SCUTTLEBUTT No. 743 - February 2, 2001

Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome.

There have been so many outraged comments recently about shortsightedness, irrelevance, and incompetence in the pastime - in the making of eligibility rules, in the management of the America's Cup, you name it - that I thought you'd enjoy the following suggested simple solution to all our woes that I came across recently. Here it is:

"The trouble with the America's Cup is that the publicity given it by the newspapers, and the interest shown by the public, completely change the character of the event, and I think myself it should be abolished, and so ought all other international sports which interest the public and about which the newspapers print anything at all off the sports page."

Now there's a concept! To return to the presumed Golden Age, simply eliminate an event or sport once interest in it seeps out into the general public - this even though the America's Cup has been front-page news from 1851 onwards.

The purism underlying this proposal is up there with that of some of the bromides that have been tossed around recently. Some people want to fire all inactive sailors from rule-making bodies. Others want to entrust the pastime to the hands of the "marketplace" of corporate sponsors (or is it race-car managers?). There is a movement afoot to declare antiquated, uncool, and above all unprofessional any enthusiasm for friendly competition between foreign countries. And then there are those people who, contrary to my writer's proposal, wish to publicize sailboat racing to the ends of the earth, meanwhile regarding cruising and daysailing to be just as antiquated, uncool, and unprofessional as national spirit. I don't place much faith in these easy answers.

The quote, by the way, is from 1936. An Englishman was deeply worried by the controversy over protests in the 1934 Cup match. Somehow the Cup survived - and generally thrived - both in and of itself and on the front pages. - John Rousmaniere Jrousmani@aol.com

The race to the finish for the leading pair in the Vendee Globe, as predicted, has sprung no great surprises while the steadying 20 � 25 knot North Easterly breeze carries them right up to the Azores. Even if there is no major change staying on this one tack, a constant optimisation of the boat performance goes on day and night in reaction to the slightest variation in wind direction or sea state.

Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) remains serene about his progress: "With the forward ballast and the fact that PRB is one of the narrowest hulls in the fleet, she moves better through the chop, which I know is not the case for some of my friends". His lead is stabilising at around 75 miles and he is surveilling Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) quietly as she is still holding a strategic position. "It's logical for me to put myself between my adversary and the finish. I'm watching her and the weather developing for the anticyclone, but it's still too far in the future for the predictions to be reliable."

Ellen was able to reassure the Race HQ on the point of her sail inventory that she is "very happy with my sails. I've done necessary repairs and am back up to 100 %." Their matching speeds go to prove this point now, and any difference merely indicates a slight variation in wind strength or, as Desjoyeaux thought, perhaps the force of a current.

As much as Ellen is attacking ahead, she is also having to defend her back as Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potag�re) this morning moved in to third place ahead of rival Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) and lies in a dangerous position over to the West.

The usurped Thiercelin himself isn't throwing the towel in by any means, despite knowing that his boat is not great upwind. "It requires a big amount of manoeuvres and a lot of steering to go straight, and I am not very keen on that. I am slower than Sill Matine-la Potagere, but in a better position."

STANDINGS - February 1 @ 0900hrs (UT): 1. PRB, Michel Desjoyeaux, 2520 miles to finish, 2. Kingfisher, Ellen MacArthur, 76 miles behind leader, 3. Sill Matines - La Potagere, Roland Jourdain, 392 mbl, 4. Active Wear, Marc Thiercelin, 405 mbl, 5. Union Bancaire Privee, Dominique Wavre, 860 mbl, 6. Sodebo Savourons la Vie, Thomas Coville, 947 mbl - http://www.vendeeglobe.com

PRAMS TO PROAS, MAXI'S TO MINI'S

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* Club Med's New Zealand skipper and navigator Grant Dalton and Mike Quilter, respectively, guided their 110-foot catamaran 1.5 miles past the Cape Farewell beach this evening at 2030 GMT (Friday morning New Zealand time), the westernmost point at the top of New Zealand's South Island. The crew still had some 60 miles to sail until the beginning of Cook Strait, the body of water separating New Zealand's two islands. They're expected to pass the waypoint, off Wellington, at about 0100 GMT tomorrow morning.

"Cape Farewell is the first bit of land we will see, but I think that the Cook Strait proper begins 60 miles further east at Stephen's Island, a rocky islet just North of Cape Stephens on d'Urville Island, which is some 35 miles northeast of the town of Nelson," Dalton said.

Cook Strait is one of mandatory passage points in The Race. The other points are the Cape of Good Hope, at the bottom of Africa; Cape Leeuwin, southwest Australia; and Cape Horn, at the bottom of South America. - Sean McNeill, for Quokka Sports

Positions at 1900 GMT: 1. Club Med, 11,460.7 miles to the finish, 2. Innovation Explorer, +821.9 miles, 3. Team Adventure, +4,466.6 miles, 4. Warta-Polpharma, +5,004.1 miles, 5. Team Legato, +6,354.1 miles,
http://www.quokkasailing.com/stories/2001/01/SLQ_0129_therace_WFC.html

* Day 32 has been dominated by speculation surrounding Innovation Explorer's intentions as to whether they will stop in Wellington, New Zealand, in order to repair their sails and daggerboard. Loick Peyron has refused to commit himself but it seems extremely likely that he will swallow a 48-hour penalty in return for the chance to re-equip his catamaran.

Grant Dalton has not let Peyron's uncertainty affect his resolve to shoot the Cook Strait with no easing up to receive the cheers his fellow Kiwis are sure to give him. Dalton has kept Club Med on full power all day. He said: "The big kite is up with full main set and we reached over 40 knots a few hours ago. I was helming and at one point it just started to go faster and faster and I looked down and saw the speedo hover over 40 for a bit." - Martin Cross, NOW Sports website,
http://www.now.com/feature.now?cid=997704&fid=1250588

* Positioned almost midway between the Cape of Good Hope and Australia's Cape Leeuwin, the American catamaran Team Adventure paused in mid-ocean today to repair battens in her 15-story high mainsail after three days of grueling upwind sailing. "We are stopped due to a problem with battens and we're fixing it while we wait for the wind," said co-navigator Larry Rosenfeld in a brief, cryptic message from the 110-foot catamaran. "Not to worry!"

Currently in third place in The Race of the Millennium, Team Adventure's progress east has been slowed dramatically by two blocking weather systems - first a high pressure system and then a low that dropped down into her path from more northern latitudes. Both brought headwinds and confused seas that left Team Adventure slamming and crashing to windward at 300 to 350 miles a day while her competition ahead ran away before following westerlies, covering distances from 550 to 600 miles a day. - Keith Taylor, http://www.now.com/feature.now?cid=997704&fid=1250588

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net)
(Letters selected to be printed may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. This is not a bulletin board or a chat room - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. We don't publish anonymous letters, but will withhold your e-mail address on request.)

* From Mark Bennett - It seems to be pretty common knowledge that ISAF will put its new starting system into the new 2001- 04 rulebook. The web pages for the US Sailing Race Management Committee say "old System 2 commonly used in the United States and Canada will be included as a prescription to the 2001-2004 Rules." That makes sense since "evolution" is more easily accepted than "revolution" and most clubs in the US will probably continue to use old System 2 for at least a couple of years. However, I have heard rumors that US Sailing has decided not to include old System 2 as a US Sailing prescription, thus failing to provide necessary support and guidance to those US clubs that want to continue using System 2 for the next few years.

Does anyone know if this is true? It certainly would be a significant omission from the US version of the 2001-04 rulebook. My club has only run one regatta using the new system and it will certainly require a significant amount of time (like several years) to implement it in my area. In the meantime we absolutely NEED old System 2 in the rulebook, so we can have concise sailing instructions and sailors can use the same starting system at every local club event (instead of different systems from week to week).

* From: Nicole Breault <nbsailor@snet.net> In reply to Mark Green's comment in #741 - I have long been a proponent of mixed gender racing. Sailing is a sport where men and women can compete as equals. Often women do have to overcome strength and weight gaps in some classes, but individuals like Ellen McArthur prove this is entirely possible. Unfortunately, some sailing competitions segregate by gender. This has some promotional benefits and maybe gets more women competing, but it basically creates a glass ceiling for female sailors.

Thank goodness Ellen McArthur isn't bumping her head against one now, braving the Oceans of the world to receive a "Vendee Globe Top Women's Trophy!" So as I witness her amazing performance in print, I smile silently in acknowledgment of a young woman who is proving my point. Women can measure up in the most competitive arenas. They don't need their own scale to be measured against other women, and rather should want to be measured against all sailors ... and so they have the opportunity to be the best of them all.

* From: "Steven D. Morton" <steve@gofishsearch.com> America's Cup 2000 was a great event but few people involved would have given any Challenger a chance to beat Team New Zealand in their 1st Defense. The playing field for 2003 is far more interesting and the teams, despite the fact that many sailors are not competing for their own countries, are stacked. There are powerhouse teams being assembled and training far in advance of the Challenger groups for the 2000 event. Oracle, Prada, Seattle, Coutts, Kostecki, the Swedes, Conner and now the British (I can't remember official names yet). This is going to be a battle and I hope the media coverage rises to the occasion.

It is great to see the British back in the event and their line-up is huge (where is Chris Law, Lawrie Smith and/or Eddie Warden-Owen ?). Yeah, its a bummer that the sailors don't sail for their home countries, but we still cheer for the Boston Bruins and their bench is full of Russians, Canadiens, Americans, Finns, Swedes and one Brit, not just a bunch of guys from Massachusetts. The only improvement I can see for the AC is to put the show on every two years so the media and sponsors can sign-up for long term engagements that will help build sailing franchises around the world and keep costs down so more countries and sailors can compete.

* From: Ted Rogers <trogers@farir.com> The recent debate about whether 12 meters or IACC boats in the America's Cup were/are more exciting was interesting, especially in light of Grant Dalton and Cam Lewis both reporting touching 40 knots in the last few days while sailing around the world. (Kudos to all involved, the boat are amazing machines- well-conceived, prepared, and sailed on relatively small budgets in relatively short times.) I suspect that from behind Club Med's steering wheel IACC yachts, 12 meters, and Cal 20s all look pretty much the same. It seems rather ironic that for the premiere long-distance event in our sport we have boats that can be sailed at 30 knots all day long, but for the premiere short-course event, we have boats that are hard to push half that fast for a couple hours at a time.

* From: Ronnie R McCracken, IJ, Jakarta, Indonesia Philip Gage wrote about the new rules in Scuttlebutt 742, but it seems as if he has missed the plot. RRS 2001 - 2004 apply from 1 April. Like most MNA's the RYA have decided in the past that if a Regatta series starts before the change in Rules the old rules apply until the end of the series. You cannot change a series RRS in mid stream.

In the latest edition of ISAF Sailing Waves ISAF state the full new rules will be published before mid February. At times ISAF deserve a bit of prodding but let us not knock them, as Philip has done, without doing his research and getting his facts right.

* From: John McLeod <JMcLeod@comdocinc.com> Crewing on a dry sailed boat is a great way to build crew unity and a great way for skippers to evaluate crew. Dry sailing a boat is a lot more work and without a good crew it becomes even harder. I have done some racing in Cleveland on a dry sailed J24 and the crews that have their act together around the hoists seem to have their act together around the buoys.

* From: Walter Johnson <Hojosails@aol.com> With regard to dry sailing, just because a boat is dry sailed doesn't make the boat fasted unless the boat is cleaned before its launched. I have scene many competitors launch their boats without making sure all of the grime, dirt and dust is removed prior to launching. Just because you are putting your boat in the water doesn't mean that the body of water you are putting it in will clean your boat for you. In fact it will return just as dirty as you put it in. Without a good cleaning a dry sailed boat has the potential to be slower then a wet sailed boat.

Most wet boat sailors think to have the bottom cleaned before an event. I'm sure all of the boats you outlined in the last 'Butt made sure they thoroughly scrubbed their bottoms with their favorite cleaning agent before launching making sure to leave a nice film of slippery soap behind.

* From: Ben Nieting <BenjaminN@onyx.com> At the 2000 J/24 Worlds, Tundra Rose had 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th place finishing, with an 8th overall in the 73 boat fleet. Their boat had been in the water for 6 months prior to this event (minus a trailer ride across the country).

* From: Brad Read <brad@sailnewport.org> While I believe that their are benefits to dry-sailing and I do so with our J/24, the results in our J/24 Fleet in Newport do not show any huge advantage to dry sailed boats over ones with a good hard antifouling applied and well finished.

Fleet 50 in Newport has had a wet sailed boat win the season championship 3 times in the 1990's and this past year. Phil Garland and Jens Hookanson sailing Salsa have always kept their J/24 in the water. With a perfectly applied VC17 offshore bottom paint applied (wetsanded to 600) and cleaned once a week, Phil and now Jens have amassed the best record in the fleet during the 1990s.

During this time the fleet has included some great teams. Skippers of those teams have included: Ed Adams, Moose McClintock, Betsy Alison, Pat Connerney, Ken Read, Terry Hutchinson, Brad Read, Bill Fortenberry, Geoff Moore, Jeff Johnstone, Jay Miles and Tim Healy. Rolex Women's Keelboat Champion, J/24 World Champion, Rolex Yachtsperson of the Year, J/24 National, MW or North American Champion.

Jens or Phil didn't win the Peter Milnes Trophy for the Fleet 50 season championship because they wet sailed, and they never lost it because they wet sailed. They had a well-prepared boat and crew that just so happened to hang on a mooring instead of a trailer at Sail Newport!

(Following are some excerpts are from a much longer story posted on the Latitude 38 website.)

For the last six months, everyone - ourselves included - assumed that the negotiations between Oracle Racing and the St. Francis YC of San Francisco would result in Oracle competing for the 2003 America's Cup under the burgee of the St. Francis YC. After all, Oracle's Larry Ellison races his maxi 'Sayonara' for the St. Francis, and many of the key players in Oracle Racing have deep roots with the club. Nonetheless, Oracle Racing and the St. Francis announced on Saturday that they would be unable to reach an agreement because "the St. Francis YC could not satisfy Oracle Racing's requirements."

During a telephone conversation with St. Francis YC Commodore Steve Taft, we were told that the negotiations between Oracle Racing and the St. Francis YC - which were always "most amicable" - broke down over the issue of control of the America's Cup effort. "Ellison wanted the St. Francis to amend its articles of incorporation and by-laws so that he could put three of his people on the board of directors. But since the St. Francis is a California corporation, the law requires they be elected. So the club couldn't legally comply with Oracle Racing's request even if we wanted to. Other possible solutions were explored, such as appointing three directors that would only have control over the America's Cup effort, or somehow being able to guarantee the results of an election of a slate of board members. But after checking with our lawyers, we found that we couldn't legally do any of these things."

It's possible that Ellison could put up $80 million to win the 2003 Cup for the St. Francis - and then have the club's board of directors at that time decide to hold trials for a defender for the next cup. As such, it's possible that Ellison could win the cup for the St. Francis and then not be able to defend it for them. This is a possibility that Ellison - who is accustomed to usually getting his way - apparently would prefer not entertaining. And who can blame him?

So the bottom line is this: No matter how good the friendships are between the members of the St. Francis YC and Oracle Racing, the St. Francis is legally prohibited from giving Oracle Racing the control Ellison feels he needs. Thus the inability to come to terms.

What now? Oracle Racing is apparently approaching the California YC of Marina del Rey, which unlike most yacht clubs in California, is a private club. In fact, it's owned by the Hathaway family, which owns golf courses and other clubs. Because it is a private club, it's possible that the California YC can give Ellison the control of the America's Cup effort that he requires. Ellison could, of course, buy just about any private yacht club he wanted and thereby control his America's Cup effort. In any event, Oracle Racing has told Taft that no matter what happens, they are committed to bringing the America's Cup to San Francisco Bay. - Latitude 38.

Full story:
http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/Jan2001/Jan31/Jan31.html#anchor5402777

In the January 30 issue of Making Waves, ISAF President Paul Henderson touches on the problems with their new Eligibility Code:

"With regard to the ISAF Eligibility Code it is now obvious that various jurisdictions want it clearly stated how the relevant authority decides who can compete at the entry level or in local events. This will be carried out by putting the responsibility on how it is be handled for this level on the shoulders of the relevant MNA's. Until it is clarified ISAF will have to accept the paranoia of those who read some conspiracy into the work of ISAF."

CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Sounds like the ISAF is about to make a 'handoff' to US Sailing. However, until that happens, and until US Sailing fixes the problem, the Eligibility Code requires that ALL crewmembers on ALL racing yachts must be members of the national governing body or an affiliated organization � like a yacht club. Happily, a membership in the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club satisfies all of the requirements of the Eligibility Code. You can join now without any cost whatsoever:
http://sailingsource.com/scuttlebutt/

IMPORTANT CHANGE: My sailing friends at Macson Printing have done a super job of cleaning up the PDF files for SSC membership cards. So if the first card you downloaded was a bit fuzzy, you might want to go back and get a new one. The new ones are really crisp.

To read Eligibility Code: http://www.sailing.org/regulations/eligibilitycode.pdf

Ellen MacArthur, the 24-year-old lone yachtswoman challenging for the lead in the Vend�e Globe, is to be invited to join Britain's first challenge for the America's Cup since 1987. "She could probably do it on her own," said the team's sailing manager Ian Walker.

* "The enemy in any sailing programme is time," Walker said, pointing out that there were only 20 months before the challenger selection trials. He added that it was not the intention of Team GBR to take people away from their Olympic focus, but admitted that the gold medallists Iain Percy and Shirley Robertson had been targeted and had indicated they would join.

The Olympians Mark Covell, Andy Beadsworth and Richard Sydenham have also been recruited, with James Stagg, Julian Salter, Simon Fry, Andy Green, Jim Turner, Jonathan Taylor, Ian Budgen, Mark Sheffield and Guy Reid. Neal McDonald will join the squad on his return from The Race. Chris Mason, a super-fit 43-year-old three-times America's Cup crewman, is by far the oldest member of the team. - Bob Fisher, The Guardian.
Full story:
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/sport/story/0,3604,431649,00.html