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SCUTTLEBUTT 1873 - July 5, 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. SCHNACK Tom Schnackenberg, the man who held Team New Zealand together when Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth switched to Alinghi, is to join the Italian America's Cup syndicate Luna Rossa for the 2007 event in Valencia, Spain. When round the world yachtsman Grant Dalton took over at Team NZ, Schnackenberg, who headed the disastrous 2003 campaign, was demoted to the design team. He parted company with the syndicate in December but took legal action claiming Team New Zealand's leadership only signed him up to stop him working for another team. The two parties have now settled their legal action with Schnackenberg agreeing to pay Team New Zealand's legal cost. -- http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/595904/ QUOTE / UNQUOTE "It is unclear how Schnackenberg will get around the cup protocol which says designers are restricted to work for one competitor. In a sport saturated by controversy, is it likely one of the teams will protest." -- Julie Ash, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10334184 NEW WORLD RECORD Francis Joyon on board the trimaran IDEC smashed the world record for the greatest distance covered in 24 hours by a single-handed yachtsman - pending certification by the World Sailing Speed Council. The IDEC trimaran completed 543 miles over 24 hours at an average speed of 22.62 knots. This record had been held since June 1994 by Laurent Bourgnon on board Primagaz, which covered 540 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 22.50 knots. Joyon set sail from New York last Thursday to attempt to beat the single-handed Atlantic crossing record, held by Laurent Bourgnon. To achieve this, he must reach The Lizard before 11h 16m 8 secs GMT on 7th July. -- www.trimaran-idec.com THE REST OF THE STORY With an excellent pattern of reaching winds, there are few doubts that Francis Joyon will establish a new singlehanded Transatlantic record on next Wednesday. The strongly-built skipper, at the helm of a 50 % longer trimaran than the Laurent Bourgnon's Primagaz was in 1994, should smash the record with ease. However, Scuttlebut readers must know that Joyon will not delete Bourgnon from the WSSRC record list ! Simply because his flaming trimaran, 27 metre long, is competing in a different category. For obvious reasons and maintain the interest for the 60 footer monohulls and multihulls, the WSSRC has created two categories: one for boats until 60 foot, and another for yachts above this lenght. So EDEC will be classified in this second category. Same classification applies for the 24-Hour record. So the slightly better 543 miles achieved by Joyon will not delete the standing Bourgnon's 540 miles record. -- Christian Fevrier LESS THAN 20 DAYS (Following are excerpts from a story posted on the Daily Sail subscription website.) Twelve days after crossing the start line off the Sydney Opera House, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric sponsored trimaran Geronimo has covered more the two thirds of her 6500 journey around Australia and is approximately 200 nautical miles south of Albany on the south west coast of Western Australia. Skipper Olivier de Kersauson reported from on board this morning the maxi multihull headed across the Great Australian Bight towards Tasmania: 'While I'm talking to you, we have three reefs and trinquette (number three headsail) and are sailing at 27, now 29, no 31 knots, too fast....okay it is better now at 25 knots. We must be conservative because the wind reaches 60 knots in the squalls sometimes and the crew has begun to get a little tired. Meteorologist Richard Whittaker from The Weather Channel predicts,"Geronimo has managed to place herself very close to the front but there is the possibility of big swells up to four metres running through the track she is taking. There is a gale warning for the area but it is anticipated that the breeze will moderate over the next 24 hours. If Geronimo is placed off the east coast of Tasmania by Friday she will be assisted in her home run by a southerly surge with predicted breezes of 20 to 25 knots." If Geronimo can maintain her current speeds she will set a record for a 6,500 miles journey of less than 20 days, a fantastic achievement by anyone's standards. - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com THE RACE IS ON! Not only are the fastest and most prestigious yachts in the world attending the Transpac, but the best-designed sailing apparel is also making its mark at the top of the leader board. The Camet Aruba and Cargo shorts are becoming the most sought after apparel for owners and their crew. They are the only pair of shorts worn by the teams that not only want to win, but want to win in style. Function, reliability and design are the choices of Pyewacket, Genuine Risk, and many others. Call one of our dealers today! http://www.camet.com OPTI NAs Tobago, Trinidad -- Alexander Zimmermann of Peru and Colin Smith (USA) are the 2005 Open and North American respectively champions. Only one race was possible on the final day of the regatta, both Zimmermann and his closest rival Alexandre Alencastro (BRA) sailed their second discards but were sure of the top two places, with 35.5 and 40 points respectively. Taking third place overall with a total of 41 points, Colin Smith of Fort Lauderdale, Florida made sure of his North American victory with a storming second place finish in the last race while Anthony Alkins finished fifth with 53.5 points to stay ahead of his fellow Trinidadian Matthew Scott (65 points) to take silver. Among the girls Anne Haeger (20th place overall - IL, USA) edged ahead of Eliza Richartz (25th - CT, USA) with Haley Powell (38th) of Bermuda in third. The final standings of the Opti North American Team Racing Championship were: 1. Peru; 2. Bermuda; 3. Mexico; 4. Trinidad; 5= Argentina; 5= Puerto Rico. -- www.optinam2005.com/ OPTI SIDEBAR Ten years ago Tobago and Trinidad had no racing Optimists. Six years ago at their first world championship their only sailor - TRI3 - was 172nd. Last year their top sailor at the Worlds was an unbelievable 7th over-all. At this event, effectively a Panamerican Championship, three of their sailors were in the top 10, a further five placed in the top half of the fleet and they narrowly missed a bronze medal in the team racing. The governments of the two islands had poured money into this championship. Normally this is to boost the tourist trade, which undoubtedly the event did. But they have also made an unprecedented commitment to developing dinghy sailing. Ninety of the charter boats will remain in the islands and are the subject of both direct government purchase and major 150% tax breaks to commercial sponsors. One sailing school has already been established in Tobago and a second site has been identified. And already one little girl, daughter of a Tobago fisherman with just six weeks Optimist experience, had 31 sailors from seven countries behind her. -- Robert Wilkes SWEDISH MATCH CUP Marstrand: The ladies started the Swedish Match Cup on Monday with the first round-robins. After four matches the club mates Linda Rahm and Marie Björling from the hosting club GKSS (The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club) had three victories each, and they are holding the leading positions before the next races. On Monday shortly before the finishing line in the absolute last race, Rahm succeeded to take the lead over Björling with just a few meters. So she secured a victory which means that she and her crew now are alone on the first place. Standings: 1. Linda Rahm, SWE, 3 victories - 1 loss 2. Marie Björling, SWE, 3-1 3. Nina Braestrup, DEN 2-2 3. Lotte Meldgaard-Pedersen, DEN, 2-2 3. Claire Leroy, FRA, 2-2 3. Christelle Philippe, FRA, 2-2 3. Malin Millbourn, SWE, 2-2 8. Sandy Hayes, USA, 0-4 Event website: www.swedishmatchcup.com, PUERTO VALLARTA RACE The 2006 Puerto Vallarta Race registration has begun, and information for this biennial event is now available at the official PV '06 web site. The February 21st start date will celebrate San Diego YC's 26th race to Mexico's west coast, with the 1,000-mile course finishing at Punta Mita on the north end of Bahia Banderas. The magnificent Paradise Village Resort and Marina will host the festivities at the Nuevo Vallarta Harbor, with MEXORC returning to Puerto Vallarta following the race. Complete event details at http://www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/pv06/index.htm FOR THE RECORD They are close - the Vivaldi Atlantic 4 look set to break the world record for the fastest row across the North Atlantic later this week when their boat, Naturally Best, is expected to cross the official finishing line through Bishop's Rock, as recognized by the Ocean Rowing Society. The four-man crew are Steve Dawson 43 from Boston, Lincolnshire, Nigel Morris 41 and George Rock 41 both from Ingleby Barwick, Teesside and Rob Munslow 27 from Monmouth, Wales. Their arrival in Falmouth, expected on Sunday 10 or Monday 11 July, will herald a historic maritime milestone - as Naturally Best will be the first rowing boat in history to row directly into mainland UK. - Sail-World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/7vvn8 Curmudgeon's Comment: Vivaldi Atlantic 4 left Newfoundland, Canada on May 31 on this 2100 mile long passage. Event website: http://www.atlanticfour.com/ NEWS BRIEFS * Ericsson Racing Team launched its Volvo Open 70 yacht at Green Marine in Lymington in the UK. This is the first of two brand new Volvo Open 70s to be built in the UK. The second boat, Disney's The Black Pearl, also built by Green Marine, will be launched later in the summer. Jason Carrington, who has been supervising the construction of the team's Farr-designed boat said: "This is possibly the best boat I have ever been part of building and I will be very surprised and unhappy if this is not the lightest boat in the fleet." -- www.volvooceanrace.org * The America's Cup port in Valencia is bustling with activity again, with people packing and boxes, containers and crates piling up. The reason? Everyone is preparing for the racing to come in Sweden at the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts 6 & 7. Shore crews are packing everything needed for the journey North. NZL 82 is already back in its plastic-wrap protection, ready for the long trip ahead. Meanwhile, its team is scattered, with some back in New Zealand for training, and others joining the match racing circuit in Europe. It's a similar story with most of the teams. -- http://tinyurl.com/bvvq9 * A new Transpac Walk of Fame created to celebrate past race winners will be dedicated this Thursday at Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach. The 'Walk' will showcase all of the elapsed time and corrected time winners from each of the 42 Transpacific Yacht Races since 1906. Many of the 75 boats in the Centennial Transpac Race already moored there will be open for inspection as part of the city's Sea Festival celebration. The staggered starts for the race will be on July 11, 15 and 17. -- www.transpacificyc.org * The 29er Nationals were held in perfect conditions off Treasure Island last week. Sixty seven boats from around the world participated in an awesome skiff regatta. The team of David O'Connor and Scott Babbage from Australia were definitely in control, commanding the top spot on the podium by 14 points over Americans Brooks Reed and Gulari. Six points further back Jen Morgan and Anthony Boscolo (USA) took the final spot on the podium. Racing in the 29er Worlds begins Tuesday at St. Francis YC. -- http://www.29ernorthamerican.org/default2.asp * Grant Wharington's Australian entry into the Volvo Ocean Race has completed the construction of the hull, which has now left the shed, bound for Melbourne Docklands. From Mornington Yacht Club to Appleton Dock Road where the keel will be joined to the hull. On Thursday the Don Jones-designed yacht will complete a self righting test. -- http://www.premierchallenge.com.au/ * Leg 6 of the Global Challenge from Boston to La Rochelle was won by Team Stelmar in a time of 14 days, 16 hours, 37 minutes, 33 seconds. They beat second place BG Spirit by 32 minutes and 36 seconds. Imagine It Done took third place, followed by: 4. BP Explorer; 5. Me To You; 6. Barclays Adventurer; 7. Spirit of Sark; 8. Pindar; 9. Team Save the Children; 10. VAIO; 11. SAIC La Jolla; 12. Samsung. On July 13 the boats will race the final leg - a 420 sprint from La Rochelle to Portsmouth. -- http://www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * Two-time Etchells World Champion and former Olympian Stuart Childerly stamped his authority on Etchells sailing in Britain with an impressive display in the International Etchells Class Volvo National and British Open Championship of 2005. This showcase event was sailed out of Cowes on the Isle of Wight from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd July under the banner of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. Childerly with his crew of Simon Russell and Roger Marino counted four firsts and a second (6 points). Brothers Nils Razmilovic (11 points) and Ante Razmilovic (16 points) were second and third respectively. -- http://tinyurl.com/berm2 WELCOME TO THE SPEED BOUTIQUE Glaser Sails is a new loft but already our customers are winning big! Pete Melvin had the speed he needed to win the 2005 A-Cat World's. The Kiel Week 505 fleet winner was powered by a Glaser spinnaker. Ready for faster sails for your performance boat? Visit us at http://www.glasersails.com 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 Peter Hinrichsen: Bram Dally's understandable cry from the heart is unfortunately unrealistic. More than one entry per country would lead to team racing, see F1, or the last 470 race in Athens. Olympic classes are not chosen on the basis of modern performance, just look at when the present classes were designed. They must suit a wide group of nations and physical statures, and be affordable for poor countries. The IOC insists on more women, also limits the total sailors to 400, so crews of more than three are impractical. Changing equipment every quadrennial would make sailing too expensive. Classes would waste funds lobbying (many now stay out). The laser radial was chosen because Lasers are considered cheap, widely available, are a supplied class, and can be used by men and women. When the FD was Olympic the 505 and I14 sailors jumped into to the FD. To become Olympic, classes require professional staff and sign ISAF contracts! The Olympics put enormous pressure on the class rules which have to be brought up to professional standards. Regattas are decreed by National Authorities, or by ISAF and have to have international RCs, juries, measurers, expensive! The hotshots jump into the class, and leave once their Olympic efforts are over. This does not build the class. There are problems when a class looses Olympic status, expensive gadgets introduced by the Olympians, make the class too expensive and complex for the weekend sailor. * From Chris Ericksen: Bram Dally's guest editorial in 'Butt 1890 on how "Olympic sailing is not promoting growth in our sport" went on to suggest there be only six classes, drawn at random in each quadrennium and including the top 50 sailors in each class regardless of nationality. What a brilliant idea--for some kind of ISAF grand world championship, but not for the Olympics. The Olympic Games are intended to be a competition among the athletes of all nations, not the top 50 or 100 or ten in any discipline. This has led, I agree, to such outcomes as one-athlete teams or Jamaican bobsledders, but so what? It is not the goal of the Olympics to promote the growth of any sport, or even sport in general; we ought not try make it what it is not. And if Mister Dally or anyone else finds the Olympics meaningless as a competition--as I have come to view the America's Cup--then they can do what I do about the AC: ignore it. * From Dan Tucker: Cheers to Terry Bischoff for highlighting the proper actions of Lenny Crawshank in abandoning a race to assist a sailor in need. The redress award of average points is the common practice, but it made me think... Perhaps committees should consider rewarding such behavior with better than average points? Of course there's potential for abuse by an unscrupulous competitor, but that's the one who's probably least likely to stop and render aid currently. In my opinion the redress should always be the lowest possible score the jury can justify. And that intention could be noted in the NOR or SI's. * From Al Russell: I think the appropriate discipline for failure to render assistance should be to dress the offending skipper and crew in full offshore foulies, including sea boots, add a radio, GPS and a Leatherman, then make them jump off the end of the Club dock and see if they can make it to shore. I'm sure it won't happen again. Note: better tie a line to them! * From Douglas Messer: Britt Hughs condemnation of other boats and competitors for not "stopping" in a MOB situation is hysteria at its best. I have to second Roland Schulz. Five ton boats in heavy weather are not something you need more of near a man in the water. When there own boat is in the process of getting them back aboard. First, look at the Farr 395 finishes on Friday. He doesn't identify his boat but all of the finishers were within three minutes of each other in both races. So it would appear that Mr Hughs skipper was able to recover his errant crew and continue the race well inside three minutes. Even standing by can cause complications. Other boats that don't realize there is a MOB could inadvertently run them down while avoiding the recovering boat and the stand by vessels on a crowded racecourse. What does the skipper of Mr. Hughs boat say, did he wave off the J boat so he could recover his crew and continue the race? More pertinent, why weren't PFDs being worn. That should merit an investigation too. * From Bill Sloger: I am not surprised that Lenny Krawcheck went to the assistance of another sailor who was asking for assistance. That is just the type of person that he is. * From Gregory Scott: I would like to remind everyone of a worthwhile benchmark that I think puts this into perspective. During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Korea, Canadian yachtsman Larry Lemieux was headed for what looked like a certain medal but he saw two men in trouble and abandoned a crucial race. A boat from Singapore sailing in a different class, had capsized in turbulent waters. The waves were big that day, so Lemieux went off course and saved the lives of two sailors. In doing so he also forfeited an almost certain medal. "I saw the head of the second crew member bobbing in the water. He was far away from the boat ... I decided that I better do something." Larry was given a symbolic award during a private ceremony at the games for placing the life of a fellow sailor above race results. * From Cliff Bradford: Very good for AC Management that the Valencia acts were so well received but for us here in the US all we had were the reports in Scuttlebutt and other similar sources and the audio on the webpage (which wasn't bad). However to not even have a 1/2 hour daily TV recap here in the US was a crying shame. How are the sponsors, most of whom are multinational corporations with operations in the US, supposed to get a return on their sponsorship dollars here in the US if their isn't TV coverage to shows ads during etc. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them? |
