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SCUTTLEBUTT 1999 -- January 2, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.FRAGILE BOATS FACE MOST GRUELLING TEST It is crunch time for the Volvo Ocean Race today as the seven crews set sail into the Southern Ocean to face the toughest racing conditions on earth in super-powerful boats that have so far proved worryingly fragile in big seas. After a first leg from Vigo, in Spain, to Cape Town that saw three boats suffer serious damage, two of which ended up travelling to South Africa by plane and by ship, the race can ill afford another catalogue of disasters in the early stages of this 6,100-mile second leg to Melbourne. The Cape Town stopover has featured an enormous amount of work by every team as they sought to strengthen their boats and particularly the fragile canting keel mechanisms and supporting structures that have caused the most problems to date. But there is still every likelihood of further setbacks in the coming days. The leg into the southern Indian Ocean has often seen some of the roughest weather in the entire race and the forecast suggests that the boats and crews will be tackling big seas once they get offshore and away from the Cape of Good Hope. Glenn Bourke, the chief executive officer of the race, was candid about what lies ahead. "The teams have spent a lot of time beefing up the areas that they think could be weak and we will probably have a significant step forward in terms of structural integrity of the boats, but there is every chance they will break down again," he said in Cape Town yesterday. - Edward Gorman, The Times, full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4041-1966532,00.html HEAVY HITTERS RECRUITED FOR SOUTHERN OCEAN Cape Town, South Africa - There are some noticeable crew changes as the clock ticks down to the start of the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race that begins on Monday. Brasil 1 has taken on two very experienced ocean adventurers for the next leg. Marcel van Trieste (NED) replaces Adrienne Cahalan (AUS) as the navigator and had his first outing on the boat for the in-port race on Boxing Day. Van Trieste brings a wealth of experience to the boat and with three Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Races under his belt he beefs up the ocean experience onboard. Norwegian Knut Frostad also joins the Brasil 1 crew for the Southern Ocean legs. Another three times round the world sailor, competing twice alongside Van Triest, Frostad comes onboard as one of the watch captains replacing Horacio Carabelli (BRA) who will remain ashore for this leg. ABN Amro One, the lead boat in the Volvo Ocean Race, also sees a crew replacement with British sailor Brian Thompson standing in for an injured Mark Christensen (NZ), who sustained an arm and wrist injury whilst training in Spain. Thompson is no stranger to the Southern Ocean or sailing around the world having seen victory last year in the Oryx Quest, a non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Added to this, is a wealth of experience in Open 60's and maxi catamarans. Other changes include the addition of three times Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race sailor Matt Humphries to the crew of the newly named ING Real Estate Brunel (formerly Sunergy and Friends). British sailor Humphries will replace Campbell Field (NZ) as the navigator onboard the Australian entry while Gareth Cooke (NZ) replaces Graeme Taylor. The final two crew changes are within Ericsson Racing Team and Pirates of the Caribbean; Irish sailor Damien Foxall, who competed onboard Tyco in the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race, has replaced Tony Kolb (GER) on Ericsson and Anthony Merrington (AUS) replaces Olympic bronze medallist Fredrik Loof of Sweden on Pirates of the Caribbean. Movistar and ABN Amro Two are the only two boats not to have made any crew changes on leg two. Complete crew lists: www.volvooceanrace.org. Photo of VOR cast: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/vorleg2.jpg WHAT'S IN A NAME? (Tom Ehman explains the confusing term, 'Challenger of Record,' in a December 31 post on the BMW Oracle Racing Blog. Here's an excerpt.) The America's Cup Deed of Gift only contemplates one challenger at a time, and prior to 1970 there was only one Challenger for each AC Match. The Cup grew in popularity following its 1958 re-awakening in the smaller, more affordable 12-Metre Class yachts. By 1968 clubs in both the UK and Australia were vying to challenge the New York YC for the 21st America's Cup Match set to be held in 1970. Wanting to accommodate both, NYYC made one of the more innovative moves in the Cup's history when it suggested the prospective challengers compete in a series of races off Newport that summer to determine which would be the ultimate Challenger, and asked its lawyers to find a way to make it legal under the Deed. Well, as we say in English, "Where there's a will, there's a way" and, "Necessity is the mother of invention." To make multiple challengers possible under the Deed, the lawyers drafted the Conditions Governing the 21st AC Match to state that one of the challenging clubs was the "Challenger of Record," and, that if they were beaten by the other club in the challenger racing that summer off Newport, the other club would become the "substitute challenger" with all the rights, priveleges and obligations of the Challenger of Record. Essentially that framework remains today. BMWOR's Golden Gate YC, by agreement with Alinghi's club Societe Nautique Geneve, was the first club to file a challenge for AC 32. As such, we became the Challenger of Record under the Conditions Governing the 32nd America's Cup -- known today as "The Protocol." As in 1970, and every Cup since (except, of course, the unfortunate 1988 Match), we are sailing a series of races to determine which of the eleven challengers will be the ultimate challenger. Since 1983 that series has been known as the Louis Vuitton Cup. For AC 32 it spans not three months but, in effect, three years -- certainly another significant AC innovation. It's a bit disconcerting to note that the Challenger of Record has never won the Louis Vuitton Cup let alone the America's Cup. BMWOR promises to give it our best shot to change that little bit of Cup history. - Full story: http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/stories/1341264/ LOOKING BACK AT THE BIG RACE A few days before the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, skipper of the brand-new maxi Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, commented that winning the race on handicap was the real prize. "It's a bigger thrill for a boat to win on handicap than to get line honours," he said. "Line honours this year is between four or five boats really. Handicap is between the whole fleet. That is the goal that everyone aspires to. All the guys up in the CYCA clubhouse with their photos on the wall, they are the handicap winners. From the sailors' point of view, that is the real trophy, to win the Tattersalls Cup." Little could Richards have realized that less than a week later, he would become the first skipper since Rani's victory in the inaugural race of 1945 to win 'the treble' - not just line honours, but the handicap victory and a new course record to boot. Many experts believed Bob Oatley's brand new maxi would not get to Hobart at all. It was not an unreasonable assumption. You don't launch the world's most hi-tech and technically complex racing yacht just three weeks before an ocean race that takes you into some of the most treacherous seas in the world - and expect to get away with it, let alone win the race. For that reason Alfa Romeo, a virtual twin of Wild Oats XI, was the bookies' favourite to win the race because owner/skipper Neville Crichton had spent five months working his Reichel/Pugh design up to speed. And when the two sisterships squared up to each other in the inshore series a week before the Hobart start, Alfa Romeo beat Wild Oats in almost every race. Not long after the start, Alfa Romeo had overhauled Wild Oats by switching headsails earlier. It seemed that Alfa's crews' greater familiarity with their boat was paying off, while the Wild Oats crew were learning as they went along. Mark Richards and the crew had sailed little more than 300 miles aboard Wild Oats XI before the start - not even half a Hobart of experience to their name. By the following morning, however, Wild Oats had turned the tables after a bold move inshore by the boat's co-navigators, Adrienne Cahalan and David Dickson. "We went inshore, and that's where it made the difference for us," commented Cahalan on satellite phone. "We got a bit further down into the rhumb line down south and that's where the wind came in for us. We got a nice windshift off Gabo Island and I think that's where we took a step forward. "We had a little more wind than we expected. We got the better case scenario where we kept some wind all night, whereas I don't think some of the others did." Surely it would simply be a matter of time before the greater experience and firepower of Crichton's crew - which numbered Ben Ainslie and Adrian Stead among the afterguard - would grind down the leader. But position reports showed Wild Oats gradually trickling away from Alfa Romeo. Helmsman Mark Richards raised his fist aloft in victory as he helmed the Reichel/Pugh 98-foot maxi across the Hobart finish line just 10 seconds past 8 o'clock in the morning. Not only had Bob Oatley's team taken line honours, but they had set a new time of 1 day, 18 hours and 10 minutes for the 628-mile course. They had shattered the Volvo Ocean 60 Nokia's longstanding record by more than an hour. At the dockside prizegiving, Wild Oats XI was duly honoured for her historic treble, and Matteo Mazzanti of Rolex SA presented skipper Mark Richards with two Rolex Yachtmasters in Rolesium, one each for the line honours and IRC handicap victories. "This is something we will remember for ever," said Richards, as the jubilant crew held aloft the two great prizes of the Great Race, the JH Illingworth trophy and the Tattersalls Cup. -- Nicole Browne and Anna Wallin, complete story: http://www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/22786/48/ Divisional Winners: Overall:Wild Oats XI (Aus, NSW/Qld) - Bob Oatley, Mark Richards IRC Division A:Wild Oats XI (Aus, NSW/Qld) - Bob Oatley, Mark Richards IRC Division B:Chieftain (Ireland) - Gerard O'Rourke IRC Division C:Challenge (Aus, Vic) - Lou Abrahams IRC Division D:Wot's Next (Aus, NSW) - Graeme Wood IRC Division E:Ray White Koomooloo (Aus, Qld) - Mike Freebairn PHS: Pekljus (NSW) - David Ferrall Sydney 38:Challenge (Aus, Vic) - Lou Abrahams Complete results: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com ORANGE BOWL YOUTH REGATTA Nearly 700 youth sailors traveled to Miami from across the USA, Caribbean, Bermuda, and South America for the 2005 Orange Bowl Youth Regatta at Coral Reef Yacht Club Miami, FL on December 27-30. Two days of phenomenal sailing were book-ended by two days of zero breeze and no racing. CRYC accommodated the growing throng of racers and supporters by expanding the shore facilities to beyond the delightful confines of CRYC to the adjacent Biscayne Bay YC and the U.S. Sailing Center. Four courses were run in Biscayne Bay for the six fleets, with sailors dealing with lighter breezes on Wednesday but being treated to up to 15 knots on Thursday. -- Chuck Sinks Results: Tyler Sinks and Myles Guttenkunst from San Diego, CA took bullets in the final three races of the Orange Bowl Regatta at the Coral Reef YC to win 100-boat 420 Fleet in tie-breaker with Evan Aras & Joseph Morris from Annapolis. The top 420 all girl team was fifth place finishers Becca Dellenbaugh and Leigh Hammel from Pequot YC in Southport, CT. The Laser Radial class drew 113 boats with Scott Furnary from Rye, NY winning by a single point over Marco Teixidor from Puerto Rico. The top Opti was Will Haeger from Lake Forest, IL., complete results: http://tinyurl.com/7npok Orange Bowl gallery: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/ob/ NEWS BRIEFS * Take a visual tour of the sailing action from 2005 with the ISAF Year in Pictures. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?PID=16810#1 * Dee Caffari and the Aviva Challenge shore team report that the problems on 'Aviva' have been sufficiently resolved for Caffari to round Cape Horn and sail into the Southern Ocean as she attempts to become the first woman to sail solo and non-stop round the world against the prevailing winds and currents. Caffari is expected to round Cape Horn early this week. NO LOGIN REQUIRED This week we have opened up the Forums to Guest usage, where it is not necessary to have your own User name, and you can post or reply without logging in (but if you already have a User account, please use it). Join the Forum action at http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=5 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. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Tim Dick: What a sight -- seven planing Volvo yachts charging together around Table Bay in 40 knots of breeze in a virtually made-for-TV hour-long experience with the drama of crashes and near crashes, the human struggle of just 12 guys manhandling these intensely powerful on-the-edge machines, hanging over the lifelines, barely visible in the spray of a 35 knot drag race to the next mark. Next made for TV Volvo in-harbor race will be after a human drama of an around-the-world leg which provides personal heroism stories which all modern sports figures are built on. ... vs. absurd technicality of the twice-as-heavy, 10x the cost pair of America's Cup yachts plodding sedately around a course for two hours at a maximum of 12 knots (not above 20 knots of wind, please, and not too many waves, we don't like that you know) with anachronisms that prevent hiking or, even, dare I say, an elbow sticking out. Can't wait for the drama of a kite momentarily touching a backstay! Or if I watch perhaps a dozen races I might see a sail tear! The pre-game show has the human interest of billionaires sipping champagne aboard superyachts surrounded by the models of the moment. Oooooh, I can hardly wait... * From Kris Olszewski: Philippe makes some wonderful points but he does not take into account crew abilities. Suppose a driver is rated for their ability and regular crew and then they hire a pro-tactician that can account for the driver's inability to tack and jibe in a precise manner and then is able to help the driver to climb to the top for a particularly important regatta? How does the handicap level the playing field? To make it "real" not only skippers would have a rating but also crew and their ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat. i.e. a particularly competent bow person would be rated different than a weekend warrior. Should there be skills testing? This all gets very complicated. * From Chip Pitcairn: Philippe Kahn's suggestions are thought provoking but he has obviously never tried to read the Rules of Golf or its book of Decisions (appeals). Anything but simple. * From Chris Luppens: The 2004-2005 edition of "The Rules of Golf" is 162 pages of little bitsy type. Some of the rules are extremely complicated and make Racing Rules of Sailing #18 look simple! Won't get into how many golfers really follow all the rules, but considering the objective and tools of golf compared to the objective and tools of sailing (and what might happen to them!) the sailing rules aren't as nearly bad as they could be! * From Angus Phillips: I loved Philippe Kahn's idea about golf-style handicaps for sailing, but why not go one better:Give everybody a trophy, like they did for my son in soccer when he was six. That way everyone goes home a winner. For the America's Cup, they could do the same but give bigger trophies to the ones who spend the most money! * From Doug Black: To your writers who are so quick to jump on Mr. Crichton's less that sportsmanlike comments after the Hobart race please let your readers and refuters understand a couple of things about this incredible individual. One, he has a totally self made fortune, some thing you Americans hold in high esteem. Two, Mr. Crichton was interviewed while still on the deck of his yacht, as the yacht was still tying up, he perhaps lacked the composure that a hot shower after a tough ocean race can provide. Three, Mr. Crichton many years ago suffered from Cancer of the throat and now speaks through a hole in his esophagus, the very fact that he is sailing at all represents a huge amount of courage and a definite love of the sport. If he were to fall over board he would surely drown. Four, Mr. Crichton has in fact worked his way up through the classes and has in the past won the two ton cup and competed in the Farr 40 worlds. Five, Mr. Crichton is definitely the skipper on his vessel driving his fair share; he is not just an owner rider. Six Perhaps given the circumstances he was a little mad at himself. I think all would agree the sport is still so much the better for men with the vision drive and competitiveness of Neville Crichton. (not with standing the odd comment) * From Len Davies: Possibly 5% of Scuttlebutt readers are closely enough acquainted with Neville Crichton to be able to offer real meaningful comment on what was purported to have been said in disappointment. Those offering derogatory comments should possibly question where they fall and consider, in the broad sense, Paul Elvstrom's well-chosen words: "You haven't won the race if, in winning, you have lost the respect of your competitors!" I realise that 'opinions are like backsides - we've all got one', but the idea is surely to use them judiciously and not fire at random! * From Bob Fisher: John Marta's complaint about IRC is that it is a Time on Time system and cannot be used for Time on Distance. I write with twenty years use of IRC, and its forerunner, Channel Handicap, with a variety of boats of different sizes and can report that I am totally happy with the system and its continued preference of Time on Time. This calculation eliminates the need - that IMS attempted fruitlessly to address - for different ratings for different wind strengths. It also, in some manner, deals with tidal currents. Neither of these variables can be accommodated into a Time on Distance calculation. It may come as something of a culture shock to have to accept a Time on Time system, but it undoubtedly the fairest and my suggestion is that Mr. Marta and his fellow competitors give it a fair trial without moaning. They may find, as I have done, that IRC rewards a boat that is well sailed and will almost certainly provide prizes to the deserving and not those who think they can buy their way to the podium. This year's Rolex Fastnet would provide adequate evidence of that. * Mike Kennedy (re the quote in 'Butt 1998: "I spent half my fortune on boats, broads and booze, and squandered the rest."): That quote is actually from George Best, British soccer star who died of liver failure from drinking too much. His comment when asked where his money went was; "I spent most of it on fast cars, birds and booze. The rest I squandered." The original is better. http://worldsoccer.about.com/b/a/222009.htm CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL "We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot." -- Abraham Lincoln |
