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SCUTTLEBUTT 1829 - May 2, 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. AMERICA'S CUP FLEET FINALIZED The 32nd America's Cup is now a 12-team event. Prior to the 16:00 challenge deadline on Friday afternoon, two new challenging teams from countries that have never before participated in the America's Cup presented their challenge dossiers to the defending yacht club, the Swiss Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). Early on Friday afternoon, with all of its challenge formalities completed, the United Internet Team Germany, representing the Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club, was fully accepted as the tenth Challenger for the 32nd America's Cup. The team, (formerly known as the 'Fresh 17' project) will be led on the water by Danish skipper Jesper Bank, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and previous America's Cup skipper in 2002/2003 with Victory Challenge. A challenge dossier from China Team arrived on Friday shortly before the deadline and must now be closely evaluated over the coming days by the Société Nautique de Genève, the Defending yacht club, before the team is fully accepted as a Challenger. Confirmation of the status of China Team as a challenger will be issued as soon as possible. With the passing of the challenge deadline today, this edition of the America's Cup stands as the most diverse in the 154-history of the event. "With 11 challengers representing nine countries, this is not just one of the biggest, but it is by far the most diverse America's Cup in history. We have three countries participating for the first time - South Africa, Germany and China, and five continents are represented, reinforcing the global appeal of the America's Cup," said an excited Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of the event organiser. All of the challengers, along with the Defender, Team Alinghi, will participate in 10 more Louis Vuitton Acts leading up to the main events in 2007. The Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 4 & 5 will open the 2005 season with racing beginning on the 16th of June in the host city of the 32nd America's Cup, Valencia. - Full story, http://tinyurl.com/8o3mn Curmudgeon's Comment: The webmaster for the Swedish Victory Challenge might want to update their site, as the United Internet Team Germany' skipper Jesper Bank is listed as a helmsman for that team, too. - http://www.victorychallenge.com MISSING THE CUT The Sausalito Challenge group, a hopeful for the 2007 America's Cup sailing race, could not finalize a sponsorship deal by yesterday's entry deadline, ending the syndicate's bid and leaving just one U.S.-based group to compete for the oldest trophy in international sports. Sweeney said fund raising was hurt by a number of factors, including the high cost of competing in Europe and the entry deadline falling two years before the actual event. Then there was the BMW Oracle factor. "Nobody wants to mess around with Larry, because he's throwing way too much money at it," Sweeney said in a phone interview. "He's basically turned the sport upside down by spending so much money. It makes people with less money pretty uninterested in taking the chance." Sweeney figured it would take $50 million to $60 million to get to the starting line in 2007. The wealthier syndicates could spend three to four times that over the life of a campaign. "The cup is a very expensive game," Kentfield's Paul Cayard, who sailed in five America's Cup series, wrote in an e-mail yesterday. "If you want to be competitive, you need $150 million. If you don't have it, you shouldn't bother. It was smart of Sweeney to pull out." As of yesterday, 11 syndicates from nine countries filed challenges for the 154-year-old event, although there's no guarantee all will survive financially until 2007. Teams from Germany and China just beat the deadline. "There will be a couple of first-class entries, two or three mid-class entries and four or five that will just show up to wave the flag," Dennis Conner said Thursday. - Bernie Wilson, Associated Press/ Dave Allen, Marin Independent Journal; full story, http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~2844767,00.html * The Sausalito Challenge has sold it red AC yacht New Zealand 14 to a private group from Auckland. The vessel along with her sister NZL 20 will return to New Zealand waters in the next month. Both yachts were featured in the Challenge Series regattas in 2002-2003. The Sausalito Challenge will auction off Stars and Stripes on ebay starting May 2nd along with a 42' Protector and large 140ton P&H truck crane. The team plans to keep IL Moro Di Venezia and campaign here in local races on San Francisco Bay this summer. While missing the deadline to sign up, the team is now in talks with several Official Teams to combine efforts. - John Sweeney, Sausalito Challenge THE DIRTY DOZEN Now that the entries for the 32nd America's Cup have been established, Scuttlebutt decided to take a look at which campaigns carry the most 'buttheads. We took a peak at our email distribution list, and any addresses including the campaign URL were included in the survey. The results show what percentage of the total America's Cup syndicate readership can be attributed to each camp. Some of the results were predictable (size does matter), but there were a few surprises. The results were: 1. Team Alinghi-22% 2. Victory Challenge-19.5% 3. BMW ORACLE Racing -13% 4. China Team/ Le Défi-13% 5. Emirates Team New Zealand-11% 6. Team Shosholoza-9% 7. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team-6.5% 8. Luna Rossa Challenge-4% 9. +39 Challenge-2% 10. K-Challenge-0% 11. Desafío Español-0% 12. United Internet Team Germany/ Fresh Seventeen-0% Will this 'butthead barometer be an early forecast of 2007 success? SO THAT'S WHY THEY CALL THEM "SUPER" YACHTS The scene at the St. Barth's Bucket on the Caribbean island of St. Bartheleme was, well, super: Not since the 2003 Millennium Cup in New Zealand have so many superyachts raced together. The LOAs were mindblowing: Mirabella V (246'), Andromeda la Dea (154'), Destination Fox Harbor (134'), Victoria of Strathearn (131'), La Numero Uno (131'), Freedom of Flight (124'), and Rogue (98'). Freedom of Flight, with Robbie Doyle onboard and flying Doyle sails (as did all the boats on our list), took first. If you have a superyacht and/or want a super sailmaker, call us at 1-800-94-DOYLE; http://www.doylesails.com SIX DAYS ADRIFT Two teenagers lost at sea for six days were found by fishermen clinging to their 14ft Sunfish sailing dinghy off North Carolina's Cape Fear. The boys - Josh Long, 18, and Troy Driscoll, 15 - quenched their thirst with sea water and shared a single wetsuit to stay warm at night. They tried to take dips in the ocean to cool off under the midday sun, but were chased back on to their boat by sharks. The teenagers set out on a fishing trip on their single-sailed boat from Sullivan's Island on April 24, a blustery day when the National Weather Service advised small boats to stay off the water. They realised quickly that they were in trouble and tried to swim to shore, pulling their boat with them, but were swept out to sea. The US Coast Guard mounted a search operation, conducting more than 40 sweeps with ships, helicopters, and a C130 aircraft across a 1,300-square- mile area stretching from Hilton Head Island to Bull's Bay, South Carolina. It abandoned the effort on Tuesday. They were picked up (by a passing fishing vessel on Saturday, April 30) sunburnt, dehydrated and exhausted, about 111 miles north of Sullivan's Island, well outside the Coast Guard's search grid. It has launched an inquiry into its operation to determine how the boys' boat confounded the predictions of it computer models of weather and tide patterns. - James Bone, Times Online, full story, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1594650,00.html HOTEL BOOM OR BUST? The Valencian Hotel Association UHV revealed yesterday that the boom in constructing hotels in Valencia City in time for the Americas Cup races in 2007 might have severe repercussions. In a statement released yesterday, the UHV revealed that whilst tourists and overnight stays are up, the excess of hotel rooms that is expected shortly could well lead to a price war, which is already starting according to insiders. The UHV estimates that by the time the Americas Cup Races take place in 2007, there could be as many as 3,200 hotel rooms that may remain vacant in the City. -http://www.valencialife.net LANDS' END ANNAPOLIS NOOD Annapolis, MD - Sailing with long-time helmsman Morgan Reeser, local sailmaker Max Skelley, and keelboat veteran Karl Anderson, Neil Sullivan's M-Phatic blitzed the 39-boat Melges 24 fleet to claim the class's National Championship at the 2005 Lands' End Annapolis NOOD. With no finish worse than a sixth, Sullivan finished with less than half the points of Brian Porter's Full Throttle, the second-place boat. Sullivan was also named the Overall Champion of the event, which earns himself a free week's stay in a villa at Sunsail's Club Colonna for the NOOD Caribbean Rendezvous in January. After two days of rain, drizzle, fog, and mushy breezes, the weather did a 180 for the final day of the regatta, a brisk northwesterly clearing out the clouds and humidity and providing picture-perfect conditions. Seventeen classes competed in the three-day event. - Sailing World: http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_nood.jsp?typeID=403&catID=599 Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/cndlb IN MEMORIAM Knowles Pittman, one of the founders of "One Design Yachtsman" (now "Sailing World") died Thursday, April 28th of heart failure. He was 82. "One Design Yachtsman" was started amid the burst in growth of class boat racing in the 1960's and '70's, and much of the impetus of this was found among the scow sailors of the Midwest and one design fleets in southern California. Knowles Pittman was married to Patience Wales, Sail magazine's Editor, and they appropriately met at a meeting of NAYRU (now US Sailing). They bought and built cruising sailboats together and sailed around the world in "Boston Light" in 1986-87. Pittman was a graduate of Kenyon College and served in the US Navy during World War II aboard the carrier USS Bonhomme Richard. - Donald Macaulay WEAR THE FIGAWI Each May, hardy sailors brave the choppy Nantucket sound in a mad-dash race known as the Figawi. To salute the event and its participants, Sperry Top-Sider developed the Figawi Collection. These high-performance shoes and sandals provide sailors with the ultimate in stability and comfort. They also feature Sperry Top-Sider's signature non-marking, Super-Tack rubber outsoles, Quadro-Grip Wave-Siping™, and anti-microbial, fast-drying materials. With suggested retail prices starting at $59.95, the Figawi Collection is sure to keep you on course during the heat of the race or teeth of a squall. http://www.sperrytopsider.com NEWS BRIEFS * Hyères, France - US Sailing Team members Sally Barkow (Chenequa, WI), Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, NY), and Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, MI) won the Yngling fleet at Semaine Olympique Française today, an ISAF Grade 1 event. This is not their first victory of the year - they won US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR in January, and are currently the top-ranked Yngling on the 2005 US Sailing Team. Fresh from their most recent win, they will travel to Riva del Garda, Italy, for the Yngling Revival and Expert Olympic Regattas in early May. - US Sailing, full story, http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2005/barkowhyeres.htm * US Sailing and Harken Yacht Equipment today announced a new five-year strategic partnership naming Harken as the "Official Hardware Supplier" and sponsor of the US Sailing Team. The US Sailing Team is working with its family of sponsors to act on a newly developed 20-year strategic plan to make dramatic increases in the support available to American sailors who are training to represent the U.S. in future Olympic and Paralympic Games. As part of the new partnership, Harken will supply the members of the US Sailing Team with the highest quality hardware. - US Sailing: http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2005/harkenusst.htm Harken: http://www.harken.com/press/05usailingharkenpartnership.php * Ellen MacArthur is currently out boat testing with the 75-foot trimaran B&Q in Lorient, France, in preparation for their crewed attempt on the 284 mile Record SNSM from St Nazaire to St Malo. "The present forecast indicates a Monday afternoon departure from Lorient, crossing the line at St Nazaire when the SW breeze fills in overnight on Monday," said Ellen. In the event of a weather change, the crew will have a standby period from the 1st-10th May to try and attempt this short record. - http://www.teamellen.com * Me to You and VAIO share a slender early lead after the start Sunday of Leg 5 of the Global Challenge in Cape Town, South Africa, bound for Boston in the USA. Although they started in very light winds, with teams drifting towards the line in difficult conditions for racing, the fleet now has approximately 15 knots from the south. Forecast to shift to the southeast over the next 24 hours, their downwind run looks set to continue. http://www.globalchallenge2004.com/en * The 38th annual Antigua Sailing Week that finished on Friday saw 183 boats representing 27 different countries competing in the granddaddy of them all. Although winds up to 20 knots were seen some race days, light winds dogged the event with Division A racing cancelled on Tuesday. Division A completed four races and Division B, five. The much-anticipated participation of the 'fresh out of the box' New Zealand supermaxi Maximus was foiled by engine problems with the transport ship and she arrived in Antigua as Sailing Week finished on Sunday morning. Complete story and results: http://www.sailingweek.com * A Fresh NNE breeze and plenty of sunshine gave sailors perfect conditions for the final races in Bermuda International Invitational Race Week sponsored by Bacardi. Winners were decided by some spectacular, close competition in all classes: IODs: Charles Van Voorhis (USA); J-24s: Anthony Parker (USA); J-105s: Tom Coates (USA); Etchells: Peter Bromby (BDA); Lasers: Malcolm Smith (BDA); Snipes: Michael Irgens (USA). Complete story and results: http://www.rbyc.bm/regattas/IRW2005/index.asp THE TP 52 ROSEBUD IS FOR SALE Rosebud, the TP 52 that won the Bermuda Race, Key West Race Week, San Francisco Big Boat Series, and many Caribbean regattas is for sale. Delivery is available in Hawaii for the Waikiki Offshore Series or in California for Big Boat Series. Asking price is $795k. Additional details at http://www.rosebudracing.com 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 Michael Panosh: (re Sausalito Challenge) Finally this charade has ended. Sausalito kept us on the line for years now, from Ebay sponsorship auctions, wild tales of corporate partnerships--the whole nine yards. The fact is this "syndicate" was never going to see the water, period. And don't raise the flag on this one as an underfunded American team does the US of A no good. I'd rather see corporate America get behind the BMW Oracle team, a team that has a real chance of bringing back the Cup to the States. Let the pros fly the Stars and Stripes, Sausalito can stick to club racing. Sausalito's (hopefully) final press release declared the team "famous" but, as we say in Wisconsin, "that's debatable". * From Ken Guyer: Well it is now official, the one skipper even the common, everyday sailor and novice associated with the Cup is out. Dennis Conner sits out the Euro-America's Cup. Priced out of the competition. We who love the sport sit back and lament about the lack of respect it gets from the main stream sports media and the general public. Small wonder when the top three sailors associated with the sports biggest event are not participating. One, Russell Coutts, kept out by a competitor using sneaky, back room, political manipulation of the "rules". Conner, Cayard, and Coutts, sitting on the sideline for what many consider the main event in their sport. For those who are competing, they will not know if they could have beaten the legend makers. How sad. * From Andrew Beeckman: Isn't it odd that no one is speaking about the environmental pollutants of such "go-fast" techniques like McLube, soap, and other stuff? You can't tell me that anything that comes out of a spray can is good for our local waters. * From Steve Gregory: I don't dispute the magic of McLube. The stuff does work. But what is it doing for water pollution? If you follow the guidelines on their website, a J/24 hull uses approximately 1 quart of Sailkote. A Mumm-36 hull uses 2 quarts. While they say it could last a full season of sailing, if everyone does this each year, then repeats at the start of each season, isn't this the same as pouring the stuff straight into the ocean? Curmudgeon's Comment: Here's McLube rep Ron Rosenberg's response to the above: Specific to the question concerning applying McLube, when you properly apply the liquid form of Team McLube Sailkote to the hull (or sail, deck fittings, etc), the majority of the liquid in the container is merely the solvent carrier which chemically bonds the slippery micro-thin dry film coating to the surface, allowing the product to dry instantly, after which the carrier evaporates. Once the coating is dry, there is only the micro-thin dry film coating left to make any contact with the water. The spray application of McLube works in a similar manner. Prior to McLube, people often applied petroleum-based products and soaps to the hull, which would then immediately wash right into the water (as evidenced by the oily rainbow film on the water surface found in many marinas). Many of these products would then need to be reapplied the very next day, unlike McLube, which has been specifically developed to be long lasting and durable. In support of these comments about the marine environment and McLube, look for details to be soon be included on Team McLube's website in order to share more information on this subject. * From Mark Spicknall: The concept of allowable aero/hydro roughness has been well understood for decades and is well documented. Just do a Google search on these terms or on Roughness Reynolds Number and then crunch the numbers using the maximum potential speed of your boat to get the allowable surface roughness. Compare this derived allowable roughness to sandpaper grain size to select the right grit. Allowable roughness is speed dependent, with higher maximum speeds requiring a smoother surface. For most displacement monohulls, going beyond 600 grit (CAMI standard) is a waste of time and energy. Going smoother does not result in any measureable reduction in drag. Higher performance boats including skiffs and high-performance beach cats generally don't need to go beyond 1000 grit. Hull fairness is at least as, if not more, important. * From Chris Ericksen: While I appreciate the comments by Pat Broderick of the San Francisco YRA in 'Butt 1828, I think the point made by Peter Isler in 'Butt 1827 was missed. Peter's point is that there are just too many one-design boats around and they dilute the efforts of supporters of one-design racing. A wonderful example of this is in cat-rigged singlehanded prams. Here in California the Naples Sabot is the pram of choice (except where the US Sabot, Windward Sabot, Seashell or El Toro exists) while in much of the rest of the world it is the Optimist. In most cases where Southern Californians have shifted from Sabots to Opti's they've not done well--and US sailors in general are behind the curve in Opti competition worldwide. In many countries other than the US, either general consensus or the national authority supports one boat in each category. While innovation may not occur as readily within the category in these cases, at least there is a better focus of efforts--and a concomitant excellence from sailors in those boats from those countries. Were Californians to decide that the Opti should supplant the Naples Sabot et. al., I submit that our young sailors would not suffer unduly in later life and California would continue to contribute the largest percentage of sailors on the US Olympic Sailing Team (as noted in an article also in 'Butt 1828). * From J H Peterson (re quiz on current): Now, suppose the second sailor decides to sail perpendicular to the wind and current, and toward the opposite river bank, then jibing and repeating the process as necessary. Since we learned at an early age that a beam reach is (usually) the fastest point of sail, wouldn't this be the quickest way to finish the course? We can do the vector calculations to determine precisely the optimal angle to sail relative to the wind. I suspect we will find that wise use of a favorable wind (and a following sea) will allow us the fastest finish. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Old age ain't no place for sissies. - Bette Davis |
