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SCUTTLEBUTT 1436 - October 15, 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. JACKPOT In what is probably the largest ever deal in sailing sponsorship, Tracy Edwards announced a sponsorship deal with the Gulf State of Qatar, to be known as Maiden Ocean Racing Qatar. The deal is worth an incredible £38 million over a four year period and includes not only sponsorship for Edwards' 110ft maxi-catamaran but also two new events. The Oryx Cup, to be held in January 2005 will start and finish in the UK and will have a cash prize of $1 million. There will be a special prize for anyone breaking the Jules Verne Trophy during the Oryz Cup. The Qatar Sports Global Challenge will start from Doha, Qatar in December 2006 and be so both monohulls and multihulls of more than 100ft. This event will include five stopovers in locations in the Far East and America. Once again there will be substantial prize money for this event. Prior to this event, in November 2006 will be a feeder race from the UK to Qatar called the Suez Parade. The boats presence in Qatar will coincide with the 15th Asian Games from 1-15 December. - The Daily Sail website, full story: http://www.thedailysail.com/ AUDI MELGES 24 WORLDS After two more tough races at the Audi Melges 24 World Championships in San Francisco Harry Melges, helming for Jeff Ecklund, is still hanging onto his overall lead although fourteen year old 'Shark' Kahn is giving him plenty to worry about and is now only 3 points behind him. Racing was delayed until midday to allow the breeze to build and the fleet started on the last of the flood tide with some individual recalls in 8-10 knots from 210 degrees. By race four the wind was up to 14-16 knots and the tide had turned bringing up the chop. With his 1, 2 score line 'Shark' Kahn, the teenage surprise from Hawaii, was definitely today's most consistent performer. After racing Shark acknowledged that his crew of Richard Clark (Illbruck Volvo Race, three times Canadian Olympic Finn representative), Mark Christensen (multiple Volvo race veteran), Brian Hutchenson (Melges 24 sailing guru) and Brian Lee (Shark's 20 year old cousin) are playing a vital role in his success at this event along with a huge amount of practice. "In the past 8 months we've done about 60 days sailing. We've done a lot of smaller regattas, we did San Diego Regatta, a lot of regattas up here, two on the Berkeley Circle and four on the City front and we've done a lot of training in Hawaii with Dave Ullman and my Dad." said Shark, who also paid tribute to his Dad's support of his campaign. "I'm just really lucky to be able to do this because of my Dad who offered me the opportunity and I just want to keep doing it." - Fiona Brown Standings after four races with no discards (68 boats) 1. Harry Melges, 8 2. Samuel "Shark" Kahn, 11 3. Luca Santella, 24 4. Brian Porter, 31 5. Philippe Kahn, 42 6. Dave Ullman, 44 http://stfyc.org/ & http://www.melges24.com/news/main.asp?news_id=243 MINI TRANSAT According to a report on the Daily Sail website, Jonathan McKee's damaged Team McLube appears to have changed course and is now heading south for the finish line - although he has missed out a mark of the course. Stay tuned . . . Peter Isler has been following McKee's movements - here are some of his observations: "Jonathan has slowed down a bit - probably reflecting a recent header of a few degrees. It looks like there is more near term header (and lighter winds) in his path. If he doesn't have much ability to go to windward, he might be planning put in and not sail along a long lee shore." Official standings at 1500 GMT Tuesday: 1. Samuel Manuard Tip Top Too, 320 miles to finish 2. Armel Tripon Moulin Roty, 389 mtf 3. Alex Pell, Aquatec - Santaiveri- Texknit, 434 mtf 5. Jonathan McKee, Team McLube, 470 mtf Event website: http://www.transat650.org/ MEDICINE MAN WINS LITTLE ENSENADA'S TRIPLE CROWN! Bob Lane's Andrews 61, powered predominantly by Ullman Sails, took not only line honors at this year's Little Ensenada race, but also finished 1st in class and 1st overall. Bob Wilson's B-Nasty, powered by Ullman Sails, finished 1st in PHRF Class 2 for the Little Ensenada Race. From coast to coast, Ullman Sails continues delivering the speed and performance on which our customers depend. To get "The Fastest sails on the Planet" for your 2004 sailing program, call your local Ullman Sails loft or visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com OFFSHORE RACING On Sunday 19th October 16 double handed teams set out for the start of the 2,900 mile Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Barbados. The teams, from across the globe, including South Africa, New Zealand, France, the UK and, for the very first time, the Caribbean, will set out in the race, which is organised by Sir Chay Blyth's Challenge Business. Human power, endeavour and perseverance will be their only form of propulsion and a 24 ft boat, made out of marine plywood, will be their home and protection against the mass expanse of water, resident to sharks, whales and other creatures of the deep! This is the third edition of this world-renowned event. The teams will, on average, row 18 hours a day in sweltering heat tackling waves the size of small mountains and dodging mighty container ships, the wake of which could shatter their tiny vessels. Their only communication with the outside world will be an Iridium Satellite telephone so they will need to keep one another entertained and motivated 24 hours a day. Food is also an important factor, which needs a great deal of consideration and scrutinising, as fresh food supplies will dwindle within days and any outside assistance (including giving the rowers even the basics of water) will disqualify the teams. Crews will need to take in up to 7,000 calories a day in order to cope with the intense physically (and indeed mentally) gruelling challenges of the racing. Tins of food would weigh the boats down so freeze dried food, featuring such delights as chicken curry and Spotted Dick, will constitute their staple diets. Water makers will also be carried onboard to make the seawater all around them safe to drink. Ocean rowing has grown rapidly as a sport over the past 6 years and now in its third generation the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race 2003 has been established as the premier ocean-rowing race. Two Global Challenge yachts will oversee the progress of the teams across the Atlantic. To follow the progress of the rowers: www.woodvale-events.com NEWS BRIEFS * The World Speed Sailing Record Council has ratified the 'Transatlantic Monohull, any number of crew' record for Robert Miller's Mari Cha IV - 6 days 17 hours 52 minutes 39 seconds for the 2925 nm distance at an average speed of 18.05 knots. The WSSR awaits confirmation of the GPS distance calculations before ratifying the 24 hour record claim. - http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/ * French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who are running for the presidency of the Provence-Alpes Cote d'Azur region (also known as PACA), estimated Tuesday that "the bet is lost" for Marseille's bid (for the America's Cup). "I note that those who hoped to use the Cup as an electoral springboard are going to be disappointed ", he said during the inauguration of his daughter's campaign headquarters in Paris. - CupinEurope.com, full story: http://www.cupineurope.com/LatestNews/Where8.htm * Standing of the Sunfish World Championship at St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles after three races: 1 Cor Van Aanholt, Curacao, 6; 2. Hank Saurage, USA, 8; 3 Diego Zimmermann, Peru, 9; 4. Malcolm Smith, BER, 11; 5. Jesus Salazar, ZEN, 13. http://tinyurl.com/qygr END OF AN ERA Team New Zealand's former base at the Viaduct Harbour has been bought by the Auckland City Council for $230,000. The three buildings that made up the base could become part of a marine events centre the council plans to set up at syndicate row at the harbour, says recreation committee chairman Scott Milne. The council is hoping the waterfront land on Halsey St, used by six America's Cup bases, will come under its control next year at no cost to ratepayers. * Team New Zealand moved out of the base on July 12 into the base used by One World. - NZ Herald, full story: http://tinyurl.com/qybg RECENT RAVE UNSOLICITED REVIEWS OF OCKAM "Thanks again for the hot swap of the CPU (you certainly got the hot part of the hot swap!) , we still are using the original instruments that the boat was outfitted with almost 15 years ago. These original Ockam instruments have served us well but I think with the progression of technology it is time to outfit the boat with a more modern (Ockam Tryad) system. You guys are great and you always go out of your way to help me I love your new Eye software. Exactly what is needed." - Happy customer. More information visit http://www.ockam.com J/80 WORLDS Fort Worth, Texas - J/80 World Championship racing began in earnest today at Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake. Winds shifted during the night to come in from the north at 15-20 knots. Wind velocity continued to drop during the early afternoon with readings of 8-12 knots taken at 1321 hours. Jay Lutz (USA531) had a strong showing with bullets in the first two races and a sixth place finish in the last race to put him 2 points behind the current leader Scott Spurlin (USA334) with 3-2-1 finishes. Lutz commented, "It's a long regatta and it's going to get dicey. We are glad our first three races will be keepers." - Full story: http://oemsites.com/OEM/oem.cfm?event_id=7 Unofficial standings (47 boats): 1. Scott Spurlin, 6 2. Jay Lutz, 8 3. Christer Faith-Ell, 12 4. Kerry Klingler, 18 5. Craig White, 30 6. John Kolius, 32 QUOTE / UNQUOTE- Meg Gaillard "For sure I will get some more USOC funding for being third (at the Optimist world championships). However, it is somewhat unclear to me how much. I know that part of the funding depends on how many people finish top-eight in all the Olympic classes. The Optimist Gold funding is quite a bit less than I thought, but something is better than nothing!" Curmudgeon's Comment: You can read more about the performance of US Sailing Team members at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Spain through interviews with Yngling Gold Medallists Hannah Swett, Joan Touchette and Melissa Purdy; Europe Bronze Medallist Meg Gaillard; and reports from the Finn, 470 Men, Star and Tornado classes in the new issue of 'Sailing Medallist'. - www.ussailing.org/Olympics/SailingMedallist BIG BOAT BUILDER Five owners and managers (sailors all), composite wizards, and builders of extremely fast and complicated power boats looking for owner and designer who wish to build big fast custom racing yachts. 60' and up. Call Paul at 360-385-6632 or email paul@townsendbay.com. http://www.townsendbay.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 Jeff Borland: I found myself agreeing with Mr. Henderson. I sympathize when bad RC ruins any event, large or small. I may be willing to go along with ISAF taking a more active role in the appointment of Race Officers(ROs) for Grade 1 and World Championship events - if ISAF would step up to support the certification of more ROs, Judges and Umpires. The current unfunded mandate for ISAF umpire appointments to Grade 1 events is strangling the match race game, and ISAF's submission requiring these events to pay umpires will kill off more events. Adding ROs to this mix will hasten the departure of more. What can ISAF do? 1. Work with/force MNAs to hold IRO, IJ and IU seminars annually. (When was the last IRO seminar in NA?) 2. Revamp IRO criteria. ISAF only appoints IROs to Worlds - a Worlds is a requirement for IRO certification! 3. Drop the payments idea. This will foster a small group of people who can afford to make this their career. 4. Work with events to develop lists of IRO/umpire/judge candidates allowing the event to find the best fits for personalities and budgets. 5. Look to the successful low-budget Grade 1 events for ideas and support. Working with the AC and well funded Match Race events to develop policy will only keep them alive - it will kill those events that have small budgets. (I was invited to the recent meeting - but budget constraints - mine and the events kept me away). * From John Mooney US Sailing Judge and CRO: Competent, fair, and consistent race management is critical to championship events, but I'm troubled by President Henderson's insistence that only direct ISAF management can ensure it. If only ISAF race officers may run Grade 1 events, the pool of available race committee shrinks, qualified race officers become even more overextended, and the variety of venues is further reduced. That's prejudicial to those sailors who don't live in areas rich in ISAF race officers, raising their competition costs either by forcing them to travel farther or forcing them to pay higher entry fees to cover ISAF officials' travel to their waters. Equally important in the long term is that the path to ISAF certification will become even more difficult, compounding these problems, working against ISAF's goal (stated in President Henderson's own preamble to the ISAF Judges Manual) of improving race management at all events, and over time, reducing the number of qualified PROs for championships. It's a commonplace that an RC (like any team) is as good as its weakest member. The best ISAF PRO can't carry a truly weak RC team, and I believe the ISAF initiative reduces the likelihood that race management skills are widely distributed, either on a committee or in a region. I respectfully submit that ISAF's and its classes' energies would be better spent teaching more qualified PROs than restricting the opportunities for qualification. The pyramid is the world's strongest structure, but it's more stable resting on it's base than on its apex. * From Phil Richmond (Edited to our 250-word limit): Paul Henderson's latest admonishment to sailors to demand the use of ISAF certified race officers in world class racing is less engendered by any practical prospect for improvement to class racing than it is another reflection of ISAF's desire to continue to accrue power and money. And, the problems that are apparent with MNA sponsored championships are just as self serving and arrogant. The larger the governing organization is that requires an institutionalized homage, the less likely it is that the class racing will receive much more in service than a homogenized racing product in a cookie cutter mold. There is little respect for the customs, traditions, practices and values that each class would wish for their racing when it is restricted to either an MNA or ISAF management. Classes that want a 'Class' product should step forward and demand that their championship regattas are only awarded to those venues that will indemnify the ownership and mangement of the Class as the Organizing Authority. Then the Class should send their own representative to oversee the event. This individual would have the authority to remove sanction if the race officers or venue officials retreat on their obligations to the Class. There is little distinction to be made between the authority that Paul Henderson would wish for ISAF to establish and that which he complains is currently working against the interest of sailors by rogue MNAs. They are both highly centralized and unresponsive to the needs of Class sailors in general. * Annie Nelson (re trivia question about women's Olympic events): In 1984, four years before the Seoul Olympics, there was an Olympic Boardsailing Exhibition in LA that had separate divisions for men and women. It had three disciplines, Long Distance Course Racing, Slalom, and Freestyle. Karen Morch from Canada won the Gold, Annie Nelson from the USA the Silver, and Andrea Livingston from the USA won the Bronze. The reason it was an exhibition instead of the full Monty? Politics. The Windglider which was produced in Germany and had a class rule of no harnesses was chosen by the East block countries to compete in the newly introduced yachting event - boardsailing. Since Windgliders were not allowed into this country without permission due to the patent Hoyle Schweitzer had with Winsurfer, they cut him a deal. It was a wonderful event for all of us who had spent years racing and training on the boards, and a tribute to the sport as well since it included all aspects of the sport, not just bouy racing. The slalom in particular, was awesome. Now they are considering adding it to the Olympic Sailboarding event. Took them 20 years to figure out what we knew all along! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. |
