system is supposed to be doing! Getting more people competing! * From Art Ahrens: I am sensing and feeling a great deal of apathy to the current state of the America's cup. As By Baldridge stated so eloquently: "Tony Chamberlain and the rest of the Media should study the 2007 Cup Protocols. There are no United States teams just as there is no Swiss team. These teams are non-nationalistic entities that owe no allegiances except to the person paying the bills." When the Americans got beat in 83, it was a national rally in America to bring the cup back. New Zealand saw an opportunity to stage a very strong offence near their home turf. The 87 cup series to me is unmatched in terms of national pride of all teams, and had a unique spirit that was unmatched. Now, even the Oracle team is co-sponsored by European corporations, driven by a New Zealander, etc. Is it just too expensive to attract national sponsors, or has apathy set in because it is just another expensive yachting event sailed by mercenaries who will go for the biggest bucks? Alinghi was funded by the Swiss, but as far as I am concerned, the last America's cup was won by New Zealanders. * From Ross Field: I have followed the sad saga of Tom Snacks and Team New Zealand and would just like to wish Tom all the best with his new team. To me it's unbelievable that New Zealand has lost such a talented individual and such bloody nice guy. * From Alex Blackwell: I am an enthusiastic user of the ATN Topclimber. As it is just my wife and I on the boat, I need to be able to get myself up to the top under my own steam. I would, however, like to warn your readers about an 'issue' I had this past weekend: The unit has three shackles, which I do check prior to going up. However, this time the one at the top had unscrewed itself completely when I checked it again at the top of the mast. If it had come out, I would have gone all the way down to the deck in a big hurry... You can see from the attached photo, that all of my weight is hanging from the top jam cleat, which is connected to the webbing by a shackle. As I see it, the friction was enough to turn the shackle pin, which ATN had glued in place. For the first time I did not have a safety halyard attached to myself, as I was going up to free a jammed halyard (the other one). I did call ATN ysterday morning to warn them about this serious safety design flaw, suggesting they replace these shackles with welded rings. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS A seminar on Time Travel will be held two weeks ago. |
