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SCUTTLEBUTT 1464 - November 24, 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. AMERICA'S CUP Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts is in favour of introducing more radical boats for the next America's Cup. Following the announcement of the venue of the next cup competition in Geneva on Wednesday, a draft copy of the America's Cup-class rules will be presented at a media conference at the successful venue, either Valencia, Lisbon, Marseille or Naples, on Thursday. The rules set stringent design criteria and are revised after each regatta by America's Cup management with input from the defender, challenger of record and various other syndicates. It is understood the rules have been adjusted slightly to allow boats to be lighter and have more sail area. 'There were really two options," Coutts said from Switzerland. "One was to change the rule dramatically, which is what I was actually in favour of, but not many others were. I wanted to have a more radical boat that would be faster downwind and would sort of be a complete change. Most other people felt they wanted to keep the boats the same which should, in turn, save some costs - which is a benefit." The cost of competing is the sticking point for potential challengers - including Team New Zealand. "Certainly we would love to reduce the costs," Coutts said. "It is fair to say, though, that probably not everyone is that focused on reducing the costs, but certainly Alinghi is." He said it was too hard to say how much was needed for a campaign. But regardless of cost, Coutts has heard of several possible challengers. "Apparently there are three syndicates who are going to announce immediately after the venue announcement," he said. "There seems to be at least two strong syndicates from Italy forming, and there is talk of three there. It sounds like there is a chance the Swedes will be back and there will be a new challenge out of Spain. There are a few things in the rumour mill right now." - Julie Ash, NZ Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/w8uy TEAM NEW ZEALAND After just seven months in the job, it appears the veteran round-the-world sailor is on track to getting Team New Zealand on the start-line in 2007. "In recent weeks we have had some serious success on the people front," Dalton said. "I'm really excited. Our design team, our engineers, our statistical analysts, our new mast design team, new sail design team and our new crew are a potent weapon. Everything is under control. It is a real step up." Dalton does not wish to announce his latest signings after traveling globally in the hunt for sponsorship, sailors and designers. "I think it is a mix of what we recognized as the best of the old with a whole lot of new . . . which includes some grey hair as well." His signings could be revealed next week when a design meeting is held in Auckland. "There are people arriving from all over the world for that," Dalton said which suggests the new Team New Zealand will be more multi-national. We'll have about 20 guys in town. We will set the parameters of when we sail, when we don't sail, when we start going to the tank, how we are going to run our testing, the weather - everything." With most of the key people now secured, the challenge for Dalton remains to find the estimated $150 million needed to reach the startline. "Money wise I am starting to feel reasonably good," Dalton said. - NZPA, StuffNZ website, full story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2734390a1823,00.html WAITING FOR SEAWEED? Are you waiting for seaweed to clog your boatspeed paddlewheel in the middle of a race this winter? There's no better time to say, "I've got to get a flush mounted Ultrasonic speedo" than right now. While the boat is in yard storage until spring, or getting ready to roll down the Interstate southbound (lucky you), it's an ideal opportunity to get the thruhull ready, and the CS4500 sensor installed. Fully compatible with both the Tryad T2 multiplex interface and older style Model 015 Boatspeed Interface. For more information, contact your Ockam dealer or Tom Davis (tom@ockam.com). SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Australia's Peter Gilmour and his Pizza-La Sailing Team defeated Sweden's Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife Rangers 3-1 today to claim his record eighth Nippon Cup title. This win was the fifth consecutive Nippon Cup crown and second consecutive regatta win on the Swedish Match Tour, following a victory at last month's Investors Guaranty Presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda, for the veteran Australian match racer and his crew of Mike Mottle, Yasuhiro Yaji and Kazuhiko Sofuku. To get to the finals, both Gilmour and Holmberg had to 'survive' thrilling five-match semifinals against Gavin Brady of the Oracle BMW Racing Team and Dean Barker of the Omega Match Racing Team. In the petit-finals racing Gavin Brady dismissed fellow Kiwi Dean Barker 3-0 to claim third place. The next event on the Swedish Match Tour is the Congressional Cup in Long Beach, Calif., April 19-24, 2004. - Shawn McBride, www.swedishmatchtour.com Final Nippon Cup Standings: 1. Peter Gilmour, AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team - $15,000 2. Magnus Holmberg, SWE/SeaLife Rangers - $9,000 3. Gavin Brady, Oracle BMW Racing - $7,000 4. Dean Barker, NZ/OMEGA Match Racing Team - $6,000 5. Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team - $5,000 6. Jesper Radich, Denmark - $4,500 7. Luc Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot - $3,500 8. Staffan Lindberg, FIN/Team Henri Lloyd - $3,000 9. Andy Green, GBR/Team Racing Green - $2,500 10. Yautaka Funazawa, Japan - $2,000 11. Eiichiro Hamazaki, Japan - $1,500 12. Takao Ninomiya, Japan - $1,000 Current Rankings - Swedish Match Tour: 1. Peter Gilmour, AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team, 65 2. Magnus Holmberg, SWE/SeaLife Rangers, 45 3. Jesper Radich, DEN/Team Radich, 35 4. Dean Barker, NZ/Omega Match Racing Team, 24 5. Jesper Bank, Denmark, 20 = Chris Dickson, Oracle BMW Racing Team, 20 7. Gavin Brady, NZ/Oracle BMW Racing Racing, 15 8. Luc Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot, 14 9. Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team, 10 = Russell Coutts, Alinghi Team, 10 = Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand, 10 ROLEX FARR ONE DESIGN INVITATIONAL The Atlantic's shifty conditions off Miami Florida were a constant challenge in final two races of the inaugural Rolex Farr One Design Invitational. With light, 5-7 knot Northeast wind at the beginning of the day building to 12-14 knots, skippers and tacticians fought to gain an advantage with every leg. Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo Migilori of Rome, Italy finished strongly with a 3 -1 to convincingly win the 2003 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship. In the Mumm 30 class Jack Lefort of Stuart, Fla. triumphed over the nine boat fleet on his Off the Gauge to win his fourth Mumm 30 North American Championship. Peter Davidson won the Open Class on his Farr 395 Shades of Gray. Geoff Stagg, President of Farr International, presented Mezzaroma and Lefort with specially-engraved Rolex timepieces. - Media Pro Int'l, Final Standings: Farr 40 (11 races - 17 boats): 1. Nerone, Mezzaroma/Sodo Migliori, Rome, Italy, 49; 2. Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy, Los Angeles, Calif, 61; 3. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson, Boston, Mass., 65; Mumm 30 (9 boats): 1. Off The Gauge, Jack Lefort, Stuart, Fla, 26; 2. USA65, David Pyles, Easton, Md., 42; 3. Tramp, Tom Ritter, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 43. www.farrinternational.com/rolexinvite03 GIFT IDEAS West Marine has great gift ideas for your favorite boater or yourself! The 2003 West Marine Holiday Catalog features some of the most unique and exciting gifts - sure to strike the fancy of the intrepid adventurer on your list. For that special something that's bound to leave them dazzled: http://www.westmarine.com NEWS BRIEFS * 2003 was a standout year for American racers and the time is fast approaching to honor the top achievers. Have you cast your ballot for the 2003 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year? Nominations close November 30, 2003. Submit yours at http://www.ussailing.org/Awards/rolex_link.htm * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston announced that Fremantle will become a host port stopover for the 2006 5-Oceans race (formerly called Around Alone). This announcement comes hot on the heels of Fremantle also securing host port status for the Clipper 2005 Round the World Yacht. Australian Tourism Minister Bob Kucera said that because of these two events, the Western Australian economy stands to gain a $3.3 million boost. * Geronimo's attempt to break Playstation's Discovery Route record from Cadiz to San Salvador has ended. Wind conditions deteriorated for the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran, and with no hope of breaking the record, Olivier de Kersauson elected to return to Brest. http://www.grandsrecords.com COLLEGE SAILING Vincent Porter from Harvard University won the light air, 16-boat ICSA/ Vanguard North American Men's Singlehanded Championship hosted by Eckerd College. Final results: 1. Vincent Porter, Harvard, 74; 2. David Wright, Kings Point, 82; 3. Clay Johnson, Harvard, 82; 4. Brian Haines, Stanford, 97; 5. Bill Self, Texas A&M, 105. At the same venue, Anna Tunnicliffe of Old Dominion dominated the 16-boat ICSA/ Vanguard North American Women's Singlehanded Championship: 1. Anna Tunnicliffe. Old Dominion, 47; 2. Genny Tulloch, Harvard, 74; 3. Sloan Devlin, Harvard, 97; 4. Jennie Philbrick, Harvard, 106; 5. Alexa Bestoso, Navy, 115. http://www.collegesailing.org/ PERSPECTIVE Looking at the resources Alinghi and Oracle are already putting into their campaigns at this stage, being a new challenger even with Team New Zealand's experience is daunting. "I think they are certainly a long long way ahead of the game at the moment," says (TNZ's Dean) Barker of Alinghi and Oracle. "It is a long way to go to sustain it but the advantage for them is that they have the backing to sustain it for four years, because the people cost is the highest. Every time you go sailing you have got to have at least 50 people working, so it will certainly be an expensive campaign. Effectively they have been up and running since late August, before the Moet Cup." The deadline for Team New Zealand's fund raising is April next year but Barker is vague as to what they must have in place by then. "We know we're not going to have the whole lot, but it depends on the way we fund the team and which sponsors come on and where we sit at that point will determine it." - Excerpt from an interview on The Daily Sail website, http://www.thedailysail.com BE THANKFUL Be thankful that you have ordered your 2004 Ultimate Sailing calendar. T-shirts, caps, note cards, posters, book and custom prints are also available. Check the Ultimate Sailing website for details: http://www.ultimatesailing.com/ 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 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 Tony Nunes: I read with interest the letter from Fred Hagedorn, Chair, Olympic Sailing Committee, US Sailing, in today's Curmudgeon about the funds from U.S. Sailing for our Olympic athletes. The amount of budgeted ($1.4 million) is pathetically small for a nation of our size and wealth. Can anyone tell me whether this is the total amount of Governing body/Government support these athletes get? If so it is no wonder we continue to have a hard time against the Europeans who I understand receive far greater support. This is especially true as with such small support these sailors are forced to go and live in Europe for a year or two just to get the competition they need. Are there any plans in the works to overhaul the system and set up a fund (perhaps outside of U.S. Sailing) to raise and distribute money just for Olympic campaigns? Does such a fund exist or am I missing something? * From Magnus Wheatley With the debate raging on the discard rule and the scuttlebutt flying about ISAF and box rules, one piece stood out like a shining light in Butt 1463, so much so that I had to re-read it over and over again. Gary Jobson is handling his terrible cancer with such dignity, resolve and fortitude that he is an inspiration to us all. The man whose voice first lit the flame of enthusiasm for the America's Cup in me (who can forget the words "they're submarining"?) and whom in person is the most self-effacing and charismatic man that I've ever met is on the ropes but fighting back. I wish him well and a speedy recovery and fully expect his dynamite commentary in 2007. Get well soon Gary, sailing needs you. * From Larry Law: To Gary Jobson - In addition to myself - and surely thousands of others - we want to wish you a rapid and complete recovery. Not because you're a "Hall of Famer" or because you have added immeasurably to the sport of sailing, but mostly just because you're a member of the "brotherhood" of sailors world wide that respect and care about the members of this special fraternity. From Sabots to Sleds, we look forward to your being around for decades to come. God Speed * From Malcolm McKeag: We need to differentiate between a strategic time limit - such as 12 hours in a race expected to take no more than 24 hours - and a tactical time limit - say 30 minutes after the first valid finisher - being used to try and keep a multi-race programme rolling by not having to wait for stragglers. In the former case, DNF seems a reasonable score (especially if the SIs change RRS and make the DNF score equal either number of starters, or number of starters plus one). In effect, the boat has finished in last place. But if the wind dies during a short race that is part of a series, real inequalities can result even using that altered scoring. Another approach is to make the time-expired score in such a case either one more than the score of the last valid finisher (effectively bringing all the time expired boats up to the line together, thus handing a bonus to all but one) or, more equitably, making the time-expired score the average of all the available points: i.e last valid finisher plus one plus number of starters divided by number of starters minus score of last valid finisher. Easier to do than describe. Say five boats out of 12 are DNF, last valid finisher being 7th. Each gets points for 10th place. Not as good as spotting the change of weather and shortening course, but perhaps better than crucifying all five. * From Jim Champ: In 'Butt 1443 Cory E. Friedman asked, "What other sport allows anything as ridiculous as throwouts?" Motor Racing. For exactly the same reasons. In a contest where one is stretching the limits of mechanical equipment, which inevitably has an element of luck, there is a good argument for saying that the luck to finish every race is not the most important thing that the contest should be testing. You may consider this appropriate or inappropriate for Olympic racing, that's another argument. * From Eric Faust: Given that nothing we write or say is likely to change the decision ISAF has made to change the Olympic Regatta scoring system, I would like to advocate a little "out of the box" thinking. In an effort to award medals to the "best" sailors, I would suggest the gymnastics scoring system, where you throw out your best and worst scores. Why reward the guy who took a lucky flyer? * From Pete Thomas: How does the change in the Olympic scoring system to now not to employ a throw out race change the regatta strategy for the competitors?" Why is this simple change to scoring such a big issue? * From Big Mike Howard: It is with great sorrow to hear the news of the passing of Fang. I had the pleasure of knowing Fang for 25+ years. We enjoyed much of the worlds ocean's together over these years. Either as ship mates or having him keep us honest during the many regatta's sailed around the world. He was a man of his word and convictions. Always a story to tell and a joke to keep the levity of the situation. As a ship mate you knew your back was always covered. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and the sailing community as a whole. It is people like Fang that make us keep throwing the dock lines off and heading out to sea. Losing two Kialoa mates this year is not an easy pill to swallow. I know Fang and Goose will be up there swapping sea stories, having a beer and looking after us mortals who still set sail across the oceans of the world. My condolences to his family. * From Christian Fevrier (edited to our 250-word limit) I was present in Australia to all the Little America's Cup challenges between 1987 and 1995. I know well all these fantastic, generous men. I am sure that the decision of the Sea Cliff YC was a terrible slap on their faces. And two new teams were already at work for a new challenge. The Little America's Cup was a fantastic world of creativity. When you have seen C-Class catamarans passing in front of you at 23 knots with only 9 knots of breeze, you can feel in the deep of your heart the magical side of the Little America's Cup. That name belongs to these men and only to them. I must add that the official press release is totally wrong historically. Article 1 of the Deed of Gift, amended by the Sea Cliff YC, on 23 February 1987, is crystal clear about the true name. It says: "The Trophy, which shall be known as "The International Catamaran Challenge Trophy", shall be preserved as a perpetual trophy for friendly international match racing competition." More important, Article 13 specifies that this name will continue to be used in the case there is no challenge after a four-year period. The article says the new event "will be raced and won under the terms of this Deed of Gift". The Little America's Cup nickname was given by the late John Fisk. There is not a single mention of the name "Little America's Cup" in the 8 pages of the Deed. CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. - Mark Twain (1866) |
