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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 589 - June 13, 2000ICYRA ALL-AMERICANSDalton Bergan, USC '00, Adam Burns, Old Dominion '01, Ryan Costello, Georgetown '01, Mike Danish, Coast Guard '00, Sean Doyle, Harvard '02, Sean Fabre, MIT '00, Chris Gaffney, St. Mary's '00, Dan Herlihy, Dartmouth '00, Patrick Hogan, Dartmouth '01, Anthony Kotoun, St. Mary's '00, Daniel Meade, USC '00, Colin Merrick, Hobart/WmSmith '01, Ty Reed, St. Mary's '00, Michael Richards, Tufts '00, Alan Sun, MIT '00, Christian Taubman, Harvard '00 HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICANS - Brian Bissell, Georgetown '02, Adam Deermount, Tufts '01, Marcus Eagan, Charleston '02, Tal Ingram, Hobart/WmSmith '00, Wade Tornyos, Navy '00, Alan Uram, Charleston '00, Ken Ward, Georgetown '02 WOMEN ALL-AMERICANS - Margaret Gill, Harvard '02, Kaya Haig, Boston Univ '01, Lee Icyda, Tufts '01, Katie Maxim, St. Mary's '00, Erin Maxwell, Dartmouth '01, Jen Provan, Tufts '01, Jamie Smith, St. Mary's '03 HONORABLE MENTION WOMEN ALL-AMERICANS - Sally Barkow, Old Dominion '02, Andrea Cabito, USC '00, Chrissie Jurczak, Hobart/WmSmith '00, Jessica Lackey, MIT '00, Anika Leerssen, Stanford '00, Jen Morgan, Dartmouth '02, Molly O'Bryan, Hawaii '01 CREW ALL-AMERICANS Jessica Amen, USC '02, Katie Behan, Hobart/WmSmith '01, Susan Bonney, Harvard '02, Missy Carter, Navy '00, Kippy Chamberlain, Charleston '01, Molly Curtiss, St. Mary's '00, Jane DeLashmutt, St. Mary's '00, Megan Edwards, Tufts '00, Madhulika Jain, MIT '00, Nate Kendrick, Coast Guard '00, Sarah Levin, Harvard '00, Katie Lyndon, Dartmouth '01, Erin Myers, Dartmouth '00, Heather Pescatello, Old Dominion '00, Nicole Peterson, Hobart/WmSmith '00, Kirsten Rufleth, Boston Univ '00, Dana Scalere, Georgetown '01, Sarah Taylor, Charleston '01, Tracy Treaccar, USC '02, Leah Williams, Georgetown '02 COLLEGE SAILOR OF THE YEAR - Dalton Bergan, USC '00 SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - Alan Sun, MIT '00 TEAM OF THE YEAR (Fowle Trophy) - St. Mary's College of Maryland Website: http://www.collegesailing.org/allamer.htm EUROPE 1 NEW MAN STAR The final sprint is on, as the Class 1 Multihull fleet puts in a final push for the finish. The race winner could be in Newport within 30 hours, breaking the race record by close to a day. There are 4 boats still in a position to win, separated by less than 80 miles. The monohull leaders are also starting to cluster together, the North South spread of the top 3 boats is now less than 40 miles. In fourth place, Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool) has made up ground by taking a Southerly route. The outlook for Tuesday shows a cold front that will continue to generate small systems, one of which will strengthen on Wednesday to affect the second half of the fleet. CLASS ONE MULTIHULLS - 1. Francis Joyon, Eure et Loir, 557 nm to finish, 2. Franck Cammas, Groupama, 600, 3. Alain Gautier, Foncia, 600, CLASS ONE MONOHULLS - 1. Ellen MacArthur Kingfisher 1333, 2. Roland Jourdain Sill Beurre le Gall 1361, 3. Mike Golding Team Group 4 1415, For more information: http://www.europe1newmanstar.com/uk COMMODORES' CUP The Rolex Commodores' Cup 2000 (RCC) looks set to profit from an unforeseen advantage of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's (RORC) new racing rule. Many had feared that the new high performance IRM rule would make old IMS boats obsolete. But according to Admiral's Cup veteran Ian Tillett, it is quite the opposite, "It seems to be a quirk of the new rule that old IMS boats rate quite well under IRM, so we could see a lot of old boats popping up out of the woodwork for the Rolex Commodores' Cup." Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), the event from 12th-19th August in Cowes is likely to attract between 8 and 10 teams, according to RORC Commodore Peter Rutter. There is still some uncertainty about which teams are likely to materialise, but RORC's general manager David Minords expects to see 10 teams hit the Cowes start line on 13th August. Each team will consist of three boats that could vary in size from 8.95m up to 15m. At the moment, likely entries are two from England and one each from Scotland, Wales, France, Spain and the Channel Islands. There are also rumours of a Benelux team from Holland and Belgium. - Susannah Bourne BIG PROBLEM For as long as I can remember, I've used my tired, beat up old shorts for sailing. But no more. I've gotten spoiled by my fast drying Supplex Camet shorts, and with their foam pads that pamper my aging butt. And the Camet shorts do have a good look. So now I have a problem - what do I do with my old shorts? http://www.camet.com J/24 NATIONALS Cape May, NJ. (53 boats) - Chris Snow (San Diego, CA) and his team of Willem van Waay (San Diego, CA), Nick Van De Wense (Annapolis), Dave Kurt (Los Angeles, CA), and Andrew Kerr (San Diego, CA) raced "Patriot" (USA 2123) to victory in the J/24 Nationals. 1. C. Snow (19 points) 2. J. Mauri (26 points) 3. G. Moore (30) 4. E. Perez (33) 5. A. Constants (37) 6. W. Crump (37). Complete results: http://jerryo.com/parkway2000/cyccm2.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) and to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a chat room. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Peter Huston - Would there be a chance of increasing the total number of participants in the Rolex Women's Keelboat regatta if both the J-22 and the J-24 were part of this great event? Run the next event with two seperate classes and let the free market make the choice. Anything that can be done to get more women sailing is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. -- From Michael McCutchon (and slashed to our 250-word limit) - Active J22 fleets are widespread throughout the US with the notable exception of California. It is not just an East Coast boat. There were 75 boats at Midwinters in New Orleans this year. Overseas classes are growing rapidly. An optimized J22 is a few thousand dollars cheaper than an optimized J24. Never mind what the cheapest ones go for. There is a glut of cheap J24's on the market, but there are lots of reasons for that. There is no such thing as a "fast" J22. They are very equally matched. There are certainly "fast" J24's that sell for a premium. The J22 mast is deck stepped with little effort. I even leave my shrouds attached all the time. You can tow a J22 with a small sport utility or minivan. How many of women sailors have the one-ton dually it takes to campaign a J24? Set of J22 sails retail: $2700. Set of J24 sails retail: $5100. No more low back problems from driving a J24 hunched inside the lifelines. Seventy percent fewer bruises on a J22. No overlapping headsail. Dinghy-like sailing characteristics with regard to roll-tacking and acceleration. These leadership bodies are trying to move women's sailing forward with the change to J22's. I believe they are making a wise choice. The boat is much better suited for the job. The change may be tough for those in areas where there are few boats, but I see it as an opportunity to grow a better class. -- From Susan Minton - I am excited about the change in the Rolex women's keelboat event from J-24's in Newport to J-22's in Annapolis. If the intent of this event is to provide a regatta where women must purchase an expensive boat and train for years with the same crew to be competitive, then I support the J-24. However, if the intent of the event is to promote competitive women's sailing, I support the J-22. The boat is far less complex to sail, and quality charter boats are readily available in the Annapolis area. As a Mid-Atlantic resident, I never considered competing in this event due to my limited J-24 experience. As much as I would have liked to become a J-24 expert, I did not have the time or the funding to commit to preparing for an event held once every two years. My experience in the J-22 is limited as well, but I am confident the J-22 is a boat that non-J-22 sailors have the potential to be competitive in. I am now a Southern California resident where J-22's are few, and I am, for the first time, eager to participate in this event. FOR THE RECORD Club Med is currently in mid-Atlantic, halfway between Cadiz and San Salvador (Bahamas) and was sailing this morning at 16-18 knots in 10-12 knot winds. The crew has taken advantage of this respite to do a thorough check-up of the boat and to see if she didn1t suffer during the 24 hours spent at more than 25 knots. Bruno Peyron : "As soon as the record was over we started a check-up of the main sensitive points. General inspection, undoing of watertight bulkheads, inspection of the hulls and articulating parts. It1s very important to do this in order to see where we are at with the loads on the structure and anticipate any small technical faults. The result is excellent; everything would seem to be armour tight, nothing has moved." On board, the crew which is becoming more and more confident is catching up on a little rest despite the concentration of those in charge of making the boat go as fast as possible. There1s less stress and it1s time to recover. Grant Dalton who is discovering sailing on a maxi-multihull is enjoying sailing at such speeds : "I don1t know whether it will be easy to go back to sailing on monohulls after such speeds, but each race is a new challenge. Let1s finish this one first before asking such questions". The boat is currently pursuing her route towards San Salvador and is beating upwind while waiting for the wind shift that should allow them to descend on port tack towards the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Syndicate website: http:// www.clubmed.com 1D48 (Dobbs Davis looks at the break up of the 1D48 fleet as a viable one-design class on the Sailing Source website. Here are two excerpts from his analysis.) * One of the more interesting ironies in the world of Grand Prix sailing is that only weeks after the demise of the US' only professional sailing circuit, with a "lack of support from the sailors" blamed for the fold, the assets of this venture are selling like hotcakes. Out of the eight Reichel/Pugh-designed 1D48's, two have sold already to new owners in Southern California, with a third likely to go to the same area. What's the reason for this turn-around in interest? During four years of providing some of the world's most competitive one-design fleet racing and attracting the top talent in the sport, there was only a trickle of sales interest, with most teams opting for either long or short-term charters. This scheme seemed to work, as the class had developed a well-earned reputation of being a training ground for America's Cup teams, Whitbread crews, and others interested in competing with and amongst the best. Even the advent and popularity of the amateur-driven one design classes over the last few years still left an important niche for those not wanting to worry about how many amateurs they had on the crew. * In many ways the 1D48 was ahead of its time, because these features and strategies were adopted, modified, and improved on successively in the Mumm 30, Corel 45, Farr 40, and 1D35 classes. Yet out of all these, it's interesting to note that boat owners in the US clearly favor the owner-driver classes, where the involvement of pro-level sailors is limited to helping sail the boat and providing instruction on where and when to tack. In contrast, the 1D48 Class had an open and unrestricted policy, where the best sailors were sought to fit roles suited to them on the boat, which certainly allowed, but did not necessarily mandate, owner-drivers. Over the four years of class competition, there were several successful owner-driver programs, with the most prominent being Dick and Doug DeVos' 'Windquest'. Other owners, such as Jay Ecklund of 'Starlight' and Dr. Jim Andrews of 'Abracadabra', derived enjoyment from having a non-helmsman role on the boat yet still being very much an integral part of the team. This is more on the model of how the Europeans compete in big boats, whether its IMS racing or in the Corel 45 circuit in the Mediterranean. Dee Smith, a veteran of these and other classes, describes this as the "jockey mentality," analogous to horse racing. Whereas US owners prefer to have their hands on the wheel, many European owners feel their team effort is better served having someone steer who perhaps is better qualified than they are, with their efforts being directed towards assembling the best team possible to win. In this model, the Euro owner derives pleasure from the team's success, rather like what's the norm in other sports. Indeed, throughout the four years of class racing in the US, many of the charterers in 1D48 events were from outside the US. So, this break-up of the 1D48 fleet can be seen to signify the end of yet another avenue for unrestricted sailing in the US. Aside from the occasional America's Cup and Volvo Race program, which typically struggles here to find sufficient funding, pro sailors in the US will likely have to go abroad to hone their sailing skills, while remaining at home to refine their teaching talents. - Dobbs Davis Full story: http://www.sailingsource.com/davis/default.html HOT WEBSITE Peter Huston found a windsurfing website that pumps out real time and historical wind information for 160 locations in North America. It's definitely worth checking out: http://www.iwindsurf.com WOODEN BOATS AND IRON MEN Seattle's Center for Wooden Boats is in the midst of restoring the great Ted Geary designed R-boat Pirate. Built in Seattle in 1926, Pirate was the first West Coast-designed and built racer ever to compete in the East. In 1929, she was shipped, via Panama, to Long Island Sound where she beat the best of the East Coast boats at Larchmont Race Week. She was skippered by SoCal sailing legend Matt Walsh and represented the California Yacht Club. In July of last year, Pirate was bought by a syndicate of Seattle yachtsmen/women and brought to Lake Union where she was built 74 years ago. Concurrent with the purchase of the boat, plans of a 39" R-boat sailing model based on Pirate were discovered. Designed by Geary in 1927, the model boats were built by school boys in Los Angeles and, by 1929, 300 of them were competing in regattas in the model basin at Westlake (now Mac Arthur) Park in L. A. These are "free sailors" (no brains, no vanes) which balance very well and race by beating up a rectangular basin. With grants from the Enersen Family Foundation and the Women's Group at Seattle Yacht Club, we have revived the program with a group of middle schoolers at Alternative School No. 1. We will hold our first regatta for the Pirate Cup at the Center tomorrow, June 8. The three top model makers will receive internships at the Center for summer work on the fleet there. These are kids who might not otherwise be exposed to sailing or pleasure boating (an odd thing in Seattle). We will have a manual for the construction of the boats available in late Summer. We are actively seeking shop or craft teachers who might to like to build these fine little craft with their students. Class materials will be available at a modest cost, the proceeds going toward the restoration of the big Pirate. For more information, contact Scott Rohrer in Seattle at 206 281 8144 CALENDAR July 15th - 2000 Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Island Race, http://www.byc.com/mack00 INDUSTRY NEWS Boston, Massachusetts - Boatscape.com has laid off half of its full-time employees, 17 people, to streamline operations. The Internet startup, which was given a US$5 million injection of cash last year by the venture capital company CMGI, is still on the road to profitability, according to founder and CEO Jay Wilkins, who said "there's no need to be alarmed." Up and running for about a year, Boatscape.com does not yet make money, Wilkins said, but he expects the company to be profitable by the end of the year. Boatscape.com is designed to be a portal for the recreational boater with e-commerce, discussions groups, an online store and editorial content made available to visitors. - Mel Hyman Full story: http://www.boating-industry.com/HotNews.asp THE CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS Balderdash - n., a rapidly receding hairline. |
