|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 854 - July 11 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
TRANSPAC Seth Radow's Bull, a Sydney 40 One-Design Turbo with the image of an angry toro on its hull, must finish by 5:20:51 a.m. local time. At Tuesday evening's roll call, Bull was only 17 minutes 4 seconds behind the magic number and gaining time by leaps and bounds at an average speed of 8.6 knots. Nineteen of the original 33 starters had finished by day's end Tuesday. The ten finishers for the day were, in order, Bengal II at 2:20 a.m. local time, Merlin's Reata at 3:45, J-Bird III at 9:36, Rocket Science at 11:26, Grand Illusion at 12:34 p.m., Medicine Man at 12:47, Taxi Dancer at 2:17 and Yassou at 4:17, Cantata at 5:45 and Firebird at 6:16. David Janes' new Transpac 52 J-Bird III from Newport Beach was the first finisher in Division 2 ahead of all the 70-rater sleds. But J-Bird III, designed by Alan Andrews, owed the sleds about seven seconds per mile and just missed correcting out on James McDowell's Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion for overall in class. G.I. was the race's overall handicap winner in '99. - Rich Roberts, www.transpacificyc.org
TRANSPAC EPILOGUE - By Philippe Kahn - Race tactics and strategy: On Pegasus 75, we were determined to match race Pyewacket for 2250 nautical Miles. Our understanding is that Pyewacket didn't really want to follow that path, but I think that we did a good job at forcing Pyewacket into the match-racing mode. We wanted to take as much of the luck factor out of the equation. Here is the logic behind our race tactics and strategies: - Learn to sail Pegasus 75 from Pyewacket: Pegasus 75 was a brand new boat and we never had a chance to test her against another boat. Not even in a local race. Transpac was our first race ever and we only had 15 days of sea trials to learn to sail Pegasus 75 without a tuning partner. Therefore being next to a comparable boat (Pyewacket) that we knew was fast helped us make sure at any time that we were sailing Pegasus 75 close to its potential. The more we sailed next to Pyewacket, the better we got at sailing our boat. After 2250 nm we really learned a lot. Pyewacket was our tuning partner. - Never let Pyewacket build leverage: We decided what whenever we "tried something different" that we'd evaluate at the next position report, at most 12 hours if needed. If it didn't seem productive, we'd fight to get right back in touch with Pyewacket. It turns out that except for the last 24 hours we always cut our losses and "nothing different worked". Pyewacket was obviously well navigated and did not leave us windows of opportunities. - Work as hard as needed to always position Pegasus 75 between Pyewacket and Honolulu: That included working hard at winning the start, and whenever behind at expanding as much energy as needed "to be one boat length ahead". With tight covering tactics it's clear that one gives up the potential of much bigger gains with the trade-off of a greater chance to win the race. We felt that we only needed to win Transpac by one boat length and that therefore a lead of more than one hour was a good stretch given our tactical and strategic approach to the race. - Philippe Kahn, www.pegasus.com/log.htm
CARBON SAILCLOTH
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Robbie Ferron, Caribbean: Various submissions have suggested that the big countries are under-represented at ISAF. A simple review of the council will make it clear that this is not true. The one country one vote is not the determining factor in ISAF representation. The real factor is the financial strength of Sailing Federations to support the costs of representation or alternatively the availability of independently wealthy and acceptable representatives to do the work. The real issue is the lack of interest by so many in promoting sailing and participation in sailing in small and third world countries. Creating conditions in which a larger global participation in sailing can take place is simply not an issue much discussed in the corridors of power at ISAF. * From Clark E. Chapin: For all the problems with the US SAILING prescription(s) about membership and advertising, the Aussies would have been well advised to follow our lead. Note to various and sundry persons complaining about US SAILING: See, the grass ain't so green on the other side of the pond either! * From Ralph Taylor: Many clubs agree with Bruce Cattanach's point and write a sailing instruction to modify Appendix A of the Rules. A typical modification is DNF = Finishers + 1, DNS/OCS/DNC = Starters + 1, RET = Finishers + 1, DSQ = Entrants + 1 (or +2.) Having done a lot of RC work, the scoring doesn't seem to be a problem. Only a few boats usually earn these special points. The modification seems to be most appreciated by those in the middle or back end of the fleet. They're racing a different regatta from those out front in the scores, but bragging rights among each other are still important. (For the top boats, mid-fleet finish and OCS have almost the same impact -- no trophy.) One might critique the modification by saying it treats a boat dropping out on the first leg the same as one that came within a minute or so of finishing or an over-early the same as one not coming to the starting area. But, no system's perfect. The exception to no scoring problem is a long series, if several boats show up for only a few races. A high point scoring system (another modification of Appendix A) resolves the problem of calculating points for "Did Not Compete." (They get zero.) DNF, DSQ, etc. are likewise modified to fit a high-point system. * From Glenn T. McCarthy: In response to Gail Turluck, there are four situations judges can award Redress, www.sailing.org/rrs2001/part5.html. A breakdown on board a boat is NOT cause for redress under ISAF rules. Under collegiate rules (where Gail volunteers copious quantities of time and effort to), the collegiate rules DO award points for breakdowns. The reason why? Most collegiate regattas are held in borrowed boats and the sailors do not have much control over the maintenance or preparation of the boats. * From Skip Allan: Though post Transpac dock scuttle focuses on the small but significant edge in boat speed that winner Pegasus enjoyed over Pyewacket, the race-winning tactical move was made last year when Philippe hired Zan Drejes away from the Pyewacket family. Philippe's mission for Zan was deceptively simple: put the new Pegasus together, shake it down, and get Pegasus and her crew to Hawaii in one piece. But with this super hi-tech boat and a cast of professional crew and support members, Zan is the only person here in Santa Cruz who could have pulled everything together. Without him, no way, no how would Pegasus have reached the Transpac start line, ready to win. Congrats to Philippe for early on recognizing his most vital asset. Zan is "the Man."
OCS Getting a good start is all about creating a long, wide runway for your boat, and using it in the final moments to rocket off the starting line right at the gun. During the final minute before the start, you should be working hard to preserve your runway. The more space you have to leeward, the more you'll be able to reach off for speed just before the gun. And, if the goal is to continue on starboard up the first part of the leg, the space to leeward becomes even more critical. To preserve your runway, you need to remember your rights in the pre-start. The leeward boat has a powerful advantage at this time because it can luff head-to-wind, provided it gives the windward boat room to keep clear while altering course (rule 16.1). As long as you keep the distance the same between you and the leeward boat throughout the luff, you should be OK. Now, if the leeward boat sailed in from behind (and within two boat lengths of your boat), it must bear away to a close-hauled course after the start gun. However, if you have sailed into the windward position from behind, the leeward boat is not required to bear away to a close-hauled course when the gun sounds. Unless you're match racing, this shouldn't be a lasting problem as the leeward boat is also trying to get a good start, and common sense indicates that its crew will bear away well before the gun. Keep in mind that if a leeward boat luffs you unfairly, and you are forced over early, your only recourse is to restart properly, and then protest the other boat. - SailNet website. Full story: www.sailnet.com
JUBILEE Robert Dickerson, a 18-year old Boca Raton High School honors student who recently obtained the rank of Quartermaster, the highest honor awarded in the Sea Scouts, is one of two teenagers selected nationally to join Koch's crew. Anne Marie Simiele, a 17-year old honor student from Magnificent High School in Cleveland, Ohio, who is a Boatswain in the Sea Scouts, is the second teenager selected.
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Gary Mull
GORI
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * July 16-21: Governor's Cup / U.S. Junior Match Racing Championship, Balboa YC, Corona del Mar, CA * August 5-9: Richmond Yacht Club, Pt. Richmond, CA. www.richmondyc.org * Aug 15-19: International 14 US Nationals. Cascade Locks, Columbia River Gorge, OR. www.i14.org * Oct 6-7: International 14 North Americans, Eastport YC, Annapolis MD. www.i14.org * Nov. 22-30: International 14 Worlds, Royal Bermuda YC, Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda. www.i14.org
CURMUDGEON'S QUESTION
MARBLEHEAD TO HALIFAX OCEAN RACE The first finisher, Bright Star, a 75-foot Reichel/Pugh monohull skippered by Richard Breeden of the New York Yacht Club, crossed the line shortly before 2 a.m.(Atlantic Daylight Saving Time) Tuesday morning -- about 36 hours after the Sunday afternoon start in Marblehead-claiming line honors in the PHRF racing fleet. Order of finish: Bright Star (PHRF), Trader (PHRF), Blue Yankee (IMS), Carrera (IMS), Donnybrook (PHRF), Trike (multihull); Grins (PHRF), Friends(multihull), Triad (multihull), Swamp Fox (multihull), Sonny (PHRF), Hot Flash (multihull), Temptress (IMS) and Excalbur (PHRF). Six boats withdrew for technical reasons. The Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race is jointly run by the Boston Yacht Club and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. - Keith Taylor, www.bostonyc.org and www.rnsys.com
SPARKMAN / STEPHENS
VOLVO YOUTH SAILING ISAF WORLD
Individual standings of US Team -
SWAN AMERICAN REGATTA
Overall positions (after three races with no discard)
1. Lolita - 1,1,2 - 4 points
U.S. JUNIOR WOMEN'S DOUBLED-HANDED CHAMPIONSHIP www.shyc.net/idascorefinal.htm
SNIPE NATIONALS
1. Stacey Szabo & Tammy Fowles (6.25) The first 2 races of the Crosby qualifying series for the Snipe US Nationals were held in breezes of 18-23 knots:
1. Bill Hardesty & Chelsea Wheeler (1.5)
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
