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SCUTTLEBUTT 2122 - June 23, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.SHOULD IT BE A CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONS? (Craig Leweck considers the current America's Cup during a busy week of sports watching.) (Thursday, June 22, 2006) It's been a busy sports week. I watched the seventh game of the National Hockey League finals, after not having watched hockey all year. Didn’t know the teams or the players, but liked the thrill of a game when it is all on the line. I watched the sixth game of the National Basketball League finals, after following the playoffs from the beginning. I came to cheer for the Dallas Mavericks, feeling passion for a team that had finally emerged, cheering for players that I came to know, and mourning their final defeat. But today I watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup Soccer game between the US and Ghana, and wondered about the on-going America’s Cup debate, where it is questioned whether the America’s Cup would be better if it returned to the day when it was a contest between nations. Could these events be compared, and any conclusions drawn? The World Cup is absolutely a contest between nations, and that is its main strength. When my kids talked about Portugal versus Mexico, they were truly talking about people from those nations competing against each other. Like the America’s Cup, the World Cup is global, but at the World Cup there are smaller, less privileged countries that are competing evenly on the soccer field with the economically strong nations. Both the World Cup and the America’s Cup have the rarity and intrigue that comes from an event that only occurs every four years, though there are arguably many more people who have kicked a soccer ball than sailed a boat, and therefore more that might relate to the former than the later. So would the America’s Cup benefit if it returned to the day when it was a contest between nations? Yes and no. -- To read the rest of Craig’s commentary: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/0622/ FAMILY'S LIFE WORK DESTROYED As Bill Abbott Jr. stands outside the smoldering ruins of his world-renowned boat building company, he has trouble composing himself. It’s been two days since fire destroyed his life’s work and he’s still fighting back tears as he speaks. “It’s really difficult,” he says. “It’s devastating for the family. I was involved with it my whole life. Both facets of my life my boat building and my sailing part, all went here.” He can’t see how Abbott Boats Inc., which has been in business for more than half a century, can rise from the ashes. The question of rebuilding the company to what it was ... I’d say no.’ This is a total loss. Everything that made us what we were is gone.” Fire ripped through the firm’s two buildings at 1458 London Rd. Saturday night, destroying or gutting both structures. Masts, boats and the molds needed to make new ones also went up in flames. A third fire broke out early this morning when a hot spot flared up. It was put out quickly, said Tom Marshall, of the Sarnia fire department. Abbott, who would not comment on whether the business was insured, said it was too soon to place a dollar figure on the loss. But Greg Olson of the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office estimated it at over $1 million. Abbott said he didn’t know how many boats had been lost. “I had probably 10 new units just waiting to go out the door. We were waiting for the delivery trucks.” One loss was particularly hard to take. “My next world champion boat was there,” he said. “It just wasn’t quite done yet.” Abbott Boats has been a fixture in Sarnia since Bill “Chief” Abbott Sr. started the company after leaving the navy at the end of the Second World War. When Abbott Sr. retired, his sons, Bill Jr. and Matt, took over. Over the years, the company turned out vessels that were sold around the globe. In fact, when family members raced for Canada at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Summer Games, they found themselves competing against a number of boats they had built. “Starting in 1972, we had medal winners in almost every Olympics,” Bill Jr. said. -- Dan McCaffery, The Observer, full story: http://tinyurl.com/pm98h WHAT NOW? (Following are some excerpts from a story by Dave Reed on the Sailing World website about the fire at Abbott Boats.) "My molding shop was fire No. 1," said Bill Abbott when reached by phone on Thursday. "All my molds are gone—Solings, Ynglings, Martin 16s, Ultimate 20s, and Wayfarers. My 420 molds, too. We got hit hard. "This is very hard. Everyone says we have to keep going, but we're a tight family business, and a lot has to be considered now. The Ultimate 20 group has told me that they don't want to loose their builder, and they'll do anything they can to have me building again as fast as possible. That show of support really helps shape the future for us, but we have to assess everything, not just for ourselves. Our customers know they weren't just buying boats from us, they were part of the family business." -- Full story: http://tinyurl.com/mdxht WHERE IS BRUNEL? According to a report on the Belgian website Club Racer, on arrival at Gothenburg the Volvo Open 70 Premier Challenge , despite a contract with Brunel, did a runner within a half hour. Brunel did not know that Matt Allen, the actual owner of the V70, had come secretly to Sweden, along with a crew, in order to take the yacht away immediately after the finish. Only the Aussies on board, together with Bindy Lockhart and Grant Wharington, knew this and after the incident they played the innocent]. This was the only time that Grant was not waiting for the boat at the arrival of a leg. The ex-Brunel was spotted, after its hasty departure from Gothenburg, by the KRNM [dutch rescue service] close to Texel and, according to a rescue man, was only identifiable by the numbers on the sail. Afterwards, the yacht was seen in another European port, taking on provisions with no Brunel lettering anymore, and was bound for Australia. Brunel was enraged and has now leased the open 60 of Hans Bouscholte, in order to perform the PR sailing part of the job. Charters will still run until end of July, Brunel is claiming breach of contract as they had already paid for all of this. This looks like an act of revenge because Brunel did not want Grant Wharrington to do the offshore legs. -- Translation Jan Maes, full story: http://www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/31162/48/ PROUD TO RIG RACES – NEWPORT TO BERMUDA Winning line honors in the Newport to Bermuda Race, Hap Fauth and his Belle Mente team must be congratulated on their sensational win. The carefully executed plan to win started when Composite Rigging and Rig Pro was brought on board for running rigging and out fitting services. Belle Mente was refitted with EC6 continuous carbon rigging and serviced by Rig Pro. One common theme: the entire rig package from spars to standing rigging to running rigging and pre-regatta service is part of the Southern Spars program. Find out more on the company that is rigging races for victory: http://www.southernspars.com NO SURPRISES ON DAY ONE The final competition of the 2006 America's Cup season began with two flights of racing in Valencia. Louis Vuitton Act 12 is a match racing regatta, complete with round robin, semi finals and final. In this sense, it mimics the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series, which will identify the ultimate challenger to face Alinghi in the 32nd America's Cup Match. The Spanish team who are alone among the 12 competitors in racing a new boat, ESP 88. Desafío Español earned two wins from two starts, but was behind in the second race until the Umpires assessed three penalties to Areva Challenge for a flagrant foul. The jury is still out on the speed potential of the new boat. Making his 2006 racing debut for Luna Rossa Challenge was Torben Grael, aboard as tactician. (Charlie McKee was not on the boat.) The 'Brazilian magician' lived up to his moniker early as Luna Rossa was able to throw two penalties onto Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia during the first pre-start; Grael showing no signs of fatigue after completing a round-the-world race just this past weekend. Conditions were perfect for racing on Thursday with sunny skies generating a good sea breeze. By race time there was a 10 knot. FLIGHT ONE Emirates Team New Zealand beat China Team -- 02.53 Victory Challenge beat +39 Challenge -- 02.39 Luna Rossa beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team -- 01.55 Alinghi beat Areva Challenge -- 02.01 BMW Oracle Racing beat United Internet Team Germany -- 01.58 Desafío Español 2007 beat Team Shosholoza -- 00.19 FLIGHT TWO Emirates Team New Zealand beat +39 Challenge -- 02.08 Luna Rossa beat China Team -- 03.38 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat Victory Challenge -- 00.50 Alinghi beat United Internet Team Germany -- 02.01 BMW Ocacle Racing beat Team Shosholoza -- 00.53 Desafío Español 2007 beat Areva Challenge -- 01.30 STANDINGS 1. Alinghi (SUI75) 2-0 1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA87) 2-0 1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL84) 2-0 1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA86) 2-0 1. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP88) 2-0 6. Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team (ITA77) 1-1 7. Victory Challenge (SWE63) 1-1 8. +39 Challenge (ITA59) 0-2 8. Team Shosholoza (RSA83) 0-2 8. Areva Challenge (FRA60) 0-2 8. United Internet Team Germany (GER72) 0-2 8. China Team (CHN79) 0-2 MUST SEE While it’s tempting to think all ACC's now look alike, forced into one corner of a more restrictive class rule, but clearly the twelve design teams have different perceptions of what's fast in v5.0. The CupInfo website has published profiles photos of each of the competitors so you can actually see the variation. Obvious differences include bow shape, stem entry angle, sheer and transom. Take a look for yourself: http://cupinfo.com/en/06hullcomposite-1.php OLD BOATS RULE Hamilton, Bermuda – In what has proved to be a true navigator’s race, traditional, older yachts dominated the amateur St Davids Lighthouse Division in this year's centennial Newport Bermuda Race. Peter Rebovich’s 40-foot Sinn Fein won the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy under ORR (the Offshore Rating Rule) and William Hubbard III’s 37-foot Lively Lady II took the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy under the IRC Rule. Both yachts are over 25 years old. For the first time in the history of the race, an all women’s team earned a division title aboard Lea de Haas’ 49-foot Synergy in their first Newport Bermuda race. The team earns the inaugural Carleton Mitchell Finisterre Trophy as the yacht with the best-corrected time in the Cruiser Division. The Frers-39 Synergy, which is a former Admirals Cup competitor not equipped with state-of-the art technology, meant navigator Val Doan had limited information available when she plotted the course. As reported earlier, Temptress owned by Richard Shulman of Barrington, RI won the ORR section of the 22-boat professional Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division. Four Stars owned by Timothy McAdams of Brewster MA took the IRC section. -- Laurie Fullerton, http://www.bermudarace.com UPPING THE STAKES Competition will be at its highest level ever in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Rolex Commodores' Cup when racing gets underway next Monday with the first two inshore races. The principal reason for this, many believe, is due to a strong assault from the Irish. Last time this biennial team event was held, Ireland led up until the final offshore race. Over the course of this double points scoring race, the Irish saw victory slip through their fingers again, the regatta eventually being won by the GBR Red Team. This time the Irish have returned with three teams, half of the boats they have entered are brand new and are crewed by talented personnel such as Britain's Rob Greenhalgh. Freshly returned from winning the Volvo Ocean Race aboard ABN AMRO One, the former International 14 and 18ft skiff world champion is sailing on Colm Barrington's brand new 50-footer Flying Glove. The Irish onslaught has affected the campaigns from other nations, most noticeably France and Great Britain, both also fielding multiple triple boat teams. "With the work the Irish have been doing, everyone has had to raise their game" believes the RYA's Dave Atkinson, who was part of the panel selecting the British teams. "They probably started directly after the last event to plan what they were going to do, which has forced everyone to go down the same line." -- Further information about the Rolex Commodores' Cup may be found at: http://www.rorc.org/comcup/index.php WIRELESS DISPLAY Originally conceived from talks with Ellen MacArthur following her request to be able to access instrument information and control her autopilot wherever she was on the boat, B&G Instruments developed the RemoteVision. This lightweight, palm-sized unit, now available worldwide, links to the instrument and pilot control network through a small base station and secure wireless connection, suitable for use on both small and large vessels. Each unit is paired to a base station on the boat through a unique pin number, ensuring total security and control within the boats own system. More information at http://www.bandg.com/pdfs/rmvbrochure.pdf RECYCLING It’s the largest keelboat regatta on the West Coast. More than 2,000 sailors on as many as 165 boats in 17 classes from 43 yacht clubs from San Francisco to San Diego will compete at Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week Friday through Sunday from the combined resources of the Long Beach and Alamitos Bay Yacht Clubs. In placing his support behind the event, Dave Ullman gave back some of the countless trophies he has won as a world-class competitor over half a century as perpetual prizes in the 50+, Fast 40 and Sportboat classes. "I've been a proponent of recycling trophies for a long time," Ullman said. "If you have something special it should be recycled, not sitting in a trophy case somewhere." The top 50+ competitor's name will be engraved on the award Ullman received, with Tom Linskey as crew, for winning the 470 Worlds at Brazil in 1980---the nearest he ever came to racing in the Olympics. "It was a little more important because it was the boycott year," Ullman said, recalling President Jimmy Carter's decision to keep American athletes home from the Moscow Games in protest of the Soviet Union's action in Afghanistan. The Fast 40 winner will be immortalized on the cup Ullman won for the first of his three 470 world titles in Japan in 1977. The Sportboat winner will be noted on one of nine Lido 14 National prizes Ullman won---the 1982 title in his hometown of Newport Beach. -- Rich Roberts, Complete schedule of events and more at http://www.lbrw.org SAILING SHORTS * Interested followers of the 2006 Mac Solo Challenges will be able to follow their favorite skipper through the Tracker viewing page at either http://www.solosailor.org/tracker.php or on the homepage of the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society: http://www.solosailor.org/. The first positions of the fleets will be available for viewing on the Tracker shortly after the first scheduled call-in position reports at 2 PM on June 24. Positions of the fleets will be updated 4 times daily beginning with the above inaugural position, and will follow at 6 hour intervals (2000-0200-0800-1400) until all of the boats have finished. * Outdoor Life Network will be airing seventeen showings of coverage from the Volvo Ocean Race between June 25 and July 9. Look for show listings on the Scuttlebutt website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/shows/ * US Sailing Team-member Geoff Ewenson (Annapolis, MD) is on a roll right now after winning two major Finn regattas this month. Ewenson's impressive wins came at the Finn North American Championship (held in Toronto, Canada) and this past weekend at the Finn National Championship (held in Falmouth, MA). The National Championship was a hard-fought affair as Ewenson finished only one point ahead of Darrell Peck (Gresham, OR) while Bryan Boyd (Annapolis, MD) finished third. * The Royal Ocean Racing Club has appointed a new Chief Executive. Colin Gruar, currently Head of Marketing at the British Heart Foundation, will take up the position on September 11. The General Manager of RORC, Peter Wykeham-Martin, will stand down at that time and will not be replaced. Colin Gruar trained as an engineer and obtained an MBA in 1987. He spent nine years at National Westminster Bank, four of which as Head of Retail Banking. He has held his current position since 2002. Colin is a keen amateur yachtsman with offshore and transoceanic racing experience. * After seven races at the Sunfish North American Championship, it’s a virtual dead heat at the top of the standings between two members of the host Rush Creek YC. After scoring one discard, Greg Gust holds a slim one point lead over Paul Foerster in the 62-boat event. -- http://www.rcyc.org/results/ * There was a big Red Bull logo splashed on the bow of the Victory Challenge as SWE63 left the dock Thursday in the America’s Cup harbor at the start of Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12. It signified the energy drink’s new partnership with the Victory Challenge in the 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia. * Nineteen boats competed in the US 2.4 Meter National Championships last week at Noroton Yacht Club. Eight top North American disabled sailors including open 2.4 world champion Nick Scandone (USA) and Bruce Millar (CAN) raced for four days against a strong able bodied group including Bruce Kirby, Allan Leibel, and America's Cup Hall of Fame Inductee Steve Van Dyck. Allan Leibel won over Bruce Millar on a tie breaker, with Peter Wilson third. The top six boats included three disabled and three able-bodied sailors, showing that the 2.4 meter levels the playing field for physical abilities. -- http://us24meter.org/nationals.html * Making a statement -- Team Shosholoza will be flying a vast 350m2 spinnaker emblazoned with the World Aids Day red ribbon logo when they do battle against the world's top sailing teams in the next America's Cup event starting in Valencia, Spain, today. "We want to use this influential platform of the America's Cup to tell the world about the challenges facing all of us who live and work in Africa where so many are stricken with HIV/Aids-related illnesses and Aids itself," said team managing director Captain Salvatore Sarno. -- http://tinyurl.com/o6cmh 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 thought at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From David Redfern. Kent, England: Kit Hobday got me into sailing. He trusted me as a then non-sailor to handle PR for an Admirals Cup and the America's Cup with the Victory Challenge in 1983. It was Kit Hobday, from his club the Royal Burnham, that got Peter de Savary interested and in the first campaign, being beaten only by Australia II in the fonal of the Challengers Series. He was an immensely successful Financial PR Man, and a natural publicist. Once when there were floods over the road, he got a national press picture for Jack Holt by sailing a dinghy round a roundabout on the highway. (circle). I know that Suzy will miss him dearly. You could never allow yourself to think that Kit was slowing down as he got older. He always had a surprise or two, and they were often courageous, big ideas, that he had the capacity to carry through. Bless you Kit, I miss you. CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION “Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves." -- Larry King Special thanks to Southern Spars and B&G Instruments. |
