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SCUTTLEBUTT #473 - January 3, 2000LOUIS VUITTON CUP SEMIFINALSFew people outside Team Dennis Conner's camp gave the veteran American crew a realistic chance of advancing to the Louis Vuitton Cup finals. But after today's decisive victory against Italy's mighty Prada Challenge, its advancement to that round is highly probable. After a lackluster opening to the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals yesterday, strong wind conditions returned to the inner Hauraki Gulf today. The winds were from the southwest steadily between 18 and 20 knots, with gusts to 25 knots, and choppy seas. Team Dennis Conner strategist Peter Holmberg reported winds of 35 knots on the second beat. Despite the high winds and chop, the offshore breeze kept the seaway down, and the powerful IACC sloops rollicked in the conditions to produce three enthralling match races. Team DC's victory against Prada thrusts it to the top of the leaderboard at 2-0, sans competition. Quokka Sports. Full story: http://www.americascup.org/ STARS & STRIPES BEAT LUNA ROSSA - DELTA 01:07 Ken Read steering Stars & Stripes (USA-55) showed good speed off the start line as the American boat pulled away from Francesco de Angelis on Luna Rossa (ITA-45). It wasn't a very active pre-start, the boats engaging in a dial up and then circling before Read broke off for the middle of the start line. Luna Rossa started upwind and tacked off to starboard and that's where de Angelis lost the race. Read gained early on a big left shift and that was enough to lead throughout the race. De Angelis gained on the first downwind, but Stars & Stripes pulled away on every other leg. The Italians appeared to be struggling with their boomvang, the crew could be seen trying to effect repairs on the second beat to weather, but this race was won and lost on the windshifts, and that's where the Stars & Stripes afterguard excelled. AMERICA TRUE BEAT AMERICAONE - DELTA 02:23 For the third time in a row John Cutler on America True (USA-51) beat Paul Cayard's AmericaOne (USA-61). At the start Cayard gained control, and with it the favoured left-hand side. After the start, while still on starboard, Cayard squeezed up and America True had to tack away to port. Cayard covered right away and slowly pulled clear. AmericaOne's tactician Kostecki switched sides a few times and was on the right side most of the time. AmericaOne led by 35 seconds at the top mark. AmericaOne made a mess of the spinnaker set and the next gybe was not too smooth either. America True caught up and trailed by only 15 seconds at the bottom mark. On the second beat AmericaOne pulled away again and it looked OK for Paul Cayard and his men. America True ripped its spinnaker on the following run and caught it under the boat near the next bottom mark. It also managed to break its spinnaker pole in the process. In the meantime Cayard sailed away. With more than a one-minute lead at the last bottom mark, AmericaOne seemed to have the match in the bag. AmericaOne rounded and the jib came out of the headsail track. Despite feverish work, the crew could not hoist a new headsail. AmericaOne sailed that whole beat bareheaded, while America True sailed to almost a three-minute lead. On the last beat the bowmen on America True fixed the pole with a spare sleeve and on the run Dawn Riley's team hoisted their spinnaker and sailed to victory. ASURA BEAT LE DEFI - DELTA 00:38 Aussie Peter Gilmour sailed Japan's Asura ((JPN-44) to victory, dodging a contentious Umpire call, overcoming a broken halyard, and defeating a determined French challenge by Bertrand Pace skippering Le Defi (FRA-46). Gilmour almost came to grief with a late pin-end entry to the starting box. He dived in front of the fast-approaching starboard tack (right-of-way) Pace who had to alter course to avoid him. The umpires judged it a miss by three metres. Emboldened, Gilmour took the fight to Pace, leading across the start line by 11 seconds and gaining the choice of the favoured left side to lead at the weather mark by 150 metres. Approaching the second weather mark, Asura's jib halyard let go, slowing the Japanese boat and letting Le Defi gain. The French closed to within 50 metres before the leeward mark but Gilmour held them off, despite further challenges on the last weather leg and the last run. -- - Peter Rusch, Keith Taylor, Simon Keijzer, Louis Vuitton Cup website, http://www.louisvuittoncup.com/ TV COVERAGE -- Gary Jobson and Jim Kelly have the daily highlights of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinal races each night on ESPN2 at 12:30 AM Eastern Time, which is Prime Time here on the West Coast -- 9:30 PM. But as always, check your local listings. TELSTRA SYDNEY TO HOBART RACE More records have tumbled in 1999 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race with four skippers picking up $10,000 cash prizes for breaking class records, which are based on length overall. Cheques will be presented at the official Telstra Sydney to Hobart prize giving to be held at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania tomorrow, 2 January at 11.00am. The line honours winner Nokia, skippered by Michael Spies and Stefan Myralf has broken the Open Record set by German maxi Morning Glory in 1996 by an incredible 18 hours 19 minutes, setting a new race record of 1 day 18 hours 27 minutes 10 seconds. In the class for yachts less than 18.5 metres LOA, the Open 60 Magna Data (Sean Langman) broke the previous record of 2 days 22 hours by 21 hours, setting a new record of 2 days, 37 minutes and 21 seconds. This record had stood since 1975 when Scott Barrett skippered the Miller 57 Apollo to Hobart in record time. Overall IMS winner of the Telstra Sydney to Hobart, Hong Kong-based businessman Geoffrey Ross will be adding a cheque for $10,000 to his collection of trophies from this race having set a new record for yachts less than 15.5 metres of 2 days 5 hours 57 minutes and 30 seconds. The previous record was set in 1996 by Ray Roberts' Corel 45 BZW Challenge. In the class record for yachts less than 12.5 metres, Sydney yacht Leroy Brown (Warren Wieckmann), a brand new Farr 40 One Design, has shattered the previous record set by Peter Packer and his Miller 40 Rampage in 1975 of 3 days 4 hours 43 minutes and 3 seconds. The new record now stands at 2 days 11 hours 24 minutes and 50 seconds. The new class records set in this year's freakish weather could potentially stand for another 25 years as the ideal conditions experienced by the front of this year's Sydney to Hobart fleet are not expected to occur again for many years. The crew of the Danish/Australian crewed yacht, Nokia donated their $10,000 prize back to the Cruising Yacht Club to promote its Youth Sailing Academy. -- Peter Campbell Full story: http://syd-hob96.telstra.com.au/news/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- Ali Meller, VP International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association (In response to Rick Hooper "Much to my dismay, dinghy sailing is almost dead.") -- Maybe it is at your sailing club, but please don't assume what you see there is what sailors around the world see. Dinghy sailing is not only active in many places in the USA, it is very active around the world. In many most? sailing countries dinghies are far easier to get into that than keelboats. A seven person keelboat may represent the racing you see, it does not represent racing around the world. Unfortunately, the keelboat sailors I saw when I raced keelboats at two clubs were mostly not athletic, though I cannot assume that this is generally true around the world. -- From Tim Zimmermann -- Scuttlebutt spends an awful lot of time navel-gazing over how the sport of sailing can shed its snobbish, insular reputation and broaden its public appeal. So it is somewhat surprising--and extremely telling--to see the phrase "BN" a) so casually thrown into a submission, and b) not edited out. Maybe the "BN" in Andrew Burton's letter doesn't mean what I think it means. But if it does, then it would be nice to see Scuttlebutt start the new millenium by taking a stand against an ugly phrase and all its variations--as every other sailing publication I am familiar with has. I doubt you would print the words "BN" stands for, so why print the code? -- From Rich Roberts -- Most days reading Scuttlebutt I am moved to respond to comments that beg for a dash of common sense, but I count to 10 and breathe deeply until the urge goes away. Today I can't. At the risk of prolonging a worn-out thread, it's clear that amateur sailors have it pretty good when they can achieve top ranking among the world's match racers at the height of the America's Cup, where a few nonentitities such as Gilmour, Cayard, Cutler, Pace and Read are performing, with a couple of two-time Congressional Cup winners named Gavin Brady and Peter Holmberg as backups. That's like club pros outranking Tiger Woods and Sampras or Agassi, who take time off to do the Masters or Wimbledon. Please, ISAF, give me a break. But the item that really pulled my cork was Andrew Burton's letter. Although I agree with some of what he says, I am puzzled by one term he used in reference to a crew member: "BN." Does that mean "boat nurse" or "bow nobility" or does it mean, heaven forbid, that despicable acronym of less enlightened times of separate drinking fountains and burning crosses? Unfortunately, it is still heard around yacht club docks in the latter connotation, indicating that sailing still has a way to go to get in step with the 21st century of humanity. -- From Andrew Burton -- I have to weigh in on this. I have met and sailed against Buddy Melges and he lives up to his billing as an all 'round nice guy who can sail the pants off everyone else. But my vote has to go to Elvstrom for the simple reason that he has influenced and inspired more young sailors than anyone. I wear glasses for the simple reason that as a child I spent hours reading 'Expert Dinghy and Keelboat Racing' under the covers with a flashlight after 'lights out.' I'm not the only one. In earning his four Golds and 11(?) Worlds he revolutionized the way races were sailed not just in technique, but in boat prep and training. They never raced like that until he came along; down wind was beer time, and so on. Unfortunately Buddy's influence was pretty much confined to those he came in contact with but, especially through that book, Elvstrom's was world wide. If Clapton is god then Elvstrom must be Clapton. -- From Bruce Munro -- My vote goes to Captain James Cook. He did 3 Whitbreads in square-rigged wooden boats with no Gortex, no GPS, no charts, and on and on with things he did not have that we have today. -- From John Marum -- It has to be Joshua Slocum! He even made the boat! And the thumb tacks - self defense never came so cheap, before or after! And unlike Drake, he got around the Horn twice in the same two weeks! A proper use of judgement all the way, with a decent fund raiser (himself), a decent shipwright himself), a decent navigator ( himself), a decent sailor (himself), and by all accounts, a decent cook (himself) as well as all those records he set for the first time. And he did it because he thought it would be a Good Idea, not to increase his personal purse (even if he did, he failed in that - a true yachtsman!). A perverse Whitbreader, if you like, in that he went the wrong way (or maybe on reflection, the right way!) but he was the first one to do the whole thing as an individual. Admittedly, he got lost in the Atlantic, and finished up in America, but you can't blame him for that. -- From Cliff Thompson -- Having sailed with Dennis Conner, Vince Brun, and others of that ability, I must say that I'm not interested in sailing against them. They are better than I am. The old argument still stands, they who sail daily, get better. They do the talk, and they have the walk...Their place should be as teachers, not competitors against amateurs. (We need more teachers!) Can I say it enough? It would be ok if they (the pro's) would spread out through a class and help the slow, but the tendency is to migrate to the already faster boats, and they end up whipping the new and uneducated racing sailors, and some of us old timers too. And where do the sailors go, pray tell -- to roller furlers and dodgers, that's where. -- From Clark Chapin (RE: Craig Fletcher's Comments US SAILING has already put in place a mechanism for race organizers to, if they wish, limit participation by "pros.") -- The workload of the US SAILING Competitor Eligibility Committee shows that, by golly, somebody is using the Appendix R classification system. Whatever its shortcomings, it's the most operational system of its kind in the world, ISAF's attempts to re-invent it and usurp the work already done notwithstanding. I've watched the Committee at work and their most fervent desire, it seems to me, is to reduce the amount of subjective judgement that they must use and also to introduce some element of sailing accomplishment into the rating system. But for all of that, some items stand out: 1. The system is working, on the whole, remarkably well; 2. Their is a strong continuing need for human evaluation of the individual cases; 3. The use of the system is not evenly distributed, but concentrated in some locations (i.e. Southern California PHRF) and classes (i.e. Mumm 30). But then, race organizers don't have to invoke any of these controls, either. 4. Contrary to popular belief, pros don't come with the words "Category 3" tattoed on their foreheads; and 5. With the current emphasis on just who is paying the salary, the proverbial "Category 3 sailing loft receptionist" is going to be with us for a while. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENTS: This is a thread I probably should have killed last year, but better late than never. It's now officially dead. And if you wondering about the Sailor of the Century thread, it won't be far behind. CAPE TOWN-TO-RIO RACE Annapolis, MD -- With an all-star crew assembled and one of the fastest entries in the fleet, Robert McNeil's 75-foot IMS yacht 'Zephyrus IV' will be a strong favorite for earning First-to-Finish honors in next week's MTN 3545-mile Cape Town-to-Rio Race. 'Zephyrus IV' is one of four boats from the US among the 72 entries in the race who hail from a total of ten countries on four continents. With the start scheduled for Saturday, January 8, 2000, this will be the first major offshore race of the New Millennium. The 'Zephyrus IV' crew of ten will combine decades of experience from numerous successful offshore racing programs. In the afterguard, Owner and Co-Skipper Robert McNeil from San Francisco, CA has been an active inshore and offshore sailor on the US West Coast for nearly thirty years, and has logged over 20,000 racing miles on 'Zephyrus' and other offshore yachts. Co-Skipper John Bertrand from Annapolis, MD brings a high degree of racing talent to the team, being a former Silver Medalist and America's Cup tactician. Navigator Mark Rudiger from Sausalito, CA was also the navigator on the winning 'EF Language' team in the last Whitbread 'Round the World Race. Weather Router Bill Biewenga from Newport, RI has numerous offshore race victories to his credit, including being a recognized pioneer in his field of offshore weather routing. The remainder of the crew will be led by Dave Culver from San Diego, CA, who as Sailing Master has been responsible for the considerable logistical efforts at preparing 'Zephyrus' for the race. He and crewman Bill Erkelens from Piedmont, CA are also members of the 'Sayonara' team, reigning ILC Maxi World Champions. The rest of the crew - Scott Dickson from Long Beach, CA; Keith Kilpatrick from Seal Beach, CA; Michael Sanderson from Auckland, NZL; and Mark Sims from Santa Barbara, CA- are all several-year veterans of numerous inshore and offshore championship campaigns. Working with San Diego-based designers John Reichel and Jim Pugh, the 'Zephyrus' team has optimized the boat for IMS performance without sacrificing speed for this largely downwind contest. Particular attention has been paid to the sail program, headed by Whitbread veteran Michael "Moose" Sanderson, with new asymmetrical spinnakers in the inventory which were specially designed for this race. The current course record of 14 days 15 hours set during the last race in 1996 by Hasso Plattner's 'Morning Glory' is ripe for the picking, with an average course speed of better than 10.3 knots necessary to set a new record mark. "With even moderate conditions, 'Zephyrus' could easily better this speed," said Co-Skipper John Bertrand, who is assisting in the management of the 'Zephyrus IV' program. "The weather pattern leading up to the race is looking normal with a classic high pressure area dominating the weather picture." And while 'Zephyrus IV' should be ideally suited to perform well in this downwind race, she will be ably challenged by two larger entries: Jim Dolan's Langan-designed ILC Maxi 'Sagamore' and Ludde Ingvall's Simonis-designed 'Portugal-Brasil 500'. "The race for line honors has heated up with Sagamore going on a major diet and masthead kites, and the new IRM maxi looking very potent," said Bertrand. The MTN Cape Town-to-Rio Race will be the first of several prominent offshore races in which 'Zephyrus IV' will compete in 2000. The next will be in April at the inaugural Havana-to-Baltimore Race, followed by the Newport-Bermuda Race in June, and the Chicago-Mackinac Race in July. -- Dobbs Davis NEW HOME PORT UK sailing enthusiast and Chairman of Oyster Marine Richard Matthews has agreed to purchase the International America's Cup Class (IACC) yacht NZL39 'Tag', currently in use as a trial horse by the America True syndicate. British match racer Andy Green, who has been in Auckland with the Abracadabra 2000 Challenge, was responsible for putting the deal together. He was clearly pleased; "This is very positive news for the whole of British sailing". After the Cup 'Tag' will be shipped to the UK and renamed. It is hoped that in some way the yacht will benefit a future British America's Cup Challenge. This will be the first time an IACC yacht will have been seen in UK waters and she will undoubtedly participate in the 150th Anniversary America's Cup Regatta that will be sailed off Cowes in the summer of 2001. SOUTHERN CROSS The Australian team of Atara (Roger Hickman, NSW), Ausmaid (Kevan Pearce, SA) and Bumblebee 5 (John Kahlbetzer, NSW) has won the 1999 Telstra Southern Cross Cup conducted over 10 races as part of the Telstra Cup and Telstra Sydney to Hobart ocean race. The Southern Cross Cup was initiated as an international teams racing series back in 1967 as the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Admiral's Cup. Unfortunately, due to the fewer entries for both the Telstra Cup and the Sydney to Hobart, and IMS rating changes, only three three-boat teams, Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, could be formed for the 1999 series. -- Peter Campbell THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS People will always accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them that Benjamin Franklin said it first. |
