|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 957 - December 4, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE It was a remarkable last-to-first victory for the yacht, which was dramatically slowed in the early stages of the leg after a bow compartment was flooded. At one stage it slipped to around 180 miles behind the leaders but it made up the difference in the Southern Ocean, rounding Eclipse Island off Albany, WA, in second place behind Team SEB. As with the first leg, the winning move came late in the leg when SEB was knocked down in Bass Strait and tore a spinnaker. Illbruck seized the lead and built up an advantage of around 1 hour. - Sail World website, www.sail-world.com Burying the gremlins of their leg one performance, Gurra Krantz and his SEB crew sailed into Sydney Harbour a little after midday local time today to claim second place on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race. Krantz and his team raised themselves to the immense level of expectation, excelling in the Southern Ocean to set a new Volvo Ocean 60 class record of 460.1 miles in 24 hours. Even when the Swedish flagged yacht lost its navigator, Marcel van Triest, at Eclipse Island due to family bereavement, SEB continued to set the pace. SEB finished a little over one hour and thirteen minutes behind illbruck after 24 days at sea. If consistency is to be the overall key to victory in the Volvo Ocean Race, Jez Fanstone and his Team News Corp crew are now second only to leg winners illbruck. Third for the second leg in a row, News Corp is now equal second in the overall standings with Amer Sports One (based on Grant Dalton's team holding fourth position) after a successful leg through the Southern Ocean. While three Volvo Ocean 60s are safely tucked up in Sydney's Darling Harbour, an intense battle for fourth position is raging in the Tasman Sea, 40 miles from the finish line. Less than a mile now separates Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One (in fourth) and Knut Frostad's djuice team. If Dalton can hold off the pink and black Laurie Davidson design that has been gaining on him all day, he will be second overall alongside Team News Corp. Frostad has other intentions though and has whittled Dalton's six mile lead 18 hours ago down to just half a mile. STANDINGS: December 4 @ 0400 GMT - 1. illbruck, finished; 2. Team SEB, finished; 3. News Corp, finished; 4. Amer Sports One, 41 miles to finish; 5. djuice, 42 mtf; 6. Assa Abloy, 91 mtf; 7. Amer Sports Too, 671 mtf. - www.volvooceanrace.com
QUOTES FROM THE FINISHERS "We can beat illbruck, and that felt good. We have no hesitation over charging at them for first place, it's just that we have to keep our game together a bit more all the way - maybe we pushed too hard in the Southern Ocean, and maybe that came back on us in the end as we were maybe tired. Also, without a Navigator, obviously that must have had some effect on our game plan." - Gunnar Krantz, Team SEB "The most disappointing part was when we broke that record - we did 450 odd miles and we had been smoking - if we'd kept the breeze for another six hours we would have done 480, we were flying! And then SEB came through and made the record by eight miles. Those were the hairiest moments as we were all stacked out at the back of the boat - everyone sleeping at the back of the boat and even all the food was cooked down there!" - Ross Field, Team News Corp
MAKE A NOTE OF IT
PAUL CAYARD Officially the top American skipper who won the last Whitbread hands down when leading EF Language, will only say he has a 50-50 chance of taking part in the current race, but one suspects the real chances are much higher and rising. Cayard will not elaborate on why he has been left cooling his heels at home in California while the rest of the Oracle sailing team continues its winter training in Auckland. He says he is still employed by the syndicate and is "working from home". However it is clear a fundamental breakdown with Ellison or others has occurred and Cayard appears not to see any future for himself with that team. - Ed Gorman, madforsailing website. To read Gorman's interview with Cayard: www.madforsailing.com
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Alice Leahey (Re the TV coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup): The Outdoor Life Network? Is this some kind of a cruel joke? How many people have ever even heard of this obscure network, let alone have access to it? What can the Challenger of Record Management team be thinking? Not much, obviously. The racing for the America's Cup itself is sometimes a bit of an anticlimax after the close competition of the last stages of the Vuitton series. Thanks to this absurd decision, most US residents will not have an opportunity to view any of this action. How appropriate that this article appeared right under Susan Daly's commentary on the decline in participation in sailing. The one televised sailing event that has much appeal to the non-sailing public as well as to die-hard racers will be seen and appreciated by almost no one. Could we be doing a worse job of promoting our sport? Not likely. * From Doug Lord: It seems that the billionaires want to race in private this time out in the America's Cup. I find it hard to believe that the negotiators for the challengers, representing the billionaires as they do, are so poor at negotiating that they couldn't work out something with ESPN to allow many of us to watch the Louis Vuitton series. I would have to spend about $500 to get the Outdoor Life Network and I'm not going to. It's a shame to be put in this position by really shortsighted reasoning on the part of the Challenger organization!! * From Bruce Nairn (In response to Susan Daly's comments about the drop in sailing and the study by NSGA): My partner, Tucker Thompson and I spent the better part of three months a little over a year ago gathering data about participation in sailing. From that research we found that the NSGA survey to be seriously flawed and unsupported by other data collected. The NSGA study might work well for sports with broad participation that clearly identifies it's participants (such as skiing participants = lifts tickets sold). Sailing, because of it's inherently low numbers of participants and a lack of sound self-collected data slips through the cracks of the NSGA survey basically due to the small sampling and the nature of the survey. I would love to go on a rant here about what "we" need to do about this but I have covered this ground many times before so I'll spare all of you (but just this once). But please, in the meantime, don't let Chicken Little be your advisor. * From Kris Anderson: (In response to Meaghan Van Liew's comment regarding the televising of sailing): The unfortunate reality is that in America, even the sailors would prefer to watch the main stream sports rather than sailing. Walk into any yacht club bar at any given time and you'll almost be guaranteed to find the ubiquitous TV loaded up with some 'ball' sport. Ask for the channel to be changed and you'd better run for cover. However, the viewers are not to blame. The culprits are the people who are producing the current generation of T.V. sailing. They don't seem to get it. They should take a good long look at what NASCAR did to improve its image from beer-drinking-hillbillies to modern American superstars. They should also go back about fifteen-twenty years and take a look at the adolescent NFL and review a few of their blunders. It's amazing that in a sport that frequently pushes the technology envelope that they can't figure out how to show sailboat racing to the average "joe" who has perfected the science of watching three to four channels at once. I have given this subject a lot of thought and if any of the producers would like to know what I know, please feel free to email me. * From Jason Holtom: Following up Meaghan Van Liew's comments about the 60-foot professional trimaran circuit, many non-US residents saw what all the fuss is about on CNN's new monthly Inside Sailing TV show this past weekend with spectacular coverage of the recent Transat Jacques Vabre and interviews with top designer Nigel Irens and skippers Loick Peyron, Karine Fauconnier, Michel Desjoyeaux and Jean-Luc Nelias. The program aired in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Unfortunately the show is not on CNN's US distribution at the moment, so US Scuttlebutt subscribers will need to get their sailing friends elsewehere in the world to set the video. * From Scot West: Have you seen or heard about CNN launching "Inside Sailing www.cnn.com/insidesailing?" You'll notice fairly quickly that the site and show is entirely for CNN Europe. CNN's Atlanta office told us, "European sponsor = European coverage" routine. But she also spoke to the main sponsor who seemed to indicate they would really like the US coverage and that CNN will not air Inside Sailing in the US due to lack of advertising Anyway, it is a long shot, but what would you think about mentioning this development in Scuttlebutt and asking your readers to communicate/email CNN directly with an outcry for coverage? Other option is to go directly to the "YOUR SAY" portion of the site with a public request for airing in the US, you'll note there first comment is exactly that (not inspired be me). My hope of course would be to get the on-air coverage and exposure in the US. What do you think? I've got a call into CNN international to get a feel for their position. If you think this is a worthwhile effort, give me a call or email and let's discuss it. In any case I'll update you after I speak with CNN. * From Mike Hobson (Regarding the girls performance in the Volvo): I would actually suggest that they are performing at a level higher than the men given their circumstances. The girls are allowed 13 crew, if you assume an average girl weighs 140lbs, this would make a total crew weight of 1,820lbs. Previously the girls were only allowed 12 the same as the guys. The guys with 12 crew if you assume an average of 180lbs would give a total weight of 2,160lbs. This accounts to 18% more body weight, and the inherent strength that goes with it. Volvo boats are very physical boats, the more power you put in the more you get out. So more body weight muscle mass means more power, the boat goes faster. So isn't about time that the Volvo rules were changed to give the girls equal chance. The top one design keelboats recognize that weight is important and maximum crew weights are set, why not the Volvo? To be competitive everyone knows that you need to be at the maximum limit. So if the girls are down 340 lbs they could be carrying 2-3 extra people to be on an equal footing. It is also well documented that the girls got the B boat and a boat that was designed for men, not optimized for the shorter lighter girls. They also did not have the preparation time. So give them a break or give them equal opportunity. * From Art LeVasseur: I think Chris Welsh hit the nail on the head with his comment (in Butt 956) that the obligation of the right of way boat to give the burdened boat time and opportunity to keep clear has created a huge gray area that is being exploited by the burdened boat. This requirement, in effect, briefly reverses the underlying rule that establishes who has the right of way. The problem this creates is that no two people will agree on how much time or space is appropriate before the "normal" rule applies again. In practice Don Becker's nine simple rules work great as long as the boats are not very close to each other or are slowly converging. However, the "gray area" comes into play whenever the boats are in very tight quarters, which is precisely when the skippers need objective criteria to judge their next move. I think this is one reason why there are fewer protests--even if the incident is videotaped the subjective nature of the rule means that a racer does not know for sure if he of she will win or lose before entering the protest hearing room. Ask 10 sailors how fast are you allowed to luff these days and I'll bet you get 10 widely divergent answers. * From Glenn Oliver: "Names omitted" just haven't seen the light on starting sequences. If you don't like what the racings rules provide, you are free to write your own into the SIs. Complaining about it doesn't add what is missing (or does it?). No system is going to be perfect considering the wide variety of racing we have: Seashells, Sabots, Lidos, FJs... J24s, Melges 24s...Shock 35s, Farr 40,...70 Footers, Maxis, IACCs... one system will never work for all of it. Lets concentrate on racing, having fun, and solving real problems. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Am I mistaken or did the system we all used just 12 months ago work just fine for all of the classes named above. Perhaps I'm missing something, but learning a new starting system every time you visit a different yacht club does not seem like a positive direction for the sport? From Sam Mead: The new starting system seems to be the perpetual subject of comment by sailors and race committee members in the US. For the record, the US Sailing Racing Rules Comm. (I know a member) unanimously recommended that old starting system #2 be retained as a US prescription in the 2001-2004 rulebook. They were overruled by higher authorities at US Sailing. If you have a comment I suggest writing to Dave Rosekrans, US Sailing President (president@ussailing.org), and ask that he send it on to their Board of Directors and Executive Committee (US Sailing individual members don't have the right to vote but Board members do). You can view the proposed US Sailing prescription (as adopted in Canada) at: www.sailing.ca/competitive/management/prescription.shtm * From Mac Manion: I grew up in Larchmont New York. I have made a life of sailing, and I don't get back there often. Whenever I do, I go to Manor Park with my Son, to point out the boats in the harbor. In the winter when the harbor is empty, even when it isn't Sunday, I always hear the echoes of my childhood across from the breakwater. Anyone who has sailed in the Larchmont Inner Club Fleet knows the sounds I mean. Stanley Bell had a distinct voice, from many years of howling into that bullhorn in the cold. I was so sad this morning to read that he had died. The echoes will live on with us, Thank you for all you did for us Stanley.
US DISABLED SAILING TEAM Named by the 2.4 Metre class: 2001 IFDS 2.4 Metre World Silver Medallist and 2000 Paralympic 2.4 Metre Bronze Medallist Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine); John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.); and 2001 2.4 Metre North American and Northeastern Champion Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.). Notable is that Doerr has been named to the 2001 team in both the Sonar and 2.4 Metre classes. - Jan Harley, www.ussailing.org/Olympics/Paralympic/
CHECK YOUR LISTS
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
INDUSTRY NEWS * Burke Design, a composite engineering firm specializing in high-performance applications for the marine industry, has recently opened in Bristol, RI. Steve Burke is a naval architect and composite engineer with over twenty years of experience - most recently the marine composites engineer at TPI.
YACHTIES OF THE YEAR
To nominate a Yachtsman of the Year:
CHUCK KOBER
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
