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SCUTTLEBUTT 1276 - March 2, 2003Powered 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 emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. ALINGHI WINS 5-0 Alinghi won Race Five of the XXXIst America's Cup Match in Auckland on Sunday and, for the first time in its 152-year history, the America's Cup is going to Europe. Ernesto Bertarelli's Swiss Alinghi Team swept away Team New Zealand in five consecutive races, becoming the first Challenger to win the America's Cup on its initial attempt. With his 14th America's Cup win, Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts broke Dennis Conner's record of 13 America's Cup race victories, adding the five wins of 2003, to the nine he earned with Team New Zealand in the 1995 and 2000 campaigns. Coutts has also now equaled the legendary Charlie Barr and Harold Vanderbilt by winning three consecutive America's Cups. The Hauraki Gulf delivered conditions America's Cup aficionados had hoped for, and Sunday's race was sailed in ideal weather, with a steady 12 to 15-knot Northeasterly, blue sunny skies, and fair weather cumulus clouds providing an idyllic backdrop for the drama on the water. As they have throughout the 2002/2003 America's Cup season, the Alinghi Team turned in a dominant performance, winning the start, and converting that early advantage into a solid lead that they protected ferociously. Team New Zealand tried everything they could to break through, but the black boat continued to be plagued by gear failure, this time breaking a spinnaker pole on the second run. In the end, Alinghi was too strong, and proved to be well deserving of the most prestigious trophy in the sport. The America's Cup will be collected by Alinghi in the Eastern Viaduct immediately as the boats return to port. The Official Prizegiving and closing ceremony will be at the American Express Viaduct Harbour on Monday afternoon at 16:00. - Peter Rusch, America's Cup website, http://americascup.yahoo.com/ THE FINAL RACE OF AC XXXI Another consummate performance from beginning to end saw Alinghi sweep to a 5-0 victory in America's Cup XXXI. Once again, there was no dial up as the yachts came into the starting box. Instead, they elected to sail deep into the box and then line up for a time-on-distance run to the line. Once again, skipper Russell Coutts and his afterguard timed the run to perfection, hitting the line at speed as the gun went. Alinghi were to windward, with Team New Zealand tucked away slightly behind and to leeward. Both yachts left the line on starboard tack and very quickly Alinghi once again demonstrated its ability to sail higher than Team New Zealand. Alinghi led around the first windward mark by 21 seconds. Team New Zealand, skippered by Dean Barker, reduced the deficit to 18 seconds and 16 seconds on the next two mark roundings, but then Alinghi stretched away. The delta at the second leeward mark rounding was 31 seconds, building to 42 seconds at the final windward mark and 45 seconds at the finish line. Once again, Team New Zealand was plagued by gear failure, breaking its spinnaker pole towards the end of the second leeward leg. The crew jettisoned the broken pole for the chase boat to later collect. With a spare pole on board, the breakage did not cost the team significantly in terms of time, but underlined the difference between these two teams. - Ivor Wilkins, America's Cup website, full story: http://americascup.yahoo.com/story2136.html TEAM ALINGHI Alinghi finished the America's Cup season with a 31-4 overall record. On-the-water they were 30-3. Coutts has set a few records in this event. He becomes the all-time winning skipper in the America's Cup Match, having won 14 races with no defeats. He also tied Charlie Barr and Harold Vanderbilt for consecutive Cup wins, three. While Coutts has won 14 consecutive races, some of his teammates have won more. Butterworth, Murray Jones (traveller, wind spotter), Warwick Fleury (mainsheet), Simon Daubney (genoas) and Dean Phipps (bow) all have won 15 races. They're all former Team New Zealand crewmembers. "The record's pretty exciting," said Butterworth. "It's good to have Coutts one back." The Kiwis hardly did it themselves. German strategist Jochen Schuemann adds an America's Cup victory to his four Olympic medals, including three golds. Grinder John Barnitt (U.S.) won his third America's Cup, having won twice previously with Dennis Conner (1987, '88). Pitman Josh Belsky (U.S.) has won his second Cup, having won with America3 in 1992. - Sean McNeill, America's Cup website, full story: http://americascup.yahoo.com/story2134.html CHALLENGER OF RECORD As the Swiss challenger Alinghi crossed the finish line today to win the America's Cup for the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), Commodore Pierre-Yves Firmenich received a formal challenge for the next Cup from the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) of San Francisco. GGYC, the club which backed Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing Team in the 2003 competition, becomes the "Challenger of Record" for the 32nd America's Cup. The Challenger of Record negotiates the rules for the next event with the Defender, representing the interests of all eventual challengers. Commodore Pierre Yves Firmenich said, "It is a great honor to have Golden Gate Yacht Club, and Mr. Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing Team, as partners with our club, Ernesto Bertarelli and team Alinghi as we go forward with planning for the next event." Bill Erkelens, Oracle BMW Racing's General Manager, said that the negotiations between SNG and GGYC representatives had gone smoothly. "Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison share the same vision and values for modernizing the Cup. A press conference will be held on Tuesday, March 4 at the Alinghi Base in Auckland, New Zealand to announce details of the "Protocol" which describes the challenge details and other ground rules for the next America's Cup event. DISMASTED New Zealand skipper Graham Dalton, running in 5th place in Class 1 on Leg 4 of Around Alone, informed the Race HQ at 13:50 hrs GMT on Saturday 1st March that his Open 60 Hexagon dismasted at 48 07S 59 29W approximately 250 miles NW of the Falklands. The skipper is safe, and has not reported any hull damage. At 14:30hrs GMT, Class 2 leader, American skipper Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, was diverted from his position at 50 degrees South and 56 degrees West in order to standby to assist Dalton if required. At 16:15hrs GMT Van Liew was 156 miles from Hexagon, roughly 15 hours away from Dalton's position. Hours later, Graham reported the mast was gone and the boat was relatively undamaged. He had started his engine as was heading for Mar del Plata in Argentina. With that news Van Liew was asked to resume racing and was told he would be given compensation for the time spent sailing towards Hexagon. - www.aroundalone.com DUBARRY OF IRELAND - HAND MADE FOR WINNERS From around the world to around the buoys only Dubarry of Ireland continues to deliver the ultimate in performance footwear. With Spring Racing around the corner, now's the time to get the warmth and comfort only offered from Dubarry's Gore-tex lined Sea boots and shoes. For details on the complete 2003 line-up (including many new models) as well as information on your nearest dealer please visit http://www.DubarryNA.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "There was no question today as to which boat was faster!" - Rolf Vrolijk, Alinghi's principal designer. 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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Doug J. Van Der Aa (edited to our 250-word limit) I'm afraid that the proposal to mandate the nighttime wearing of harnesses and flotation smells more like a shameless C.Y.A. move by shoreside race organizers than a true safety action by on-the-water sailors. Although I appreciate that this proposal as written only applies to Category 0 and 1 races, I can already foresee the inevitable trickle down effect on the Category 2 races that I sail. If this passes it is inevitable that we will see modifications to the NORs and SIs of the Chicago and Port Huron Mac races within two years, quite possibly as early as this summer. Official protestations to the contrary are quite frankly disingenuous if not blatantly deceptive, and are not to be believed by intelligent men and women who understand the way the world works. My prediction: in 2-5 years if this proposal is passed we will see this added to the SIs to Wednesday night "beer can" series. American amateur sailors have experienced the challenge, excitement, teamwork, camaraderie, and yes even the danger of sailboat racing for over 100 years. Now in the race to "safety" the obstacles and barriers to amateur participation, especially of crews made up of families and friends, are being erected to new and possibly insurmountable heights. Are we incrementally going to drive out all the amateurs, leaving offshore racing to the professional crews alone? I recognize that that would likely be viewed positively by the major race directors, but would it be good for our sport? * From Brad Butterworth (In reply to George P. Parthemos comments): It is a great honor to be included for membership in the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club. Being a 'Butthead for many years I continue to enjoy the comment from around the world about our sport. * From Craig Davis: Well, we are embargoing the French for their lack of support, I think that we should embargo ESPN for their lack of transmission! Here we are down to the final two races of the America's Cup and we get to see all of the action taped! I find it incredible that at this stage of the cup we are forced into this situation by ESPN, so what, that we can see another inconsequential basketball game or something else equally exciting! Bring back OLN, we know they would be giving us this match, probably the final of this Cup. Can you imagine the public outcry if the Superbowl or World Series were broadcast taped. It is disgusting that we have to do that to see the Olympics! And try to call the offices of ESPN, no management in on the weekend, no one in programming, they tell you to call back on Monday! Isn't that great, after the Cup is finished and gone! Why bother to bid for something if you are not going to show it!! * From William Keaton: I have read with interest the many comments about ESPN2 postponing coverage, especially for "Streetball". I don't know what time zone some of these readers were in, but my Race 4 coverage was delayed by college basketball. Realize that ESPN has contractural obligations of their own to fulfill. Many of the days they did try to cover live racing were days scheduled as lay days. Once the RNZYS put out the AC schedule, ESPN has to make plans for programming, sponsors, etc. While it would be nice to throw out the schedule in favor of yacht racing, they cannot always sacrifice their other sports commitments. While I'm happy to have any TV coverage, be aware that ESPN is hardly thrilled with the unpredictable nature of the weather (and Team NZ!) and cannot always drop everything else to cover a race that may or may not ever start. Race 5, for example. I'm sure they would prefer contest that start at set times, with a generally predictable duration. Remember Race 2? We waited 2 1/2 hours for the start of a 2 1/2 hour boat race! 5 hours of programming blown out in one night. The only other sport that I can think of with that kind of record is baseball, and they don't usually postpone games 9 days in a row! Given the conditions, cut ESPN a little slack, and set your Tivos and VCRs for 11:30PM Eastern Saturday night. * From Eric Steinberg: For those that would like to cast stones at ESPN, take a deep breath and relax. Instead of venting your frustrations on the world stage, take a moment to think about the buckets of cash ESPN must be losing every day the racing is delayed. They have an extensive production crew in Auckland who are costing $$ every day in wages and expenses, they have equipment and studio rentals that are going over the expected budgeted period (a single tape deck is $500/day), etc., etc. In many ways, be thankful they have the deep pockets to stay and that they're not packing to go home to something more profitable. Television is a commercial enterprise and the essence of yacht racing isn't, therein lies a fundamental problem. Most major sporting events have direct dialog with the broadcaster (at the league level and at the venue) for a particular event in order to enhance the production. In football, there is a person on the sidelines who is in contact with the broadcaster via radio and indicates to the officials whether or not there is a commercial running. The desire to broadcast an event live is always the fist choice of the viewer. For some sports it isn't entirely practical for the broadcaster. In yachting, when the viewers expectations of schedules are not met, I say suck it up, you can be sure the broadcaster is. * From Michael Silverman: Perhaps in the minority, I would like to commend ESPN for their America's Cup coverage. ESPN is not a sailing-only station; they have commitments to other sports and viewers that cannot be broken. Expecting them to break said commitments is just unreasonable. When the NFL decided to change the day of the Super bowl in 2002, they paid a HEFTY Fine... Almost $9 Million to the NADA to move their convention, as well as hundreds of thousands to the Mardi Gras Krewes (Parades) that had to be rescheduled. ESPN has shown every race of the cup, albeit tape-delayed on the non-scheduled days. Their director took the chance of adding music to parts of the race, and I personally think it adds to the drama of a tacking duel. I don't know if Mr. Page had other commitments, however, ESPN made a change to their announcers when Mr. Page and Mr. Jobson's on-screen chemistry was obviously failing, and there seems to be a better flow as a result. The only thing I would personally ask ESPN to do for us sailors is to update their website or ESPNews channels to inform us better of the TV Scheduling. Finding it on their website was anything but simple. * From Gary Mintz: While I was certainly not happy to discover that ESPN has decided to delay televising , first race 4 and now race 5 of the Americas Cup, I must object strenuously to Mr. Fooks' characterization of the replacement program, "Streetball" . His lack of tolerance could be viewed by some as, if not typical, perhaps symptomatic of the upper class sailing elite. Doesnt Mr Fooks realize that as much as we love sailboat racing, we are a very small minority of sporting enthusiasts. It is incumbent, especially upon minorities to respect other minorities, lest we be slandered as unfairly as Mr. Fooks would slander streetball players by calling them "gangstas". It's fine to be disappointed in ESPN coverage or lack thereof, but please lets not start spouting invective unfairly. After all Mr Fooks, you have the final choice, if you don't like what you are watching, turn it off. * From Jeroen van der Beek, New Zealand: The issue of Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth's membership of the RNZYS should have been decided three years ago when men of integrity would have resigned their membership. As a New Zealander I have no problem with Kiwi's sailing on other syndicate boats. In fact it has added to the excitement and Alinghi must be congratulated for an outstanding campaign. However when you represented the RNZYS in originally wining the cup, agree to head the campaign to defend it and then jump ship at the first cheque book with the intention of taking the cup away from the RNZYS. We have a different situation. Imagine working for company A and you are their star performer. You then leave to assist in forming company B with the express intention of taking company A's business away from them. Would you then expect to retain your membership of company A's social club? Of course not. Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth jumped ship, actively recruited other members from Team New Zealand and joined Alinghi and were well rewarded for it. They must be incredibly naive to expect to be welcome at the RNZYS. This has nothing to do with who wins the America Cup and being a gracious winner or sadly as it would appear a bad loser, but a lot to do with the integrity and character of two individuals. * From Kevin Dibley, Auckland: I can assure you that John Street doesn't speak for all the members of the RNZYS. I'm sure that he is part of a very small crowd of members who think this. What about all the other members of the Squadron who raced with other syndicates? Is their membership to be questioned? No, I'm sure the RNZYS Committee has noted Street's complaint and only going through the proper channels of dealing with it in a professional manner. End result, no change. * From Handley Richard: Dear Dick Katz - A few facts regarding TNZ mast break and your question why Alinghi didn't stop racing and offer assistance. The chase boat for TNZ was about 100m away from the boat when the mast broke. They got to the boat within about 30 seconds. Isn't it the chase boat that has all the equipment on board to deal with such accidents? It looked like that another 2 TNZ boats where around the boat pretty quickly. The Alinghi Chase boat was further away but stood by the TNZ boat until there seemed to be enough TNZ boats to assist. It looked like it then took off at speed to go and shadow the Alinghi raceboat. What is a 25 tonne yacht travelling at 10 knots going to do to help? I would think that the safest option would be to sail as far away from the broken boat as possible. It can't just drop it's sails and motor around like other yachts can. * From David Tabor: Dick Katz wonders why Alinghi didn't offer assistance when TNZ lost their mast. While he correctly states that assist boats were nearby, does he really think trying to maneuver an AC class boat near enough to lend assistance with 80 feet of broken mast and rigging hanging over the side in those sea conditions would be a prudent move? The best thing Alinghi could have done was exactly what they did, get the hell out of the way. With smaller, nimbler and easier controlled tenders available *I* would not have wanted an 80 foot boat trying to come alongside me! * From Mark Weinheimer: I found it interesting to go into the archives and re-read the Coutts/ Butterworth statement after the former trustees rebuttal. Interesting that the trustees never confronted what seem to me to be the pivotal issues in this disagreement. According to their account, C&B were required to shoulder~$7 million of debt. According to C&B, $5M of this was to existing "sponsors" ( I always thought sponsors gave you money) - with the balance as a hedge against future liability. To add insult to injury, the trustees required that C&B not look for other sources of funds for 12 months, an eternity in A-Cup timeline. The final blow was a prohibition on negotiating with "the Family of Five" in terms other than those already in place. These issues were never addressed in the trustees statement; instead, they spoke only of who said what on which date. If the above assertions by C&B are not true, why were they not contested? When C&B announced their deal with Bertarelli, they had no contract with TNZ, being unwilling to work under such onerous conditions. In retrospect, who did the directors get to agree to the conditions they required of Coutts and Butterworth? Or did they figure out a different way, a day late and a couple of dollars short? * From James Stevralia: It is too bad the AC series was changed from the weather condition rules of the LV races. Whether right or wrong, the boats are so highly developed that they truly are a limited use vessels, and should be sailed as such. That is the sport the competitors (owners and sailors) have opted for. Similar to the difference between an Indy race and a the Baja run. It is too bad that two races have been decided by such major equipment failure. Some observations however, there is no way Alingi could or should have abandoned race 1 simly because TNZ could not finish, and race 4 proves it. The boats were all designed in the real world, not in a tank test controlled environment. If one can handle the conditions safely (?) without falling apart, the the other must or it loses. Simple. Would enjoy seeing a couple more races. Russell has it right. If the AC is going to be the major sailing spectator sport, it has to be spectator friendly. An independent race committee to make the judgement on racing conditions together with the broadcster and not the competitors. It will be fun to see what the organizers come up with for the next go round. * From John Drayton: (re America's Cup Trivia - Completing the Course after Competitor Failure): In the 1885 America's Cup, the American yacht Puritan fouled the British yacht Genesta during the inaugural race of that year's Cup. To be specific, Puritan, on port tack, failed to cross Genesta, who was on Starboard tack; Genesta's bowsprit speared through several feet of Puritan's mainsail causing significant damage to the American's boat. The American's acknowledged the foul and immediately withdrew. The British were advised by the NYYC race committee that they would win the race if they completed the course, but feeling that would not be sporting, the British chose to withdraw as well. The American's returned to win the series 2-0 with a much faster boat. * From Bill Stump: Let's see - ESPN2 broadcasts the last AC race for the next several years, after it's over. Virtual Spectator leaves a lot of their followers on the dock for the finale. And, TNZ broke yet another stick (boom, mast and, now, pole). Congratulations to Alinghi and thank goodness the Fat Lady sang! THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Laughing helps - it's like jogging on the inside. |
