SCUTTLEBUTT #211 -- November 3, 1998

GOOD CHEMISTRY

What do you get when you combine MDT (for Multi Directional Threading) with Stitchless technology? Well, Dennis & Sharon Case did it and they got the trophy for the Schock 35 High Point Series -- again. Dick Schmidt & Gwen Gordon did the same thing this past season, and they finished second behind the Cases. MDT and Stitchless technology are two of the factors that make Ullman Sails lighter, stronger·and apparently faster. Check out the Ullman Sails website to learn how you can improve the performance of your racing program:

http://www.ullmansails.com/

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
>> Mark Yeager -- Here are two more perfectly good examples of how John Bonds and everyone else at US Sailing have completely lost touch with reality. On one hand you have virtually every sailor in the free world screaming that they want to be hailed over the VHF on over-earlies, but can US Sailing accomplish this? Of course not.

On the other hand, you have Bonds and everybody else in the Ivory Tower forgetting completely and totally that this country was founded on the principles of freedom of choice and individual liberty. They're too busy playing Big Brother with their stupid PFD rule. Never mind that a sailor has enough brains to know when and when not to wear a PFD. Never mind that in the southern latitudes of the US, the water is warm enough to swim in the majority of the year. Never mind that 95-100 degrees of heat coupled with light wind promotes dehydration and heatstroke when being forced to wear extra clothing. Never mind that the Start/Finish line (where the PFD's are required) is the ONE place on the whole racecourse where help is always close at hand. Never mind that all of them in the Ivory Tower are presiding over a decline in participation across the country (Been anywhere where the entry list is up this year?), they're too busy playing Big Brother to notice. (We're from the government and we're here to help you.)

>> From Frank Whitton -- Regarding Dan Nowlan and others who don't think its fair to monetarily support the ISAF and National Organizations. I feel differently. We should all equally support them. If we all gave $10 (including each Americas Cup syndicate) we would share equally in the financial responsibility since we all get the same benefits.

>> From Fred Frye -- The guest editorial by Dan Nowlan was very scary. It may put an end to many events that are mainstream races for the non-professionals, those of us who love our sport. I can see real problems for yacht clubs that ask for sponsorship help. How did these guys (ISAF) get all the power? I guess when a Corinthian sport becomes professionalized, "stuff" happens.

>> From Jack Mallinckrodt -- Frank Whitton questions "how IMS can have an infinite number of ratings for boats based on predicted (wind) velocities and how just picking one that is close to race conditions is an order of magnitude better than IOR ever was and PHRF ever will be."

First, IMS scoring, using either PCS or PLS (like AMERICAP) does NOT require or use "predicted wind velocity". That was discarded long ago as impractical. Both PCS and PLS, however, have the ability to properly take into account the slow/fast nature of the race and calculate a time allowance appropriate to each yacht in those conditions. How that is done is a longer story than we can tell here but for anyone seriously interested the documentation is available.

While we all know that there are light wind boats and heavy wind boats, most don't appreciate just how big a factor this can be. Within our current SCORA (Southern California Ocean Racing) AMERICAP fleet, there are yachts which, if handicapped perfectly at 10 knots with any single number system like IOR or PHRF, would be in error with respect to one another by as much as 53 seconds per mile at 20 knots wind, and by 125 seconds per mile at 6 knots. That's a HUMONGEOUS error inherent in any otherwise perfect single number scoring system.

Nobody thinks IMS is perfect. But it is being constantly improved by ORC. It doesn't know how to handle asymmetrical rigs very well -- yet. But many IMS adherents on the east coast and in Europe, have stated that for a large range of boat types, IMS, properly scored, (PCS or PLS) has led to the most accurate handicapping we've ever had.

>> From Peter Johnstone -- Sailor of the Year? Anyone can go rack up a nice victory list, but how many can fundamentally change the course of the sport through their on-the-water feats. Think about it. Before Cayard, the Whitbread was a second tier event clearly behind the America's Cup. Cayard not only won it in his first try, but he elevated it into the pinnacle event in sailing. He taught a whole generation of offshore sailors how to do it right, and through his communications, kept the rest of us on the edge of our office chairs for the better part of nine months reading his entertaining e-mails. No individual has done a better job of capturing the imagination and support of everyone, whether sailors or not, since Dennis winning the Cup back in '87. Sailor of the Year? Give it to Cayard and call it Sailor of the Decade.

IMS vs. one design vs. PHRF? Who cares? Each have their following. Each have their benefits and pitfalls. All that really matters is that their are great choices for different sailors to go sail. There is no one greatest boat, class, or rule. The beauty of sailing is that there are so many choices and varieties. No one can ever master all of it, which is probably why we're all so hooked. In my opinion, those making critical judgements of other's sailing choices are usually the ones who've sampled the fewest sailing choices. Sail where you want, enjoy it, and let the participation numbers do the paring. What may be right in one area may not be right for the next. The beauty of sailing is that it is NOT homogeneous.

>> From Ty Goss -- As to nominations for the Rolex awards, I think there isn't much question that Terry Hutchinson is a shoe-in for the award. Not only has he dominated the J-24 class this year, (Midwinters, NAs,and the Worlds) But he also won the Mumm 36's at SORC, and was instrumental in winning the Mumm 30 East Coast Championships in Annapolis. I'm sure with his racing schedule there are several other bullets in his resume. Let's face it, this is Terry's year. The wind gods have done him well. I bet he can almost hear the Rolex ticking now.

>> From Jim Nichols -- (Regarding the Around Alone website) I noticed the same 'surfeit' of web gizmos on my first visit to the site - sent an email to the webmaster suggesting streamlining things a bit, and received an appreciative response outlining steps taken to do just that. So, quodos to Quokka for being responsive to input and criticism ... if you don't ask, you don't get.

>> From Chris Ericksen -- Re Ben Mitchell's recommendation that racers who have not done much race committee work should volunteer and do some: I couldn't agree more. As you know, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club relies almost exclusively on volunteers plucked out of their racing boats once or twice a year to run races; it is not a coincidence that ABYC is recognized for excellence in race management. I have one other suggestion, though, to pass along: I wish those clubs who rely on the same people running races every time would also require (or at least encourage strongly) that these people race sailboats at least once a year. There are clubs in SoCal whose race committees are made up of people who have not raced sailboats in this decade, and their performance shows.

>> From Dieter Loibner -- My Rolex Vote: Cayard.

>> From Rich Roberts -- How are the world match-racing rankings like an L.A. election?

Russell Coutts wins the Bermuda Gold Cup--a premier event--and drops out of the top 10 (12th). That's because the rankings cover the last three years and Coutts' '96 successes have started to drop off the chart. In other words, he could have sailed off the end of the earth after '96 and stayed in the top 10 another two years. Sailing is sure hard to explain sometimes.

It seems a little like voting for a dead man -- which some of us in LA will do today.

>> From Peter Huston -- To James Nichols - the issue which surrounds the use of Appendix R has nothing to do with defining the difference between a hobby and a sport. Rather, the issue is one of coming to terms with creating a system that defines the difference between those who wish to race sailboats as a sport, rather than as business.

Appendix R is hardly the be-all and end-all of an eligibility system. Much work remains, and continues, to be done in this area. The application of Appendix R, or any subsequent eligibility system, should be (and typically is) left up solely to those who currently, and consistently, race in any class or event. It is the responsibility of ISAF and member national authorities to give all sailors the infrastructure tools to create competitive formats other than only "king of the mountain".

SHARP-EYED READERS
Yesterday's 'Butt carried an America's Cup story that apparently originated from Michael Levitt, communications director of the NYYC. We found it on the ISAF website and it said in part, "The 1995 America's Cup was reportedly watched by 40-billion viewers in 172 countries." Two sharp-eyed readers found a mistake and let us know about it.

Don Anderson wrote to say, "Wow, impressive considering there are only 5 billion people on Earth. I wonder to what other planets it was broadcast?" And we also heard from Steve Glassman who commented-- "I know, just those ESPN guys looking to build the ratings during sweeps month (November)."

Thanks guys for keeping us honest.

AROUND ALONE
Cape Town, South Africa -- Giovanni Soldini today finished a disappointing Around Alone Leg 1 on a dreary, grey morning that held little promise of joy or sunshine. In Class II, J.P. Mouligne led a trio of competitors who are now within 1,000 miles of the finish line. Unless something disastrous occurs, Mouligne, with just 600 miles to go at 0944 GMT, appears destined to lead Brad Van Liew (786 miles) and Mike Garside (843 miles) home.

Event website: http://www.aroundalone.com

ISAF ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Jane Moon has withdrawn her candidacy as an ISAF Vice President today. At the women's sailing committee with female representatives of other ISAF committees present Jane Moon was unanimously appointed as the women's representative on the ISAF council. The three remaining female candidates for ISAF Vice President are Helen Mary Wilkes, Theresa Lara Anzola and Nucci Novi Ceppellini. The election for the 7 Vice Presidents, one of whom must be a woman, will take place on Saturday the 7th of November.

Ser Miang of Singapore has withdrawn his candidacy for ISAF Vice President due to his International Olympic Committee committments. Remaining candidates for Vice President are George Andreadis (GRE), Teresa Lara Anzola (VEN), Fernando Bolin (ESP), Sadi Claeys (BEL), David Kellett (AUS), Nucci Novi Ceppellini (ITA), Goran Petersson (SWE), Ken Ryan (IRL), James Schoonmaker (USA), Tom Ehman (USA), Bernhard Stegmeier (SUI) and Helen Mary Wilkes (IRL).

The BUZZ Class was recommended for ISAF Recognized Status, the 49er was recommended for International Status, both recommendations are expected to be approved by council later this week.

Tuesday's are meetings of the Events, Racing Rules, Constitution, Measurement and International Regulations Committees, with a Sailors' and Coaches Forum. Tonight, the winners of the 1998 ISAF/Sperry Top-Sider World Sailor of the Year Award will be announced. (Scuttlebutt will honor the embargo of the ISAF press release and hold off the announcement of the winners until tomorrow's issue.)

Conference website: http://sailing.org/98november/

MORE ISAF CONFERENCE
The following is a special "non-official" report to the 'Butt-heads from the ISAF Annual Conference currently underway in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Canadian Steve Tupper reporting:

OFFSHORE ONE DESIGN -- The committee modified its terms of reference and admitted "development" classes into its activities thus opening the door to the many classes of oceanic boats. The committee considered six new classes asking for recognized status. The Mono Hull 60, Multi Hull 60 and the Farr 40 were recommended for Recognized Status. The J-80 and the Sidney 40 were deferred to next year as they were deficient in numbers of boats and countries sailed.

The One Design Maxi was accepted subject to getting the two boats presently under construction launched and in the water. The committee considered and approved a proposal for ISAF to hold a One Design Offshore Championship every four years. With the first one potentially held in 2001. Dubai and France have indicated interest in hosting this event. It would be a one-week regatta with four or five of the ISAF Classes competing.

YOUTH COMMITTEE -- The major decisions revolved around endorsing a submission to broaden the number of classes eligible to be used in the Youth Worlds. This will enable potential host countries to bid for the event utilizing the International and Recognized classes in their country. It is likely that Countries will be required to state the classes they intend to use when hosting around 2 years in advance. The 2000 Youth Championships were postponed form the original dates early in 2000 to a date late in the year. This will ease the problem of the events currently being scheduled close to the South African dates. The Nova Scotia bid to host the event in 2002 was provisionally accepted and planning can now begin in earnest.

KEELBOAT COMMITTEE -- Major concerns lay in the Dragon Class rules where the recent popularity of the class has lead to new builders looking for ways to optimize boats built within rules that had not been updated for many years. A revised set of hull measurement rules was presented and should solve the problems. Most other discussion centered around the control of keels and especially keel thickness in several classes.

FUTURE OLYMPIC CLASSES -- Following the committee meetings there was an Open Forum on the future Olympics. Many issues were discussed and old one rehashed. All aspects of our sport are working hard on securing their place in the Olympic Program or expanding it. Discussion really centered around three key issues. Should match racing be a stand-alone event in the Games? Should there be both male and female match racing? (There is a requirement by the IOC for sailing to raise the percentage of women competing in the Games to 30% by 2004. The last games had 19.5%.) How the events and classes will be picked for 2004?

An added interest was a letter from the IOC suggesting that Sailing should try to reflect both classic aspects of its sport as well as keeping the competition athletic. They suggested that we should only consider changing 30% of our events over any one Olympic period.

CENTERBOARD COMMITTEE
49er -- The Committee debated a submission concerning the methods of selecting builders and controlling the actual 49ers that will be sailed in Sydney. The Sailors want to have the boats selected from a single builder and built just before the Games. This tends to contradict the concept of four builders that are to build a uniform product around the world. There is no doubt that all old boats will be ruled out and that only boats built to the new tighter building specs will be accepted.

Europe -- There is a great debate about Europe Dinghy masts. Over the last two years there has been a growing concern about the mast specifications, which is permitting a development race leading to development of expensive "Wing" masts. The class has brought a new set of class rules to the committee, which will rule out the Wing mast development and make the mast virtually one-design in profile. The debate will continue through the Events and Sailing Committee and I will report when I feel there is a decision.

Windsurfing -- The windsurfing committee noted the proposals for changing away from One Design towards Funboard and did not make any decisions to recommend change.

WOMEN'S COMMITTEE -- The women's committee met and soundly refused the concept of eliminating this committee. They also held an election and selected Jane Moon from the Cayman Islands to fill the women's seat on the Council. There are still two key women's positions to be decided that of ISAF VP which election on Saturday and the Chairman of the Women's Committee, which will be appointed by Council.

The election process is starting to heat up with a growing realization among delegates to the fact that not only is it important to recruit votes but you must be certain that you get everyone to vote at the right time. This is because the 7 VPs will be selected by individual votes among all the candidates remaining after each election round. -- Steve Tupper

THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL
You can swim against the stream, but don't expect the stream to turn around.