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SCUTTLEBUTT 1831 - May 4, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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. SIZE MATTERS In case you haven't noticed--Big! Boats! are Back! Known variously as "yachts," "megayachts," "superyachts," "gigayachts" and just "mine is the big one in the harbor with the helicopters," they're the new must-have playthings of the extraordinarily wealthy, not to mention a great way to stand out among the droves of tourists at summer hot spots such as Cannes, St. Tropez and Nantucket. Nearly 6,000 yachts sized 80-feet or longer currently roam the seas, more than double the number of a decade ago, according to Power & Motoryacht magazine. But these days you are considered practically an object of sympathy if you're new vessel is anything under 200-feet. Corporate big shots such as Oracle's (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) Larry Ellison and Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) co-founder Paul Allen make waves with 400-plus footers. (Ellison owns Rising Sun, a German-made Lürssen that was launched last year, which stretches almost 453 feet; Allen's, also a Lürssen called Octopus, is 414 feet.) After three flat years, orders for yachts were up 28.4% for 2005, according to Showboats International, and there are presently some 14 miles of such leviathans under construction around the world. Many of those will doubtless end up with Russia's new gazillionaires, a yachting customer base that barely existed five years ago and now accounts for perhaps 25% of the market. "The business has sort of grown up from a cottage industry where we survived hand-to-mouth to a serious booming business today," says Jonathan Beckett, president of Nigel Burgess Group, an international yacht brokerage. "Back in the 1970s, yachting was basically a form of camping, and now it's all about floating palaces. People have different reasons for buying--primarily for pleasure, I suppose, but size matters when it comes to pulling into port and mooring alongside a best friend's yacht." - Neal Santelmann, Forbes.com, full story: www.forbes.com/2005/04/27/cx_ns_0427feat.html?partner=lifestyle_newsletter BE THE FIRST ON YOUR BLOCK Last fall, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) selected the Neil Pryde RS:X as the new boardsailing event for the 2008 Olympic Games, replacing the Mistral. The Neil Pryde RS:X is a newly designed board which will not be available for the mass market until late summer. In order to give top boardsailing athletes an opportunity to get acquainted with the new board before it becomes available to the mass market, ISAF has set a priority system for its worldwide Member National Authorities (MNAs) and allocated six boards to U.S. athletes, charging US Sailing with the responsibility to assign the boards. US Sailing has developed the selection process for allocating six Neil Pryde RS:X boards to U.S. sailors before the boards are launched on the mass market. They are currently accepting applications online from boardsailors nationwide who are able and willing to commit to purchasing the new Neil Pryde RS:X and using it at events throughout the upcoming summer. Interested members of US Sailing can get more information and apply online through Sunday, May 15, midnight Eastern Time. A review panel will then discuss the merits of each application, determine a top 10 priority list and notify applicants by May 23. The boards will be sold through the RS:X retailer in the U.S., Adventure Sports in Miami, Fla. The allocations will be made to those deemed most likely to win the Olympic selection trials for the 2008 Olympic Games. For information: www.ussailing.org/olympics/rsxinformation05.htm THE ENVIRONMENT The San Diego Unified Port District is wading in to help solve a problem that fouls water around the globe - contamination caused by copper-laced boat hull paints. The port's environmental services department will work with state lawmakers to find solutions to the problem, including encouraging paint manufacturers to develop alternative coatings. They also will meet with recreational boat owners in marinas on San Diego Bay, marina operators and others with a stake in bay water quality about ways to reduce the use of copper paints. Copper levels in the Shelter Island Yacht Basin and most other parts of San Diego Bay exceed federal water quality standards. Navy studies have found that almost 72 percent of the 48,000 pounds of copper discharged annually into San Diego Bay comes from the hull paints. - Ronald Palmer, San Diego, Union Tribune, Full story: http://tinyurl.com/dt5lc 20 YEARS OLD AND GROWING! Team One Newport, world renown as "The Foul Weather Gear Experts, From Head to Toe" is celebrating 20 years of business. The crew at Team One Newport continues to educate sailors from around the globe on the proper way to dress for all types of sailing and climates. They bring the customer the "Best of the Best" including Henri-Lloyd, Musto, Gill, Patagonia, Railriders, Camet, Sailing Angles, Kaenon, Native Eye, Extrasport, Lotus, Dubarry, Harken, Magic Marine and more. Call 800-VIP-GEAR for a catalog or visit http://www.team1newport.com - look for the "Ask Martha" link for specific questions. DIFFERENT STROKES Breaking the transatlantic race record or winning line honors is not the sole reason for competitors to take part in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge. Between the 21 boats leaving on the New York-Lizard-Cowes course on May 21, there will be races within the overall race. Of these, few will be harder fought than between the three classic yachts. Racing classics across the North Atlantic is not for the faint hearted. Built for Lord Sackville of Kent, the 94-foot (28.7m) ketch Sumurun originally was conceived as a Solent day-sailer, not to compete in a grueling 3,000 nautical mile trans-oceanic yacht race. "The personal comforts are much less," states A. Robert Towbin of the ride he will experience on board Sumurun compared to the modern, larger performance cruisers. "You get very wet on classic boats. So even in modest weather you have to have oilskins on, and you never get dry, and the boat is never totally watertight. If you get a bad wave, even with covers on the hatches, water comes through." When she was launched, Sumurun was considered state-of-the-art fitted with one of the first marine ice coolers as well as her own tender with an early gasoline/petrol-driven engine. Since then, technology has leaped ahead: "You don't have modern air conditioning or heat or any of those things, Towbin continued. "And of course the galleys are much nicer in the newer boats. You can have a decent meal in comfortable surroundings. On Sumurun, everyone sits on the floor and eats out of a bowl."- Media Pro Int'l, www.transatlanticchallenge.org BENEFITS OF THE NEW FORMAT (The Daily Sail subscription website spoke with Michel Bonnefous, CEO of America's Cup Management. Here are two excerpts from their story now posted online.) With the new format of the America's Cup cycle it also seems unlikely that these Cup teams will fall by the wayside between now and 2007. Aside from the necessary documentation being in order to become an official challenger for the America's Cup, payments are required of 50,000 Euros to the Challenger Commission and US$25,000 to America's Cup Properties who protect America's Cup copyright. In addition to this a further 1 million Euro performance bond must be lodged with ACM. This is non-refundable in the event of a team deciding to pull the plug on their campaign before the Challenger Series in 2007. However if a team does make it through the Louis Vuitton series then they are entitled to their split of the unspent portion of the performance bond, which otherwise pays for items such as the joint weather program. "One of the reasons we extended the period of sailing through the Acts, was [for the Acts to be] one of the tools to give to the teams, to convince partners to come early in this game," continues Bonnefous. "It was very difficult in the past to invest in the sport where the only return would only be three years ahead. If you look at Shosholoza with T-Systems they have come early. It is a problem in this game of the America's Cup, but with the Acts we have solved a little bit this problem." - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com NO EASY OUTS Wednesday is the beginning of the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, Stage 5 of the 2004-'05 Swedish Match Tour, with what has been called the best-ever lineup for a Swedish Match Tour event. The skippers include America's Cup helmsmen Ed Baird (USA) and Peter Holmberg (ISV), both of Cup champion Team Alinghi, Gavin Brady (NZL), of BMW Oracle Racing from the U.S., Magnus Holmberg (SWE), of Sweden's Victory Challenge, James Spithill (AUS), of Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge, Karol Jablonski (POL) of the Desafio Espańol America's Cup challenge and Hamish Pepper (NZL) of Italy's Mascalzone Latino - Captitalia. The field also includes a trio of skippers making their Swedish Match Tour debut; Ian Ainslie (RSA), of Team Shosholoza, Iain Percy (GBR), of +39 Challenge, and Thierry Peponnet (FRA), of K-Challenge. And skippers such as Ben Ainslie (GBR), of Emirates Team New Zealand and Francesco de Angelis (ITA), of Luna Rossa Challenge, are returning to the Tour for the first time in a few years. Additionally, Peter Gilmour, the reigning Tour champion and Russell Coutts, the reigning event champ, are both racing. The crews will be racing the Swedish Match 40, the Tour's specially designed match-racer from Swedish designer Pelle Petterson. The boats debuted in Portugal last year, and six are on hand for the racing in Porto Azzurro. With 14 crews and six boats the format for the event differs from the normal double round-robin followed by semifinals and final. A $60,000 cash bonus and BMW 545i Touring, from Tour partner BMW, will be awarded to the Tour champion at the season-concluding Swedish Match Cup in early July. - Sean McNeill, www.SwedishMatchTour.com WELCOME ROLEX TRANSATLANTIC CHALLENGE YACHTS Newport Shipyard welcomes Windrose, Sojana, Maximus, Sumurun, Nordwind, Sariyah, Whisper, Stay Calm, Leopard, Anemos, plus the fabulous 174' Dubois duo, near sisterships Tiara and Drumbeat. They are getting ready at the shipyard for the big race. Reserve online at http://www.newportshipyard.com Curmudgeon's Comment: We are reminded that Tiara (mentioned above) is believed to be the first privately owned sailing yacht to have a successful helicopter landing. Photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/Tiara NEWS BRIEFS * Ellen MacArthur and her 4-man crew on board the trimaran B&Q finished the Record SNSM at 18:32:16 GMT Tuesday after completing the 284 mile passage from St Nazaire to St Malo, France. While they have established a new record for the Maxi class category of 1 day, 3 hours, 23 minutes and 29 seconds, their passage took an hour and 46 minutes longer than Thomas Coville's run on Sodebo. On April 20 Sodebo established a new Record SNSM for the ORMA 60 class in a time of 1 day, 1 hour, 37 minutes and 17 seconds at an average speed of 11.04 knots. - www.teamellen.com/ * Yves Parlier's technical team has salvaged his capsized catamaran, Médiatis Région Aquitaine and is now towing the damaged multihull to the Canaries Islands. Parlier, who has three vertebras and a rib broken, has left in Las Palmas to support his team and make an inventory of the damages. www.parlier.org/hydraplaneur/index.php * With a 24-hour run of 247 miles, SAIC has built a 14 mile lead over Samsung in the Global Challenge RTW race. "The gains on the fleet and the current lead don't mean anything, as the high-pressure system is going to catch us first if we stay further west than others," said skipper Eero Lehtinen. "We are trying to find a balance and monitor the winds actively, sailing not too many extra miles but also avoiding a private parking scenario." Team Stelmar is just 18 miles behind the leader with Spirit of Sark a mile further back. - www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * US sailboat manufacturer J/Boats has signed a deal with Florida's DealersCircle to use the company's web-based marine application program for linking with dealers and their respective clients. J/Boats is the seventh boat company to sign such a deal, following interest from Scout, Zodiac, Edgewater, Pursuit, Skier's Choice and Chris Craft. DealersCircle software allows companies to simplify orders and control inventory, conduct sales, produce customised reports and streamline its warranty claim process. - IBI News, http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20050329154427ibinews.html * BoatUS-store.com has teamed up with the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water to provide additional funding for its life-saving Life Jacket Loaner Program for kids. From May 1 to June 30, 2005, BoatUS-store.com will contribute $1 to the Foundation's loaner program for each life jacket purchased at the online store. The loaner program allows boaters to borrow a kid's life jacket for the day, afternoon or weekend at over 366 locations in 49 states. It has saved the lives of three children since its 1997 inception. Over 10,000 life jackets have been loaned to date. - www.BoatUS-store.com * The 151st New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta will be held June 10-12 in Newport, RI for yachts with a 25'minimum LWL in IRC, PHRF, NYYC-CR, classic and one-design classes. Following last year's successful format, the Annual Regatta will again be a three-day event. Selected one-design classes will race a three-day series including around-the-buoys races each day and the Around Conanicut Island Race on Friday afternoon. All other yachts are eligible to compete in two separate events: the Around Conanicut Island Race on Friday and a two-day series over the weekend. Entry Forms and NoR can be found at www.nyyc.org. CHEYENNE FOR SALE Record-breaking catamaran for sale. Dismasted March 2005, now at Belgrano Naval Base, Argentina. Lost mast, mainsail, solent, staysail, plus broken compression tube. Successfully compete again with new updated rig, or resell for profit. Appraised $3.5 million in December 2004. Priced as is at $650,000. Contact owner rep: mailto:brspaeth@aol.com or 1-312-786-5057. 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 Jeff Carlile (Re: Scuttlebutt 1830 - Dan Dickison's comments on two boys adrift): People certainly do stupid things in boats, but berating two teens with false facts distracts from the lessons that could be learned. The boys set off to a sandbar several dozen yards offshore to do some fishing. They did not have up sails, or even a mast, but did have what has been described as an oar. The JY15 has a centerboard, not a daggerboard, and it is not something you would normally or easily remove. Also contrary to Dickison's claim, the boys did have life jackets, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District. The lessons to be learned by all boaters, particularly youths: 1) Tell someone your plan, including where, when, and how. The USCG had no idea where the boys put in, (they later had the cell phone company trace a signal to their parked car). The description of the boat given by the parents to the USCG led to some poor assumptions on where to focus the search grid; rather than sailing a Sunfish, the boys were paddling the JY without the windage of rig or sails. 2) Carry appropriate signals. Attach a whistle to your PFDs. Offshore, I have a strobe that attaches to the other shoulder of my PFD. Carry flares as required or when appropriate. 3) Observe maritime warnings. There was a Small Craft Advisory in effect when the boys pushed off. Survival knowledge is a different subject, but I'd like to think I would have kept the fishing gear they threw overboard. * From Ty English: The debate on why California junior sailing does not use the Optimist needs to be refined. First, the San Francisco area is in transition, as an Optimist fleet is growing amidst their El Toro population. However, Southern California remains committed to the Naples Sabot. The Optimist is a better open water, medium to heavy air boat when compared to the Sabot - good for Frisco...but are those the conditions in So Cal? Bringing the Optimist to a region with lighter winds and long tows to ocean courses is not exactly "horses for courses." Don't count on pram fleet numbers to increase over current times when you tell the sabot owners that their boats are worthless, and they need to pull out $3k for an Opti to see if Johnny is even going to like sailing. Price of a soccer ball is a heck of a lot less. Sure, sailing Optimists would allow the Cali kids to travel - but to where? Cali is on one side of the planet, er country, and it takes 24 big hours to drive to the next sailing site. I should be buying plane tix for me, not my twelve year old. Also, don't count on folks to the east coming west. They don't need to come this far for an alternate venue. Bottom line - Peter Isler's magic wand was needed a long time ago. We are stuck with the sabot - next subject? * From Anson Stookey: I'm not sure exactly what Michael Panosh's contribution to our sport has been, but know that at least John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan deserve credit for entering the AC fight and in so doing raising awareness of sailing and the America's Cup itself through their support of IACC sailing on San Francisco Bay and creative efforts to unearth sponsorship. Rather than being criticized for coming up short, they should be commended on their inventive tactics and their commitment to the campaign. After one of my own failed efforts on the water Rick Brent, former A3 pitman and now a regular on Pyewacket, sent me the following overused quotation from Theodore Roosevelt. In the face of Mr. Panosh's criticism it seems appropriate to paraphrase: "It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man actually in the arena, who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." There effectively will be two fleets in Valencia: those with a chance and those gaining experience for the future. Had the Sausalito Challenge made it to Valencia they would have proved a worthy addition to the line-up and their creative approach would have made the event more fun for all - participant and spectator - while providing their sponsors with exceptional returns. Congratulations for throwing your hat in the ring. * From Jaye Falls: Charlie McLaughlin suggests that money spent on the AC is wasted, and would be better spent on charitable donations. This is an observation that can be made about any recreation/leisure activity: Americans spend well over $20 billion playing golf, $11 billion buying music, and over $30 billion paying tax(!) on beer every year. It seems a little odd to focus condemnation on the $2 bil spent over 3 or 4 years for the AC, when so much more money is spent on even more trivial past-times. If everyone engaged in these activities confined themselves to 1 club, 1 cd, and 1 beer, we'd save a ton of money that could be better spent on society building efforts, and probably have some left over to fund more challengers to the Cup. Maybe we could even bump the cap up to 2 beers, without feeling too bad about the money we are wasting. * From Chris Caswell: The sailing world is diminished by the departure of Knowles Pittman. I started my journalism career with One-Design Yachtsman in the '60s as the West Coast Editor when the magazine was still in Chicago, and what a great team it was: Bruce Kirby, Don Graul, Ted Jones, regular contributors like Stuart Walker, Pete Barrett -the list of editors and writers remains a Who's Who of sailing. We were all young and passionate about dinghy racing, and we did stories that still stand as examples of great writing. But it was Knowlesy who kept this crew on course with a wry smile when we needed nudging and always a broad grin and hearty laughter when we got it just right. Fair winds, Knowlesy. * From Peter Huston: Bill Martin is not only one of the good guys in the sport - he's in a class by himself. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow. |
