SCUTTLEBUTT #344 - June 18, 1999
PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE -- Paul Henderson, ISAF President
Athens 2004: IOC Coordination Commission met last week and were impressed
by the team now organizing Athens 2004. Sailing will be held out of a
marina to be completed near the old airport which is being closed. It is an
excellent venue very similar to Barcelona. George and Anna Andreadis are
working with Athens 2004 to ensure a proper Olympic Regatta. Sailing has a
good friend in Jacque Rogge who is the IOC Chairman of this Commission.
ExecCom: Meeting will be in Southampton early July to address the major
policy issues facing ISAF. The main topics to be discussed are: Offshore,
Measurement, Professionals, Development, Promotion Information Technology.
A report will be circulated for discussion to all concerned.
European Community: The EC out of Brussels are involving themselves in many
issues which have a direct impact on all sports. Int. Sport Federations are
banding together to ensure that the EC does not have a negative impact.
Media Rights, Building Specs, Eligibility, one National Authority per
country, are all challenges which must be faced. ISAF can only act together
with all other Int. Federations to protect Sailing and Sailors.
Austrian Lakes: For some convoluted reason I was the guest of the President
of the World Curling Federation at Attersee and Wolfgangsee. What a
beautiful part of the World. Good Sailing and Yacht Clubs. On Atterssee
were 30 Stars racing and the on Wolfgangsee 30 Solings. At the Solings I
met 77 year old Stu Walker who had just finished 7th qualifying him for the
Match Race final the next day. Some young sailor asked Stu if he would give
up his place in the final because he had to get points to qualify for
another series. Stu with that unmistakable smile said: "I came to Sail and
what time does the race start tomorrow." Had a lovely dinner with Manfred
Piso and other Austrian sailors. Thank you.
Volvo: ISAF is working very closely with Volvo and their involvement in
Sailing. Volvo Ocean Race for 2002 is moving ahead well and ISAF is pleased
to be associated with Volvo. Volvo has also confirmed their financial
support for the ISAF 1999 World Youth in Finland. ISAF appreciates Volvo's
desire to help Sailing's broadbase.
Sydney 2000: All systems are GO for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Second Test
Event will take place in September. All nations which applied were given
one place in each event. All marina installations are in place and ready to
go. It is only hoped that the AYF will be able to convince the local
authorities to leave the facility after the Games as a legacy to Sailing.
Pan American Games: The challenges facing Sailing in the Regional Games
have been shown vividly with the Pan American Games. It is essential that
ISAF help the Regional Sailing Assoc in their negotiations with organizing
committees and this can only be done by ISAF during the bidding process.
The most difficult situation is endeavoring to convince National Olympic
Committees to send sailors. ISAF must address these very difficult problems
for the promotion of Sailing in these emerging MNA's (Member, National
Authority).
AMERICA'S CUP
* The gamesmanship is intensifying over who sails where on the Hauraki
Gulf during the America's Cup. The challengers and the defenders, Team New
Zealand, still cannot agree on water-space rights in the build-up to the
cup match next February. The challengers want to see three race courses in
the area between Rangitoto, the East Coast Bays and Whangaparaoa Peninsula
- and they want two of them for the Louis Vuitton Cup series starting in
October. Team New Zealand want the patch of water divided into four - and
they have two of them. They want their area to test and race their two new
boats, which should be on the water by November, and believe a 50-50 split
is only fair. But the challengers argue that Team New Zealand chose not to
have an official defenders' series so they do not need the same space as
the challengers, who are likely to number 12.
When they reached a stalemate, both parties - match organiser AC2000 and
the America's Cup Challenger Association - asked the harbourmaster, James
McPetrie, to settle it for them. But McPetrie said the two would have to
sort it out themselves or take their dispute to an in-house arbitration
panel. "We're going to be just as busy as the challengers," TNZ spokesman
Alan Sefton said. "We will be very aggressive in our build-up to the cup -
we have racing and testing to do. "We find it intriguing that they think
they can tell us where we can or cannot sail in our own waters. All we want
is a fair solution and the proposal that's been on the table for 18 months
is fair to everyone.
Dyer Jones, head of the challengers' group, wants each party to have first
choice of a course on alternating days. "That's the way we did it in
Newport in 1983 - it was a simple phone call each morning." The ACCA and
AC2000 will meet early next week. -- Suzanne McFadden, New Zealand Herald
For the full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
* AmericaOne and its sponsors Hewlett-Packard Company and
Engineering-e.com launched an online competition that will focuses on the
design of a "jib halyard lock," a mechanical device attached to the mast
that secures the jib halyard after a foresail sail has been raised.
Participants will be asked to provide designs for a new jib halyard lock.
The contest will be held June 14 through Sept. 1. Winners will be
announced around Sept. 15.
The grand-prize winner will receive two roundtrip airline tickets from the
United States to New Zealand, along with lodging and meals in Auckland for
one week. The grand prize also includes participation as the "17th
Crewmember" on the AmericaOne sailboat during one Round Robin I race of the
Louis Vuitton Cup in October. Second- and third-place prizes also will be
awarded.
The winning design may be used on one of AmericaOne's two International
America's Cup Class (IACC) sailboats in their bid to recapture the
America's Cup from New Zealand. -- Gina von Esmarch
Complete contest rules, regulations and prize information is available at:
http://www.americaonedesign.org
* The Waikiki Yacht Club Challenge for America's Cup XXX unveiled
Abracadabra 2000, an 80-foot, state-of-the-art racing yacht, at Aloha Tower
Marketplace Saturday. The hull of the sailboat was painted by
internationally-renowned marine artist Wyland, and features colorful
graphics of humpback whales and other sea life native to local waters.
The newly-launched Abracadabra 2000, and a second yacht still under
construction at Barber's Point, mark Hawaii's entry to the America's Cup
arena. This is the first time a yacht built in Hawaii will compete in the
148-year history of the regatta.
It was announced that Wyland had declared his painting on Abracadabra 2000
to be his 83rd whaling wall, in a series of 100 world-wide whaling walls he
plans to complete before the year 2011. As Wyland noted, "This is the first
whaling wall that will be travelling across the ocean and the first one
that will be literally encountering the marine life painted." Wyland has
committed to also paint the second Abracadabra 2000 IACC yacht, which is
slated to launch later this summer. -- DJ Cathcart, Abracadabra 2000
Syndicate website: http://www.aloharacing.org
* An important milestone in the 2000 America's Cup was reached with the
arrival, in New Zealand, of the first of the new Challengers for the 2000
America's Cup. The event was featured on television news here tonight,
however little of the San Francisco based challenger was visible to due to
heavy shrouding of the hull.
America True was unloaded today and was taken through Downtown Auckland to
the America's Cup Village for final fit-out and launching. The other boat
for America True, the former Tag Heuer, has been re-commissioned and the
syndicate now have two boats in New Zealand ready to commence their build
up for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup on 18th October 1999. -- Richard
Gladwell
PRETTY AMAZING
Within the last month Ullman Sails have won the 505 NAs in Texas, the J/120
class in Marina del Rey and the Around Alone Race on planet Earth. It
doesn't seem to make any difference how big or small the boat is, or what
kind a course is being sailed -- the folks at Ullman Sails have 'broken the
code.' These same helpful professionals will be happy to help improve the
performance of your boat. Check their website for a loft near you:
http://www.ullmansails.com/
NEW RECORD
Flying her big chute in 15 knots of a southerly, Chessie Racing stormed
across the finish line at Castle Hill light at 12:24 pm Monday, first to
finish the 1999 Annapolis - Newport Race and shattering the race record.
George Collins added another record to the impressive list this yacht
garnered as Roy Disney's Pyewacket. The previous record of 53 hours and 20
minutes was set in 1987 by the Santa Cruz 70, Starlight Express. Chessie's
elapsed time was 47 hours and 45 minutes.
Chessie was followed closely by Al Van Metre skippering the big ketch,
Rima, with Jim Muldoon's Donnybrook only eight minutes astern. As the
afternoon worn on the breeze softened significantly helping to build a bit
of a cushion for the early finishers. By nine in the evening the breeze had
strengthed again bringing another flurry of finishers as the fog rolled in.
-- Ray Wulff
Full Report: http://www.annapolisyc.com/
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250
words max) or to exclude personal attacks.
-- From Vern Brickey -- Before I started sailing, I used to be a pretty
fair golfer. Some of my friends that I played with were very good and some
were pretty bad but by the use of handicapping I usually had good
competition. Why not a handicap system for talented amateur or
professional drivers, with the handicap adjusted on some kind of
monthly/quarterly basis based on results. Besides think of all the fun to
be had at the bar either complaining about your handicap or talking about
how so and so is a plus two but can't play to it.
-- From Alan Johnson (Reply to Tom Preist and Carol Boe about sprit boats
-- Butt# 338) Down wind VMG on a windward leeward course is anything but a
"reach-o-rama"; helmsman-trimmer coordination is more critical than with a
symmetrical spinnaker because you cannot pull the pole back if you get a
little deep. If you can accelerate fast by heating up, you can decelerate
fast by being too deep or sail too far when you have too much "need for
speed".
Also, foredeck work is different but very critical on pole boats.
Symmetrical spinnakers can be jibed without collapsing; asymmetrically
always collapse which can lead to wrapping, filling inside the headstay or
other disasters. Proper timing and the foredeck running the sheet around
at the right time should prevent problems. Takedowns are as critical on an
"assy" as they are not little triangles any more. With luffs longer than
"I" they can easily drop into the water when not full and get run over. Try
one some time.
-- From Nick Longhurst -- The Farr 40 class is certainly growing very fast
and seems to have an over abundance of former bigger boat owners who see
this as an oasis of calm from their former logistical nightmares of running
expensive big boat campaigns, whereas the J 120 fleet seems to have found
its feet in the ranks of "trade up " owners. There does seem to be a closer
level of driving in the Farr 40 fleet than with the J's. One solution to
this would be to have the owner drive a minimum number of races, say 75% of
the seasons high point events, and select anyone to drive the rest. Along
with sail cards there could be driver cards. On a less practical note, but
one which would surely cause the Farr 40 owners association endless future
grief I think we should all chip in and buy Craig Fletcher a boat so that,
rule book in hand, in true Fletcher fashion, he can cause havoc at their
regattas and not ours. I, for one, will contribute five bucks and would
humbly suggest that Fletcher's new boat be named "Life's-A-Pa-Ti."
-- From Glenn McCarthy -- There is a warm story of a sailor building an
Ensign fleet in Greenbay. He buys used Ensigns across the country, drags
them home and sells them at cost to locals. On days when the Race
Committee is not available, he tows his Ensign behind the RC boat, goes
through the start sequence, raises the red flag and jumps on board his boat
and chases the fleet. This sailor's name is Mike Derusha.
The next level up are regattas like the NOOD's where sponsorship is a part
of it. The Race Committee starts the races and races are sailed. Boats
that already exist are attracted to participate in a NOOD, but are new
boats being ADDED (not replaced for the sake of new equipment) as a result
of a sponsored series?
The next level up is what a lot of 'Butt writers are recommending. A full
blown, blimp-overhead, world TV event, that does what? What is the result
of having this media affair? Won't sailors have to go through a more
rigorous inspection/measurement process so the event doesn't end up like
"Game Show"? Is it simply to help stroke ego's?
I still have great difficulty seeing the connection between a major media
event and putting more sailors on the starting line at a local event. If
the TV media event does not promote getting the couch potatoes out with a
tiller in their hand and if the Mike Derusha's aren't there putting it
together in the local towns, the world TV event will accomplish zero.
-- From Kevin Ellis -- While walking around that docks at a recent Sol Cal
event, I heard some very negative sentiments about PHRF and how it is
managed by a few who seem far more interested in protecting their own
ratings than in administering the system in a fair and equitable manner.
And that's not to mention the differences in management between areas.
These two factors create a feeling that a "Mafia" has taken over handicap
sailing.
It seems to me that a consistently applied system with guidelines and
procedures could help eliminate such bizarre situations. We also need some
sort of accountability. Perhaps these people could be fired for conflicts
of interest
-- From Jim Champ, UK (re Jeff Martin's comments that "Our sport is a
participation sport, not a media sport.") -- Three loud cheers for Mr
Martin. My Class, the Cherub, is primarily sailed in 3 countries,
Australia, NZ and the UK. We always used to have a World championships
every couple of years. Now we've been told we can't call it that anymore.
Names associated with that Trophy include Russell Bowler, Julian Bethwaite
and Iain Murray... is that insignificant in the terms of the development of
sailing? Now there's a move to rename even more Worlds, just so a few
people can make themselves look more important in front of a TV camera.
What will this bring 99% of sailors?
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
* Today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the city's Lord Mayor, Luiz Paulo Conde
and Helge Alten, Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race, signed an
agreement that established in detail the inclusion of Rio de Janeiro as the
Brazilian stopover port for the Volvo Ocean Race in 2002. Formerly known
as The Whitbread, this event last visited Rio de Janeiro in 1978.
The Volvo Ocean Race will be in Rio during the period February 19th to
March 9th, 2002 and the city will host the competing teams, race sponsors
and partners as well as the international press and the many local
visitors, in a purpose built race village set at the Marina da Gloria.
* Latest Syndicate News -- During the past month, there has been much
activity and we have accepted registrations from four new syndicates, all
except one wishing to remain confidential. Current entries now stand at
nine announced syndicates and six confidential ones. The latest entry to
be announced comes from top French single-handed sailor, Christophe Auguin.
Auguin made his announcement in Paris on Monday June 7th and said, "Our
goal, as the first French team involved in this race, is to do our best, to
share the story, to live this adventure. We will be proud to be on the
start line." More details on this syndicate will be available next month.
Frank Guillouard is in charge of the marketing and communications for this
syndicate and he can be contacted by email at fguillouard@larochefoucauld.com.
Official syndicates: Yess Syndicate, Nokia Sailing Team, Danish Round The
World Challenge, D-VOR , Illbruck Round World Challenge , Team Lawrie
Smith, Team Heiner BV , Professional Yachting Ltd , Team Dennis Conner,
plus six confidential syndicates. -- Lizzie Green, Volvo Ocean Race
Race website: http://www.VolvoOceanRace.org
NAPLES SABOT SENIOR NATIONALS
Mission Bay YC (25 boats) -- Mark Gaudio completed his second 'three-peat'
as he won the Naples Sabot Senior National championship for the sixth time:
1. Mark Gaudio (6.25) 2. Chuck Sinks (14.25) 3. Nick Scandone (19) 4. Kevin
Dumain (20) 5. William Campbell (24)
IT JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING
Everyone has a favorite sea bag, but the one the curmudgeon always carries
to weekend regattas is a lot like the 'energizer bunny' - it just keeps
going and going. It's a Camet bag I got in 1997 when I served as a judge
for the Star Class NAs. After two years of weekly workouts plus some trips
to some pretty exotic places, it still looks as fresh and stylish as it did
in '97. Check out the whole line of Camet bags, backpacks and briefcases:
http://www.camet.com/
SCHOCK 40
The W.D. Schock Corporation announced the completion and delivery of hull
#1 of the new Schock 40. This is the first production boat featuring the
innovative CBTF (Canting ballast twin foil) system. Developed and patented
by DynaYacht, the CBTF system reduces the amount of ballast normally found
on a boat this size by 50%.
The Schock 40 is an evolution from the highly successful prototype, "Red
Hornet", which displayed its revolutionary speed potential in races on both
coasts and the Great Lakes. Included in that race record are a number of
overall victories on elapsed time and 1st in class at Yachting Key West
Race Week in 1998. The Schock 40 retains exactly the same hull shape and
features a slightly revised cabin shape, that accommodates a complete
interior which includes built-in ice boxes, a nav table, and an enclosed head.
To meet the weight goals, construction of the hull and deck were of
vinylester resin and e-glass over a foam core. The hull is built to ABS
standards. The interior is bright with three tinted windows and a molded
white interior with plenty of storage for personal gear and equipment,
separate nav table, bunks for 4 people including oversized quarter berths,
galley area, and a fully enclosed head.
The sail plan is supported by an Omohundro carbon fiber spar, while
auxiliary power comes from a Honda four stroke outboard cleverly located in
a tilt up wet well in the middle of the cockpit. When the boat is sailing
the propeller and cavitation plate can be lifted completely out of the
water and a plug fits in the hole.
Boat # 1 is owned by Antonio Luttman of Tapachula, Mexico and christened
"Estupendo". The boat is being delivered to San Francisco for
commissioning, outfitting and sail testing. Afterwards the boat will
return to Acapulco for an active racing schedule in Mexico. Boat # 2
ordered by Nick Martin has begun construction and will be sailing by mid
summer in southern California.
WD Schock website: http://www.wdschock.com
AUCKLAND UPDATE
(Reprinted with permission from DEFENCE 2000, which is available for US $48
per year from John@roake.gen.nz)
* Auckland's Daily News printed headlines recently declaring the "Cup
Village in Shambles." This is the worst possible publicity that they could
have had, but their PR people have been quick to dispel all the rumours
that there are management difficulties and increasing concerns about the
NZ$87 million that has been funded by Auckland ratepayers.
Late-into-the-night meetings with the Cup directors, the Auckland Mayor's
office, and Infrastructure Auckland, has seen budgets being slashed. There
are public claims that ACVL management has done nothing but alienate the
corporate community. Village commercial suppliers also have concerns, but
are keeping their mouths shut in order to avoid friction and the possible
loss of their lucrative contracts. The scene is not a happy one. Obviously
more to follow on this, but for sure, it is going to take some very
necessary management skills to bring all the players back under one happy
umbrella.
SOCIAL NOTES
Captain John Frisch, (formerly, sailing's most eligible bachelor) and his
wife Karen have returned to Southern California from their New Orleans
honeymoon. And Mike Campbell's home on Naples Island has been restored to
its former elegance with few scars remaining from Frisch's poolside
wedding, reception and soiree.
CATALINA REPORT
It was wonderful -- absolutely perfect. You'd have thought it was August if
it wasn't for the chilly 65 degree water and the fact that the coves were
virtually empty.
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
Whatever hits the fan will not be distributed evenly.
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