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SCUTTLEBUTT 1706 - November 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. ISAF ANNUAL CONFERENCE From 4-15 November, the 2004 Annual Conference will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the committees and sub-committees of ISAF will meet to discuss 349 submissions and numerous additional papers which have been submitted by ISAF Member National Authorities (MNA), International Class Associations, the ISAF Executive Committee, Committee Chairmen and the ISAF President. Over 500 delegates representing 80 nations, including Committee members, MNA and Class representatives, observers and media representatives will be present for the week long event. The most debate is certain to focus on the election of the new President and Vice-Presidents, together with the selection of the equipment (classes) to be used by athletes in the eleven events at the 2008 Olympic Games. The three Presidential candidates, of whom one will succeed current President, Paul Henderson, are Fernando Bolin (ESP), Sadi Claeys (BEL), and Göran Petersson (SWE). Following the Council mid-year meetings in June 2004, ISAF reduced the choice of equipment which can be considered for selection for the 2008 Olympic Games, to the following list: 1. Multihull Open: Hobie 16 or Tornado 2. Keelboat Women: Soling or Yngling 3. Keelboat Men: Soling, Star or Yngling 4. Double-handed Dinghy Open: 49er or Snipe 5. Double-handed Dinghy Women: 470 or 49er or Snipe 6. Double-handed Dinghy Men: 470 or 49er [whichever loses vote 4], Snipe 7. Single-handed Dinghy Men: Finn or Laser [whichever is not selected is the only option in vote 8] 8. Single-handed Dinghy Open: Finn or Laser 9. Single-handed Dinghy Women: Byte or Europe or Flash or Laser Radial or Zoom8 10. Windsurfer Men: Hybrid, Mistral, Mistral Derivative or outcome windsurfing equipment evaluation trials 11. Windsurfer Women: Hybrid, Mistral, Mistral Derivative or outcome windsurfing equipment evaluation trials Additionally, Submission 048-04 proposes the introduction of a women's keelboat match racing event, to replace the existing women's keelboat fleet racing. This is further followed up by submission 049-04 from the Dutch to introduce match racing at the Olympics as an "evening" event, 1800-2000 hours, enabling athletes competing in other events to also participate in the match racing. - ISAF website, full story, http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=8326 VENDÉE GLOBE 2004 Four years ago it was, as they say, blowing dogs off chains when the Vendée Globe start day arrived and the skippers voted to postpone their departure. With winds barely strong enough wind to fill a genoa today, there was scant danger of early breakages or incidents, but perversely it cheated skippers and spectators alike of a spectacle that typifies this toughest of races. First across the line in a straggling pack was Vincent Riou on PRB, followed a short distance to leeward by the sole American skipper, Bruce Schwab, on Ocean Planet. The leader of the 'Britpack' was Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, with Mike Golding on Ecover staying well back for a clean start and crossing in 13th place. The course took boats inshore to round two marks before heading out to sea. By the first of these, Jean-Pierre Dick had edged in front, only to slip back to 2nd on the next beat. As the wind at last began to fill in as forecast from the north-east at eight knots, those with clear air at the front of the fleet had an opportunity to pull away, and Riou on PRB was able to capitalise on his leading position. This area of strong breeze, currently 30 knots or more, extends west and skippers will have to decide how far west to go before gybing. In the next couple of days we will see how they fare in the first tactical decision of the race. - Elaine Bunting & Sue Pelling, Yachting World, full story, http://tinyurl.com/4oybz Rankings (Top ten of twenty as of Sunday, 07:00 PM GMT) 1. Vincent Riou/ PRB, 23626.1 miles - distance to finish 2. Jean-Pierre Dick/ Virbac-Paprec, 0.3 miles - distance to leader 3. Mike Golding/ Ecover, 2.1 DTL 4. Roland Jourdain/Sill Véolia, 3.0 DTL 5. Conrad Humphreys/ Hellomoto, 3.1 DTL 6. Jean Le Cam/ Bonduelle, 3.8 DTL 7. Joé Seeten/ Arcelor Dunkerque, 4.4 DTL 8. Alex Thomson/ Hugo Boss, 4.5 DTL 9. Sébastien Josse/ VMI, 4.7 DTL 10. Hervé Laurent/ UUDS, 5.6 DTL 300,000 people were present in Les Sables d´Olonne today to watch the start of the Vendée Globe 2004, as they set off at 2 minutes past noon GMT. There were no fewer than 15,000 enthusiastic people on the water, 1000 pleasure craft, 20 press launches and 13 helicopters, while dozens of TV cameramen and professional photographers sent back fabulous pictures of this majestic start. Photo Gallery - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/vg1107 Vendée Globe 2004 website - http://www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk CALENDARS, BACKPACKS, BOOKS, MODELS AND MORE The holidays are almost here, and Team One Newport is ready to help you with all of your gift giving needs. Try Sharon Green's Ultimate Sailing calendar, Onne van der Wal's diary calendar, Cory Silken's Classic Sailing calendar or our favorite children's book, 'Sail On'. We have the brand new Henri-Lloyd women's Axis jacket in 6 different colors and the Horny Toad luxurious Cashmere women's tops and bottoms! Call 800-VIP-GEAR or visit http://www.team1newport.com AMERICAS CUP: APPROVAL AT LAST Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, the Official Government Spokesperson stated yesterday that after the usual Friday Cabinet meeting, the Government had approved a decree supporting Valencia as the setting for the next edition of the Americas Cup. Consequently, she announced that the Government was allowing 1,000 million Euros ($1.3 billion) to be 'freed up' in order that Valencia is able to prepare for the Cup races that are set to take place in 2007, but added that some 81 million Euros ($105 million) would be available immediately. She did not say when the remainder would be allotted. Miss Fernandez de la Vega stated that the Government viewed the races as 'extremely important, not only for Valencia, but for Spain as a whole'. She added that the Government was waiving any rights over Social Security or residence papers for all the members of the syndicates as well as the crews that are scheduled to take part in the races and the regattas that precede them. - http://www.valencialife.net BAIRD/LEWECK WIN BEYC'S PRO AM Ed Baird and Tom Leweck teamed up to win the Bitter End Yacht Club's Dry Creek Vineyard Pro-Am Regatta. This unique event uses a 'triple racing' format - a three boat match race where only the first place boat collects a point. Sailed in two divisions - 'Juniors' and 'Masters' - the scoring is a combination of each team's total points. The Juniors race the event in Hunter 216s while the Masters sail in the Bitter End YC's venerable Freedom 30s. Guests of the Caribbean resort crewed in both divisions for the well known skippers. After a slow start, Baird 'caught fire' and won all of his last four matches to become the high point skipper in the regatta. His total also pushed his team into a slim one point lead over the Rod Johnstone/ Carol Cronin and Keith Musto/ Russell Coutts teams going into the last afternoon schedule of Master's races. The first match on that schedule had all three Masters from the top teams on the race course together. When the Curmudgeon won that match, the Baird/ Leweck team mathematically clinched the regatta with two races to spare. The same pair also won BEYC's Pro-Am in 2001. The entire Pro-Am Regatta, plus the concurrent Musto Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championships, were videotaped for the Fantasy Camp show and will be aired on the Fine Living Channel (DirectTV channel 232 and many cable outlets) on December 19. Final Results 1. Baird (4pts)/Leweck (2pts), 6 points 2. Cronin (3)/Johnstone (2), 5 points 3. Coutts (1)/Musto (3), 4 points 4. Betsy Alison (2)/Lowell North (1), 3 point 5. Andy Burdick/Butch Ulmer (2), 2 points Event website: http://www.beyc.com GLOBAL CHALLENGE The fleets has nearly all finished the first leg, which has taken them from Portsmouth, and out into the Atlantic, across the Equator and through the Doldrums, and on to the finish in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 6,100 mile second leg will begin November 28th from Buenos Aires, round the notorious Cape Horn and into the Southern Ocean to battle through the Roaring Forties to Wellington, New Zealand. Positions (as of November 7, 19:44:00 GMT) 1. Barclays Adventurer - finished 2. VAIO - finished 3. Samsung - finished 4. BP Explorer - finished 5. BG SPIRIT - finished 6. Spirit of Sark - finished 7. SAIC La Jolla - finished 8. Team Stelmar - finished 9. Imagine It. Done - finished 10. Me To You - finished 11. Pindar - finished 12. Team Save the Children - 338 distance to finish Event website - http://www.globalchallenge2004.com/en RAIL TAIL, SKINNED KNEES, BURNED FLESH, AND THE COLD These are the normal distractions that keep you from focusing; focusing on the next shift, current line, or the surprise gybe. Sailing Angles Knee Sleeves, Padded Sailing Shorts and Long Pants, Stretch Quadroflex Fleece and Sun Shirts are a few of the its engineered designs to keep you focused and help keep your eye on the prize. Pain is slow! Sailing Angles' apparel solutions for today's sailing enthusiast. Find them at http://www.sailingangles.com WHERE IS IT NOW "Stars & Stripes" is one of the two catamaran boats used by Dennis Conner to win the 1988 America's Cup match race against New Zealand. The 1988 race was the end result of a protracted legal battle between New Zealand and American sailors that wound up with both teams breaking with Cup tradition. New Zealand brought in a re-designed boat that had all kinds of bells and whistles on it. In the end, it was a like an Indy Car racing a Chevette, with Conner winning the series going away. The America's Cup, however, amended the rules to return to the traditional yachts and ending the catamaran's Cup career. More than a decade later, the boat came into Mark Reece's possession. After its mast snapped in half during a regatta in the Great Lakes in 2000, Reece moved the boat to Naples and started rebuilding it. Now he takes the boat all over, competing some of the world's biggest races. This past weekend Reece raced the catamaran in the Commodore's Cup Regatta in Naples, Florida, which he's using as a warm-up for the Fort Lauderdale-Key West Regatta later this year. - Will Graves, Naples Daily News, full story, http://tinyurl.com/6uwz4 NEWS BRIEFS * The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSR) announces the ratification of a new monohull singlehanded World Record from Cowes to Dinard. On 1st November 2004, Luc Van Den Heede sailed the 85-foot monohull Adrien over the 138 nm course in a time of 12:01:31 for an average speed of 11.5 knots. - John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council * By noon last Friday, the 100th entry was received for the 60th anniversary of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. By the 5pm deadline, entries were double last year's fleet of 56 and still flowing in. Because of the late interest, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has extended the deadline to lodge Applications to Enter until 5pm, November 12th. Entry details are available on the official event web site: http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com * Round-the-world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards is being given an extension to pay back a debt of more than £500,000 with businessman Andrew Pindar, who had lent her the cash two years ago to help her buy a £1.1 million catamaran. Lawyers for the two parties agreed in a private hearing that Edwards would be allowed to repay the loan by November 6 without having to sell her home. Mr Pindar's spokesman added: "He waited two years before taking legal action, he is also happy that Tracy is making every effort to repay him." - Daily Mail, full story, http://tinyurl.com/5ywe6 * Professional golfer Tiger Woods has filed a lawsuit against Christensen Shipyards of Vancouver, Washington, claiming the yacht builder breached the contract between them. According to the lawsuit, Woods' 47.2m (155ft) Christensen motoryacht, named Privacy, was displayed in photographs together with Woods' name at the Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show. Woods' suit contends that Christensen breached a clause in the contract designed to protect the golfer's privacy. Woods bought the vessel last February for about $57 million. - IBI News, full story, http://tinyurl.com/5al9d J/65 PROJECT UPDATE All cylinders are firing at J Boats and TPI for the 2005 introduction of the new J/65, a sleek 65 footer designed for high speed, minimal crew and luxurious accommodation. Hull #1 was released from the mold last week in Warren, RI. Hull #2 follows shortly. To learn more: http://www.jboats.com/j65 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 Mike Vining: As a reply to Wiley Crockett in Butt 1701, US Sailing currently has a fine system of identifying, qualifying and certifying Judges and PRO's. Sailors are involved. The "Old boy network" recognition system (which I disliked also) went out before 2000. Currently, to be a Certified US Sailing PRO or Judge you have to attend a seminar, pass a test and have sail race experience. None of those require membership in the "old boy network." I would suggest that the problem is that there are few class requirements for event organizers to find and appoint Certified Judges and PRO's. Multi-class events have no obligation at all and usually don't go out of the way to appoint US Sailing Certified officers. It's not hard; a list of all certified officers is available online at the ussailing.org. I am a younger active competitor and Certified Race Officer. I too have competed in events with poor race management where I felt "going to the room" was a crapshoot. However, not every event is like that. The next time you're at a well managed event, I bet if you check you will find the judges and PRO's are US Sailing Certified. It's up to everyone to encourage event organizers to recruit US Sailing Certified officials. I know for sure that the poorly run events I attended did not. * From Joe Dervin: While I don't patently disagree with Sandy Purdon's comments about the racing excitement generated by IACC boats vs. the 12s, I have to ask if he remembers the One Australia (the one that didn't sink) vs. Team NZ race in April '95 in the late days of that year's LV Cup (in his home waters)? Easily, the best AC-related match race since the Cup departed Fremantle. I would challenge Sandy, or anyone really interested in this kind of sail racing, to beg, borrow or steal a copy of ESPNs coverage of that race, and then state that the current class of boats can't produce exciting racing for those of us who love the sport. Rod Davis at his very best! * From Michael Panosh (Re Jack Spithill's comments about CART and the IRL): Actually, the IRL has helped destroy both series and the sport of open-wheel racing in the United States. To say the IRL is growing in popularity is comedic, considering General Motors announced yesterday (Wednesday) it was leaving the IRL after the 2005 season (due to increasing costs and low television ratings). Instead of the AC going away, most likely what would happen is exactly what the IRL did--split fans in half and leave the casual fan confused and disinterested. * From Ken Legler: With the announcement of the US Sailing One-Design Symposium I was reminded of a couple of examples of fleet buildng I observed last summer while running regattas in the Midwest. At an A-Scow regatta in Oshkosh, WI, the newest fleet member from Canada lost his mast in the first race. Buddy Melges was about to race nearly 100 miles back to the factory for another mast but his boys found out and beat him to it. They then stayed up half the night fitting and rigging the new mast for these new A-scow sailors. At the Jet-14 nationals in Clevelend there was a mixture of modern fiberglass boats and beautifully restored wooden boats. Two class fathers, Marion Zugg and David Michos, each buy up old and out-of-repair wooden Jet-14s, spend half a year restoring each, then sell or charter them to one-design sailors that appreciate gorgeous old boats. The result is 30 boats at the nationals for this 50 year old class. The lesson learned is that it takes more than a cool boat to build a class. There are plenty of cool boats out there. It takes dedication, leadership, and a labor of love to get others, constrained by time, to play in your class. * From Magnus Wheatley: Almost as curious watching your Presidential election, it's interesting to see the knee-jerking going on in US Olympic sailing. Well here are a few truths from across the pond. Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Shirley Robertson are an exceptional generation of sailors that came through the RYA's system and were groomed for Olympic success from an early age. But I don't believe that there are hoards of others of the same calibre lapping at their heels in every gravel pit and dinghy park across this fair (and green) island and it's here where the US perception may be wrong. Ainslie is being likened to Elvstrom and those sorts only come around once every three or four generations so we are truly honoured and proud to have him. If you look at recent US Olympic greats, you've produced a lot of unbelievable sailors (North, Conner, Reynolds, the Mckee's, etc.) so I would say it's a case of tampering with the system you've got rather than overhauling it and waiting your generational turn. I wish the same were true in that other election. * From Mats Grip: Just for the record, Ford did not in fact acquire Volvo. They did, however, acquire Volvo Cars. The part of Volvo that manufactures trucks and various other machinery is not a part of Ford. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the Volvo Ocean Race is a joint venture between Volvo Cars (Ford) and Volvo. As the two companies share the same branding it can be difficult to see who is sponsoring what at times. I don't think Ford can singlehandedly drop the Volvo Ocean Race (as they did with Jaguar F1 and Cosworth). CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Children are natural mimics, who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners. |
