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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 529 - March 17, 2000NATIONAL SAILING LEAGUE(The following story is based on a piece Dobbs Davis wrote for the March issue of Seahorse magazine. Dobbs was nice enough to update that story for the readers of Scuttlebutt.) The enormous popularity of amateur-driven restricted classes in the US has still left a relatively narrow niche for open and unrestricted pro-level sailing. The two most prominent unrestricted classes - the Corel 45's and 1D48's - have recently waned in popularity here, the first due to a migration of interest to the Med and the latter because supposedly the America's Cup was consuming the participants' resources of time and money. Now that the America's Cup is over, however, the 1D48 Class has undergone a re-invention under a new title: the National Sailing League (NSL). The concept of the NSL was presented at a meeting last December in Auckland, and once again in Key West in January by its President and CEO Linda Lindquist and Hartwell Jordan, Vice President of Operations and Industry Relations. This presentation was made to a mixture of sailors, owners, and media, along with some prospective new owners to the league. Firstly, a schedule of five events for the 2000 season was announced, which will include Baltimore in April, Newport in June, Chicago in August, San Francisco in September, with the season finale to be in Key West in January, 2001. All events are to be managed by Peter Craig of Premiere Racing. While the boats and the regatta venues may look similar to the 1D48 Circuit events of the past four years, there are some significant differences in this new venture. According to Doug DeVos, a principal supporter of both the 1D48 Class and the NSL, "Now we see an opportunity to do something significant for our sport and the level of racing that we all want to pursue. Pushing sailing into the legitimate sports world is something we feel is not only possible but is also a viable next step. With our family's current experience with other professional sports teams, we see an opportunity to bring greater structure, visibility, and most of all - great racing to our sport. By creating the National Sailing League we will bring enough critical mass to our events and promotion that the sailors can derive significant benefits from increased sponsorship dollars and career opportunities." Lindquist adds that a key component to the NSL will be in its branding: "This will set the tone for an identity of the League and will ultimately create its greatest value proposition. The NSL isn't about blue blazers and yacht clubs. The NSL is about sweat and strategy. The strength of the NSL brand will be a benefit to the sport, to the individual athletes, to the team owners, and to the companies that invest with us. Branding is much more than a logo; its how and why we do what we do. The NSL must stand for raw power, full-contact athleticism, exciting events, dynamic personalities, cool gear, in-your-face competition, and warfare-like strategy and professionalism." "In our work over the last few months we have met with representatives of several professional sports leagues, as well as a number of corporations known for their efforts in sports marketing. We are committed to structuring an organization that can deliver the maximum value to everyone involved. That means maximum revenue generating capabilities, extensive promotion, active media partners, and building a brand that will make Grand Prix sailing a viable entity in the sports business marketplace." Lindquist contends that sailing could not consistently deliver its demographic targets like other sports could, though this will be a goal for the NSL. "This isn't about delivering an event; it's about delivering a full-value brand. And to top it off, the NSL will also be delivering something of greater value to the corporate sponsorship world: a clean property. It is now virtually impossible to invest in a property without a snarl of competitive rights issues. We have a clean slate and can deliver this unprecedented partnership opportunity in the most desirable demographic arena." A key component to the NSL effort will be in promoting the sailors themselves, rather than the platforms they're competing on. "The foundation of League marketing and promotion initiatives will be our NSL athletes. By promoting the names and faces of the teams and team members, public awareness of the people behind the boats will improve, leading to increased exposure and visibility, and therefore marketability of our athletes. " All this and an education programme for children the NSL hopes to achieve through three-year commitments made from League members. Lindquist and her team hope to "transform the sport into a viable and sustainable business" with " sustainable and substantial careers for our athletes." These are all laudable and seemingly achievable goals in a society which is rich with many other professional sporting opportunities. However, the NSL's success will likely involve a substantial paradigm shift in the way the sport is both viewed and played in the US, where Corinthianism still has strong roots and corporate-sponsored sailing is still in its infancy. With only weeks away from its first planned event, there are reportedly only four individual teams that have made the NSL commitment, and while others are being actively solicited, the NSL's stated goal is to have at least six teams at each event on their programme. -- Dobbs Davis EXTREME SAILING LONDON, ENGLAND -- Under an overcast London sky, a purple silhouette walked down towards the Thames between two rows of red uniforms. But on Tuesday March 14, this was no warship that Her Majesty the Queen of England was about to review. The red carpet unfolded towards an immense blue machine, half dolphin and half bird. The catamaran Team Philips had arrived that same morning from Dartmouth (West of England), at the end of an inaugural passage of 250 miles and more than 2 years under construction. For her skipper Pete Goss, this instant was an unprecedented privilege. Apart from Royal Navy ships, the Queen Elizabeth II had named only one private boat before - the one that carries her name, the liner "Queen Elizabeth 2". Of course, the Cunard flagship has nothing in common with Team Philips. The former symbolises a bygone era, when the sea was the only link between the Old and the New Worlds. On the contrary, Team Philips is the progeny of The Race and of the Third Millennium: an all-carbon boat, measuring 120 ft long and 70 ft beam. Designed to fly along at more than 40 knots, she has a twin rig and revolutionary wave-piercing hulls. Team Philips's first cruise went as smooth as silk, as Pete's mate Andy Hindley explained: "In Dartmouth, we cast off with no wind, towed out by two Ribs (rigid inflatable boats). But as we left harbour we felt a slight fair wind. The boat accelerated effortlessly, and in an instant we had overtaken the accompanying boats." Paul Larsen, the Australian on board, continued : "The sea was completely smooth, but we were still able to notice how incredibly easy Team Philips is to handle. Only two people are needed to gybe (move sails from side to side). And above all she accelerates strongly: 15, 16, 17, 18 knots She feels so slippery! In 13 knots of wind, we reached peaks of 23 knots." The catamaran owes it performance to, among other elements, her two "wings", one on each hull. The whole rig (masts, mast-foot pods, sails) was installed in just three days, from Thursday March 9 to Sunday March 12. Team Philips also owes them her extraordinary elegance. The masts are 135 ft tall without a single shroud to stay them and they resemble two long slender feathers. There is still a slight problem with the sailboard-type "wishbones". Their articulation on the masts has only limited clearance, which prevents the sails from being fully hoisted. Adrian Thompson, the designer of Team Philips, sees this as just a minor incident: "The machine is not yet completely finished, and there are still a number of points to be optimised." The skipper himself underlined that "this rendezvous with the Queen forced us to pull out all the stops to get the boat launched in time. Now we're heading back to Dartmouth, close to the yard, for another week. Then we will be carrying out sea trials in the Atlantic before attacking the Jules Verne Trophy (the absolute sailing record round the world), by way of preparation for The Race." -- Stephanie Schroeder The Race website: http://www.therace.org/english/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Bruce Parsons, Newfoundland, Canada -- How very American of Koch to start this sort thing. How does he think the boats and sail were paid for if he believes 425M went missing? And it really is no ones business anyway. TNZ has had magnificent success and have no one to answer to but their sponsors, and one assumes if they keep coming back thatthey have no worries on this point. Koch still doesn't get it, they won by not doing the same way he or anyone else has done it, and they are smart to not reveal how. Be a good sport Bill, keep you opinions to yourself and take a beating like a gentleman. There is no scandal except your behaviour. -- From Doug Lord -- Bill Koch's letter leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Its none of our business how they conduct their business. Let them enjoy the Cup in some peace and dignity without introducing the great American tradition of scandal mongering! -- From Tom Donlan -- Back in New Jersey, they would have called Mr. Koch's article a string of insinuendos. Asking a bunch of leading questions is not journalism; answering them would be. Repeating rumor is not reporting; nailing down facts would be. And none of it is Mr. Koch's business, or our business, anyway. When a private group raises money for a private purpose, it is responsible to the donors, and perhaps to its national tax authority, but not to the world at large. I presume Mr. Koch did not contribute to TNZ. The festivities in Auckland were as fair and clean as any America's Cup ever, and Mr. Koch has not tarnished them. -- From Rob Vaughan: Speaking of sour grapes - Mr. Koch has most certainly paid a truckload of bucks to gain a position in the history books on yachting. On the other hand, Sir Peter Blake has earned his status, and unlike Mr. Koch, he seems to have the undivided respect and support from his own great country, as well as from most of the sailing world. Come on BILL, how about "WELL DONE, BLAKEY, AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW JOB WITH COUSTEAU SOCIETY" -- From Brian Gong -- In response to Scuttlebutt No. 526, I felt compelled to write a few words regarding the possible USA "superchallenge" for the next Cup. Clearly motivated out of self-interest, Dawn Riley and Ed Baird's thinly-veiled attacks on Paul Cayard belie the fact that they are simply afraid of the unemployment line in 2003. Riley and Baird should put their money where their mouths are-except they never earned their own to begin with. The America's Cup results speak for themselves..."If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." -- From Ken Guyer -- I read with interest the news about a possible bi-coastal challenge for the U.S. Perhaps it would be a bit better to have an east coast challenge and a west coast challenge. It is better for the venue problems associated with the deed of gift for one thing. For another, NYYC has not been none too kind to the one west coast yacht club who has already held the Cup. I would love to see a re-association of Dennis Conner and Paul Cayard. Without a doubt, Conner has proven he can get more out of less than anyone else in the game. Cayard, without the burden of running the whole show, would be the best choice for skipper. Can you imagine all the best of AmericaOne and Team Dennis Conner on one team? Let's get the Bruce Nelson led design group teamed up with Riechel/Pugh. Cayard, Whidden, Isler, & Holmberg in the afterguard. There is enough talent to put top Cup qualified team members on two new yachts. Take a lesson from Team New Zealand and make the focus winning the Cup for the USA. Check your egos and bring the Cup back to the West Coast under St. Francis YC flag. Do it in the same team oriented style that the Kiwi's took it away and successfully defended it. It would be quite a venture! -- From: Ron Baerwitz -- Nobody can deny that Doug Peterson is a supreme talent on the AC designer circuit. What I and many others were surprised and disappointed about was his denouncing the NZL boat design in such a negative way before his chance to see it compete. Doug's pre-race comments were going to make him look super intelligent or incredibly ridiculous; the latter in this case. Had he said nothing, sailing enthusiasts would only have in their mind what really is the truth -- the designers had little to do with the outcome. NLZ crushed Italy on the water, not in the design room. -- From Anna Stockel -- Before you close the Peterson thread, I thought I'd share an excellent dietary regimen for Doug to use as he prepares for future events. This one really sticks to your ribs for a long time, which is important, because you never want to forget good sportsmanship. Moreover, for reasons I can't explain, karma seems to be stronger in sailing, especially on the ocean, than just about anywhere else. I knew the second I heard him make those remarks that there would be trouble for the Italians, like the bag on the keel event. I have frequently seen sailing karma in action and I am sure many of you have as well. Crow Piquant 1 Crow (de-feathered, feet still attached) 1/4 cup minced jalapeno peppers 1 tablespoon Tabasco 1 tablespoon each cayenne, black, white pepper 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 cups basic stock Saute crow under well browned. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until crow is cooked through and tender. Enjoy. (Piquant in Cajun means "hot and hurts like a sticker in your tongue.") -- From Lt. Cmdr. Edgar Sherman, USPS (re the curmudgeon comment, "The trouble with life is there's no background music.") -- The nice thing about life is you can make your own. AS THE KIWIS SEE IT -- Suzanne McFadden Team New Zealand's designers got the sneaky feeling they had got it right when they saw the whole of Luna Rossa's hull - and spotted a weakness. But it was not just NZL60's revolutionary keel bulb that propelled it to the first successful defence of the America's Cup outside the United States. The real secrets of Team New Zealand's success were the magicians who conjured up the winning formula. The people who for years have been testing, refining, training and finally match-racing that slick, stealth-bomber of a black boat. Team New Zealand believe either NZL57 or NZL60 would have won - they were the two fastest boats in town. At after-race conferences, with Prada sitting alongside, Team New Zealand were gracious in victory, repeatedly saying the rival boats were probably equal in speed. Baloney. They knew theirs was faster. The drawings of NZL57, based on the ideas of veteran designer Laurie Davidson, had been sitting around for a year before the design team decided to give it a go in the tank at the Wolfston Unit in England. They had made six trips there, every May and October from 1996, testing quarter-scale models of hulls to see how they moved through the water, how they pitched and yawed. The hulls were slick, but the victory owed much to other innovations. Among those we saw were: - The Millennium rig, which created a lot less windage. - The "funny bow." - Wings in the middle of the keel bulb. - The code zero headsail for acceleration in the pre-start. - Removing the top mast backstays upwind to cut drag. Every little innovation worked in with the others. The winglets made the boat faster upwind. Water spirals off the back of the keel, making extra drag - the wings stop the corkscrew effect. All the other boats had their wings at the back of the bulb. The theory behind moving them to the middle was that it stopped the spiralling earlier. The Millennium rig was the brainchild of designer Mike Drummond. The mast was stiffer, which helped control the mainsail shape pounding through waves. A whole set of spreaders was dispensed with, and the criss-cross rigging meant less windage and weight. Both black boats had bows never seen on America's Cup competitors. NZL60's knuckle bow made it effectively longer than it appears to the measuring rule - and longer means faster. Luna Rossa was a narrow boat compared with NZL60. Team New Zealand tank-tested narrow boats, but they felt comfortable with what they had chosen. That was until they saw that virtually all the challengers had gone for narrow boats. Suddenly they had the widest beam in the fleet, except for Stars & Stripes. Then the opposition tried to instill doubt in the black camp. One of Prada's head designers, Doug Peterson, started taking swipes at the 2000 generation black boats from the day he saw them out of the water. Peterson had helped design the Black Magic boats for 1995, but was not invited back for a second campaign. His quote that his former employers would look "real dumb, real soon" came back to haunt him. The key to Team New Zealand's success was pure and simple: people. People who strove to make the boat faster every day it went out on the water. No one was ever content with the speed reached - it could always be quicker. As defenders, Team New Zealand's only disadvantage, supposedly, was that they would not have any racing before the match - after choosing to go it alone without defence trials. Like all true Kiwi athletes, they wanted to be seen as the underdogs. As it turned out, Coutts and his frontline crew - almost all of them survivors from 1995 - got the best preparation from training inside their own camp, against a team of young guns led by Dean Barker. And Barker, in getting to drive the boat home in the fifth and deciding race of the Cup, set himself up for a future at the helm of the 2003 defence. It was a move that made Coutts a legend worldwide. Introducing new crew through the five races was not only a master-stroke for next time, but the act of sportsmanship no doubt earned him points with future sponsors - now that he has assumed the role of Sir Peter Blake, with the help of Brad Butterworth and Tom Schnackenberg. But we never saw how fast NZL60 was - and probably never will. Let's face it, the boat was never pushed. Team New Zealand won every start; led at every mark. They still have a little bag of tricks they never had to pull out, like their heavy-air sails. No one saw how fast the Kiwi boat was in breezes over 25 knots - where it was expected to fly. And we will probably never see all of those tricks. They will be superseded by other black boats, sails, rigs and keels. After the high of victory and the elation of public acclaim, the lightbulbs of inspiration are set to start flashing on a new generation of boats when, on Monday, the team go back to work. -- Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: I wish I had space to run all of Suzanne's thoughtful analysis. Treat yourself to the full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ac2000/ LASER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Cancun, Mexico - A scant one point separates current Olympic Champion, Robert Scheidt (BRA) from the reigning World Champion, Ben Ainslie (GBR) after one day's racing. With the fleet split into four groups racing as two fleets, each won their opening race in some style. In race two, with both in the same fleet, Scheidt pulled out a huge lead with Ainslie eventually second, though never close enough to threaten. Perfect conditions for the opening day, saw 139 boats from a record 49 nations taking to the waters off Cancun, Mexico for what was by all accounts a perfect days sailing. Warm steady breezes of 12 to 15 knots produced a tough but fair test of sailing skill. Neither Scheidt nor Ainslie reads too much into the first day's results. "I think it is going to be really close, like always" said Scheidt. "I got one point on him today but that is nothing. It is going to be a really interesting regatta not only between me and him but I think there are going to be a couple of other guys who will be on top too". With four different continents represented in the first five places and eight different countries in the top ten, the international reach of the Laser has once agin been demonstrated after just one day. As ever it will be a hard test before the week is over. - Peter Bentley STANDINGS:
Full results and pictures: http://www.laserinternational.org/wor2000.htm THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM How did a fool and his money get together in the first place? |
