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SCUTTLEBUTT 1391 - August 12, 2003Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. FASTNET RACE The rich have been getting richer in the 608-mile Fastnet Race. As some of the smaller boats in the fleet of 248 were at anchor in foul tides because winds were too light to make progress, the big boats in the lead have been making much faster passage than predicted down the south coast of England and out into the Irish Sea. But conditions were light again as the leaders, including Neville Crichton's 90-foot Shockwave and John McNeil's 86-foot Zephyrus V, rounded the lighthouse on the rock off the south-west tip of Ireland last night. Leading the multi-hulls was Tony Bullimore in the 100-foot catamaran, Legato. Sébastien Josse has engineered a jump of nearly 20 miles in the Open 60 class in VMI, ahead of Vincent Riou, who, in PRB, recently won the Calais Round Britain Race. In third place, 26 miles behind Josse, was Mike Golding's Ecover as the quintet approached the halfway mark. The first boat has to be back in Plymouth just after 3pm today if it is to beat the record of 53hr 8min set by Ross Field in 1999. As all the weather predictions have so far proved as unreliable as the breeze itself, the behaviour of the high-pressure zone in the early hours this morning was expected to hold the key. - Stuart Alexander, The Independent, full story: http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/story.jsp?story=432822 Event website: http://www.rorc.org ADMIRAL'S CUP The Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Chris Little, has swiftly rebutted an article in the Sunday Telegraph, speculating that the Admiral's Cup may be moved to 2006, with consequent implications for the Rolex Commodores Cup. Chris Little stated that it is planned to hold the Rolex Commodores Cup in Cowes in 2004 from 25 to 31 July, and that the Club intends to hold the Admiral's Cup in 2005. "Whilst ideally the RORC would like to take advantage of work currently underway on drafting a new international rule for the Admiral's Cup, this will not affect our plans to hold the Admiral's Cup in 2005." FOR SALE Questions hang over the future of the blakexpeditions environmental project inspired by Sir Peter Blake after the announcement that its boat, the Seamaster, is to be sold. The vessel took Sir Peter and his crew on expeditions to Antarctica and the Amazon before Sir Peter was shot and killed in December 2001. It has been at Newport, Rhode Island, in the northeastern United States for about a year since a lack of sponsorship ended crew hopes of expeditions to the Arctic, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and a return trip to the Antarctic. With no missions in the pipeline, Lady Pippa Blake decided to sell it and told the Herald blakexpeditions could be "winding down". "We are selling the boat and that is probably the end of blakexpeditions as it was," she said. "Peter's two business partners Alan Sefton and Scott Chapman have worked very, very hard over the last year and a half to try to keep it going. But I feel that without Peter it is hard to see it keep going and it has come to a natural end." Sir Peter's blakexpeditions business partner Alan Sefton said the sale had "serious implications" for the project, which had been seeking sponsorship for the past 15 months. "I'll be back in Britain next week, and then we will get serious about reassessing it and see whether we can make it fly. The legacy is still very powerful." - Clair Trevett, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3517037&reportID=62070 WORLD CHAMPIONS The Camet shorts have raced around the world, winning Transpac, Chicago-Mackinac, Etchells Worlds, Farr 40 and many others. Today, we would like to congratulate the 2003 Snipe World champions in Sweden who used the Camet Neoprene Hiking pants during this regatta. For more information on the Camet Hiking pants, Camet Padded shorts, Bermuda Padded shorts and Pants, Coolmax, T- shirts, Bubble tops, Mylar bags, etc contact our dealers or visit the Camet web page at http://www.camet.com SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Seven America's Cup veterans headline the roster of skippers for Danish Open 2003, the first event on Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004, August 13 - 17, at the KDY/ SKS Match Race Center on Skovshoved Harbor, north of Copenhagen. Complete List of Danish Open 2003 Competitors: - Jesper Radich (recently crowned Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003 champion) - Jes Gram-Hansen (defending event champion) - Magnus Holmberg (won the regatta in 2000 and 2001) - Karol Jablonski - Paolo Cian - Luc Pillot - Andy Beadsworth - Roy Heiner - Kelvin Harrap - Peter Gilmour - Lars Nordbjerg Event website: www.swedishmatchtour.com NEWS BRIEFS * Paul Cayard will host the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards Presentation on November 12, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards are presented annually to recognize the outstanding sailing achievements of male and female sailors, as nominated and voted by the world of sailing. ISAF invites additional nominations - the official Nomination Form is available online: www.sailing.org/worldsailor/2003nominationform.doc * Brad Van Liew, class winner of this year's Around Alone race and the fastest American to sail solo around the globe, joins a lineup of notable sailors that also includes current America's Cup champion Russell Coutts, who are bringing their stories to the New York/New Jersey Sail Expo. The four-day boat show takes place September 25 to 28 at the Liberty Landing Marina (Jersey City, NJ). - www.nysailexpo.com * The Notice of Race and Entry Application for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004 are now available. Scheduled for January 19-23, invited classes include Corsair 28R, Farr 40, IMS, J/105, J/109, J/29, J/80, Melges 24, MORC, Mumm 30, PHRF, Swan 45, Open Swan and T-10. Entry packages will arrive in mailboxes in August. All entry documents, planning information and past results are posted on the event web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com * We've moved the Scuttlebutt CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS to our website, and have made it easy for regatta organizers to post their event(s) on-line. Take a peek: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/ * The Liberty Cup Transatlantic Race (June 14, 2004) from Marblehead, Massachusetts to Lorient France has been modified from a Category 0 to Category 1, and a Multihull class is being considered. The Safety Regulations are now available on website. www.libertycup.ne RESEARCH The Recreation Marine Research Center (at Michigan State University) is now in the process of recruiting the first National Recreational Boater Panel. They have already recruited more than 3,500 boaters from around the country and we are hoping to recruit 7-9,000 more over the next several months. So far, RMRC has recruited only by emailing a sample of West Marine's customers. RMRC will be sending out to 100,000 more to their customers this week. Another 70,000 emails will be sent to boat show visitors from around the country very soon. The on-line panel will provide the boating industry agencies, businesses, and organizations an efficient means to conduct on-going boating research. The increased cost of conducting mail and telephone surveys coupled with the growing number of states that will not release boater registration lists, and the number of persons being added to "no call lists" has reduced RMRC's ability to do the certain types of research, such as boating economic impacts, boater participation levels and opinions and attitudes. RMRC will use the Panel and various sub-samples (e.g., sailors, boaters who keep their boats at marinas) to conduct nationally and regionally significant studies. http://www.prr.msu.edu/boaterpanel/ SNIPE TEAM USA HAMMERS THE WORLDS Last week at the 2003 Snipe Worlds in Landskrona, Sweden, all of the US Snipe teams were in the top half of the fleet. This is probably a record, and quite an accomplishment, considering the recent domination by the South Americans. It has been 22 years since the world title was won by an American, however this year Americans placed: 1st Diaz-Rogers, 2nd Szabo-Janney, 7th Gilreath-Liebl, 9th Lake-Biehl, 14th Manderson-Manderson, 16th Commette-Commette, 18th Hallawell-Hallawell, 19th Arneson-Wirth, 23rd, and 31st MacRae-Evans. Check out the Snipe US website for all the details: http://snipeus.org THE STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING Caribbean sailors and locals alike - led by Jost Van Dyke musician and entrepreneur Foxy - have been raising funds to purchase and preserve the romantic islets of Sandy Spit and Green Cay, favored stopovers in the British Virgin Islands and easily the source of more Madison Avenue-fueled daydreams than any other outcropping of tropical sand and palm trees anywhere on the Blue Planet. Apparently, the pressure is off. Our correspondent in the BVI, Peter Muilenberg, reports that the government of BVI has announced plans to buy the islands and join them with the country's national park system. That's exactly the goal shared by Foxy and friends, so this is excellent news. The islands remain pristine, and they are important rookeries as well as a nesting ground for endangered sea turtles. Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta North will go on, of course. That's an August 30-31 fun regatta at Corinthian YC, Marblehead, that was set up this year as a fundraiser to help purchase and preserve the islands. The good folks at Corinthian YC haven't gotten back to us, but we hear through the grapevine that fundraising will continue. After all, there's more good work to do. - - Sail magazine website, full story: http://www.sailmagazine.com/news/NEWS/ LASER ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIP Surf City YC - Final results, six races with one discard (78 boats): 1. Pat Curran, 18; 2. Trevor Moore, 23; 3. Ryan Minth, 28; 4. Giancalo Nucci, 29; 5. T.J. Tullo, 30. Complete results: http://www.laser.org/c/cnt/down/accresults.pdf BLAST FROM THE PAST Next week the Royal Yacht Club of Nieuwpoort will be hosting the Half Ton Classic Cup, a regatta with and for vintage racing yachts. 25 boats from five European countries are currently entered, but this number may change in the last days before the start. This regatta for old IOR-half tonners emanated from the enthusiasm and the hearts of the owners themselves: Skippers that sailed these boats in the 1970s and 1980s and continue to do so or young sailors who appreciate the simplicity and the democratic spirit, like for instance the Belgian youngsters racing the legendary Waverider. The half tonner prototypes were designed and build to fit into the handicap system that ruled the heyday of yacht racing: the IOR (International Offshore Rule). In fact all these boats had similar performances and it was the crews that made the difference - this was the theory behind the handicap rule. The half tonners were tremendously popular in both short inshore races as long distance races such as the Solitaire du Figaro and the Fastnet Race. The actual owners are true skippers: they sail at their own expense. Boats will be arriving in Belgium from as far afield as La Rochelle, Dublin or even … Helsinki (thanks to the ferry). - The Daily Sail website, Full story: http://thedailysail.com/ VICTORY…AGAIN Pegasus 77, winner of Transpac 2003 (and 2001), is for sale. Launched in 2001, she has proven again to be the ultimate Turbo Sled. Designed by Reichel-Pugh, she remains the very best in every aspect and is immediately available for purchase. Additional details and photographs at http://www.pegasus.com/pegasus77 LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Skip Lissiman: (in response to Butt 1390 - Adrian Morgan's question why Alan Bond was not in the Hall of Fame) Good question! I asked America's Cup Hall of Fame and Museum President, Halsey Herreshoff the same question in Auckland in December 2002.. Halsey was also the navigator on Liberty in 1983. The reason Halsey gave for not including Alan Bond in the Hall of Fame was that he still believed that Australia II was designed by the Dutch and not Ben Lexcen. Which we all know is simply wrong. For the record - Ben Lexcen was playing around with end plates on centerboards for 18 foot skiffs years before Australia II. And by the way - on the final deciding race - Australia II sailed past Liberty downwind - when the winged keel was a liability not an asset. Guess who else is not in the Americas Cup Hall of Fame? You guessed it! - the late Ben Lexcen. * From Ian Jenkins: (re letter from Adrian Morgan) I think the word is "inducted" into the Hall of Fame. Alan Bond has had his fair share of being indicted since 1883! And its result has been infamy rather than fame. * From Carl Schellbach: I don't necessarily want to reopen an old thread, but I found it interesting that 2/3 of the letters in today's Butt dealt with the safety of coach boats, yet the good folks at US Sailing were taken to task for introducing a powerboat course. Cam's got (yet another) great idea with the jet prop motors. I'd be willing to bet the good folks at Yamaha will take notice and perhaps include coaches and other RIB-type owners in their marketing. * From Matt Clifford: TNZ would surely never have secured Kostecki due to their presumably on-going Loyal campaign. I can hardly believe TNZ was even considering bringing non-kiwi's into the team. * From Richard Jepsen: Regarding Ralph Taylor's comments in #1390 on licensing/ accreditation of sailing coaches to keep elite sailors safer; US Sailing has both coaching certifications and safety boat/ rescue boat certifications, along with all of the practical training, texts and manuals as well as a cadre of skilled instructors and instructor trainers to provide what Ralph Taylor suggests. The RYA, I believe, also has a fairly rigorous safety boat training program. Not sure ISAF is the best choice to create a world wide program, but ISAF could certainly provide some visibility to the problem and encourage its member organizations to develop their own versions. * From Bruce Sutphen: For many years the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) have included specific rules prohibiting the movement of ballast and dead weight and limiting to manual power the actions of trimming of sails and moving appendages. Those rules are still fully in force all the time for most boats (see RRS 51 & 52). However the rulemakers did not want to limit the development of technology or sailing techniques so they specifically allow these rules to be changed. RRS 86.1 b & c allow these two rules (51 & 52) to be changed by the sailing instructions and/or the class rules (which includes handicap rules like PHRF & AMERICAP). For years, boats with water ballast and movable ballasted appendages have been racing legally too. For example the Volvo 60 class which was featured in the last three runnings of the Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race employed engine power to move the water ballast from side to side. This was perfectly legal under the RRS because the V 60 class rules had modified RRS 51 & 52 accordingly. Today's advanced CBTF boats are allowed to employ their moveable ballast systems in many handicap races because either the handicap rules (eg. PHRF and AMERICAP) and/or the sailing instructions have modified RRS 51 & 52 for these boats. Of course the handicap systems also consider the speed potential of CBTF and rate them accordingly. * From Megan Sprague: (re Pan Am Games): Congratulations to the Americans on their two gold medals, but the Canadians did well, too! In fact, we tied with Brazil for the most number of medals. Mistral Women's sailor Dominique Vallée claimed Silver after starting off the Games with some bad luck. Mistral Men's sailor Kevin Stittle had a lock on Bronze with one race to go, so he watched race 12 from the coach boat. Radial sailor Keamia Rasa finished with a silver medal after consistently placing in the top three. Laser sailor Bernard Luttmer pulled off 2 nail-biter bullets to catapult into the Silver position. More information is available on the Canadian Yachting Association website (www.sailing.ca) and the direct link to the news item that was regularly updated by team members from the Dominican is http://www.sailing.ca/news/headline.asp?numNewsID=591 CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The most wasted day of all is one in which we have not laughed. |
