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SCUTTLEBUTT 1754 - January 14, 2005
Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt 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.
WHAT A COACH CAN DO FOR YOU - Tony Rey
The goal of any successful racing program is to win races, but it's an
equally important goal to commit to your learning curve, to improving every
day you go sailing. To this end, there's nothing that will improve your
sailing faster and more effectively than a good coach. It's an essential
part of any serious campaign, and it's a lot more than coincidence that the
best high school and college teams have dedicated and talented coaches.
Many of the top grand-prix programs use coaches to keep up to speed, yet
for more recreational sailors, hiring a coach is all but unheard of. It
should be the first place to turn when looking to rise through the fleet's
pecking order.
If you're considering hiring a coach, it means setting aside practice time,
and figuring the potential cost into your budget-more on that later. How
you structure this time depends on your racing goals and your strengths and
weaknesses. Get together with your crew and make three lists: racing goals
for next season, where you are strong, and where you are weak. Be candid,
and commit to improving all aspects of your team.
List issues that have an obvious fix, so that your liabilities can be
prioritized for next season (for example, you have speed problems in light
air, but you have the oldest jib in the fleet). On small boats, weaknesses
tend to be boatspeed or boathandling. On larger teams, communication comes
up frequently as an issue. You may find it easier to break your issues down
into three categories: tactics, boatspeed and sail trim, and boathandling.
With your list of strengths and weaknesses, you can narrow down what you
are looking for in a coach. - Excerpts from a story by Tony Rey posted on
the Sailing World magazine website, full story:
www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=35049&typeID=402&catID=596
THE PAINS OF WEIGHING IN
Most top regattas have the crew weigh in prior to the first race of the
regatta. After weighing in you are free to pig out without concerns of a
future weigh in for that event. In the Etchell class your crew could be
weighed at any time during the event. The more crew weight the faster the
boat sails in breeze above 12 true. It is common to loose up to ten pounds
fast to make weight. I am very use to small amounts of food and water mixed
with a sauna prior to weigh in.
Today I am trying to be prepared with a different approach. Instead of
starving I have increased my running and two weeks prior to an event I will
run up to 60 miles a week. I mix this with a low carb diet, yet keep the
quantity of protein, fruits and liquid high. During the last week, the food
amount should drop and the liquid intact should dramatically increase.
Avoiding sugar and caffeine and alcohol in the liquid form will also help.
One day prior to weigh in it is important not to drink any liquid. A large
bucket of popcorn seems to fill me up yet add very little weight for the
evening dinner. That morning prior to weigh in it is important to not eat
or drink a thing. Hopefully you weigh in prior to noon and can have a great
lunch. - Excerpt from a story by Wally Cross, WCsailing Newsletter. Full
story: http://tinyurl.com/3wdm3
PRICEY 'IMPROVEMENTS'
Valencia Mayoress Rita Barbera yesterday afternoon met for several hours
with Public Administrations Minister Jordi Sevilla, during which the two
discussed future plans for Valencia and the Americas Cup. As the meeting
ended, the Mayoress stated that in her opinion some 240 million Euros were
necessary to improve the city in time for the Americas Cup races in 2007.
Also on the agenda was a discussion over how the money was to be spent and
repaid. It also became clear that the money would not be sent to Valencia -
rather the Madrid Government would authorize the Valencia Town Hall to
accumulate an 'extraordinary debt' to the tune of 240 million Euros. -
www.valencialife.net
THE NEW MELGES 32 DEBUTS IN KEY WEST TODAY
The Melges 32 gets splashed in Key West Friday afternoon with a crowd of
onlookers waiting to see the new Melges craft. The new M32 will sail today
through Sunday in preparation for the first race at Key West Race Week on
Monday the 17th. The Melges 32 is a super-sized Melges 24. A very simple
yet quick performance boat. Get your first view of this boat at Key West or
at the Strictly Sail Show in Chicago, February 3-6. For an immediate
glimpse race to http://www.melges.com
BIG BOAT SAILING
Gavin Brady has some interesting observations to make about how the 100ft
long maxi Konica Minolta behaves in a story now posted on The Daily Sail
subscription website. Here's an excerpt.)
"These boats move around a lot. When you're looking from the bow back down
the boat, in these waves the boat looks somewhat like a train. It's moving
- the whole boat's moving - which is a pretty scary phenomenon. If the
leech line on the main is too loose and it start flapping, you're lying in
the bunk, and the bunk starts rattling. It's a bit of a scary feeling when
the whole boat vibrates just because the leech line is set slightly wrong.
The room for error is so incredibly small.
"The cockpit of these boats aren't that deep, so there's no real
protection. The bow is 80ft in front of the helmsman and when the bow is
going through the wave in front, the stern is in the previous wave. So
while you're looking forward trying to concentrate, you're wondering what's
going to come over your shoulder, maybe a freak wave, and sweep the
helmsman straight off the wheel.
"Smaller boats are a lot more forgiving because they fit into the troughs.
A little move of the rudder and you can soften the landing dramatically.
Whereas with these big boats, a bit like a 747, when you make a move you're
fully committed. The approach is done. Once you're going up a wave, how you
come down it is already decided. By the time the wave reaches you it hits
you with such force, it's unbelievable. So you need to look forward, but
you can't look forward." - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine)
Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar
VENDEE GLOBE
Vincent Riou and Mike Golding are pretty much neck and neck on the climb up
the Southern Atlantic on a level with Rio de Janeiro, Vincent closer to the
goal further to the East, Mike 130 miles inside him, around 600 miles from
the Brazilian coast. The British skipper has nonetheless got some more Easting.
Yesterday, the weather files indicated a chance for a gain to the west, and
Golding went for it. "I feel I had an opportunity, and maybe I took a bit
of a punt. It looked like a golden opportunity, but it hasn't worked out,
clearly it's a lemon," the war-weary skipper admitted. "I think this
weather system has been a little unkind to me. I've now been in a stop-go
situation four times. I think that's a little unfair. There was no
information to say it wouldn't work. There was a lot of information to say
it would work. But it hasn't, so there you go. PRB has complained of the
same thing, that the weather information isn't proving true, and when
you're in that situation you might as well wet your finger and stick it out
the hatch."
The leaders will continue to battle their way through some violent squalls
in big seas and very capricious winds tonight. This delicate situation is
the fruit of a small tropical depression which is deepening above them.
According to Thursday's leader Vincent Riou, things should become clearer
during tomorrow with the arrival of the first trade winds from the Saint
Helena High. With a less powerful boat than his direct rivals, Vincent will
have his work cut out maintaining his small advance along the Brazilian
coast tonight. - www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/
Standings at 1900 GMT January 13:
1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 4634 miles to finish
2. Ecover, Mike Golding, 30 miles to leader
3. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 255 mtl
4. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 641 mtl
5. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 711 mtl
6. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick 2089 mtl
7. Skandia, Nick Moloney, 2667 mtl
8. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 3185 mtl
9. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, 3543 mtl
10. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 3826 mtl
11. Max Havelaar / Best Western, Benoît Parnaudeau, 4102 mtl
12. Roxy. Anne Liardet, 5199 mtl
13. Akena Vérandas, Raphaël Dinelli, 5556 mtl
14. Benefic, Karen Leibovici, 6060 mtl
abd - Pro-Form, Marc Thiercelin
abd - Sill Véolia, Roland Jourdain
abd - Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson
abd - VM Matériaux, Patrice Carpentier
abd - UUDS, Hervé Laurent
abd - Brother, Norbert Sedlacek
COVER UP CONTINUES
Order a custom carbon-fiber spinnaker pole from Hall Spars & Rigging during
January and we'll give you a Kinder Industries spinnaker pole cover (retail
= $11.25/foot). Visit Hall in the Industry Partner area at Key West
(adjacent to the tent) or visit our booth at the Dusseldorf Boat Show (Jan.
15 to 23) to learn how Hall autoclave-cured carbon products and high-tech
rigging can improve your boat's performance. Not leaving town? Visit our
web store to view spinnaker pole pricing and buy online.
http://www.hallspars.com
HOMEWARD BOUND
Ellen MacArthur's relief after rounding Cape Horn and heading into the
Atlantic proved an illusion. Already exhausted after Cape Horn, Wednesday
night's conditions did nothing to ease the agony - a rough sea state caused
by the storm and a strong 3-5 knot tidal current, combined with wind speeds
up to 40 knots, then all but disappearing to just 3 knots in the early of
this morning, before steadily rising again to 35 knots - offered MacArthur
no salvation. MacArthur went through almost the entire sail wardrobe on B&Q
to keep her moving.
MacArthur passed west of the Falkland Islands Thursday morning
rendezvousing with the Royal Navy's Type 42 Air Defence destroyer, HMS
Gloucester. The rendezvous has been planned for a couple of days and,
finally, HMS Gloucester on South Atlantic patrol duty caught up with her 40
miles WNW of the Falkland Islands. "It was good to have some company!" said
Ellen. "She sailed along next to me for a few hours and they did a number
of fly pasts with the crew so they could get a close-up look!" MacArthur
got a final salute from two RAF tornado jets on the ship's departure. "It
was great, they came in very low," MacArthur said. "Fantastic to have that
human contact again and a real morale boost for me."
MacArthur has gained back some of the ground she lost in her slow approach
to the Horn and is now 4 days, 21 hours ahead of Francis Joyon's record
pace. - www.teamellen.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* The 17th Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium will be held on March 4-5,
2005 at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. The Chesapeake Sailing
Yacht Symposium is the world's premier technical forum dedicated to
advancing the study of both the art and science of sailing yacht design
technology. Every two years, professional yacht designers, sailing yacht
enthusiasts, and others with interest in yacht design travel from all over
the world to attend the symposium, where they present papers, exchange
ideas, and further the progress of yacht design. There is an impressive
line-up of speakers and papers: www.csysonline.com
* The Bang the Corner website has just posted a review of the J/133:
www.bangthecorner.com/default.asp?m=da&id=15570
* The Naval Academy is selling its 20 boat 1998 Vanguard Flying Junior
fleet plus three Tech Dinghies. Junior sailing programs, high school
programs and community sailing programs, looking for a way to get a few
boats or a new fleet of boats might want to check out this online auction.
Go to: www.gsaauctions.gov/; double-chick on the Boats and Marine Equipment
section and then select Maryland.
HANDICAPS
Following Club Nautico de Puerto Rico's somewhat parochial decision to
adopt the PHRF rating rule in favor of the Caribbean Sailing Association
(CSA) Rule, Robbie Ferron president of the CSA said, "Although we respect
the motivation of the Club Nautico to search for a more suitable rating
system we are convinced that the type of system that is being chosen is not
the most suitable system for the conditions that we in the Caribbean face.
The CSA handicap has the tremendous advantage that it minimizes subjective
judgments. Whilst this does bring with it other disadvantages it eliminates
one of the most serious disadvantages that the PHRF has. We recall many
years ago when PHRF was used in the region the many difficult situations
that arose and the negative affect it had on sailing in the region. It is
unfortunate that Puerto Rico has chosen to follow a different path to the
rest of the region and without any reference or consultation to the
regional body.'
Chief Measurer, Jeffery Chen, added his thoughts: "It is with some interest
that I received the announcement of the Club Nautico de Puerto Rico's
decision to join the SE Florida PHRF Group. Many of the reasons put forward
by the Club Nautico's executive are valid and I presume that their
deliberations on this were heavily influenced by geopolitics. Is Puerto
Rico more closely affiliated with the USA or with its Caribbean neighbors?
I suspect that this is an age old question that transcends and permeates
many aspects of Puerto Rican life and that the answer has shifted back and
forth geographically in the past and will no doubt continue to do so in the
future.
"Puerto Rico has many talented sailors and has campaigned many successful
racing programs; most recently have been the achievements of Titan XII as
Caribbean Big Boat of 2004 and the impressive scorecard of Enrique Figueroa
in regional and international beach cat competition. Puerto Ricans are an
island people who love to sail and are passionate about yacht racing.
Herein lies the fundamental problem, how do you adequately assign ratings
to racing yachts when all the competitors are so enthusiastic about
racing?" - Full story: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1,FhtzAr
KAENON POLARIZED ON THE EYES = ROLEX ON THE WRIST
Kaenon Polarized congratulates Rolex Yachtsmen and Yachtswoman of the Year,
Paul Foerster, Kevin Burnham and Jody Swanson on their award winning
year. We're proud to have provided the enhanced vision! Kaenon
Polarized. Evolve Optically. Available at finer locations around the
world. - http://www.kaenon.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 Jack Mallinckrodt: Peter Craig's comments on the problem of racing
diverse boat types against one another, are spot on. He correctly
recognizes the limitations inherent in any single number handicap system.
But his approach to solving the problem, further splitting the rating bands
by subjective judgments related to SA/D and D/L seems to me a step
backwards. The IMS and Americap systems both apply differing relative
handicaps which take into account SA/D and D/L and many more significant
boat characteristics, in the context of the particular course and wind, in
an objective, physically sound manner.
In some kinds of racing, a good argument can be made for the simplicity of
single number systems like PHRF. In others, the greater objective accuracy
potential of multi-number, "matrix" systems like IMS and Americap may be
worth the complexity. But to complicate the simple PHRF system by
subjective judgments of the very complex interplay of course, wind and boat
characteristics, seems to me liable to the worst problems of both and the
best parts of neither.
CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM
Is an 'arbitrator' a cook who leaves Arby's to work at McDonalds?
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