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SCUTTLEBUTT #487 - January 21, 2000BIG MONEY(The following is an excerpt from a story written by Barron's editor, Thomas G. Donlan, about America's Cup sponsorship.) Corporate sponsorship has long since changed golf and tennis and other formerly amateur sports, leaving its logos on the shirts of players and its money in their pockets. The logos also have found their way to stadiums, hospitality tents and souvenir stands. Sponsorship has grown to shape and control the Olympics and has made professional contests out of formerly amateur sporting events around the world. In the 'Nineties it came to yacht racing, which had been one of the last bastions of sport for wealthy amateurs. At the America's Cup , the pinnacle of yacht racing, corporate sponsorship has almost completely replaced the wealthy individual and the yacht-club syndicate. In a continuing counterpoint of supply and demand for financing, the highest performance in sailing costs ever more money, while in turn the money coming from corporate coffers pushes the limits of performance ever higher. By the end of January, when five racing series will have reduced 11 challengers to one survivor and one defender, the sponsors of the Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers, the America's Cup itself and all the sailing syndicates will have spent more than $300 million. Infrastructure Auckland, a local government agency, has spent another $65 million or so to improve the Auckland harbor for hosting the event, attracting $300 million more in private investment in new apartments, stores, bars and restaurants along the quay. What's it all for? The America's Cup does not determine the best sailor in the world. For that, sailors look to the World Championships of boat classes such as the 24-foot J-24 and the 22-foot Star, which are most popular with the best sailors around the world. In these classes, all race boats are essentially equal and sailing skill determines the outcome. The America's Cup , on the other hand, is really a test of management skill. In a matter of four years or less, the people who want to win the America's Cup must bring together naval architects, boatbuilders, sailmakers, sailors, several outstanding skippers and a shoreside bureaucracy to keep them all operating smoothly half a world away from home. They must douse them all with liberal quantities of money, enough to beggar the old joke about capturing the experience of sailboat racing by standing in a cold shower tearing up hundred-dollar bills. Just focus on the $300 million spent for sailing. Paul Cayard, competing in his fifth Cup campaign and skippering AmericaOne under the burgee of San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club, points out that it's about equal to the cost of making and marketing a blockbuster Hollywood movie. But investors in a movie have some chance of getting their money back and some chance of making a big profit. What chance is there for a profit from racing sailboats? Hardly any. Put on the spot, sponsors tell stories about making returns from their investments in three ways. -- Brand identification, which means the application of logos to places on the boats and crews' clothing that will be shot by TV cameras and still photographers. "For a worldwide publicity campaign, it is very cheap," says Georges Cohen of Transiciel, a sponsor of the French challenge. -- Corporate relationship-building, which means that sponsors make special contact with the customers and suppliers they bring to the America ' s Cup to share the experience, or that they rub shoulders with their fellow sponsors and learn to work with them in ways that might be useful in the real world. -- Product demonstration, by which a sponsor contributes its best equipment to serve a Cup campaign, hoping that the gear will work well in that demanding environment and impress customers who might want it installed in their own businesses. -- Thomas G. Donlan, Barron's CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Sorry, but you'll have to go out and buy the magazine to read the rest of this story. KWRW Key West (Fla.) January 20, 2000 - After two days of light-air racing, winter winds of 14 to 18 knots descended on the 261-boat fleet competing at GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week (January 17-21), bringing the kind of classic Key West conditions that this regatta is famous for. "It was the best day the fleet has seen down here in a few years," said Mumm 30 skipper Nelson Stephenson (Stamford, Conn.) - with enough wind to wind up the level of intensity as this series nears its conclusion. Some crews who proved strong in the light winds that blew earlier this week took dives today in the heavier conditions; but two boats have sailed well enough in a wide range of conditions that they have mathematically clinched their class wins before Friday's final race. Irvine Laidlaw's Highland Fling (Isle of Man, U.K.) and Jeff Sampson's Rugger (Detroit, Mich.) both know they will be packing trophies when they depart home this weekend. Ennio Staffini's Farr 40 custom, Uarshek, racing in PHRF-1, was only one of many boats who reveled in today's solid breeze. "We like to sail in the stronger breezes. The crew has a lot more fun, and the boat needs it to get rolling," explains tactician Drew Donald. "Monday was breezy and it went well," he continues, referring to a day that saw the team post a 2-2. "In the light stuff Tuesday and Wednesday, it wasn't so nice and we felt lucky to escape from those days with a 3-7-5. Today, it was back in the breeze and we're feeling pretty good going into Friday." Up until today, the CM 60s in IMS have been hoarding the bullets, with Irvine Laidlaw's Highland Fling taking three first-place finishes and Isam Kabbani's Rima taking two. For Geoff Ewenson, in the afterguard of Farr 43 PAX NZL (Stamford, Conn.), these big boats get quickly in front and take command of the tactical situation up the first half of the opening windward leg. But today, wins in IMS were more evenly distributed. George David's crew on Idler (Hartford, Conn.) and Bache Renshaw's Virago (S. Dartmouth, Mass.) each won a race. More than class wins ride on tomorrow's final race: the winner of the Yachting Magazine Trophy will go to the boat of the most competitive class, a determination based on a formula that factors points and time differentials for the week. The trophy will be presented Friday, at the conclusion of racing. Today, the crew that captured Boat of the Day on Yachting Magazine Day was Robert Hughes' Great Lakes One Design 35 Heartbreaker (Holland, Mich.). This class has been in close contention all week, with six different boats winning the seven races held to date. Hughes took a 1-2 today to overturn the lead of John Wylie's Tabasco (San Francisco, Calif.), who now stands in second place, five points behind Hughes. Twenty-six Mumm 30s are also doing a good job of mixing it up on the racecourse. Not one boat has been able to stay in the top 10 in every race: even class leader Jean Pierre Dick and the crew on Ville de Saint Raphael (Nice, France) carry a 14th in their score to lead with 32 points after seven races. Turbo Duck (Annapolis, Md.), owned by Bodo von der Wense, added to the suspense today, falling from their class lead with finishes of 11 and 15 today. With frequent changes among their frontrunners, the Mumm 30 point scores do not create a neat and predictable storyline as this class enters its final day of racing. But on the water today, this class' ranks looked neat and uniform - and Division III PRO Ken Legler was there to witness a memorable sight: Mumm 30s at the start of Race 7 were a live ballet, with bows lined up in perfect succession at the gun. "It was a mental photograph I will not soon forget," said Legler. -- Cynthia Goss SELECTED RESULTS CLASS C - Farr 40 (27 Boats) 1. Atalanti XI (Coconut Grove, FL) 3-9-1-1-2-5-2 -- 23; 2. Mascalzone Latino (Italy) 4-1-8-12-8-3-3 - 39; 3. Raging Bull (Bristol, RI) 5-5-7-5-1-8-9 -- 40; CLASS D - 1D35 (21 Boats) 1. Heartbreaker (Holland, MI) 10-7-3-4-5-2-1 - 32; 2. Tabasco (San Diego, CA) 1-5-4-2-11-12-2 -- 37; 3, Avalanche (Lake Wesley, VA) 2-3-12-1-14-3-3 - 38; DIVISION 3 CLASS A - Mumm 30 (26 Boats) 1. Ville de Saint Raphael/Jean Pierre Dick (FRA) 14-1-1-3-6-3-4 -- 32; 2. Trouble/Phil Garland (Barrington, RI) 3-5-12-9-1-2-5 -- 37; 3. Turbo Duck/Bodo von der Wense (Annapolis, MD) 2-8-3-1-3-11-15 -- 43; CLASS B - Melges 24 (46 Boats) 1.Full Throttle/Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, WI) 8-1-1-2-8-2-1 --23; 2. Zenda Express/Harry Melges (Lake Geneva, WI) 4-6-6-3-4--4--2 -- 29; 3. RockN'Roll/Argyle Campbell (Newport Beach, CA) 2-7-11-5-2-1-8 - 36; CLASS C - J/105 (18 Boats) 1. Plum Crazy/Andrew Skibo (Ocean City, NJ) 1-2-2-3-3-5-2 -- 18; 2. Wonder Wagon/Rick Wright (Marblehead, MA) 4-6-9-2-1-1-3 -- 26; 3. Phantom/Geoffrey Pierini (Perth Amboy, NJ) 2-3-3-4-5-4-8 -- 29. Complete results and feature reports: http://www.Premiere-Racing.com MORE THAN JUST NEWS You can find America's Cup news in lots of places. But when you're looking for more than just news -- when you're looking for insightful commentary that puts all of the 'news' in perspective -- you really must check into the Quokka AC website. You'll be treated to the well-reasoned thoughts of seasoned journalists whose observations go well beyond the headlines and the PR spin. And while you're there, you should also check out the daily audio recordings, the magnificent collection of images and the unparalleled news coverage. Try it -- you'll like it: http://www.americascup.org/ MTN CAPE TO RIO RACE The American super yacht, Zephyrus IV, smashed the crossing record in the MTN Cape to Rio by almost two days. The victorious Americans sailed across the finish line off Copacabana beach at 03h49 Rio time (08h49 SA time) this morning. Zephyrus improved the 1996-record of 14 days 15 hours by 1 day 22 hours. Her official crossing time is 12 days 16 hours and 49 minutes. According to the crew on board the slick 75-footer Californian yacht, it has been an incredible race and they will most definitely return to do it again. They finished in calm seas with a full moon over Rio. "It looked as if the statue was spreading its arms to welcome us." The next yacht Sagamore is expected across the line in approximately another nine hours and will also break the record. According to race officials in Rio de Janeiro, it will be interesting to see if the two South African entries, Greenwich Warrior and Maxtec Wizard, also manage to break the 1996 record. The two rivals are currently battling it out for third and fourth handicap positions. Zephyrus and Sagamore are still in first and second on handicap. The frustrating time for the leading yachts starts now as they might have to wait another week before the handicap winner is decided. Race website: http://www.capetorio.com ETCHELLS WORLDS Race 4 of the 25th Etchells World Championship took place off Palm Beach today. The 68 boat fleet enjoyed sunny, Sydney summer weather and 15 - 20 knot breezes from the noreast. The heat was won by Melbourne boat, the bluntest tool in the shed sailed by Ian "Barney" Walker, Nick Williams and Matt Wenke. Cameron Miles, James Mayo and Andrew Palfrey in Green Steam crossed the line second cementing their overall lead in the championship after 4 heats of 6 completed. Third place was Steam Packet V a Pittwater fleet boat skippered by Mark Richards with Bruce Wookey and Mick Hole. -- Emily Welch STANDINGS: 1. Green Steam Cameron Miles 8 points 2. Tom Pepper XVIII Peter McNeill 32 points 3. The bluntest tool in the shed Ian Walker 35 points 4. North Sydney Station Michael Coxon 39 points 5. Steam Packet V Mark Richards 39 points 6. Koolong VIII Jan Scholten 60 points 7. Dogs off Chains Gary Weisman 65 points 10. Fast Eddy Ben Altman 74 points 17. Pipe Dream 10 Scott Piper 84 points Regatta website: http://www.rpayc.com.au/etchells/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Eric Hall (In response to Commodore Munro's and Helen Johnstone Falk's letters) -- I do not know what the big deal is. In his race with the French in RR3 and Stars and Stripes in the semis, Cayard clearly sandbagged, maximizing his chances first against Young America, then against Prada. He was within his rights to do so and would have been nuts not to. Young America and Prada certainly knew the score. So, why didn't Paul just say: "Damn right I did. Wouldn't YOU much rather sail against S&S in the finals instead of the much faster Prada (or in the semis against La Defi instead of the much faster Young America in the semis)? What I cannot figure is why everyone at AmericaOne still bends over backwards denying the obvious. Regarding Prada's protests, Ms. Falk is right on the money. Cayard plays hard ball, has played hard ball and will play hard ball (it's his right to do so and he should - this is the America's Cup, not backyard badminton at tea time). So when Laurent Esquier starts doing the same for Prada he's rightfully saying to Paul: "Knock yourself out, man. We may look polite, but we can play hardball, too!" Sounds to me like the fun is just beginning. Two great boats. Two great skippers. Two great crews. Hard ball players on both sides. And we won't have to stay up all night to see it live! -- From Bruce Vandeventer -- Glenn McCarthy's suggestion of adding a new flag to allow the race committee to indicate that the next race follows immediately is a good idea but it doesn't have to go into the Racing Rules of Sailing. It can be called out in the sailing instructions for that regatta. Don't spell out a max number of races for the regatta, just a minimum number for a valid award, and a latest time of day on the last day that you would start, so people can make travel plans. The main thing the RC can do to speed up things is to run starts and finishes simultaneously, which is normally done from two sides of the committee boat but you can also have a separate committee boat to do finishes from, as long as the instructions specify this. For example, set the start line downwind from the leeward mark and finish at the leeward mark. When finishing and starting simultaneously from the same boat it's important to have a different sound for the two sides. Another method is to go to 3 minute sequences instead of five minutes. For a regatta with 10 classes, this brings your start sequence time down to 36 minutes from 60 minutes. What I think would be great is if the committee boat clock sent out a digital radio signal to the countdown timer on each boat which also tells which class is next. A receiver for this could be small enough to fit in a large watch. -- From Larry Ehrhardt (In response to Glenn McCarthy re: "speed up play") -- To reinforce Jeff Borland, a number of race committees on Long Island Sound have been flying the Second Substitute from the finish boat to signal another race. With proper documentation in the SI's it works just fine. The six-minute start sequence is also proving to be very popular here. -- From Carol Newman Cronin (Re: Umpires on boats) -- It would be great to hear from prominent umpires directly on this, but here's a second hand viewpoint: the chief umpire at the '99 Women's Match Racing Worlds said that in her experience, umpires who are onboard with competitors usually agree with the skipper ON THEIR BOAT, so it still comes down to the third umpire (in the powerboat) to make the call. Perspective is the culprit here, not who knows more, the skipper or the umpire. At the AC level, all are equally savvy about the rules and the calls. Perspective varies not just with which boat you are on, but also with the location of that boat. That's why umpires work so hard to figure out where they should be for the best view of the next potential rules infraction- while not interfering with the competitors. If they get it right, competitors don't notice (since there is nothing in their way), so umpires are often berated if caught in the wrong place and seldom praised when they get it right. Their hard work has been paying off on the women's circuit: in the past five years, there has been a noticeable decrease in the most frustrating umpire response to a post race question: hands tossed up and, "Sorry, we were just not in a position to see that." OLYMPIC CLASSES With the U.S.A.'s representatives to the 2000 Olympic Games undetermined in the Europe, Finn, Laser, Soling, Star and Tornado classes, sailors making the final push to their Olympic Trials have gobbled up Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR) entries like they were tickets to a rock concert. The entry roster for the 11th annual Miami OCR reads like a who's who of small boat sailing, providing an indication of the tough competition this event will feature when it returns to Biscayne Bay from January 25-29, 2000. While entries do not officially close until January 25, sailors were encouraged to register early, with regatta organizers offering discounted fees for entering by December 31, 1999. In both the Star and Soling classes, entry limits were met months ago, resulting in organizers being bombarded with requests for additional entries, especially from foreign competitors. In the 470, 49er and Mistral classes, for which the U.S.A.'s 2000 Olympic Team members were determined last October, smaller fleets were anticipated. Unfortunately for the 470 and 49er classes, which did not meet the minimum required of all classes in order to conduct a series, racing has been cancelled. As the only International Sailing Federation (ISAF) grade-one ranking event in the U.S.A., the Miami OCR has a track record for high attendance by foreign teams in the Olympic year. Hosts for the Miami OCR are the U.S. Sailing Center; Coral Reef, Key Biscayne and Miami Yacht Clubs; and the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Opening and awards ceremonies will take place at Coral Reef Yacht Club. -- Jan Harley Results will be available online at the US Sailing website: http://www.ussailing.org A FRIENDLY COMPETITION AMONG NATIONS Today is the day America's Cup designers both look forward to and dread - when their girls drop their skirts. It's keel reveal day, when Team New Zealand, Prada and AmericaOne unveil the underbellies of their boats to the masses. It is part of the Cup protocol to expose the appendages of the surviving challenger and defender yachts four days out from the Louis Vuitton Cup final. As part of the rules, the public are invited to walk on to the syndicates' bases to look at the secret designs on display. Team New Zealand designer Mike Drummond describes the unveiling as a paradox. "We like to show everyone what we've come up with because we're proud of it," he said. "But this is a technology race. If we think we have better technology, we want to protect it. "On the flip side of that, we may not have better, so we want to find out what the others have." Fellow Kiwi designer Richard Karn reckons Team New Zealand are not too proud to replicate something they see on another boat. "If there's something startlingly obvious that looks good and is easy to adapt, we would definitely take it on board," he said. Drummond does not expect to "have a heart attack" from what he sees over the fences. "They all have a keel, trim tab and a bulb. The big difference could be in the wings," he said. There is a big plus for the crews from unveiling day - they will not have to worry about putting the skirts back on the boat every day, saving themselves half an hour's work. -- Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald. Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz A SUMMARY FROM SIR PETER BLAKE (In this excerpt from a story in UK's Electronic Telegraph, Sir Peter Blake looks at the syndicates that have been eliminated.) The tiny French team's boat had a lot of abilities but the crew was raw around the edges. Dawn Riley ran a good campaign, fair without pulling any punches. However, whatever they did to America True before the semi-final only slowed the boat down. In contrast, Young America played the game incorrectly. They have to realise that they should not be arrogant otherwise opinion will turn against them. It was revealing that not a tear was shed when Young America went home early. Yet because of True's good manners, there was no murmur of disapproval against Riley's team when they pulled out of their last race once they had secured a semi-final slot. Nippon were unlucky but as third-time challengers they go away knowing that both Alan Bond and ourselves took four attempts to win the cup. If the Japanese have a weak link it is their sailing experience. I would suggest they are going to need to compete in all sorts of top level yachting - anything that is going. John Kolius's Abracadabra team would have been better with just one boat. They were the only team not to use 3DL moulded sails. When you are up against that technology, you can't match it with anything else. By rights, Dennis Conner should not have had his Stars & Stripes still in contention at the end. But he had a great design team and experienced sailors. The Swiss had a good boat though there is a principal in the America's Cup: keep it simple. If they had had a well-executed single keel and conventional rudder on their yacht rather than double keels, they could have been in the final four. The Spanish too made a good impression and we hope they will be back. When they had their farewell party, you'd have thought they had won the America's Cup. -- Peter Blake Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ LET'S GET GRAPHIC So you want to put a design on your sail, but who can you trust to do the job properly? For starters, you want someone who has the skill and experience to do either electostatic heat transfer, fabric inlays, vinyl graphics, Insignia cloth or inking and can explain which method will work best for your application. But who do you call? Well, North Graphics is the leading supplier of custom sail and boat graphics in the US. Why don't call Whitney Gladstone and find out why they're #1: (619) 224-8667, http://www.northsails.com/graphics/ THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. |
