SCUTTLEBUTT No. 681 - November 2, 2000

WINNING COMBINATION

You need a lot of things to win a world championship, and boatspeed is at the top of that list. Boatspeed was not a problem for Giorgio Zuccoli when he won this year's Melges 24 World Championship - he used Ullman Sails. Of course he did - Giorgio is a licensee of Ullman Sails International and has been with Dave Ullman for years. But more importantly for Ullman customers, Giorgio is also a major player on the sail design team that Dave anchors. Wouldn't you like to have this design team working for you? You can:

http://www.ullmansails.com/

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.

-- From Hugh Elliot - Any proposal to change the Individual Recall Flag from "X" to "R" can best be described as a "solution in search of a problem".

-- From Mark Gaudio - I agree with McCarthy that there is no need to change the X-flag situation. Not only is it obvious that there is lots of red and orange on the RC boat already, but why bother! The current white background with blue cross works just fine. Apparently lots of local YC's use the R Flag for reverse course (just in case the wind is backasswords that day). There is plenty of change going on in the sport as it. (argueably too much) Reminds me of the addage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

-- From Bart Beek - Glenn McCarthy is right on the button, to oppose changing the individual recall signal from "X" (blue on white) to "R" (yellow on red). Why change things just to be changing? The "X" flag is well known internationally and it SHOWS UP, as Glenn points out, against a background of other colors which feature red and orange (the start signal and the line flag). The "X" flag is distinctive and easier for the competitors to spot.

-- From: Manfred C. Schreiber, Germany Team Illbruck, Germany has announced officially their participation in the next round of the America's Cup. It was reported from Auckland that they have rented a berth for 2003 and 2006 and they will take the momentum in their team from the Volvo Ocean Race into their America's Cup challenge.

This is the first German challenge with a real chance to get to the starting line. Just for the records, it is not the first German challenge who had paid their entry fee. This was the "Berlin Challenge" for the Cup in 1986 in Perth. Due to the loss of the Cup to Australia, the committed German sponsors pulled out at that time.

-- From Paul Daniels - The Dawn Riley saga crosses all boundaries from sport to business. Are women able to compete with men on a level playing field? Dawn implies that other men are getting big $$ salaries from the new mega-syndicates, but she is not because of her "female" status. I have one comment: Strip away everyone's names and then rank the individuals on the match racing circuit, the "whichever" one-design regatta, or the "whichever" class championship. Then choose the top-ranked skippers. If you're not at the top, then you don't deserve the big salary. Women's championships don't count for this ranking because men aren't allowed to compete there.

People say to let women compete on their own, as an individual, not specifically as "women". I would caution, 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.'

My suggestion: follow the lead of Ellen MacArthur, Isabel Autissier and others who have shown that they can compete and beat their male competitors in the single-handed ocean races, and therefore command the top salaries and sponsors.

THE RACE
Team Philips, never far from the public eye, is in the news yet again as Mike Calvin, Daily Mail journalist and one of Goss' six crew, sensationally quit the Team's west country base.

In a double-page justification of his resignation, published in Britain's Mail on Sunday, former Team Philips crew member Mike Calvin said he couldn't run the risk of denying his wife her husband nor his young family their father. He went on to criticise Goss who, he claims, simply refuses to smell the coffee regarding Team Philips' participation in The Race.

In his article, Calvin claims that repairs mean the boat will be "chronically underprepared" for The Race and yet Goss still refuses even to consider the idea of pulling out of the non-stop, no-rules globe-girdling gamble. "I could not countenance giving the boat a third chance to kill me by sailing it into the Southern Ocean without undergoing a realistic test of its strength," said Calvin in the article.

Calvin has been a close friend of Goss for ten years, ever since they met in the build-up to the 1992-93 British Steel Challenge, and still has huge respect for the man whose exceptional endeavours in the Southern Ocean earned him the life-long respect of the sailing world. "I admire his principles so profoundly that I asked him to be godfather to my youngest son," added Calvin.

But he added that, although Goss chose his crew for their "test pilot" aptitudes, he wouldn't take part in what he believed was a "kamikaze" mission. For his part, Goss was as sanguine as ever: "Whilst I do not agree with Mike, I do respect and understand his position - it takes a big person to say 'no'. Ultimately, the decision as to whether the boat goes or not rests with me and hinges on safety. The rest of the team remain confident and I do not believe that now is the time to make that decision." Is it not yet the time to consider it?

Calvin also criticised the French organisers of The Race: "It is poorly organised, underpinned by a barely suppressed sense of panic," said Calvin. "All projected seven entrants have severe problems to overcome. It has the potential to become the biggest disaster in ocean racing history." Calvin also reveals that Goss and Fossett had secret meetings to discuss the possibility of pulling out of The Race and competing against each other at a later date for the Jules Verne.

As this site has said several times, The Race should be postponed for one year. Integrity and bravery by competitors and organisers alike have degenerated into what smells like recklessness and stupidity. Several of the entrants are in dire financial straits, tempting them to cut corners to justify the considerable investments of time and money that have already been made. Others will be turning up at the start line, bound for the Southern Ocean with nothing more rigourous than a cruise to the Canaries and back under their crossbeams.

This is folly. As Club Med skipper Grant Dalton has consistently observed after his many trips through the Southern Ocean, "Down there, you're just tumbleweed." When Goss said of Team Philips' participation "we will be doing everything we did not want to do," he acknowledged that his lack of preparation leaves him at the mercy of the seas but from what Calvin says, he won't consider simply not doing it.

This site's major concern is that the emotional, personal and spiritual investment made by Goss in Team Philips, with the fervent support of his millions of ardent fans, has clouded his judgement. For this diarist, images of fellow west countryman Donald Crowhurst and his woefully underprepared Teignmouth Electron setting out for the start of the Golden Globe flash back across the conscience. It you're not ready, you don't go. It's really very simple.

It can only be hoped that Goss will not ignore the principles with which he started this venture and potentially rob Britain of her most celebrated sailing hero in thirty years, since Knox-Johnston won the Golden Globe. Perhaps Calvin hoped his retirement would shake Goss out of his singlemindedness. Perhaps the former Royal Marine's embattled, messianic fervour will make him deaf to all dissenting voices.

There is a psycholgical phenomenon known as 'groupthink' wherein a small group of people convinces each other that ludicrous schemes make perfect sense. Kennedy used it in closed meetings to justify the ill-conceived Bay of Pigs invasion; David Koresh used it when condemning his deluded band of followers to their fiery fate. Let us hope that this phenomenon has not taken hold among the organisers and competitors scheduled to take part in The Race. - Chris Beeson, YachtPeople website, http://www.yachtpeople.com/

SYDNEY TO HOBART RACE
The 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the 56th annual ocean classic conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, has attracted the largest big boat fleet since the 50th race in 1994. The line-up on Boxing Day, December 26, will include a 90-footer, three 80-footers, a 76-footer, five Volvo Ocean 60s headed by last year's record-slashing line honours winner, Nokia, plus an Open 60 and four other 60-footers. Of these big boats, at least eight will sail under their water-ballast configuration, as did Nokia in 1999.

Applications to enter the tough 627 nautical mile race in the Tasman Sea, down the east coast of Australia to the island State of Tasmania, have closed with the CYCA receiving 87 nominations. The race has once again attracted yachts across the broad spectrum of ocean racing, from little 30-footers to a 90-footer, the Italian Navy training yacht Orsa Maggiore. There are boats from all Australian States and the ACT, and overseas from Britain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Bermuda.

"It is the best and biggest line-up of big boats since the 50th race in 1994," CYCA race director Phil Thompson said. He added that the CYCA was gratified at the understanding and diligence of owners and crews in accepting and applying the new safety standards required for the race. "Many of the safety measures introduced for the 1999 race have been refined and extended, while further emphasis had been placed on crew experience and training, with 50 per cent of the crew of each yacht now required to attend special safety seminars."

Thompson predicted a great race for line honours. "The Volvo Ocean 60s, headed by last year's line honours winner Nokia, will virtually race boat for boat, and we expect a great battle between the 80-footers, Shockwave, Nicorette from Sweden, and the extended Wild Thing from Melbourne, not to mention the Sydney 76-footer, Brindabella," Thompson said. "Who gets to Hobart first will depend largely on the strength and direction of the wind; last year's hard running and reaching conditions were maximised by Nokia and her crew in setting a remarkable race record of 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes 2 seconds." - Peter Campbell

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
When you need the latest high-tech gear for your boat, you:
A) Get in the car, drive to the store, wait for someone to show you a catalog.
B) Dig out the "Old Boat Supply" catalog, and call for pricing on obsolete products.
C) Visit ?????.com, and learn how to tie some knots or dock your boat.
D) Call Performance Yacht Systems at 1-877-3pyacht.
Click below for answers.
http://www.pyacht.com
hardware / rigging / sails / clothing / marine electronics

VENDEE GLOBE COUNTDOWN
Twenty-four skippers are in the last stages of preparation for the fourth edition of the Vendee Globe, a single-handed 'round the world race that will pit them against some of the fiercest weather on the globe. The course is simple: round three Capes without stopping and without assistance. While past Vendee Globes have been French-dominated affairs, more than half the fleet participating in this edition is from other countries. Twelve skippers from six countries (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Belgium) will be on the start line at Les Sables d'Olonne on November 5, all with a real chance of victory. Ten of the 24 competitors are past Vendee Globe entrants-Yves Parlier is on his third time round. Others have done other around the world races, either solo, with stopovers, or in crews. - SailNet website

Full story:
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/news/index.cfm?news_list=matthe0805,matthe0806,matthe0807&tfr=fp

THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.