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SCUTTLEBUTT 1402 - August 27, 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 focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT August 21 - George Collins was a little surprised when he saw his name in headlines. A Volvo Ocean Race press release announcing that an Annapolis-based syndicate had entered the around the world race blared: Chessie Racing's George Collins is chairman of new USA syndicate. Headlines that appeared atop a pair of newspaper articles about the new syndicate furthered the impression that Collins, a Gibson Island resident, was the main man behind Team Kan-do. Collins contacted The Capital to set the record straight and emphasize that Annapolis resident John Alden and Ellicot City resident Patrick Bischoff are the co-founders and directors of Team Kan-do. "This is not my campaign, I should not be at the forefront," Collins said from his summer home in Madison, Conn. "I am one of many advisors that have been enlisted to help get this campaign off the ground." Collins, former CEO of T. Rowe Price, spent $7 million of his own money to fund the Chessie Racing campaign that competed in the 1997-98 Whitbread Round The World Race. He is not chairman of Team Kan-do, as the Volvo Ocean Race press release indicated and is not backing the campaign financially. "I am chairman of the advisory board, that's a big difference," he said. "I am not funding this campaign. I promised my wife that I wouldn't put up any money at all. I wrote the check for the last Maryland boat, I'm not doing it for this one." * Collins said any financial contributions he makes to Team Kan-do would be related to the educational side of the campaign. Meanwhile, Collins will lend his experience and expertise to Alden and Bischoff. - Bill Wagner, The Capital, full story: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2003/08_21-27/SAL ATHENS 2003 REGATTA There was lots of racing in Athens on Tuesday with only the Star class taking a lay day. The Brits look really strong, with four teams in the top-four, and three others in the top-10 in their respective classes. Standings: Yngling (9 races- 1 discard): 1. Hannah Swett, USA, 29; 2. Shirley Robertson, GBR, 35; 3 Wagner, GER, 26. 10: Paula Lewin, BER, 56; 13. Clarke, CAN, 88 470 Men (10 races): 1. Molund/ Andersson, SWE, 56; 2. Rogers/ Glanfield, GBR, 66; 3. Zandona/ Trani, ITA, 71; 5. Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnam, USA, 85;27. Russel/ MacDonald, CAN, 217 470 Women (10 races - 1 discard): 1. Bekatorou/ Tsoulfa, GRE, 43; 2. Ward/ Ward, DEN, 63; 3. Sesto/ Reinoso, ARG, 66; 6. McDowell/ Kinsolving, USA, 83; 22. Provan/Girke, CAN, 143 Europe (9 races - 1 discard): 1. Smidova, CZE, 36;3. Desillie, BEL, 43; 3. Sundby, NOR, 47; 5. Meg Gillard, USA, 59; 24. Marcil Bonneau, CAN, 152 49er (12 races - 2 discards): 1. Nicholson/ Boyd, AUS, 47; 2. Sibelo/ Sibelo, ITA, 48; 3. Brotherton/ Asquith, GBR, 56; 6. Wadlow/Spaulding, USA, 110. Mistral Men (7 races-1 discard): 1.Kaklamanakis, GRE, 17; 2. Fridman, ISR, 19; 3. Zhou, CHN, 28; 21. Bolduc, CAN, 113; 24. Barger, USA, 123. Mistral Women, (8 races - 1 discard): 1. Senini, ITA, 9; 2. Lee, HKG, 22; 3.Merret, FRA, 28; 14. Lanee Butler, 84; 20. Valee, CAN, 110. Laser (9 races - 1 discard): 1.Scheidt, BRA, 42; 2. Birgmark, SWE, 42; 3. Arapov, CRO, 46; 15. Luttmer, CAN, 125; 20. Richardson, USA, 157. Tornado (7 races - 1 discard): 1. Bundock/ Forbes, AUS, 16; 2. Lange/ Espinola, ARG, 27; 3. Hagara/ Steinacher, AUT, 35; 10. Daniel/ Jacobsen, USA, 70; 13. Holden/ Coakley, CAN, 84 Finn (7 races- 1 discard): 1. Ben Ainslie, GBR, 26; 2. Kusznierewicz, POL, 40; 3. Trujillo, ESP, 46; 15. Cook, CAN, 101; 24. Peck, USA 158. Star (9 races/ 1 discard): 1. Torbin Grael/ Ferreira, BRA, 35; 2. Peter Bromby/ L.C. White, BER, 39; 3. Pickel / Kolb, GER, 39; 4. Paul Cayard/ Phil Trinter, USA 40; 6. Ross MacDonald/ K. Bjorn, CAN, 54. Full results: http://www.athens2004.com/page/default.asp?la=2&id=16916 ULLMAN SAILS COAST TO COAST! Ullman Sails recently finished 1st (Garrett Schulze) 2nd, 3rd, & 4th, at Ocean City YC's "Hart Cup" sailed in J/105's. Also at Ocean City YC's J/24 World Qualifiers, Ullman Sails provided top speed to take 1st (Mark May) 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th. At Long Beach Yacht Club's Cal 20 Nationals, Ullman Sails again provided the speed advantage to take both 1st (Mark Golison) & 2nd (Mike Sentovich). If you are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet," give your local Ullman Sails loft a call or visit us online at http://www.ullmansails.com ISAF MATCH RACING WORLDS Riva del Garda - Eight of the 14 flights of Round Robin One of the ISAF Match Racing World Championship were completed Tuesday. Racing was delayed two hours until 11:00 AM due to the lack of win. However a Southerly filled in, reaching 20 knots by 1 pm. Lake Garda and its surrounding mountains provided a spectacular view to an exciting series of matches. Not only did the sailors have a long tiring day on the water, but also the umpires who inflicted a great number of penalties. The outcome of the much awaited race between Russell Coutts, winner of the America's Cup, and defending world champion Karol Jablonski, was quickly decided when the Polish skipper got a penalty at the start. Coutts only loss came in his match with James Spithill who also is the only skipper to beat Jesper Radich. - http://worldchampionship.g2k.it STANDINGS: Russell Coutts, New Zealand 6 wins, 1 loss James Spithill, Australia 6 wins, 1 loss Jesper Radich, Denmark 6 wins, 1 loss Karol Jablonski, Poland 4 wins, 2 losses Ed Baird, USA 4 wins, 2 losses Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark 4 wins, 3 losses Mathieu Richard, France 4 wins, 3 losses Bjorn Hansen, Sweden 2 wins, 5 losses Ian Williams, UK 2 wins, 5 losses Mikael Lindqvist, Sweden 1 win, 5 losses Paolo Cian, Italy 1 win, 6 losses Staffan Lindberg, Finland 0 wins, 6 losses NEWS BRIEFS * Wakayama, Japan - Rob Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson of Great Britain won the opening race of the International 14 World Championship by two and three quarter minutes Tuesday afternoon. Completing an outstanding day for Great Britain, Archie Massey and George Nurton finished second, Jarrod Simpson and Harvey Hillary finished third, followed by four more British boats. Two Australian teams came next, while the leading Americans were surprisingly off the pace - Berkowitz/ Martin finishing 13th and Bundy/ Hanseler in 14th. http://www.i14.jp/wakayama/ * Paraplegic Joe Guay, Barrington RI, won the C.Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta in a 12 race series in 12-18K Narragansett Bay breezes. Hosted by Shake-A-Leg, and Clagett family members, the 2-day regatta was the culmination of a 4-day teaching clinic/ regatta designed to bring disabled sailors up to a Paralympic competitive level. Prior to the regatta, morning classroom sessions were followed by on-water coaching by Scott Lippert, head sailing coach at Washington College and Erin Maxwell, #2 rank US Sailing Team 470 female skipper. * Martin Johnnson, son of last year's Soling North American Champion Jorgen Johnnson, won the 2003 Soling North Americans by three points over Joe and Rose. Seven races were held over four days with decent winds. Sixteen boats participated at the Milwaukee YC - coming from as far West as Seattle, as far East as Connecticut, and even the US Virgin Islands. Local sailor Charlie Kamps earned three bullets but could not make up for two seven place finishes finishing in 3rd place. - www.soling.com/indexnews.asp PARALYMPIC GAMES The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, and the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Phil Craven, signed an amendment to the IOC/ IPC Agreement on the organisation of the Paralympic Games. This amendment is aimed at ensuring that Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) pay the IPC nine million US dollars for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008, and 14 million dollars for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010 and the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012 for broadcasting and marketing related to the 2008, 2010 and 2012 Paralympic Games. "The amendment lays an excellent foundation for the IPC's quest to fully develop the Paralympic Movement - a huge task, which we can now begin to explore. It also emphasizes the close partnership which continues between the IOC and the IPC", said Mr. Craven. - ISAF website, http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=5266 "B STOCK" SALE ITEMS FROM OCKAM'S HOT SWAP INVENTORY (8/27) Ockam's unique Hot Swap Service program keeps clients sailing with minimal interruption. At the same time, the program slowly generates a modest surplus stock of rebuilt "B" stock components. On rare occasions we clear the shelves of these items - and that time is now. A limited number of model 001 CPUs are available from Tryad system Trade-ups, as well as individual interfaces and displays. Step up to the best at substantial savings for a limited time. Contact Tom Davis with your wish list: tom@ockam.com POINT / COUNTERPOINT (Scuttlebutt received letters from two prominent Principal Race Officers, from two prominent Southern California yacht clubs. Both of these gentlemen are former commodores of their respective yacht clubs and both have very different opinions on the comments that ISAF President Paul Henderson made in Scuttlebutt 1400.) * From Chris Ericksen, Alamitos Bay YC: I could not agree more with anyone than with ISAF President Paul Henderson on the subject of race officers talking to the sailors "especially with regard to keeping them back at the start so as to stop OCS and General Recalls." I've run a few races myself and often discuss the length and angle of the lines, the length of the courses and other issues with the racers between races. I am particularly vocal at the starts, and have often commented on how the racers are behaving on the line. Furthermore, I am a proponent of calling the numbers of boats that are OCS. I might also say that the "'olde' mentality" is alive and well: many of my colleagues think it inappropriate to have such conversations. I can also report, however, that the calling of the numbers of boats OCS is in common usage in our yacht club. I am confident that I'll see it replaced in my lifetime as the resisters retire from the game; I also hope it'll be seen in the lives of Mr. Henderson and Mr. Harken. * From Mike Wathen, Balboa YC: Dear Mr. Henderson, It is with alarming reaction, that I read your comments about Race Officers not communicating sufficiently. As soon as the Racing Rules of Sailing are changed to allow such unnecessary communication to be accomplished, without threat of redress, you might see things change. While changing the 'rules' though, one must remember that the changes must apply to all forms of racing. 10 Prams, in 6 knots of breeze in a protected harbor race, or a large fleet of 70+ foot Offshore boats in 25 knots of wind in the open ocean with big seas running. All circumstances must be treated equally by the rules. As the Principal Race Officer, my job is to set a fair line, execute a proper starting sequence, and signal any competitors who violate the starting line. I have too many other things to monitor, to take time to tutor someone who isn't properly starting his boat. There already is a reasonably reliable form of communication, the "Individual Recall" flag. It sounds like what ever they did in Athens may not have been a desirable method of accomplishing the goal of notifying OCS boats, but putting the burden of ensuring that the competitors start properly onto the PRO's shoulders is, in my opinion, a far less desirable recommendation. If PROs' are expected to conduct a distracting dialogue with competitors in the last minute before the start, you will see other unbelievable/ undesirable problems surface. AWARDS Steve Fossett has been selected by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) to receive its prestigious Gold Air Medal for the year 2002. According to FAI, the Gold Medal "is reserved for those who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics." In the summer of 2002 Fossett became the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone in a balloon. drifted through the Southern Hemisphere on a 20,626-mile trip from Australia to Australia. Fossett has set numerous other records in the air - not just in balloons, but also in airplanes and gliders. Fossett is the only person to be named five times to the National Aeronautic Association's annual list of the "Most Memorable Aviation Records." An adventurer of many dimensions, Fossett has pushed himself to compete in fields besides aviation, including swimming, skiing, dog sledding, auto racing, and sailing. In this last field, he holds 15 world records, including the transatlantic sailing record from New York to England in 4 days, 17 hours. http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ BOOMERANG Goetz 80' custom carbon fiber (1996) by Frers, complete with two containers of spare parts, fifty-five sails, two masts, two booms and a record of prestigious accoumplishments around the world. Boomerang is in covered storage in Newport, RI, attractively priced, looking for a new home. Contact Bill Sanderson via bs@pal.cnyachts.com 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 Todd Singer (reply to: Simon Walker, Challenge Business): There is a vast difference in the (BT) Global Challenge race where all boats are owned by the race organizers with amateurs onboard, and the OSTAR event, where 100+ different boats with independent owners/sponsors are competing. One is a "pay as you sail" event for amateur sailors to face a unique challenge, while the other is a pro circuit event where individually sponsored athletes go head-to-head. Unless Offshore Challenges is changing the format of the OSTAR, I don't think it can be compared to the (BT) Global Challenge. A conflict does exist if Offshore Challenges plans to own/ operate the OSTAR race and have their own boats/ sailors racing in it against other pro sailors. * From Neil Harvey (re Bruce Kendell): Bruce the Goose. My mentor, my mate, best man at our wedding. The man that taught me that there is a better tool than a Crescent wrench to tighten cylinder head nuts. The captain with which I did almost 100,000 miles at sea. The family man with whom we've shared many happy hours and sea stories - most of which were true blue. We've travelled together to the four corners of the globe, and now you're waiting in the fifth for our arrival, someday. "The tide recedes but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand. The sun goes down but gentle warmth still lingers on the land. The music stops and yet it echoes on in sweet refrain. For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains." Rest up now - you're finally off watch. * From Tommy Mercer: I have just read that Bruce died in a plane crash. It brings great sadness to me in a man that did so much for sailing industry. Bruce is the one that gave me my break in getting involved and sailing with Kialoa and the Maxi Circuit. Is dedication to sailing and taking the time to teach others the right way in doing things goes without words. He would always take the time and chat with you if you were not sure about something. He will be greatly missed. * From Giff Hammar: In response to Jon Antrup's comments ('Butt 1394), I am the Commodore for our local racing association. This year, I instituted an outreach program for the local media outlets to get more interest in our activities. The Portsmouth Herald has been very happy for us to provide them with racing results and has assigned a couple of reporters to race with some of our crews on Thursday evenings. Partly as a result of this increased coverage, we increased our fleet size by about 10% this year and roughly 50% of the attendees at our Spring Fever Mixer were people who were new to the organization. My Rear Commodore spends a fair amount of time each week putting the results together so that the paper can use them and coordinating other types of media coverage. The Sports Editor likes the input because it's "free" (to them). A glib competitor would be even better, but most of us have real jobs we have to do. The bottom line is that we all need to make an effort to get sailing better recognized in the media. Our efforts do pay off, but sometimes it takes more than a simple phone call. Make friends with the editors and reporters and the coverage will come, particularly if you do a good job priming the pump. * From Tyler Garrett (edited to our 250-word limit): In case you have not noticed, Sailboat racing is much bigger in Europe. So is Windsurf racing, and World Rally racing, and Soccer. You may also have noticed that most European magazines do a much better job of covering their sports of sailing and windsurfing better than the USA. Why? Well gee, could it be that the majority of the US citizens don't care? And why should they? Add it up; limited access to community sailing centers + fairly difficult to get good at + a bunch of convoluted rules + far to many choices of boats (new and used) most of which are kind of crappy (low tech and slow) + all of which cost more than a average jet ski= who cares? And Image counts, We like to poke fun at the supposed Beer swilling NASCAR fans, but have you noticed the drunk pompous asses standing around you at the club bar? Who wants to be around that all the time? Yes, I do sail and race and have been doing so for 20+ years. I think we will never get good coverage in the media because sailboat racing in the USA is a very tiny sport. Yes, there are a lot of recreational boat owners that make the industry look big, but racing is a small portion of that. So just accept it, get over it and go on in our tiny, esoteric sport of "Yachting". CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS Father: A banker provided by nature. |
