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SCUTTLEBUTT 1521 - February 18, 2004Powered 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. FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR LIVING ROOM . . . The excitement of the Volvo Ocean Race is set to touch the lives of its biggest ever world-wide audience. A completely restructured television package has been developed for the 2005-2006 event, which starts in November next year. International production company Sunset + Vine, and its parent company, The Television Corporation PLC, will produce and distribute several hundred hours of programming that promises to bring the drama and intense competition of this global event to an audience of up to two billion people worldwide. With seven cameras on each of the competing yachts, linked by satellite to a purpose-built studio and editing facility in Southampton, England, the producers will be able to show the key moments of the battle between the world's top professional sailors operating in the worst that the oceans can throw at them. Each yacht will be equipped with its own edit suite and a 'panic' button on deck which, when touched by a crew member, will automatically record the drama on board as the yachts touch speeds of 40 knots, tearing though the iceberg-strewn wastes of the Southern Ocean. - Lizzie Green, www.volvooceanrace.org FOR THE RECORD * Bruno Peyron set off this afternoon at 15:25 aboard his Orange II maxi-catamaran, and is heading towards the western tip of Brittany, in order to reach the Jules Verne starting line (off Ushant Island) early tomorrow morning. "We will take advantage of 20-knot easterly winds for the start. The weather conditions are good, and the wind is expected to increase as early as the second day. We will then aim for a low pressure cell positioned south of Portugal, which we should tackle in the right direction," Peyron said. http://www.orange.fr * With the wind still from the East, but diminishing to only 9 - 11 kts throughout the day Tuesday, Steve Fossett and crew aboard Cheyenne have maintained 12 - 13 kts over the past 12 hours. Ken Campbell, Director of Marine Services for Commanders Weather commented: "We're expecting improved winds later tonight for a better run overnight, but Wednesday and Thursday will be 'tactical' - continuing to make progress South, but keeping away from the High itself." - http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ QUOTE / UNQUOTE (Following is an excerpt from Tuesday's daily report filed by watch captain Brian Thompson from aboard Steve Fossett's Cheyenne.) Interesting to hear what Magnus Wheatley had to say in Scuttlebutt about how he is bored with Jules Verne attempts and why it would be more fun for the public for us to race around together. I cannot deny the latter, and next year he and the rest of us will have our wishes granted with the Oryx Cup. I for one am looking forward to that event. However the Round the World Record exists and is the ultimate challenge against the clock. I for one have always admired the exploits of Peyron, Blake, Knox-Johnston and de Kersauson, and it's a fascinating challenge to race those skippers and boats around the world, even in phantom form. I want to join the band that have held the record and for me the challenge has not disappeared with the repeating of it. The ocean is still the same and we have to push that bit harder every time we go around. There will be maxi multihulls going around the world every year now. Plus fully crewed and single-handed races, the Vendee, the Volvo, 5 Oceans, Oryx Cup, Qatar Global Challenge. Personally I follow them all - even when we were at sea on The Race we were tuned in twice a day to every move in the Vendee. You either love it or you don't, and there is plenty of football to watch if it's not for you. - Full report: http://tinyurl.com/2zq7n ENDURA BRAID - SOLID TO THE CORE! New England Ropes' Endura Braid, the replacement product for Spect Set II, is now better than ever! In addition to adding 3 new solid colors (Red, Green, and Blue), Endura Braid now comes with a matching color-coated core! Endura Braid, with a unique twill pattern polyester cover and Dyneema core, is the choice of professional riggers and performance sailors worldwide. Join the growing list of satisfied customers by asking for the brand that has been serving the performance market for decades: New England Ropes. For more information, call (800) 333-6679 or visit http://www.neropes.com US OLYMPIC TRIALS As of today, nine athletes are within striking distance of their goal of representing the U.S.A. at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens, Greece. Competitors sailing in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Sailing in the Europe, Finn, 49er, Tornado and Yngling classes will have a mandatory layday tomorrow, giving everyone the opportunity to take a break -- not only physical, but mental -- from the eight-day marathon competition. Following a format that mimics the Olympics, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Sailing are a winner takes all contest and when racing resumes on Thursday, February 19, competitors will have the four remaining days to make-or-break dreams that some have been envisioning for years. Day Four was forecast to be light and variable - and it started out that way - a great day for sitting on the beach. Sunny, light breezes. Races were postponed and races were started and subsequently abandoned. Eventually a northwesterly filled in - 8-12 knots of breeze - and some races were completed. In the 14-boat Europe class, Meg Gaillard won her seventh consecutive race to distance herself from the pack. However, Yngling leader, Sally Barkow, took a 4-3 which compressed the top of that class into a tight cluster. Only three points separating the top three Ynglings. Finn leader Kevin Hall also had his worst day of the trials, finishing fifth (his throwout), but Hall still maintains a nine point edge in the 23 boat class. However, the next three Finn sailors are separated by just a single point. Two-time Olympians John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree won both races Tuesday to gain a six point lead in the eight-boat Tornado class. EUROPE DINGHY (14 boats - standings after 7 races w/1 discard at the Lauderdale YC): 1. Meg Gaillard, 6; 2. Krysia Pohl, 12; 3. Christin Feldman, 17. FINN (23 boats - Standings after 7 races w/1 discard at the Lauderdale YC): 1. Kevin Hall, 12; 2. Mo Hart, 21; 3. Bryan Boyd, 22. 4. Geoff Ewenson, 22. 49ER (11 boats) Standings after 11 races w/1 discard at the Key Biscayne YC: 1. Tim Wadlow/ Pete Spaulding, 19; 2. Dalton Bergan/ Zack Maxam, 31; 3. Andy Mack/ Adam Lowry, 31. TORNADO (8 boats) Standings after 8 races w/1 discard at the Miami YC: 1. John Lovell/ Charlie Ogletree, 8; 2. Lars Guck/ Jonathan Farrar, 14; 3. Robbie Daniel/ Enrique Rodriguez, 20. YNGLING (6 boats) Standings after 8 races w/1 discard at the Key Biscayne YC: 1. Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Debbie Capozzi 15; 2. Hannah Swett, Joan Touchette and Melissa Purdy, 16; 3. Carol Cronin, Liz Filter and Nancy Haberland 18. Complete results: http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/OlympicTrials/2004/index.asp FAIR PLAY You may not be aware that there is an International Fair Play Committee that makes annual awards in to famous and less well known athletes all over the world in three categories: 1. to an athlete, or a team, for a gesture of fair play that cost, or could have cost his/her victory, or could have downgraded his sport performance; 2. to a person for his/her remarkable general attitude showed all along his/her sport career, for an outstanding and constant spirit of fair play, for observing the unwritten rule of sport not to take advantage of an opponent's bad luck; 3. to a person or organization for an activity aiming at promoting fair play by organizing national or local campaigns, giving lectures, writing articles in the press, or making comments on the radio or television. To learn more about the Fair Play Committee or to download a nomination form, go to the ISAF website: http://www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=6436 WINTER IS ALMOST OVER - TIME TO UPGRADE YOUR OCKAMS For those of us in the "Northern" climate, great sailing weather is (finally) just around the corner. At Ockam, we've been developing great new products and updates for existing components, firmware and software. Since Ockam's design approach has always provided backward/forward compatibility, your system can easily be brought up to 2004 spec. Consider our trade-in credit for older style gear. Interface that new GPS and trade-in your old Loran interface or swap out your clip-in card 005 displays for the multi-line Matryx, or step up to the amazing Tryad processor. Contact Tom Davis (tom@ockam.com), Campbell Field (cmf@ockameurope.com) or http://www.ockam.com NEWS BRIEFS * Sail America is launching an all-new, all-sail show in Philadelphia next January as part of what it's calling "a dramatic new strategy for marketing its national sailing shows in each major region of the country." As part of this strategy, Sail America will no longer host the Atlantic Sail Expo and NY/NJ Sail Expo shows. Instead, it will "consolidate and target the resources of the sailing industry behind a single, strong mid-winter show in Philadelphia." http://www.boatbiz.com/output.cfm?id=779761 * Jean Luc Van den Heede has been unable to hide his pleasure. Some nice, 20 knot trade winds from the southeast are pushing his 84-foot aluminum Adrien towards the Equator. Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 218 miles. To the finish 4,296 miles. Lead over Monnet 26 days and 13 hours. - www.vdh.fr * America's Cup winning skipper and Olympic medallist John Bertrand notched up another prestigious victory when he won the 47-boat Etchells New South Wales State Championship on Sydney Harbour. Michael Coxon and Neville Wittey finished second and third respectively. The 2004 Etchells World Championship will be sailed out of the Mooloolaba Yacht Club on Queensland's Sunshine Coast from July 28 to August 8. IN MEMORIAM Richard Holmberg passed away from complications after surgery in Virgina on December 30, 2003. The father of Peter & John Holmberg from the Virgin Islands was an avid racer and passed on his competitive spirit. He was the Soling representative in the 1972 Olympics for the VI and sailed all manner of boats including Sunfish in the first World Champs held in St. Thomas in 1970. A beautiful day greeted over a hundred well wishers on January 25th as we said our goodbye's and told immense tales about his exploits. Members of the family traveled by boat to a quiet cove, and his grandson Kai did the honors as we scattered his ashes in the blue water below his cottage. "Live your life well and you can enjoy it twice- once during- and then again later- thinking of it". - John Holmberg NEW J/100 SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 2004 LAUNCH J Boats recently announced the introduction of a modern 33' daysailor, the J/100. A long waterline, sleek profile and comfortable cockpit are just a few reasons why this new J may be 100% perfect for your next day sail. See drawings and specifications at http://www.jboats.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 Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: Records are there to be broken. It's a natural part of being human, to strive to improve. Whether it be setting a faster time for running the 100 metres, the marathon, or sailing around the world, people will always strive, and I, for one, find every such challenge fascinating. Yes we have moved on since 1969, we have instant communications; weather prognoses; navigation is no longer by sextant and chronometer, and the challenge of sailing around the world has changed as a result. Now there is a need to use these modern developments and show as much skill in picking the right weather pattern that will suit the boat days ahead as there is in trimming a sail properly. If some find the chess game to pick the right route through the weather patterns boring, well that is up to them. If they are not fired by accounts of very fast sailing in difficult conditions, then they had best read something else. To me it is the ultimate test of seamanship at the edge. I expect I am not alone in finding each attempt on the around the world record a source of fascination, so please Scuttlebutt, keep the reports coming through. * From John Brooks, Sydney: Hey, if a bunch of yachties - whether they be self-funded billionaires, corporate sponsored professionals, or bottom-of-the-barrel-scraping amateurs - want to do a spot of boating and have a shot at a world record in the process, where's the problem? In case you haven't noticed there are one-off world speed records for just about everything from wheelchairs to battery-operated toy rabbits - see the Guinness Book of Records - so many folks must find them entertaining. Yachtsmen, specifically, have been chasing records since the 19th century China tea clippers; no, come to think of it, since around 39 B.C. when Mark Antony pushed his galley crew extra hard getting from Rome back to Alexandria ASAP. Cleopatra, no doubt, would have been a hell of lot more fun than the Jules Verne trophy. The great thing about sailing, Magnus, is that it's a sport open to everyone of all ages, tastes and motivations, and if someone wants to sail into the Southern Ocean pursuing a record that is likely to be beaten next season, if not the week after they get home, then good luck to them. Personally, after many Sydney-Hobart races, I wouldn't venture into the Southern Ocean on the QE2, let alone a multi-hull, but I do enjoy reading about it. However, I don't bother with the corporate press releases and, clearly, neither should you. * From Brian Hancock: It seems to me that US sailors have become ambivalent about all aspects of sailing - offshore ocean racing, record setting - the lot. When Emma Richard's finished her solo circumnavigation on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Newport, no one showed up. The high speed round-the-world match race of the last Volvo went by barely noticed. Francis Joyon is a national hero in France for his amazing voyage, but his accomplishment barely merits a passing comment in the US press. The problem lies with US sailors - Everest may be congested with climbers, but American climbers are still enthralled by their efforts. It's time we sat up, took a step back and allowed some wonder back into our lives. * From David McClatchy, Sr.: Boy do I agree with Magnus Wheatly. I have found the reporting on the record attempts so boring that anymore I skip them altogether. * From Mik Beatie: Right on, Magnus Wheatley! * From Dan Nerney (Re Wheatley' bleat in Butt 1519): Amen. * From Lizzie Green: As 'Buttheads already know, there is already an event that does all that Mr Wheatley suggests and more. It's been going since 1973, it will run for the ninth time in 2005-06, the teams all start level and the prize they want most is not money, just a simple yet rather elegant trophy. The event? It's called the Volvo Ocean Race. * From Chris Bouzaid: I would just like to add my total agreement to Laurie Fullerton's words about Russell Coutts and the Alinghi boys. Their ability to remain on higher ground and not get into the slinging matches during the LV and AC really demonstrate the moral fiber these great yachtsmen have. It really is a pity the NZ newspapers particularly the Herald can't present the same qualities. I believe the irresponsible behavior of these newspapers inciting animosity by printing incorrect information for the unsuspecting public to read was and is very irresponsible. * From Greg Langdon: If Ms. Fullerton thinks that Russell Coutts has been vilified by the New Zealand press (and New Zealanders themselves!), then perhaps she should take her box of tissues and comfort him in Switzerland. Coutts should no more be eligible for the Halberg Award than Saddam Hussein should be for the U.N. Humanitarian Award! He is a grown man and should be accountable for his actions. He made a decision to forgo the spirit by which Sir Peter Blake embraced the America's Cup campaigns, and chose, instead, to turn his back on the proud sporting heritage of a small country. He was aware of the economic impact that retention of The Cup would have on New Zealand, not to mention the impact on national morale. Instead, he decided to make a run for the money - and as a professional athlete, I can't fault him for that. He did, however, underestimate the passion New Zealanders (and the New Zealand press) have for mutineers. If Russell didn't take his mum's advice to not jump ship, then he's getting his medicine. If she supported him in his decision, then she, too, needs to grab her box of tissues and find out how the quality of life compares outside of New Zealand. * From Jack Moore: I'm sure I won't be the only one to point out to Ms. Blue that, although billionaire Richard Pratt may not have donated the use of his plane free of charge for the rescue of the Japanese sailor, it can hardly be said that Richard Pratt did not support the cause. She claims that the Australian taxpayers, not Mr. Pratt, foot the bill for this and other search and rescue efforts in the Indian Ocean. As an Australian taxpayer himself, Mr. Pratt undoubtedly funds a bigger portion of this rescue burden than Ms. Blue or any other Australian taxpayer. Then consider the taxes paid by his company, Visy Industries, and the numerous donations and other good deeds performed by that company and the Pratt Foundation in Australia and throughout the world. No, Richard Pratt definitely supports this valuable cause and many others. * From: Bryan Canterbury: After playing the 'Smack the Penguin" game for a little too long (was I supposed to be studying tonight?), I am convinced that Curmudgeons Yeti is on performance-enhancing steroids. Or that the Curmudgeon has far too much free time. My score was 578.1, fax from Australia to verify this will follow. Curmudgeon's comment: Apparently there is wide distribution of those performance-enhancing steroids used by the Curmudgeons Yeti. It only took about six hours for 10 people from all corners of the world to tie the 595.5 score logged by the curmudgeon. The fact that no one surpassed that mark suggests we've found the game's outer limit. Also, we've learned once again to be careful what you ask for - the staff at Scuttlebutt World headquarters was up all night adding paper to the fax machine as the contest entries poured in. To view the list of the first 'Buttheads to get to 595.5 (SSC hats are on their way to the top five): http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/games/penguin/ CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Every dog has his day. Of course, his day consists of smelling other dogs' butts. |
