SCUTTLEBUTT No. 645 - September 13, 2000
OLYMPIC TEAM CAPTAIN
At a team meeting in Sydney, the 18 members of the U.S.A.'s 2000 Olympic
Team - Yachting have elected Miami's Magnus Liljedahl, crew for Mark
Reynolds in the Star class, as Captain of the sailing team. The 46-year
old Liljedahl grew up in Sweden and was educated as a construction
engineer. Competing in the Finn in his homeland, he placed second in the
Swedish Nationals and sixth in the Europeans in 1979. The following year he
moved to Florida, and has been a resident there ever since.
Nicknamed 'the Viking' the hearty Liljedahl says he is best-known for his
fighting spirit - something he has recently had to put to the test. He has
sailed with Reynolds since 1997, and together they were the top-ranked U.S.
team in the Star for two years. Going into '99 they were the top-ranked
team in the World. Then tragedy struck in June of '99 when Liljedahl's
wife of 22 years, Agneta, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With Liljedahl
at her side, she fought a hard but brief battle with the illness,
succumbing in October of that year. Since returning to competition with
Reynolds in December of '99, the pair have won the Olympic Team Trials, the
prestigious Star World Championship and Kiel Week in their preparations for
the Olympic Regatta.
While in training for the Olympics, Liljedahl has found the fortitude to
establish a scholarship in memory of his beloved wife, The Agneta Liljedahl
Ballet Scholarship, which in less than a year has raised over $20,000 to
promote the education of young ballet dancers who otherwise could not
afford to take classes.
Olympic competition for Reynolds/ Liljedahl begins on September 23,
preceeded by practice racing on September 20. - Jan Harley
BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE
The Challenge boat Logica and the fishing vessel collided almost due south
of Lizard Point just before midnight Monday night. Only minor damage was
caused to Logica's hull in the incident and no one was injured although the
crew would almost certainly have been shaken by the accident.
The yacht, skippered by Jeremy Troughton, was just 36 hours into its
30,000-mile gruelling journey around the globe against the prevailing
winds. BT Global Challenge founder Sir Chay Blyth said, "When they saw the
fishing boat they bore away quickly. If they hadn't done that it would have
been a hell of a lot worse."
First reports of the incident were received by Falmouth coastguard at about
23:45 p.m. and they immediately offered assistance. But Logica declined
saying they didn't seem to be taking on water and no one was injured. "We
had a call to say the boat had been in collision with a blue fishing
vessel," said coastguard Bob Hurrel. "We made sure there was no immediate
need for our rescue units to be sent out which there wasn't," he added. Liz
Addis, Quokka Sports
Full story: http://www.btchallenge.com/news/2000/09/News_484.html
THE REST OF THE STORY
You need a lot of things to win a world championship, and boatspeed is at
the top of that list. Boatspeed was not a problem for Giorgio Zuccoli when
he won the recently completed Melges 24 World Championship - he used Ullman
Sails. Of course he did - Giorgio is a licensee of Ullman Sails
International and has been with Dave Ullman for years. But more importantly
for Ullman customers, Giorgio is also a major player on the sail design
team that Dave anchors. Wouldn't you like to have this design team working
for you? You can:
http://www.ullmansails.com/
AT THE OLYMPICS
(The following report is from US Sailing's Olympic Director, Jonathan Harley.)
Team Leader Hal Haenel announced the winners of the USOC Opening Ceremonies
ticket lottery. At previous Olympics USOC provided every US athlete with
two complimentary tickets to Opening Ceremonies. For Sydney, however, USOC
was only able to come up with 300 tickets and chose to hold a lottery for
150 pairs of tickets. US Sailing Team members who were lottery winners
were: Courtenay Dey; Paul Foerster; Mike Gebhardt; Pease Glaser; Hartwell
Jordan; Magnus Liljedahl; Jeff Madrigali and Charlie Ogletree. Eight
winners out of 18 team members is a pretty good percentage, but it also
means that none of these athletes will be eligible for Closing Ceremonies
tickets, for which USOC has another 150 pairs of tickets.
The press requests have begun to pick up with NBC Sports.com wanting
pictures of the entire team, while NBC-TV filmed a number of "Postcards
from Sydney". Another film crew got some footage of Foerster/Merrick on
their way to the racecourse, and Bob Ross of Yachting Australia interviewed
Hal.
Hal and I spent an hour over lunch with Gary Jobson to find out what he
wants to do, and how best to maximize his coverage of the US athletes. He
will come to the team meeting Thursday morning to outline what he feels is
best. He will interview each athlete and increase coverage following each
days racing.
The sailing coverage will be carried on CNBC at 7:00 p.m. each evening
(i.e. 7:00 p.m. eastern; 7:00 p.m. central; 7:00 p.m. mountain; etc.). It
will follow 2 hours of boxing coverage and will be the lead story. Gary
estimates about 5 minutes each race day and more as medals begin to become
apparent.
Measurement continues and more and more boats are seen sporting the Sydney
2000 graphics. All boats/sailors will have some specific ways to ensure
easy visibility. Sails will sport the three-letter IOC country code, along
with the skipper's name and national flag, and will leave no doubt as to
what country is leading. Each sailor will wear a bib with the three-letter
code on front and back. Fleet leaders each race day will wear a gold bib
and have a gold dot on their hull and sails. Second will carry blue bibs
and dots, and third red. These will be changed every day as series leaders
change. - Jonathan Harley
Full report: http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/2000/diary.htm
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed are edited for clarity, space (250 words
max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a
chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot
and don't whine if others disagree.
-- From Mick Caldwell - (Edited to our 250-word limit) Well, the time has
come for the straw hats to look over the sailing landscape and see just who
is the "best" sailor we have here in the USA. I'm sure that they will wait
for the Olympics to finish and then rush off to pick the person that has
won a Gold medal and we have the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.
It seems that over the last decade the choosers have gone the easy rout and
decided on the guy that has won the J/24 Worlds or the Star worlds when
they didn't have it real easy and there was and Americas Cup skipper to
make their live less complicated. Well it is time they we looked at the big
picture and really find the BEST sailor we have from "Sea to shinning sea".
Over the last 5 years there is only one person in the whole world who has
won 5 world championships. He has done it in 4 different classes and has
done it all over the world in all kinds of conditions. He has trimmed on
the Americas Cup campaign, won now nine Worlds and called tactics for most
of the best helms men and has promoted American sailing world wide as a
gentleman. When we get down to it there is nobody better than Vince Brun
and we are long past due in recognize it. Let the boys on the East Coast
know that we are watching.
-- From Chris Ericksen - Bob Merrick's article at SailNet (excerpted in
'Butt #644) was great and mentioned many multiple medallists in Olympic
sailing. But here is a trivia point for you: I think that both Rod Davis
and Hans Fogh share the distinction of being medallists for multiple
countries! Rod earned a gold in Soling in 1984 in Los Angeles for the US
and then a silver in Star in 1992 off Barcelona for New Zealand; I'm not
certain about Hans--I think the classes were Soling both times and the
countries were Germany and Canada.
-- From Scott Rohrer - A small point. Mr. Merrick fails to note that Paul
Elvstrom's total of four Olympic gold medals has been equaled by only two
other athletes in history, in any sport: Al Oerter in the discus and Steve
Redgrave in double sculls. Redgrave goes for an unprecedented five golds
this year in Sydney.
OLYMPIC INSIGHT
(The following report from Sydney is from Virgin Island Olympic Finn sailor
Ben Beer.)
Well, I went out today with the Russian. We were the only ones out. It
was blowing at least 28 to 30 knots with gusts to at least 35. We had a
great time until he broke his mast so I say that as an omen and went in as
well.
We went blasting out of the harbor on a broad reach just hauling butt and
jumping in and out of the boat to try and keep her flat and fast as the
heavy wind turned the mast into some strange curved modern art piece. It
looked like some sort of contortionist model. Blasting down wind as fast
as you can and getting blasting with waves and water to the extent that you
have to hold your breath while hanging on or just revert to swallowing a
lot of water. All the time praying for the bottom mark to come so you can
stop this out of control blasting from wave top to wave top.
Finally the bottom mark comes and you breath a sigh of relief as you turn
up wind and drop your butt over the side. Every wave dowses you with water
but at least you can start breathing and breath you do as your legs start
to tense up and you shift from one to the other and your arm is steering
wildly through the waves as you remember to hike harder on those sore legs.
Finally your legs and arms are hurting so much you start to pray for that
top mark to come so that you can relax. YEAH RIGHT - remember the last
paragraph.
I am not sure which is harder but damn it sure is a lot of fun. I only wish
I had some old spare gear and just go crash around without worry. But then
again when upside down the water is cold and you remember that you are in a
full black wetsuit and you look a lot like an afternoon meal.
I had a great day sailing and thought that a good finish would be to go to
the gym. I walked in to the Gym here at the Olympic village and I tell you
if you ever needed inspiration this is where you would get it. I cannot
even begin to describe the energy level in that place. It was amazing.
I must have worked out for an hour and a half. When you walk in you are
met with 50 or 75 of the world's best athletes. All of them perfectly
designed and tuned for there particular sport. The energy and intensity in
the room are only matched by the desire and determination in the athlete's
faces. Never in your life will you find more of the best in the world in
one place.
STILL MORE OLYMPICS
The ISAF chief measurer at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games sailing regatta,
Jean-Pierre Marmier, confirmed Tuesday a decision by the Tornado class
measurers that the trampoline of the Australian catamaran does not comply
with international class rules.
The ruling means the Australian crew, Darren Bundock and John Forbes, must
either change the trampoline to a more conventional one or successfully
appeal to the International Jury against the measurer's decision. Bundock
and Forbes said after returning from sailing on Sydney Harbour that they
would make a submission Wednesday to the Chief Measurer and, if this was
not successful, would lodge an appeal with the International Jury.
In their report on the trampoline (which is fitted between the two hulls of
the catamaran and its main cross beams) the Tornado class measurers said a
sailor had requested interpretation of rule 10 (a) relative to the
trampoline he desired to use. In their reply to the unnamed sailor, the
Tornado class measurers said: "The trampoline is a net and does not comply
with Rule 10 (a) since the warp and weft are treated by using a plastic
coating, which spaces the warp and weft apart." - ISAF website:
http://www.sailing.org/today/whatsnew.html
GIVING SOMETHING BACK
In a heartfelt statement, Roy E. Disney cited his desire to "give something
back to the sport we've been privileged to be part of," as his primary
motivation for donating $500,000 over five years to the California
International Sailing Association, known as CISA. Disney has pledged these
funds, which will be acquired by CISA in increments of $100,000 per year
for five years starting in 2000, to support the organizations'
youth-oriented sailing programs throughout California and Hawaii.
Specifically, the money donated by Disney will help fund the annual CISA
sponsored advanced racing clinics, which are the top junior clinics in the
country and are attended by 100 junior sailors each spring. Additionally,
the money will help support the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing
Association (PCISA) through travel grants and the purchase of equipment,
provide for community sailing programs in Southern California, fund travel
grants and the purchase of new equipment for high school sailing programs
in Hawaii, and contribute to a pre-Olympic development sailing fund which
supports Olympic bound sailors.
Disney is an avid sailor and has been involved with sailing in Southern
California and Hawaii for more than 40 years. He set a course record of 7
days in the 1999 Trans-Pacific Yacht Race (Transpac) from Los Angeles to
Honolulu and is now actively campaigning his 75-foot ocean racer, the
Pyewacket, having just returned from Ireland and Sardinia.
CISA is a non-profit organization that was established in 1971 to help
amateur sailors compete successfully in West Coast, national, international
and Olympic sailing events. To support amateur sailors, CISA strives to
provide travel grants to such events as America's Cup, the Olympics,
national regattas, and collegiate and high school sailing events; sponsor
national and local sailing programs; and fund sailing and racing clinics
across the country. This is in addition to being a primary source of
education and guidance for junior sailors nationally.
PERFORMANCE GEAR
Next time you're at a post race party, check out the duffle bags that the
heavy hitters are carrying. These guys understand the relationship between
quality sailing gear and performance . so chances are they've got one of
the neat looking Camet bags made from Mylar and waterproof Vinyl/ Polyester
laminate. If you're interested in quality sailing gear at affordable
prices, or if you just want to look as bitchin' as the curmudgeon, check
out all neat sailing stuff on the Camet International web site:
http://www.camet.com
SNIPE PCCs
Alamitos Bay Yacht Club - The conditions for the Snipe Pacific Coast
Championships were 'perfect' with warm temperatures, moderate to strong
breeze and square courses.
Final results (Seven races with one discard): 1 Bill Hardesty/Jessica Amen
(15.5) 2 Augie Diaz/Brain Janney (17.75) 3 Henry Filter/Lorie Stout (24) 4
Kevin Funch/Watt Duffy (25.75) 5 Doug Hart/Jeff Baker (26.75) 6 George
Szabo/Clay (27.75) 7 Rick Arneson/Clare Lyon (33.75) 8 Jim Grubbs/Ruth
Paulling (43) 9 Chris Raab/Nick Scandone (51) 10 Lee Griffith/Carol
Merriman (59)
Complete results: http://abyc.org/2000REGATTAS/SNIPEPCC/RESULTS.HTML
E-SCOW NATIONALS
Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club (38 boats) - Andy Burdick of Zenda, Wisconsin
won his second E-Scow Nationals in a row. The wind was medium 5-12 except
for the 5th race when it blew about 20.
Final results (seven races, one discard) - 1. Andy Burdick (13 points) 2.
Bill Allen (20) 3. Tom Burton (24) 4. Brian Porter (30) 5. Mike Darrow (34)
6. Taylor Neff (35) 7. Dave Magno (44) 8. Geo Welch Jr. (47) 9. LA88 Paul
Magno (58) 10. Had Brick (65)
Complete results: http://www.E-Scow.org
TEAM RACING
The New York Yacht Club won the United States Sailing Association's U.S.
Team Race Championship for the George R. Hinman Trophy, held September 2-4,
2000 at the Chicago Yacht Club in Chicago, IL. The event was raced in
Vanguard 15s and was sponsored by Rolex and Vanguard.
Twelve teams competed in conditions that changed throughout the first two
days from glassy 2-knot zephyrs to 20 knots in 2- to 4-foot waves. Lake
Michigan mustered its fiercest forces for the final day of racing: 25 knots
from the northeast, from Chicago the lake's longest fetch, which made for
wild rides in 6- to 8-foot waves for the Vanguard 15s and umpire boats alike.
It was in these conditions that the 1999 Hinman champs, representing New
York Yacht Club (Mike Zani/Mike Huang, Chris McDowell/Brandon Prior, and
Karl Ziegler/Chris Museler) faced off against Cape Cod Whishbone (Tim
Wadlow/Ery Largay, Tim Fallon/Karen Renzuli, Graeme Woodworth/ Mimsey
Gordon), the silver medallists at the 1999 ISAF Team Racing Worlds. With
strong starts and excellent boat speed, New York Yacht Club defeated
Whishbone 3-1 in a best three of five finals.
The highest placing United States team will qualify to represent the U.S.
at the 2001 Worlds in Romania. The second highest placing will also
qualify for the Worlds if the United States is permitted two entries. -
Linda Christofersen
Complete results: http://www.ussailing.org/hinman/2000/results.htm
ACTION PHOTOS
In 'Butt 643 we reported on the I-14 Nationals that took place last weekend
on the San Francisco Bay. For some great action photos of that event, check
into the Latitude 38 website:
http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat
THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL
If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to
make sure it's still there with you.
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