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SCUTTLEBUTT 1513 - February 6, 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. GUEST EDITORIAL Under the US Sailing Prescriptions to the Racing Rules of Sailing, a sailor who feels a protest handled by a local protest committee was not correct may appeal the decision. Such appeals are initially handled by local appeals committees organized by regional sailing associations (RSA's) such as the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA), the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay (YRASFB) and so on; a mechanism exists for decision of these RSA appeals committees to be further appealed all the way up to US Sailing, much as court decisions may be appealed to the US Supreme Court. While some committees hear many such appeals, some hear few; there is apparently some feeling at US Sailing that these less-active RSA appeals committees are at worst inadequate to the task and at least not as efficient in handling or adjudicating appeals as US Sailing would like. Unspecified frustration among sailors whose appeals are not handled as quickly or efficiently as they might like - by volunteers who have lives outside sailing - is cited as a problem. A memo sent to the RSA appeals committee chairmen by the US Sailing Appeals Committee outlines a proposal to shift the responsibility to hear initial appeals from the RSA's (of which there are 37, some with overlapping areas of responsibility and some of which have poorly defined boundaries) to appeals committees organized within each of the US Sailing areas (of which there are only ten with well-defined boundaries). The US Sailing Appeals Committee would define the makeup of these ten committees and approve the number of members and the length of their terms. Qualifications of area appeals committee (AAC) members would be defined by US Sailing, and standards of performance defining the time to respond and act on appeals would be set by US Sailing as well. All this seems appropriate. However, the final point is a doozy: under this scheme, all appeals would be routed to US Sailing to be assigned to an area appeals committee (AAC) rather than directly to the RSA appeals committees - and an administrative fee would be levied. This is, I believe, a badly flawed plan. While I embrace the reassignment from RSA's to AAC's, all the rest of this is, to paraphrase the chairman of at least one RSA appeals committee, fixing something that is not broken. If there are RSA appeals committees that are not doing their jobs, the US Sailing Appeals Committee should work with those specific committees rather than to paint the entire system with the same damning brush. But there is an even more sinister part of this that has not been shared with the RSA's. Information received by one RSA appeals chairman indicates that this proposal is not a proposal at all: it is, in his words, a "fait accompli." The US Sailing Rules Committee has apparently received instructions to draft a change to the US Sailing Prescriptions to the Racing Rules of Sailing that would implement this scheme. There is no evidence that this proposal has received due process either within the enclave of US Sailing or throughout its membership. Members of the US Sailing Executive Committee have not seen or been asked to comment or vote on the proposal: this has evidently been handled strictly within the US Sailing Appeals Committee. More specifically, there is no evidence that this proposal has been presented to either US Sailing area officials, the RSA's or indeed the elected leaders of US Sailing. A memo from the US Sailing Appeals Committee to RSA appeals committees cites a survey during which the US Sailing staff was asked to contact each of the association appeals committee chairmen as listed in the US Sailing database. While the memo says that only fifteen responded, the RSA appeals committee chairman cited above - who has served in this capacity for some years - was not contacted, and neither have many of the more active and "major" RSA appeals committee chairmen this chairman contacted. I cannot but feel that this is an ISAF-like approach to the administration of our sport - making a unilateral change and trying to pass it off as a reasoned and researched approach to a problem. US Sailing apparently fails to understand that it is an organization of the members and should serve them - but in accordance with its own rules and regulations. Making a change without consultation with the affected parties - the RSA's and their appeals committees - is such a unilateral change, akin to the abortive attempt at ISAF to eliminate discards in the Olympic regatta without consulting the parties involved. And the "administrative fee" that will be charged is a blatant attempt to increase the income of US Sailing, an organization that has apparently so little perceived benefit to sailors that it's membership is made up of only a fraction of the sailors that presumably benefit from the services of US Sailing. In recent months I have commented on the moves by ISAF to concentrate authority at the highest possible level rather than at the lowest possible level, the latter a management technique that is universally practiced by the top companies around the world. Now it seems that US Sailing has taken a leaf from ISAF's book and is trying to concentrate authority and power at its level in the guise of fixing a problem that may not in fact exist. I hope the RSA's - and the Committee of Sailing Associations, that body within US Sailing that coordinates actions between US Sailing and the RSA's - will resist mightily and noisily this usurpation of their authority. - Chris Ericksen, <chris491@earthlink.net> SPANISH VISITORS (Following are brief excerpts from stories by Félix García posted on the Cup Info website.) * Rita Barberá, Mayor of Valencia, welcomed Team New Zealand's Dean Barker to town January 23rd. Barker, the Kiwi team's skipper, was in Valencia for a few days last month with his wife to scout the city and to find the right location for their stay in the city during the Cup. New Zealand's team (composed of over 100 people) will arrive in Valencia to stay in 2006 accompanied by their families, although TNZ will also compete in the Pre-Regattas of September 2004 and the regattas of 2005. * Luc Gellasseau, technical director of the French challenger Le Defi 2007 was received on the 4th of February by the Mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá. Gellasseau told Barberá what the teams will require when they arrive in the spring of 2005 and he requested the assistance of Valencia's business leaders to avoid a shortage of some key technological instruments, equipment, and other resources when all the teams arrive. The representatives of French team said that they plan to arrive in Valencia in 2005, intending to train on the regatta courses on the gulf of Valencia. Gellasseau said that Valencia's accommodations and infrastructure will be very important considerations for Le Defi, because they plan to bring as many as four hundred people to the city during the Cup. Read the full stories: www.cupinfo.com TRIVIA QUESTION The recently completed 2004 Terra Nova Trading Key West event attracted 302 entries from all corners of the US (and the globe). Based on a yacht's homeport, the state of Florida had the most entries (42). Which other states rounded out the top five? (Answer below) A REAL LIFESAVER To keep your crew on the boat all season, the experts at Hall Spars & Rigging recommend careful inspection your lifelines this winter. Check swage terminals for cracks. Turnbuckles, eyes, and pelican hooks should be free from bends or cracks. Check the cable where it goes through the stanchion for excessive wear. And remember that coated wire is no longer legal under some offshore racing rules -- Hall can make new lifelines of uncoated wire to exact length, and supply lifeline covers for the comfort of your crew. One-design sailors can order lifeline parts and covers online at http://www.hallspars.com "WE'RE GOING . . ." Cheyenne's skipper Steve Fossett has returned to Plymouth and confirmed overnight predictions - a reasonable weather scenario is coming together for an imminent Round The World start. Early Friday afternoon, February 6, Steve and his crew will take the 125-foot catamaran off the dock Plymouth Yacht Haven and make the 120 mi trip to the official Round The World Record start line at Le Stiff lighthouse on the French island of Ouessant (Ushant). This transit to Ouessant should take 10-12 hours - mostly heading upwind. Their next leg will be a little longer - totaling 21,760 miles in fact: Ouessant to Ouessant, via the three capes - Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn, Fossett expects to cross the start line Saturday morning - between 0300-1200 GMT. Cheyenne's target will be the 2002 record as certified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council of 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds (average speed -13.98 knots) set by Bruno Peyron and crew aboard the 110' catamaran Orange. - www.fossettchallenge.com/ GBR CHALLENGE If anyone thought Britain's last America's Cup bid was hibernating one year on from Auckland, they would be wrong. Founder Peter Harrison has endowed it with £4.5 million to enable design work and fund-raising to carry on, while tank testing resumes next week. Furthermore, Harrison has vowed to fund up to 50 per cent of the projected £40 million budget for the 2007 cup while removing himself from the role as figurehead and most visible face of the GBR Challenge. GBR Challenge Mk II, will have a chief executive - Keith Mills was interviewed before taking up such a role with the London 2012 Olympic bid - and a board of directors. Harrison will have an executive role on the board, but no more than that. "He was hurt in the 2003 cup by the accusation that we didn't get significant sponsorship last time because of his personal role," explained Leslie Ryan, who, along with design boss Derek Clark, has been running GBR Challenge since the team returned from Auckland a year ago. "Yes, Peter had a dominant role but that wasn't the reason we didn't get sponsors. Rather it was the reverse." * "Peter's investment is a huge benefit to us," said Ryan, who is working alongside outside sponsorship consultants. "The advantage we have is that Peter is prepared to put in his personal money as well as us going out to the market. Sponsors are saying this is good value given the amount being put in but the total is much bigger. The title partnership rights [offered at £3.25 million a year for four years] are a very good value proposition." - Tim Jeffery, The Telegraph, Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3cdqu NEWS BRIEFS * US Sailing is asking active sailors of all levels to register as 'athletes' to help influence the decisions made within US Sailing and ISAF. Registered athletes have the opportunity to elect the members of the Sailor Athlete Council, or to sit on the Council. The Council has a permanent seat on the US Sailing Executive Committee and can also nominate individuals to the Board of Directors. There is no cost to for members to register, but they must first determine what level is appropriate. To read the definitions of A, B and C level athletes and subsequently register: http://www.ussailing.org/saac/ * There are some very photos and video footage and other interesting material about Yves Parlier's innovative new twin rigged 60-foot catamaran on his website - if you can fight your way through the French text: www.parlier.org/site02/accueil/1024x768.html. Also, there's a well-done English-language website that chronicles the amazing record of Francis Joyon: www.xs4all.nl/~blvrd/oceanracingrecords/ * Omega has become the official time piece sponsor of the Acura SORC. Omega watches will be given to the winners of the perpetual trophies and a watch will be raffled off to those participants who enter by Wednesday, February 11th. - www.acurasorc.com/ * The F-27 trimaran was honored at the Chicago Strictly Sailboats Show where it was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. It will join a select group of only 24 boats such as the Laser and J-24, that helped usher in the fiberglass era. Designed by New Zealander Ian Farrier, the Corsair-built F-27 is only the second multihull in the Hall of Fame (the other being the Hobie 16) and the first trimaran. The selection was made by a committee of magazine editors comprised of Bill Schanen, Sailing magazine, John Burnham Sailing World, and Charles Mason, Sail. * Update - Two Cubans failed in their second attempt to sail to Florida using a floating car or truck as the U.S. Coast Guard was returning them and their passengers to the communist island Wednesday. You've got to see the photo of "boats" and read this update: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/cubans/ TRIVIA ANSWER At the 2004 Terra Nova Trading Key West event, after Florida the most entries came from homeports in Maryland (24), Texas (20), California (19) and Illinois (17). Canada led the way for foreign countries with fourteen entries. CATEGORY 3 GLOVES Yes, these new Gill gloves have identified themselves as "professional racing" gloves. Tougher than anything else on the market and built to satisfy those who say "I can get through any glove in a weekend," Gill's new Pro Gloves are the epitome of "professional grade." The palms and patented pre-curved fingers are covered with new Proton-Ultra material that's 3 times more durable than Amara, is warmer, and doesn't absorb water like Amara. Moving the wrist closure inside prevents false starting of your watch too. Get your "Cat. 3" gloves at Annapolis Performance Sailing. For more info... http://www.apsltd.com/depts/dept3640.asp LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) 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 Eric C. T. E. Larsen: On the white boat theme, two questions and observation, and a statement. Is it in the Corinthian Spirit to try and hide, especially from the Race Committee? Would it not also be beautiful if all hulls had nice artwork, designs, etc. on them? On the line even in predominately all white Star boats I find I identify who is who very quickly based on even the smallest details that I have identified as attributed to that skipper, crew, or the lady in which they come to compete. I think of it as a canvas that an owner has decide to leave blank, and that I believe is unfortunate. * From Jim Champ: The 'Basic Principle' of the Racing Rules of Sailing is spelled out on page two of the rulebook. It states, "Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty or retire." If you pick a white boat specifically to avoid the need to retire after being over the line at a start, can you strictly be said to be complying with this basic principle? It could be argued that if someone states they have a white boat for that reason they are in breach of Rule 2 (Fair Sailing) every time they sail it. I don't sail a white boat: I'd rather not win at all than win by cheating, and not returning when OCS is cheating, pure and simple. * From Tom Willson: There was a time, long ago, when starting behind the line was the skipper's responsibility. Kudos to "Team" Vanguard (ad in 'Butt 1510) for removing another stitch in the fabric of personal integrity by suggesting that an all white Laser hull can provide a cheater head start. * From Tom Ehman: White boats are not the issue, nor are manufacturers who have the good sense to produce and advertise what their customers want. The issue is, and has been for many years, our inability as a sport to solve the OCS (nee PMS) problem in fleet racing. Superior race management often mitigates but does not solve it. OCS problems are a constant source of irritation and frustration from club racing to the Olympics. So much so that ISAF had to reverse itself on an otherwise good decision to get rid of drop races in the Olympics, primarily due to legitimate concerns from racers about OCS. General recalls, Z-flags, black flags, OCS/DSQ placards at the first windward mark, the defensive use of "starting-line white" boats -- this is no way to run one of the world's great participatory sports. We need a simple, reliable and economical system for identifying OCS yachts, and communicating same to competitors immediately and equitably. Fifteen years ago we had a serious problem in match racing -- a proliferation of protests causing late nights in the protest room, and, as a result not knowing the outcome of matches until many hours later, indeed, sometimes not until the next day. With a little leadership from ISAF and the concerted efforts of many dedicated people around the world this was solved with the advent of umpiring. Is it not high time that we as a sport commit the time, energy and resources to finding a fix for this fleet-racing bogeyman once and for all? * From Fiona Brown, International Melges 24 Class: In response to Paul Lowell's comments about the cover picture of the Melges 24 crew I would politely suggest Mr Lowell check his facts. He is quite right that the Melges 24 does not have lifeline tension rules - largely because the Melges 24 does not have any lifelines. What the boat does have is hiking lines (to aid hiking in the same manner as toe straps, hobbles and trapeze wires do in other inshore keelboats). There are several class rules governing their safe use but they are not safety lines (see www.melges24.com or www.sailing.org for full rule details). With regard to the question "Did this regatta not use ORC regs?" the answer is "No". The Melges 24 is not an Offshore Racing Class and the Offshore Racing Council rules are therefore not appropriate to it. The Melges 24 is a one-design day boat, such as say the Star, Dragon or Etchells, and is not designed or intended for use offshore. All Melges 24 class racing is run under Class and ISAF rules. I hope this clarifies the situation. * From Pat Healy: When they call for continual testing of International Judges, I wonder if Robert Atkins and Tania McKenzie aren't being short-sighted. There are other ways to skin the cat. When was the last time their doctor took a test? I wonder if they prove their driving skills annually. The 350 or so International Judges are thoroughly vetted and continually reviewed by ISAF as they volunteer their efforts so others can enjoy our sport. Their conduct, understanding of the rules and procedures and contribution to the proceedings are judged and reported to ISAF after each International Jury they sit upon. ISAF must do this because it entrusts them with making non-appealable decisions that enable sailors to leave the regatta knowing the results. I've been that quiet judge sitting at the table. Usually I'm wondering why the competitor didn't do their circles for such an obvious foul and how I could speed up the hearing so that the next protest could be heard and the sailors allowed to go to dinner. * From Doug Jurrius: In reading 'Butt 1512, came across what had to be an early April fools joke - Grog & Gruel the official sponsor of the Annapolis to Bermuda race? But no, there it is on the official website. Sometimes real life really is funnier than fiction. CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline. |
