SCUTTLEBUTT No. 797 - April 18, 2001
Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of
major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with
a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and
contrasting viewpoints are always welcome.
AMERICA'S CUP
VENTURA, CA, April 17, 2001 - Oracle Racing launched and sailed its two training boats today as it began its second training session at the team's summer sailing facility in Ventura, CA. The boats are intended to sail five days a week, leaving the docks before mid-day and returning late afternoon. The Ventura base is home to the two Oracle Racing training boats as well as to the team of 100 individuals. Oracle Racing recently concluded six months of intensive training in New Zealand on the Hauraki Gulf.
"We truly appreciate all of the hard work the city of Ventura has done to help us expedite our entire sailing operation," remarked an enthusiastic Bill Erklens, COO of Oracle Racing. "The community has made our team feel very welcomed. We are pleased with our selection of this location from a sailing perspective as well as a from a quality of life viewpoint." - Gina von Esmarch
SAILING IN THE NOOD
When Dennis Case's yacht club, San Diego YC, hosted the NOOD regatta, Dennis wanted to race. Case is a two-time Schock 35 National Champion, but the NOOD was not on the Schock's high-point calendar - so he chartered a J/105 with Ullman Sails. It was Case's first regatta in a 105, his first regatta with an asymmetrical kite - but he's been using Ullman Sails for a long time. Case topped the 12-boat fleet to win the NOOD by three points. Is Case a good sailor? Oh yea! But you'd be foolish to overlook the importance of Ullman Sails: http://www.ullmansails.com
BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE
After so much expectation and disappointment in earlier legs, Norwich Union's skipper Neil Murray enjoyed the plaudits of success as he sailed his crew into Cape Town in second place at the end of the Southern Ocean leg. Sailing close behind him a chasing pack consisting of Quadstone, BP Explorer and Save the Children battled to take third place. However, Murray's success may be marred as a jury decision on the loss of the team's No 1 Yankee sail may see Norwich Union having two points deducted.
Finishing in third place and marking a satisfying start for new skipper Richard Chenery, Quadstone crossed the line at 2203 hours GMT. After the collision and subsequent resignation of skipper Alex Phillips in Sydney the crew were ebullient with their return to form. Chenery said: "New crew, new boat and new skipper; it took a few miles for us to get into racing mode but by the time we had got down to Tasmania it all clicked into place and off we went. Getting the crew together again after the disappointment of Wellington took longer than I expected and when you are racing it's a different story to training, but a week into the leg and we were racing as a team and I think that's pretty good. They are a fantastic crew and we really worked well together."
Following Quadstone across the line BP Explorer was once again just beaten in a dramatic finish similar to the one the crews experienced as they arrived in Buenos Aires. Just hours earlier BP had led Quadstone by slender miles only to have the lead snatched away in the lee of Table Mountain.
Norwich Union's skipper Neil Murray now awaits the International Jury's decision on whether he will be penalised for the leg as a result of the loss of his sail. Meanwhile (Tuesday 17th April).
Finishes, Leg Five:
1. LG FLATRON, 35d 17h 34m 08s 15
2. Norwich Union, 36d 19h 10m 41s 14
3. Quadstone, 36d 20h 03m 02s 13
4. BP, 36d 20h 20m 21s 12
5. Compaq 37d 11h 02m 11s 11
6. TeamSpirIT, 37d 15h 00m 54s 10
7. Isle of Man, 37d 16h 09m 05s 9
8. Logica, 37d 20h 53m 05s 8
9. Spirit of Hong Kong, 37d 21h 04m 01s.
http://www.btchallenge.com/BTGde____frontpage_WFC.html
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
(Only signed letters will selected for publication, and they may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.)
* From Kimball Livingston - Stanley Westfall misses the point when he says the St. Francis YC and others should "just let the owners race with the ratings they already have." PH never cut it at the Big Boat Series. The courses are shaped to fit San Francisco Bay, and through the water/over the ground distances are skewed by tidal currents. For years, grand prix-level sailors Steve Taft and Norm Davant would cook up "St. Francis Ratings" for classes that needed them. Even with PH numbers as a starting point, it was a sordid challenge. Sail Magazine talked with StFYC race committee head Doug Holm, who put his characteristically humorous twist on it: "All those years those of us on the race committee would tell people when they got mad about a rating to go blame the commodore. Well, now Steve Taft is commodore, so we figured we'd better tell them something else."
On a serious note, Holm said: "No matter how hard we tried, every year we offended somebody. And now it really is time for people to look at Americap II. We took all the scores for the last three years of Big Boat Series racing and we ran them through Americap. What we found is that, yes, there is a slight advantage for the newer boats. That's what you'd find, I think, in any development rule. But the numbers looked very good, and the system comes with software and support from U.S. SAILING, which takes the monkey off our back, and believe me we're happy to share it."
* From Bruce Golison (Reply to Stanley Westfall): The reason North Sails Race Week will be "double scoring" two of our big boat classes (with PHRF and Americap), is because we were asked to by some of the owners for testing purposes, just as you suggested. North Sails Race Week has grown to its current stature as a result of listening to what the sailing marketplace is saying. Americap is not for everyone, but then again, neither is PHRF or One-Design racing. We hope to see you racing at our event in any of our 15 classes!
* From Russ Lenarz (In response to Jim Teeters letter with regards to IRC): I would just like to point out that in the relative short period of time that IRC (former CHS) has been used it has gained significant acceptance not just in Eurpoe but in other countries such as Australia as well. US Sailing has had the Americap system for some time but has done little with it until recently and it should be noted that Americap will NOT be widely accepted worldwide. Hats off however to the St. Frances Yacht Club for using the system for Big Boat Series, but to some degree it is a little too late - IRC has already become the globally accepted system.
* From From Kenny Robertson (Re IRC discussions) - 1. Everybody should be forced to read Peter Johnston's 'Yacht Rating' before engaging brain. They say that history is the best teacher.... this book shows we do not listen!!
2. Despite our high regard for our technical abilities, no 'measurement' rule has ever been able to quantify a sailboats ability well. In an ideal measurement rule a container fitted with sails should be able to beat a modern racer. Published measurement rules are particularly bad, as designers can find weakness' in the how the rule works (See Universal Rule, IOR, IMS etc)
3. Empirical handicaps can be good, especially where they can be stabilized over large numbers. E.g. the PY scheme for smallboats in the UK where large numbers of similar boats (lasers, 505's etc) can have their results reported back to one central compiler. Local clubs are free to modify handicaps to suit their locality, but generally one class stays 'fixed'. Good sailing therefore is not penalized, re - local handicappers.
4. IRC works. It is easy and cheap to get a rating or re-rate or run a what-if optimization. But above all it works well and handicaps are consistent worldwide.
5. Regarding local sailing conditions. In Europe we prefer to use seconds per hour rather than seconds per mile to handicap with. This tends to take care of local variations in conditions, course shape etc.
6. Every rule type forms. No Rule was ever perfect. Find one that works and then go Sail!!
* From Nelson Stephenson, Mumm 30 US Class President (In response to Chris Bouzaid's posting about use of the IRC) There is an alternative to all of this - One Design. More fun, less cost and One Design boats hold their value better than rule based boats. Along with all that you get the most competitive overall racing on the Planet. And the best part - No Sniveling. One Design boats invest class limited amounts of money in equipment, sails and travel. The crew is largely amateur and Owner/Driver fleets are thriving. And why are we so focused on trying to tweak rating rules when there is lower cost, quality racing at all levels from Laser's to 60 footers just racing head-to-head?
* From: Zachie J de Beer I would like to add something to Chris Bouzaid's writings on IRC. How can a simple rule like PHRF discriminate between Newport and Marblehead if the rocket science IMS rule has a hard time doing it ? GP racing needs IMS, for the rest of us a simple rule is all we need, but not one with any human element like PHRF and also not a handicap rule.
Maybe the problem is the not invented here syndrome, Chris is a Kiwi, we are from SA and even the French supported CHS and now IRC. Come on American People, this is a global sport, play by the global rules.
CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: de Beer's letter was edited insure that no one got the idea that the PHRF thread has been reopened. IRC is fair game, but the PHRF thread is still officially dead.
* From William Rothschild in Waiheke, New Zealand: I find it amazing how the America's Cup has changed and the reaction of our defenders to these changes. As it stands now we will have a Frenchman sailing the boat, an American designing it and we are backed by a German billionaire.
* From Ray Tostado - I am afraid that the NOSA group has taken to enforce the "yacht club membership for the Newport to Ensenada Race for all crew rule". My inspector read it on the list of mandatory inspection items and didn't even know what this meant; I realized last night in my sleep it could only mean for "all crew members". I wonder how many skippers have overlooked this new rule; and if NOSA will inspect the skippers crew of the trophy boats. I'd say about 40% of the Ensenada entries have this as the only race on their calendar for the year.
CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: It's obviously time to remind people that any can become member of the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club - for FREE! SSC membership satisfies all of the requirements of Eligibility Code in the new rulebook. There are two ways to get your SSC membership cards: 1) They can be downloaded from the website, http://www.sailingsource.com/scuttlebutt/default.html, or 2) send a stamped self-addressed envelope to the curmudgeon and I'll send you membership cards that were prepared by our friends at Macson Printing. (Send me an email and I'll give you my address.)
* From Jesse Deupree (Regarding Bruce Nairn's comments about the tax-deductible nature of some America's Cup syndicates) - Before you blame the syndicates you should acknowledge that this situation was created by the government to make support of Olympic athletics tax-deductible. I might also note that government support for this so-called "amateur Olympic" movement is behind much of USSA's recent silliness- their need to be the "Controlling National Authority" and to own the Rules of Sailing all comes from their desire for the federal funds that come with this status, a status bestowed on them not by their members but by the real "Controlling National Authority" in Washington.
Two sayings come to mind- "Be careful what you wish for- you just might get it" and "You aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you".
* From Jeff Johnstone (In response to the Rolex Cup report): It's certainly testimony to long-life construction that J/24s have a 2nd life. Having two fleets of 24s at the Rolex and other Caribbean events isn't all bad. But, don't count on the original fading away. Based on dues paying members, there are 1200 J/24s racing one-design in just the USA. This doesn't count all those that make J/24 the #1 PHRF design or simply a fun boat to own.
The world's largest brokerage site: http://yachtworld.com shows 21 used J/24s for sale with only 5 under $7,000. The J/24 Class website http://www.j24class.org offers 75 boats for sale but shows just 9 under $7,000. While the pickings are fairly slim, one can "recondition" a 21 year old J/24, add new sails and be competitive at the top of the class for about $15,000. That's a pretty tough value to beat in one-design keelboat racing, especially when you factor in the resale value of a class boat still in demand. J Boats licensee US Watercraft is still building new ones!
MORE AMERICA'S CUP
TVNZ's logo will disappear from Team New Zealand sails next America's Cup, but the broadcaster says its financial commitment to the yachting syndicate is not being cut. Television New Zealand will retain broadcasting rights for the 2003 campaign, but its name will no longer appear beside the other "family of five" top sponsors, helping Team New Zealand attract "a considerably higher level of sponsorship than in previous campaigns." Rick Ellis, the state-owned broadcaster's chief executive, said the move would help Team New Zealand's defence of the cup by opening the door to additional sponsorship.
As reported in these pages last week, Team New Zealand is understood to have brokered a multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with German software giant SAP. The syndicate and the company have refused to comment, but Team New Zealand spokesman Murray Taylor said a sponsorship announcement was likely this week.
Team New Zealand has never detailed its sponsorship figures, but TVNZ, Telecom, Steinlager, Lotto and Toyota are believed to have contributed about $5 million each to the last campaign. TVNZ will devote about 160 hours of airtime to the challenge and continue to run the Team New Zealand and America's Cup non-apparel merchandising programme.- Simon Hendery, NZ Herald
Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=business&thesubsection=&storyID=183415
REDUCE FRICTION / INCREASE SPEED
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OUTTA HERE
The curmudgeon is off to Oakland for the next two days to visit Sail Expo. There will not be a Thursday issue of Scuttlebutt, but we hope to produce one more 'Butt this week on Friday. At least that's the plan.
THE CURMUDGEON'S OXYMORON
Good grief
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