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SCUTTLEBUTT 1643 - August 10, 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, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. STAR CLASS OLYMPIC PREVIEW Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter are to carry the Star boat legacy of the USA into 2004. No fewer than seven of the fifteen Olympic Gold medals in the Keelboat Men event have been won by the nation that invented the Star Class and this year's generation will no doubt be trying to make it an eighth. Current World Champions Freddie Loof and Anders Elkstom (SWE) may well have something to say about that however. Going into Athens ranked first on the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, Loof, who has been to the last three Olympic Games in the Finn, and won a bronze medal in the Finn class in 2000, has been on top form since moving into the Star class. Completing an historic double in winning this year's European Championship as well as the Worlds, Freddie and Anders have staked an early claim on the top step of the podium and will be very difficult to beat when it comes down to racing. Of the 17 teams and 34 athletes in the 2004 competition, 19 athletes have previously competed at Olympic Games in the past, either in the Star class itself, or in one of the other five men's events. Of those nineteen, six sailors already have Olympic medals, including Loof. Another sailor already with a medal to his name is Britain's Iain Percy. He finished first in the Finn Class in Sydney and then decided to move into the Star. Sailing with Steve Mitchell, the pair took the fleet by storm initially, winning the World Championship in 2002 after barely having sailed the class for 12 months. Since that time they seem to have gone slightly off the boil and been overshadowed somewhat by Loof and Elkstrom, but they are determined and hard workers and they are almost unbeatable in the stronger winds. If Athens delivers, so will this team. Looking to the 2004 Star Class World Championship, mention has already been made of Freddie Loof the defending World Champion, but perhaps more note should be made of the slightly surprise silver medallists Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria (SUI). The 2004 Worlds marked their best ever result, and whilst they are ranked 11 in the world and 2004 will be their first Olympic appearance, they clearly have what it takes. Back to the sailors at the top of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings for the Keelboat Men fleet who will also be in Athens, keep your eyes on Top of Form Peter Bromby and Lee White (BER), Mark Neeleman and Peter Van Niekerk (NED), and Mark Mannsfield and Killian Collins (IRL), world ranked 3, 4 and 5 respectively. - Excerpts from a story on the ISAF website, full story: www.sailing.org/olympics2004/results/news2594.html DEAN BARKER America's Cup skipper Dean Barker is rediscovering the joys of sailing by tacking back to the "grassroots" of his sport off the Athens coastline. Barker, the public face of New Zealand's calamitous America's Cup defense, has only spent about three weeks at home since January. After the trials and tribulations of the America's Cup defense, Barker was understandably under whelmed by the prospect of jumping off the deep end into the match racing circuit. Saltwater still ran through his veins, he just needed a source of inspiration to reignite his passion. The catalyst came in the form of a "very focused guy" -- British double Olympian Ben Ainslie. A three-time Finn world champion, Ainslie offered an avenue to get Barker out of the doldrums when the pair linked up to compete in the Bermuda Gold Cup match racing regatta last October. "Last year with the Cup and everything I found it hard to get motivated," Barker told NZPA from the Olympic Sailing Centre at Agio Kosmas. "He'd just won the worlds and we talked about me trying to qualify for the Olympics," said Barker, who missed selection for Atlanta 1996 on a count back to 1992 bronze medallist Craig Monk. Barker duly qualified for Athens by finishing fourth in the European championships in La Rochelle in May and any doubts he may have had about returning to single-handed racing have gradually evaporated in the heat off Athens. Barker has been based in Athens for seven weeks and trains alongside Ainslie, who has recently joined Team New Zealand as a member of the afterguard. "I've been very lucky, he's short-cutted my learning curve. He's obviously very good in this class," said Barker, who last sailed a Finn seriously in the 18 months leading up to the 1996 Games. The Team New Zealand doesn't stop there with another new addition to the organization, American navigator Kevin Hall, also lining up in the Finn class. While the trio obviously get on well, Sailing team manager Don Cowie said friendships would obviously be put on hold once racing started on Saturday. - Excerpts from a NZPA story posted on the NZ Herald website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/5o5eo KING OF SPAIN DEPARTS IMS 2005 year will be the new stage for the regattas team Bribón, which after 10 years participating in the most important regattas in the world, with pure IMS boats, decided to order a design, among Transpac 52 class, for its fourteenth boat for the Bribón team. After several seasons, José Cusí, as owner of Bribón and other European owners, were waiting that the union of ORC (Offshore Racing Council), RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club) and US Sailing (United States Sailing) to agree the parameters of the new Grand Prix Rule, but due to some disagreements, US Sailing pulled out of this partnership in April 2004. Because of this and the demand to make decision about building a new boat for the 2005 season the Bribon team have decided to build a Transpac 52, on the basis that it is estimated that within two years there will be ten boats of this type in Europe. - Excerpts from a story on The Daily Sail website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/4w3ej AROUND THE WORLD ON THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE Once again, the Camet Clothing has been chosen by teams who will sail in the Global Challenge. Teams will be using the lightweight breathable and fast drying Camet shorts, with the foam pads. They also will use Coolmax long and short sleeved shirts for the long stretches in the hot sunny weather and for the best sun protection. Around the world or just on a day sail, Camet clothing is the Number One choice. Shorts, Coolmax shirts, Boardshorts, Bags, Belts etc. http://www.camet.com MULTIHULLS Last summer an e-mailed video clip made the rounds of the sailing community. Set to the Venture's classic surf tune "Wipe Out," it showed a large performance cruising cat, Peter Johnstone's Gunboat 62 Tribe, tearing past an 80-foot raceboat moving at top speeed on a beam reach. The multihull community loved the clip; the maxi-boat's project manager was less enthused. For many, however, it was a first glimpse of Johnstone's brainchild, a South African-built, Melvin and Morrelli-designed cat that's more worthy of the title performance cruiser than almost any other on the water today. Johnstone had spent some time on the largest, fastest cats in the world (Team Adventure, PlayStation), and had previously owned a 68-foot sled refurbished for cruising, so he knew the rewards of high-speed sailing. When he decided his monohull was too uncomfortable when the weather got ugly, he knew the path to follow. Sailing the 62-footer was one of the highlights of the SW Boat of the Year competition, and it left us dreaming about high-speed ocean passages. The Crusing World magazine judges liked it to, crowning it their "Most Innovative Boat". Johnstone, who now has thousands of miles of Gunboat sailing under his belt, told us what it's like to sail one offshore. "On the delivery of Tribe to the Caribbean last fall," he says, "we're going along in a storm, three or four days of 35 to 45 knots of breeze. The top speed we saw on the speedo was 36.6 knots. We had three reefs in the main and a storm jib up and it was totally relaxing. It's nice standing watch from from inside your studio apartment wearing pajamas and slippers, without even putting on foul-weather gear." - Excerpts From a story by Tony Bessinger on the Sailing World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/46o33 MELGES 24 WORLDS The 83 strong fleet from 15 nations experienced mixed fortunes on the opening day of the 2004 Melges 24 Worlds in Marstrand, Sweden. As we go to press there are still a number of ourstanding protests against the race committee which could considerably affect the overall results. Prior to the results of the protests and after two races in light to moderate winds it is currently Flavio Favini, helming for Switzerland's Franco Rossini, who heads the leader board from Italy's Nicola Celon, Germans Alba Batzill and Dietrich Scheder and Rob Smith, helming for Britain's Stuart Simpson. Among those protesting are first race winner Sebastien Col and defending World Champion Shark Kahn. Although both races got away at the first attempt in each case there were a significant number of individual recalls. Unfortunately the committee was very slow in calling numbers and anyone who waited for the radio call before returning had little hope of ever of fighting their way back into the pack. Luca Santella and Kenneth Thelen had the misfortune to be over in both races whilst defending champion Shark was over in the first and started cautiously in the second. Col claims that he realised he was over the line before the radio calls were made and had already returned and cleared himself before his number was called. - Fiona Brown, full story: www.melges24.com/ WINNERS ANNOUNCED Bailer fights and beginner bewilderment grace the pages of Scuttlebutt's First Junior Sailing Photo Contest. Thirteen programs contributed seventy photographic memories from the summer of 2004, with the judges awarding the top three entrants with prizes courtesy of Vanguard Sailboats. If you are active in youth sailing, or can still remember when you were, you will enjoy the images that the freedom of sailing presents in this contest gallery. http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/juniorsailing The judges still working on who are the winners. SWEDISH MATCH TOUR The 2004-2005 Swedish Match professional match racing tour continues this week with stop number two - the 8th annual Danish Open in Skovshoved, Denmark. This event offers approximately $32,900 in prize money, with approximately $9,850 slated for the winner. Reigning champion Magnus Holmberg (SWE), skipper of the SeaLife Rangers crew, won't be in attendance, nor will Ed Baird or Russell Coutts who finished 1-2 at the most recent Tour stop in Portugal two weeks ago. However, for the first time in Danish Open history the field features a female entry. Lotte Meldgaard-Pedersen (DEN), skipper of Team Gerimax, is the world's No. 1-ranked women's match-racer. Medgaard-Pedersen and crew placed sixth last weekend in the Lysekil Women's Match Race, billed as the largest women's match-race regatta in the world. The field also includes Michael Dunstan (AUS) of the OzBoyz Challenge, Kelvin Harrap (NZL) of Team New Zealand, Ulf Jonson (SWE), Chris Law (GBR) of "The Outlaws", Staffan Lindberg (FIN), Lars Nordbjaerg (DEN), Philippe Presti (FRA) of le Défi Français, Mathieu Richard (FRA) and Peter Wibroe (DEN). Racing begins Thursday, Aug. 12, and continues through Sunday, Aug. 15. - Sean McNeill, www.swedishmatchtour.com TEETER-TODTERING WITH OCKAM OR B&G Your compass does much more than supply displayed heading: it directly impacts accuracy of Wind Direction, True Speed /Angle, Current Set/Drift, etc. The amazing 033TT (aka Teeter-Todter 3D) compass designed by Chris Todter is a compact powerhouse. Performing flawlessly at Key West, SORC, to Mexico, Mackinac and Bermuda, availability of the small wonder in 3D has been limited to a lucky few boats. Teeter-Todters are now in stock for you, recent rev's offering B&G "gyro" compatibility. Contact Tom Davis (tom@ockam.com), Campbell Field (cmf@ockameurope.com) or online for more info: http://www.ockam.com or http://www.ockameurope.com THIS WAS NOT IN THE NOR . . . At Wimbledon the court would have been covered and at Lord's the players would have been offered the light, but at Skandia Cowes Week some 10,000 sailors had to grin and bear the brunt of the British summer weather. It was grey and drenchingly wet, with too little wind for too much tide. The smaller dayboat classes struggled to get their starts away towards the end of the 2hr 20min sequences for the 30 classes and finishing was not much better. Among those hardest hit in the misery stakes was the most numerous class, the 79 XODs which are the last away at 12.45 after a 20-minute pause. Some 16 were deemed over line, including Peter Baines, thwarted for a second time in his bid for a record fifth Captain's Cup. He won on Sunday but was one of those who missed the time limit in Saturday's ambitiously long race. "It's my series gone," said Baines. "OK, it was my fault that I was over the line but, looking at the video, so many were over it should have been a general recall." - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/3jytk Event website: www.cowesweek.co.uk NEWS BRIEFS * Augie Diaz, former Snipe World Champion and current Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, has just won the Snipe Masters Worlds on Lake Bracciano outside of Rome, Italy. Dian and his crew Lisa Griffith beat Bibi Juetz/ Dante Bianchi (BRA) by 21.75 points with Mauro Maurizi/ Fabio Nocera, 17 point further back in the 83-boat fleet. - http://snipeworldmaster2004.snipers.it/ * It took less than eight and a half hours for Richard and Mary Compton's Alchemy 77 to finish the 81-mile downhill Californian coastal race from Santa Barbara to King Harbor. However, after the wind turned off, many of the race boats drifted around the Santa Monica Bay for an additional 15- even 16 - hours, and dozen of others turned on their engines and retired. Lee Lewis' and Mike Downing's Martin 243, Gimme Shelter, finished just before midnight to claim the lowest corrected time in the 144-boat fleet. Results are now posted on the SBYC website: www.sbyc.org/KingHarborResults.pdf * Although there is less than eight weeks to go before the start of the first leg of the round the world Global Challenge Race, berths available for some of the legs. To participate in a leg requires two five-day training sessions on the Global Challenge Race Yachts. To download the Information Pack: www.challengebusiness.com/global/downld.html * Tight quarters, police boats and an extremely high level of match racing was the buzz from the most recent J-World San Diego Match Race Series. The two-day event consisted of tight racing across the board in J-World's J-80 sailboats in 7-14 knots of wind. Final results: 1. Bill Hardesty, 2 Scott Dickson, 3 Peter Isler, 4 David Ridley. The next San Diego Match Race Series regatta is scheduled for November 6-7, 2004. - billhardesty@hotmail.com * Oops: In 'Butt 1642 we wanted to provide the names of crew who sailed on Marie Björling's winning team in the Lysekil Woman's Match. However, we inadvertently listed the crew names of Claire Leroy's Team Ideactor. Here's Team Panorama's correct crew list: Nina Bake, Annika Carlunger, Elisabeth Nilsson, Jenny Axhede and Åsa Aronsson. RESCUE AT SEA Four British rowers attempting the fastest crossing from St John's, Newfoundland to Falmouth, Cornwall were picked up by the Scandinavian Reefer in heavy seas about 370 miles west of Bishop's Rock Lighthouse. The four men, who were wearing survival suits, are currently on the ship, after their Pink Lady boat split in two having been hit by very poor weather. Shore Team Manager Bob Barnsley spoke to the skipper Mark Stubbs this morning while he was still in the life raft who confirmed that the crew were 'rattled but safe' and had suffered minor bumps and bruises. The weather locally is described as Force 7 with heavy seas. The men were tipped to break the world record for the fastest Atlantic row from Canada. The Pink Lady apples sponsored row was the culmination of six years of boat development and two years of endurance training in British coastal waters. The crew were raising funds for the British Heart Foundation. - Excerpts from a story posted on the Yachting World website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/6mme8 SAILNET-SAILS DRIVEN, NOT SALES DRIVEN We're just as passionate about sailing as you. Our site is stocked with owner's lists and message boards so you get the straight story on products and technology. Our warehouse is stocked with products you need to get more out of sailing. SailNet.com--the perfect place to feed your passion. http://www.sailnet.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (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 Craig Hamilton (In response to Deanna Wilson, regarding Grant Dalton's comments towards Dennis Conner): You may have a very short memory, but I seem to recall in the 1987 challenge when New Zealand raced KZ7, some very cheap shots and verbal abuse was heard coming out of Mr Conner's mouth, directed at Chris Dickson & Michael Fay, I think that it was some of these comments followed by his next campaign that gave him the nickname Dirty Dennis. I believe that Grant Dalton's comments were just and fair, if you are offended by those comments I think you should start reading a different publication. I am sure that Dennis is a big boy and will let the a bit of yachting slander will be like water off a ducks back. * From Sue Reilly: I know you have closed the Coutts/ Cayard Berterelli/ Ellison thread but one thing not pointed out is that Coutts didn't win the America's Cup all by himself. If it was then why have we not heard that it was Spithill that lost it, not New Zealand? Often I have read here comments about scores only reflecting the skipper and not the crew, and how the whole crew was the reason for the win. I doubt that Coutts could have one it single-handed. Seams like a bit of double standards here. * From Simon Smith: Deanna Wilson must be either very young or very forgetful. We all heard DC's comments at the Americas Cup in Perth when at a world press conference he asked the question, aimed of course at the kiwis, 'Why would you build a fiberglass boat unless you wanted to cheat?" At least Dalton didn't stoop that low. * From R. C. Keefe: It seems that we read more and more about super maxi's being built all over the world to break various speed and distance records, "men against the sea". Often they are designed by somebody that nobody ever heard of. One must assume that these designers have a credential that warrants sending radical 115' mono hulls and their crews to and around distant oceans. Who is Juan Kouyoumdjian? Curmudgeon's Comment: There is not much on the Google search engine about Juan K other than he was on the 2003 Prada America's Cup design team and has designed the ABN AMRO V70 for the next Volvo Ocean Race. A visit to the designer's website reveals nothing? http://www.juanyachtdesign.com/ THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There are two theories about how to win arguments with a boat's tactician. Neither one works. |
