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SCUTTLEBUTT 2039 – February 27, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.RESHAPING THE OLYMPIC REGATTA -- PART I (Following are a few excerpts from a story by Stuart Streuli posted on the Sailing World magazine website.) Like many sailors, I was disappointed in ISAF's change to the scoring for the 2008 Olympics. I was hoping they'd do more—a lot more. I was hoping to read about changes, plural; a sign that the leaders of our sport realize that the Athens Olympic Regatta was a PR disaster, that it was among the least-watched events at the 2004 Olympics, both in terms of live spectators and television time; that things need to change. Instead we got one simple alteration to the scoring: the fleet will be reduced to the top 10 boats for the final race, which will count for double points and won't be discardable. This change is a baby step, and I'm not even sure it's in the right direction. ISAF's new president Göran Petersson is concerned. Petersson, who in many respects is the antithesis of the ISAF's previous leader, the vocal and impulsive Paul Henderson, met with the IOC and some Olympic broadcasters before ISAF's annual convention in Singapore in early November. He came away from that meeting frightened enough to make a late submission to change the Olympic scoring for 2008. The Olympics are a business. The IOC makes most of its money from TV (either directly or indirectly through the sponsors who value the television exposure). Sailing costs a lot—reportedly $200,000 a day to televise, not to mention the costs of running the regatta and building the marina—and brings in very little. Anyone care to imagine what the balance sheet will look like for Qingdao? ~ Stuart Struelli, Sailing World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/gjf4a ON A ROLL It’s been just two weeks since the Global Ocean Challenge was officially announced and the response has been overwhelming. It seems that the idea of a race around the world that is within the reach of many aspiring circumnavigators has struck a chord. To date 52 people have registered their interest to compete and we know of 12 additional sailors who want to do the race but have not contacted us directly. While it’s definitely a big jump from registering interest to showing up with a boat, the fact that this event has attracted sailors from as far away as Japan and Australia is encouraging. The principal driving force behind the creation of the Global Ocean Challenge was to open up the realm of around-the-world racing to a new generation of shorthanded sailors and adventurers. There is, we believe, a pent-up demand for an event that does not stretch the skills and financial means of interested sailors. These days it’s all but impossible to get a berth on a Volvo boat. It’s technically too extreme and expensive for many (most) sailors to put up a competitive entry in the Vendee or Velux Race, and many sailors simply do not want to pay a small fortune to race around the world the wrong way. The Global Ocean Challenge brings short-handed sailing back to its roots; spirited, competent sailors looking for an adventure of a lifetime in a competitive environment that allows them to visit some interesting countries and encourages families and friends to get involved. It also provides a perfect steppingstone for professional sailors looking to ramp up their careers by gaining needed offshore experience while at the same time allowing their sponsors to test the waters with an international event. ~ Josh Hall and Brian Hancock, www.globaloceanchallenge.com PENGUIN ROUTE The six crews in the Volvo Ocean Race are hurtling towards Cape Horn with a proper yacht race under way on leg four from Wellington to Rio de Janeiro that, so far, has been free of technical breakdown. The week-old stage has been a nail-biter, with the teams facing a tricky light-airs phase to get them round the first of two waypoints imposed by race officials to keep the boats away from the worst of the Antarctic ice. With a choice of going north around an area of high pressure associated with a decayed tropical storm or south on their way to the waypoint, the fleet split with the two northerly boats, Brasil 1 and ABN Amro Two, paying a heavy price for their gamble. ~ Edward Gorman. The Times, http://tinyurl.com/pxa3q The six boats racing in leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race have all passed through the second ice way point and are now headed south towards the icy wastes of Antarctica on the ‘penguin route’ as Bouwe Bekking (movistar) calls it. ~ www.volvooceanrace.org Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Sunday 1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 4077 miles to finish 2. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +2 miles 3. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +8 miles 4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +81 miles 5. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, +106 miles 6. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +159 miles CONFUSION In Friday’s Scuttlebutt, we carried a letter from well-traveled and well respected offshore racer Jef d'Etiveaud who was critical of the confusing data on the Volvo Ocean Race website. And in this issue, another seasoned and successful campaigner, Chris Boome, also addresses the confusing data on the race website, and he points to the opportunities missed by the race organizers. The confusion peaked on Friday when the 1600 GMT position report story stated, “At 1510 GMT today Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) and his crew were the first boat to get past the gate.” Good job Torben. But wait a minute, the same press release showed Brasil 1 in fifth place, 175 miles behind the leaders - Pirates of the Caribbean. How could that be when the Pirates were still hours from the ‘Ice Gate?’ Well, apparently that first ice gate is a big sucker - 500 miles long running due East and West along the 48th parallel. Although Brasil 1 got to it first, the majority of the fleet crossed through the gate at a point further East - which is obviously closer to Cape Horn and the finish line. ~ The Curmudgeon QUOTES FROM THE BOATS “One thing with this new class is that miles can be won and lost at a very hectic pace. I remember sitting in lots of design meeting's where we would be studying over weather routing stats, and normally after a while, Crusty (Mark Christensen), Brad (Jackson) and I would look at each other, then turn to Juan Kouyoumdjian (the designer of the yacht) and say: give us a the fastest boat at 115 true wind angle we can have over 15 knots of wind. What ever happens in this race from now until the finish, one of the highlights for me will be how Juan and his guys designed us exactly the boat we wanted.” ~ Mike Sanderson, ABN Amro One skipper “I looked at the max speed on the GPS earlier and we have broken the mythical 40 knots barrier. At some point last night no doubt careering down a wave with the driver unable to see where he's going we topped out at 40.6 Knots. Guided by only a few numbers on the back face of the mast it is like some sort of crazy roller coaster, only there are no tracks and you are in control. As you accelerate of down a wave the spray starts coming at you hard. You hear it beating against your visor and as you put your head down to avoid the worst of it.” ~ Simon Fisher, ABN Amro Two navigator US SAILING APPAREL TAKES FIRST PLACE Congratulations to Nelson Stephenson and his Mumm 30 crew on TeamBOLD for their 1st place win at Key West. The 2006 racing season is starting and more skippers are outfitting their crews with custom apparel from the US Sailing Authentic Collection. It’s easy, the gear is awesome, and it’s a great way to support US Sailing. There are also great deals on US Sailing Team apparel. Be the first one on the dock this Spring with cool apparel from the US Sailing Authentic Collection. Go to http://www.ussailinggear.com and start shopping today or e-mail us at mailto:info@ussailinggear.com AS SEEN BY PAUL CAYARD “This morning it was another display of the speed of ABN 1 as we left the ice waypoint on a reach with ABN 8 miles astern. She passed, about one half a miles to leeward, us in just three hours, carrying more sail than us. She had up similar foresails to ours but had a full main where we had to have one reef. She just has that much more power from her beam and probably a heavier bulb. For reaching, her beam gives her another advantage which is a wider sheeting angle. Pretty depressing to see our lead, something that took us 48 hours to accumulate, get burned up in 3 hours by a guy just sailing straight past us going 1.5 knots faster. “I just came down below from steering the boat for a couple of hours and could not help but think that tonight is one of those nights, that if any normal person were on the boat, they would think we were all nuts. Picture this; on deck, it is a caustic environment; pitch black, drizzling and blowing 25 knots. The spray is pelting you in the face and chest as you stand exposed at the wheel. You are wheeling this 70 foot boat around, heeling over at up to 28 degrees as you go catapulting down the waves that you can't see. You are clipped on because the amount of heel is so steep that if you lose you balance, you will fall 15 feet to the rushing water below on the leeward said of the boat. “We are traveling along at 20 knots average with the apparent wind angle (the wind you feel on your face) coming from 50 degrees off centerline which pitches the spray and wind in your face at about 35 knots.. The helm has a very light feel on the wheel as the front half of the boat is out of the water most of the time. Then you think about where you are, surfing across the bottom of the planet, thousands of miles from anywhere, and even you begin to think that this is crazy.” ~ Paul Cayard, Pirates of the Caribbean skipper 18-FOOT CHAMPIONSHIP Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Nathan Ellis are the new 18ft Skiff champions following their Race 7 victory in the Ssangyong JJ Giltinan International Championship which concluded on Sydney Harbour. The trio brought their skiff Casio Seapathfinder home a 35secs winner from Hugh Stodart and his Asko Appliances team who also finished runners up in the championship. Third place in the race and third overall was last year's winners, Euan MC Nicol and Club Marine, who finished a further 20secs behind Asko. Final placings were Casio on 16 points, Asko 18, Club Marien 21 and Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) also on 21 in fourth place. Howie Hamlin (USA) finished fifth in Pegasus Racing on 40 points. We have three pages of hot photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/jjgiltinan/ LASER MIDWINTERS EAST Clearwater YC -- Final results. Lasers (83-boats- 9 races with 2 discards): 1. Brendan Casey (AUS) 28 pts; 2. Matias Del Solar (CHI) 29 pts; 3. Andrew Campbell (USA) 30 pts; 4. Maciej Grabowski Sejk (POL) 3) pts; 5. Bernard Luttmer (CAN) 32 pts; 6. Michael Kalin (CAN) 38 pts; 7. Brad Funk (USA) 38 pts; 8. David Wright (CAN) 49 pts. Laser Radial (94 boats - 9 races boats with 2 discards): 1. Paige Railey (USA) 9 pts; 2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) 19 pts; 3. Tania Elias Calles (MEX) 24 pts; 4. Laura Baldwin (GBR) 31 pts; 5 Lisa Ross (CAN) 45 pts; 6. Evi Van Acker (BEL) 67 pts; 7. Jennifer Spalding (CAN) 77 pts; 8. Chris Raab (USA) 86 pts; 9. Victoria Crowder (CAN) 94 pts; 10. Colin Smith (USA) 98 pts. Event website: http://www.clwyc.org/LaserMidwintersEast06/ FROM THE BLOG *Greg Fisher’s final report on the J/22 Midwinters is on Scuttleblog, which included some unplanned business on the way home. As Greg states, “No road trip is complete without a little action and adventure...and this time it happened as we made a sharp turn on Rt 65 in Mobile, AL during rush hour. I am not sure I really knew what a serpentine belt was until that moment when it shredded and flew off. Our dashboard idiot lights lit up like a pinball machine. Without power steering I felt like Tom Cruise in "Days of Thunder," nearly grazing the outside cement wall. Soon I realized that this belt also drives the fan and water pump...and we quietly coasted and gurgled off to the side of the road.” This was likely the icing on the cake for this event, which was plagued by cold temperatures and a shortened race schedule. * The Puerta Vallarta Race began last week, which will take the fleet 1,000 miles from San Diego, CA, USA to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. On this race we will join Jim Madden and crew onboard his newly christened J/65 “Brand New Day.” They have been sending Scuttleblog daily updates of their adventures, bringing us onboard as they slide down the Baja coast in style. Unlike Jim’s recently launched Reichel/Pugh 66 “Stark Raving Mad” - a flat out racer by today’s standards BND has both wine cellar and media room. When their first night's dinner included Sushi and sashimi appetizers, followed by freshly tossed salad, home made stew, and pecan pie for dessert, accompanied by a Syrah, you know you are in for a good ride. View reports for both events at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog NEWS BRIEFS * Work continues on the 10-boat Clipper 05-06 Race fleet in the Philippines with a team of around 30 people currently working in the yard and a backup team working in the UK. There is still no definitive timescale on a restart of the race or on the proposed route. ~ http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006/ * The +39 new America’s Cup is possibly due March but a report in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 25 February, claimed that: ‘Iain Percy, the British Olympic gold medallist of 2000, hopes to find funds for the faltering Italian +39 America's Cup team in the UK. He aims to find financial backing for the Italian team for the next Cup in 2007, and also initiate interest in a possible British campaign. Work on +39's one new boat has ceased, and the sailing team, headed by Percy, have not been paid for more than four months.’ ~ Sail-World, http://tinyurl.com/glndn * At a luncheon held last Friday at the New York YC, Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, Calif.) and Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) were honored with the USA’s highest sailing accolade as they accepted engraved Rolex timepieces, symbols of their selection as the Yachtsman and Yachtswomen of the Year. ~ http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex/ STOP THE LEACH FROM FLAPPING. Tired of going down to leeward because the latest configuration on securing the leech cord from your famous sailmaker doesn't work or the line doesn't hold? New England Ropes has solved one part of the equation. Finish line, a polyester pre-stretch, has a firm knobby cover which was designed to hold well in cleats and is easy to whip into a knot for precise control. For more information on this product, contact your local sailmaker or visit the NER website at http://www.neropes.com. Others make line, we make line perform. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Olin Stephens: I hope this anecdote demonstrates the sunny side of our great sport. It has to do with the cost and importance of suiting the design to the weather. It was in one of those Newport years when the NYYC was defending the Americas Cup against an Australian twelve. S&S vs. Alan Payne looked like a good bet for the design line up. Early in the previous winter I received a large package from Australia. As the true sportsman he was, Alan had copied to me nothing less that a detailed study of summer weather conditions off Newport, made for him by an outstanding professional weather student of the time and place. * From Chris Boome: I agree with Jef d'Etiveaudth, the Volvo Website is very confusing as to exactly where the rhumbline is...and you would think that with only 6 boats, they would have a decent way of identifying each boat a little better. And their "Onboard Data" is a joke, they need to hire the people who did Ellen MacArthur's website - that was fantastic! Perhaps they are afraid of giving away valuable information to the other competitors. Can you imagine how much more interesting the last few days would have been if we could actually see what was going on? Sailing can be interesting, the Volvo site just does not allow this. With the speed of these boats and all of the tactics involved, the Volvo Race organizers have really blown a chance to grab the world's attention to a level never before seen in our sport ... but, they do not get any medals for this presentation. * From Ralph Taylor: Nick Mace's commentary on the advantages of sailing is one of the best I've seen. Here on the western edge of the Great Plains, we're always asked "Why sail?" * From Daria Blackwell: Hooray for Nick Mace. He highlights many of the joyful non-racing aspects of sailing. However, as long as kids are leaving “the sailing programs” (which are really racing programs) because they either a) don’t want to sail alone or b) don’t want to spend all their time stressing out about racing, we won’t be communicating that sailing can indeed be fun. Kids are reacting to sailing like it’s work. In fact, we often hear that the racing program drives young sailors away from sailing altogether. Now that seems to be a real shame. It seems logical that: 1. If young sailors are dropping out of the junior programs because they don’t like to sail alone, we ought to offer them a choice of sailing with crew 2. If young sailors are dropping out of the sailing programs because they don’t like racing, then we ought to offer them a choice of “explorational sailing” instead … you know sailing for the joy of it: daysailing, gunkholing, cruising, messing around in boats. Wouldn’t it be nice to offer sailing as an option rather than racing? Here’s to the joy of sailing! * From Gonzalo Diaz: Thanks for the Nick Mace guest commentary. I am going back to sailing more. * From Andrew Hurst (re Ray Tostado’s letter): Nice idea in New Scientist on the air-layer for reducing hull drag, but I think you'll find it's been around a while, especially in the realm of offshore powerboat racing. But what about pointing those little squirty jets back a little, now that would boost the 'sailing' speed... * From Tony Bridgewater: Ray Tostado's news (Butt 2038) about proposals to inject air into the flow of water past ships' hulls to improve laminar flow, reminds me of an alleged experiment in the '50s in the UK in which holes were apparently drilled in the bottom of a Firefly and connected to a bicycle pump. The crew was then expected to pump vigorously whilst hiking, tending the jib, bailing etc. For some reason, the idea didn't seem to catch on! * From Cam Lewis: Glad to see Moose and his crew on ABN Amro One have fleece lined sleeping bags in 2006 - we had fleece lined bags in 1993 on Commodore Explorer and I always had an extra Patagonia Synchila- Polar fleece top for a pillow case cover- only way to have a dream at speed! Gore Tex socks were another great discovery and application back then, a must have ever since! There are many more simple and light weight comforts that make sailing around Antarctica pleasurable- I hope all the guys out there have these and more. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION "Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age." ~ Victor Hugo Special thanks to US Sailing Authentic Collection and New England Ropes. |
