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SCUTTLEBUTT 1932 -- September 27, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.THE SHORTLIST The male and female sailors shortlisted for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2005 have been announced by ISAF and Rolex. The criteria for nomination is "outstanding achievement" in the period 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005. The nominees are: Female: - Claire Leroy (FRA) - Ellen MacArthur (GBR) - Blanca Manchon (ESP) - Paige Railey (USA) Male: - Fernando Echavarri and Antón Paz (ESP) - Peter Gilmour (AUS) - Finian Mayard (IVB) - Bruno Peyron (FRA) - Vincent Riou (FRA) - Rohan Veal (AUS) The 117 ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs) - the national governing bodies for sailing - around the world will now be invited to vote for the one female nominee and one male nominee. The Achievements of the nominees are posted online: http://www.sailing.org/ CONSIDERING A RULE CHANGE Glenn Bourke, organizer of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race, is considering a rule change to ensure that Grant Wharington's Wild Thing is not excluded from the competition before it starts in Spain on Nov 5. Wharington is short of time, money and crew and must clear measurement and qualification hurdles before the boat is allowed to start. We'll try to be flexible as possible," Bourke said. "It might require an amendment to the rules and we'll ask other competitors if they are in agreement. I'm sure they will be compassionate. My understanding is that he'll see it through," Bourke said. "He's coming. That's what he told me. My guess is that he'll do the in-port race on Nov 5, start leg one to Cape Town on the 12th and see how it goes." -- Excerpts from a story by Tim Jeffery in the Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/br8og AN OWNER'S PERSPECTIVE (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke to John Coumantaros, owner of the TP52 Bambakou, about the Mediterranean circuit. Here are a few excerpts from their story.) Despite the TP52 being a box rule with boats coming from a variety of different design houses, rather than being a one design, the boats have a remarkably even performance. This season Coumantaros has only on occasions been at a disadvantage through racing his 2004 generation Farr design, a boat that was originally intended for racing in North America and on the Transpac. "Frankly our boat speed - we're very pleased with it," he says. "Upwind we feel we are every bit as competitive, except maybe in very light chop, but in stronger winds we feel we have an advantage. So the generational gap between the boats is really not the main contributing factor. On the Breitling MedCup this year Bambakou has been up against the three new Cookson-built Farr designs - Bribon, Aifos and Caixa Galicia and despite ducking out of the final regatta of the season will end the year ahead of Aifos, the Spanish navy boat. "You have to remember that the three new Farrs were designed for the Med," Coumantaros says. "They have a narrower entry and although they are beamy they are designed for the light air and chop. The Bottin and Carkeek boats [such as series leader Pisco Sour] - I think in the stronger breeze they look very powerful. While a majority of the boats in the Breitling MedCup have pro drivers, Coumantaros steers himself racing against the King Juan Carlos of Spain in the owner-driver, Corinthian division. -- www.thedailysail.com STAFFING UP Team Shosholoza has hired one of the world's top ranked skipper/tacticians to help plot a winning course for the final two regattas of the 2005 America's Cup racing season in Europe, which start in Italy on Thursday 29 September. Californian Dee Smith, a grand prix skipper, tactician, navigator and coach with over 40 years of yacht racing experience and a wealth of knowledge in a variety of classes including the America's Cup, will be on board Shosholoza as tactician for the Trapani Louis Vuitton Acts 8 and 9 - match and fleet racing events - to be held in the picturesque Mediterranean port city off southern Sicily. Smith, who was a member of the aftergaurd of the America True Challenge in the 2000 America's Cup in Auckland, has an impressive racing CV, with victories in every major yachting event in 14 oceans across the world. No stranger to South African yacht racing, he was first to Rio de Janeiro as the rockstar skipper/tactician on Hasso Plattner's 80-foot maxi yacht Morning Glory in the last 2003 Cape to Rio race. JUST IN TIME Raider RIBs has an excellent tender that is immediately available for delivery. This 22-foot Raider 665 is the ultimate work boat for a yacht club, a sailing program, or a sail coach. The 665 has a center console, deep V hull with a 115 horsepower 4-stroke Yamaha engine, a galvanized trailer, towing post, and it even has an enclosed head. The Raider 665 is available now with special financing for a non-profit or yacht club junior program. Call for details at 1-877-7RAIDER, or check out the Raider 665 at our website. http://www.raiderboat.com INVERSION The Ericsson Volvo Open 70 performed its 180 degree inversion on 25 September, in the Spanish waters of her training base in Vigo. As part of the official Volvo Ocean Race qualification process, it is compulsory for all VO 70's to complete a self-righting of the boat to prove their capability to do so if capsized during ocean racing. The inversion was made all the more extraordinary by the fact that four Ericsson Racing Team crewmembers, including skipper Neal McDonald (GBR), were onboard for the impressive nautical stunt. The inversion took place on Sunday 25 September, after mast, boom, rigging and electronic equipment were removed from the Ericsson yacht. Once in self-righting condition the vessel measuring 21.5 m in length, was flipped upside down using a crane attached to the bulb of the canting keel. Once fully inverted, the crane was detached and crewmembers inside were responsible for manually righting the yacht. Richard Mason (AUS) was given the task of hand pumping oil inside the hydraulic cylinder in order to cant the keel and return the yacht to the normal upright position. The whole process took a matter of minutes. McDonald commented on the inversion experience: "That was a weird sensation. We all seem to be dry. I hope it's the last time we do it though - I have to say I wouldn't like to do it in reality. It's very disorientating and hard to know which way is up and which way is towards starboard, so there are lessons to be learnt." Fellow teammates Tom Braidwood (AUS) and Magnus Woxén (SWE, in charge of media onboard Ericsson), were also inside the yacht. James Dadd, Chief Measurer of the Volvo Open 70 Class witnessed the exercise. Dadd commented: "It is one of the simple safety requirements to ensure the canting keel system works whilst the yacht is inverted and that the crew knows how to use the keel mechanism when the boat is upside down. It is also important to ensure that any heavy intense equipment, such as battery and engines, stays in place when the boat is inverted." The Ericsson yacht has now been hoisted out of the water to undergo a final overhaul and get her in full racing mode, ready for the first inshore race on 5 November. -- www.ericssonracingteam.com FOR THE RECORD Debra Searle MBE, (formerly Debra Veal) is looking to take on the biggest challenge of her career. Debra hit the headlines in January 2002 when she finished a two-handed Atlantic rowing challenge on her own, after her then husband abandoned the race after developing an uncontrollable fear of the ocean. Now Debra is forsaking rowing to race a 60-foot 'Formula 1' boat, solo around the world, the wrong way over the winter of 2006/2007. If successful, Debra, 30, could go down in history as the first and fastest female to circumnavigate the globe sailing east to west via the three great capes of Cape Horn, Cape Leeuwin and Cape of Good Hope against the world's prevailing winds and tides. This route is considered the 'wrong way', the right way being eastabout passing Cape of Good Hope first then Leeuwin and Cape Horn. No female has managed to finish this challenge before and only four male skippers have successfully completed the task starting with Sir Chay Blyth in 1971 who became the first sailor to complete a solo, non-stop westabout circumnavigation in 292 days. Then twenty years on, Britain's Mike Golding succeeded in doing the same taking a huge chunk out of Blyth's time in 1993/94 to set a new time of 161 days. French skipper, Philippe Monnet reduced that record to 151 days and then his compatriot, Jean Luc Van Den Heede, set a new westabout time of 122 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds last winter. Debra could be racing for well over 150 days in a refitted VOR60 boat that competed in the 2001/2002 Volvo Ocean Race as 'NewsCorp'. Debra has joined forces with Pindar, the international print and electronic media company, who have a long-standing history in supporting female ocean adventurers. -- www.debraseale.com SCANDONE IS WORLD CHAMPION Nick Scandone from Balboa YC (USA) carried on from his strong sixth-place finish at the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship in Denmark earlier this month to take a storming victory at the 88-boat 2.4 Metre World Championship in Marciana Marina, Elba Island, Italy. Final Results: 1. USA, Nick Scandone 25 points 2. SWE, Stellan Berlin, 35 3. GBR, Helena Lucas, 38 4. NED, Thiery Schmitter, 38 5. SWE, Per Ahrbom, 75 Event website: http://www.2005dswc.dk/ ON A ROLL After winning the J/24 Worlds in Weymouth, UK, Virgin Islander Anthony Kotoun jumped on an airplane to immediately race in the 37-boats TD Banknorth J-24 North American Championship at the Corinthian YC in Marblehead, Mass. After 4 days, 10 races, and over 65 miles of sailing, he added another crown to his collection -- J24 North American Champion. For this event, Kotoun added Morgan Paxhia and Steve Kelly to his Worlds crew of Chuck Norris and Brian Bissell. Second place was a tie between the Zaleski brothers and Mark Hillman. After three tie breakers, Mark Hillman was awarded second place. Final results: 1. Anthony Kotoun, ISV, 28 points 2. Mark Hillman, 40 3. Chris & Valdek Zaleski, 40 4. Thomas Barbeau, CAN, 61 5. Stuart Challoner, 81 Event website: http://www.j24northamericans2005.org/ THE NEW PORTOFINO PANTS For an evening with the crew or for racing off Valencia, these canvas pants are perfect for all activities. This modern/classic Italian design is both functional and dressy! The Portofino Pants are made from 9 oz. brushed, soft cotton canvas. They have a relaxed fit with plain front, hemmed legs, zipper fly, belt loops, two deep side pockets, and two stitched rear-pockets with Velcro® closures. They are designed with a double seat for protection and gusseted crotch for full range of motion. The stone colored front and mist gray or khaki back give these pants a unique look. http://www.camet.com THE SCHEIDT STEAMROLLER 'The championship only ends when it's over,' was the statement Robert Scheidt (BRA) made as he came off his local waters with another two wins under the belt at the Laser World Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil. As he moves closer towards a record eight Championship wins, in what looks to be an unbeatable lead, Scheidt said that with today's victories he took an important step in the competition. -- Excerpt from a story on the Sail-World website, http://www.sail-world.com/ Standings with 10 races and two discards: 1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 9 points 2. Diego Romero, ARG, 28 3. Vasilij Zbogar, SLO, 29 4. Jeremie Steyaert, FRA, 31 5. Andrew Murdoch, NZL, 35 Event website: http://www.2005laserworlds.com.br/ TEAM RACING The 2005 Grey Goose ISAF Team Racing World Championship got underway today on Narragansett Bay in a strong southerly breeze (21 knots with gusts to 31). Quickening the pace was the addition of a third flight of umpires that allowed races to start every five minutes. By mid-afternoon, when conditions were judged too windy both for the equipment and some of the competitors, the halfway mark of round one had been passed with 55 races sailed. At the end of day one, predicted to be the windiest day of the week, GBR 2 and USA 2 were both undefeated with seven wins apiece, establishing themselves as the fastest in the conditions seen today. A shake-up in the standings could be in short order courtesy of a lighter northerly predicted for tomorrow. Complete results, photos and competitor information is available on the NYYC website: www.nyyc.org NEWS BRIEFS * For the first time, Ed Baird will take the Alinghi helm for an America's Cup regatta on Thursday -- day 1 of Act 8 in Trapani, Sicily. Crew rotation is a priority on board the defending yacht and both Jochen Schuemann and Peter Holmberg have stepped up to the wheel this summer. Holmberg won Act 4 in Valencia and Schuemann won Acts 6 & 7 in Malmo. * Race 1 of the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race from Liverpool (UK) to Cascais (Portugal) has been won by Liverpool 08. The English team arrived in the port of Cascais at 0614am local time on Sunday, The second team in was Westernaustralia.com some 30 minutes behind Liverpool and 10 minutes ahead of Durban. Standings: 1) Liverpool 08, 2) Westernaustralia.com, 3) Durban, 4) Singapore, 5) Cardiff, 6) New York, 7) Qingdao, 8) Victoria, 9) Jersey 10) Gasgow. http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/n05_06/homepage.php * Race one of the Sonar World Championship got underway on the Solent in testing conditions -- grey skies and a stiff south-westerly. With the wind hovering around 20 knots it was a fun ride down the run for most, but not for the crew of Echo who wiped out and laid the boat on its side for quite a long time. USA boats took the three of the top five places: 1. Spring, USA, David Franzel; 2. We're Here, GBR, Graham Bailey; 3. Jenny, GBR, Andy Cassell; 4. Fast Forward, USA, Peter Galloway; 5. Troll, USA, Greg Anthony. http://www.cowes.co.uk * Dom Mee, maritime explorer, has been rescued in the Flemish Cap area, 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, while attempting to become the first person to cross an ocean on a kite vessel. Mee, who set sail from St John's Newfoundland on 18 August bound for Exmouth in Devon aboard Little Murka, a modified 14ft Bosun dinghy hull, hit a particularly nasty low pressure system yesterday with winds reaching 70 knots and was forced activate his EPIRB. Dom is now safely aboard the Canadian Coastguard Vessel Cygnus with Murka in tow and heading back to St Johns. -- Yachting World, full report: http://tinyurl.com/7ke67. Mee's website: http://www.dommee.co.uk/pgs/home/home.html * The search for the yacht Moquini, missing from the Durban to Mauritius Race with six crew members, has officially been called off. The families of the missing crewmembers had met with search and rescue officials in Durban and have been understanding. "It has been an exceptionally difficult decision to make," said Dave Claxton, Chairman of the race organizing committee. "It's a decision that Matthew Thomas, Richard Crockett and I made in the cold light of day having rationally and unemotionally sifted through every single shred of information we had, and objectively analyzed it." * The lawn at Harbour Court, New York YC's outpost in Newport, RI, has surely been host to countless swanky events. but this week the Grey Goose ISAF Team Racing Worlds are at the address, and one of the contending entrants, Team New Zealand, brought along the culture of their native Maori people to the Opening Ceremonies. Members of Team New Zealand performed the Haka at Opening Ceremonies. Characterized by heavy stomping, loud chanting, and aggressive body movements, it's used to proclaim their strength and prowess and to generally abuse the opposition before going into battle. Check out the photo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/haka * Rex Sellers was elected as Yachting New Zealand president at the 2005 Annual General Meeting held in Wellington. Sellers edged out the only other nominee, Denis Mowbray of Christchurch for the position. Mowbray was re-elected to the Board of Directors. Sellers competed in the Tornado class at four Olympic Games winning gold for New Zealand in Los Angeles in 1984 and silver in Korea in 1988. Now 55 years of age he returns to the sport as President of the Member National Authority (MNA). He takes over the role from retiring President Geoff Thorpe. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j12Fh0jk~ J/65 HULL #1 ON SEA-TRIAL J Boats' newest and largest addition to the fleet, the J/65, was launched recently in San Diego. Early sea-trial results show this luxury 65 footer to be exceptionally quick, hitting double-digit speeds in 12-14 knots of wind. See Bob Grieser sailing images at http://www.jboats.com/j65 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 neither 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. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From David Barrow: Like you idea of a poll on the America's Cup. Maybe the "Buttheads" could help decide where the event should go in the future. How about a poll on How the event is currently conceived? What could be done to improve it? Venue type of boat etc. Nationality rules or not? Etc., etc. Knowing "buttheads" strong ideas on most things it could generate interesting discussion. However the poll could be written as only a yes or no answer and then it would be very easy to extrapolate the results. If you get a big response from your 13k readers the inf could be quite valuable. From Nicholas Stark - Full marks to Chris Dickson and his PR person Jane Eagleson. BMW Oracle are definitely on a different tack PR-wise from some of the other AC teams, and have done a 180-degree turnaround from that team's indifferent if not disdainful attitude toward the press last time. It is refreshing to see a team being open and friendly in their communications with the media and fans. Honorable mention to South Africa's Shosholoza and Sweden's Victory Challenge, too. But to see a top team taking that approach is especially appreciated. Wish I was going to be in Trapani for this "Act" - but I'll be watching on the web. * From Conrad Rutherford: I agree that Sally Barkow (and hopefully her core crew of Debbie Capozzi and Carrie Howe) will undoubtedly get some more new timepieces in January as the 2005 US Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year, but who are the front-runners for the men's award? CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never turn into an old nag. |
