|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 552 - April 19, 2000COMMENTARY - By Bob FisherSailors and sailing have been pushing the limits of technology for years, and we should be thankful for that or we would be otherwise still using wooden boats with wooden spars, natural fibre sails and cordage, as well as rusty steel rigging. That's the way it was 50 years ago and the renewal rate was considerably higher than it is now. Every so often however, someone would demand rather more of the available materials or completely fail to understand the engineering required and everything would fall apart, sometimes quite spectacularly. Of recent date we have seen two major projects come, temporarily at least, unglued at the seams - Pete Goss's 120 foot catamaran, Team Phillips, and the North 3DL sailmaking process - for very different reasons, although underlying them both was a striving for excellence which is driven by competition. Goss wanted to be the fastest competitor in The Race and North Sails wanted to provide the best possible racing sails; both admirable objectives, but both had something standing in the way. Far be it from me to comment on the rights and wrongs of patent law - it is a subject best left to specialists - except to say that there appears to have been an absence of specialist knowledge displayed in the Connecticut District Court itself. That little problem is now set to run on longer - the outcome moving further up the legal scale for determination, where, one is given to understand, there could be a redressed balance on the specialist knowledge aspect of the case. Goss's problem is far more of a practical and pragmatic nature. 'There was a bang, and then another one,' he said, and like so many failures in the past, the noise preceded more obvious signs of damage. The enormity of that failure may have taken some time to be made manifest, but it wasn't long before the $7.5 million dream-boat was a one-and-a-half hulled public spectacle, all the worse because of the high-profile naming ceremony by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II only fifteen days earlier. The national newspapers in Britain had a field day (the one for which I write included) with the story, although none of them went as far as to gloat, but experts were found who said (without the necessary specialist knowledge) the equivalent of 'I told you so.' The designers and engineers involved were soon seen with their heads in their hands, but not because the problem is hopeless, but simply in an effort to find the root cause of the trouble and then to find a way of preventing it from happening again. Team Phillips is a brilliant concept and its technological envelope is broader than anything which preceded it. Adrian Thompson has the experience of wave piercing power driven multihulls and extended his thinking for this boat for a format which he and Goss were agreed would suit the sea conditions of the Southern Ocean. Thompson admitted that he expected, at times, the bows to be fully immersed for at least 30 feet back from their stems. Which is why, among other reasons, there is no forward crossbeam. It is not simply for that reason, but there is no need for a point to which the tack of the jib may be attached, since the only jibs to be set are light weather ones from the centreline of each hull to its respective mast. In the past, offshore racing catamarans have all had a forward crossbeam - a fact about which Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, no less, commented - but whether this would have helped Team Phillips remains doubtful. -- Bob Fisher, Sailing Source website Full story: http://www.sailingsource.com/fisher/default.html SAMUEL V. MERRICK The Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) of US SAILING, is mourning the loss, on April 17th, of Samuel V. Merrick (Bay Head, N.J.). The 86-year young Merrick was a life-long racing sailor, well-known for his love of the Soling, an Olympic-class boat which he sailed competitively into his 80s. In 1977, Merrick, nearing the end of a 40-year career in civil service, was asked to consider active involvement in the OSC. Told that his participation would involve a time commitment of perhaps one afternoon a week, Merrick soon found it necessary to retire and devote himself full-time as OSC Director. In 1980, after the boycotted Olympic Games, Merrick added the OSC Chairmanship to his job as OSC Director. In the aftermath of the boycott, U.S. Olympic sailing was in disarray. Sailors were disillusioned and disap-pointed, and many had either left, or were considering leaving, Olympic competition. It was Merrick, along with several other prominent sailors, who toured the nation giving clinics and speeches to promote Olympic sailing. At the same time, the OSC established its organizational structure, developed a coaching program and began a grants program for competition abroad. In essence, Merrick's direction guided the committee to become what had been intended from the start. The budget increased to more than $200,000 in 1980 and exceeded $750,000 by 1984, all under Merrick's firm ad-ministration. In 1984, for the first time in U.S. Olympic sailing, a required post-Trials/pre-Games training camp was run in Long Beach, California, venue of both the Trials and the Games. Tuning partners for each competitor; daily team meetings; on-the-water coaching with photographic analysis; and other training techniques were instituted. Through the four-week camp, a group of top-notch individuals became a cohesive team, all learning, training and sharing their expertise. The efforts paid off with a U.S. sweep of the Yachting event -- seven medals in seven events (three gold and four silver) -- the best record of any U.S. team competing at the '84 Games. In recognition of his efforts, Merrick was honored in October of 1984 with the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, US SAILING's most prestigious award. It is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing in this country. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Eleanor Merrick; sons Rod (Oregon), Greg (Wisconsin), Tad (Vermont); and 5 grandchildren. The funeral will be from St. Peters in Pt. Pleasant Beach, N.J., followed by a celebration of his life at the Bay Head Yacht Club, tentatively planned for Tuesday, April 25. To confirm these arrangements, please call Pabel-Evertz Funeral Home at 732-899-3300. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the U.S. Soling Association, 1615 N Cleveland, Chicago, Ill. 60614. -- Jan Harley IT'S FREE The official poster for Transpac 2001 is now available. It is free, but limited to one per individual, and there is a limited supply. The 27 x 39-inch display features the maxi-sled Pyewacket's record run of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds for the 2,225-nautical mile passage from San Pedro to Honolulu. An aerial view shows Pyewacket slashing through the Molokai Channel, under finishing photos of class winners Grand Illusion, the overall winner on corrected time; Gone With the Wind, Hurricane, Great Scot and Two Guys On the Edge. A single poster may be ordered via e-mail to Transpacific Yacht Club Commodore Sandy Martin at wppi@earthlink.net or to entries chairman Jerry Montgomery at mmmont@aol.com. There is no charge. The Transpacific YC board of directors has established the starting dates for the two fastest-rated classes in the 41st race in 2001: June 30 for Division 2 and July 1 for Division 1. Those two classes started together in 1999. Starting dates for smaller boats, multihulls and the Cruising class will be determined as entries develop. The best news is that within a few days of the latest starts the fleet will be sailing under a full moon -- an uncommon occurrence in recent Transpacs. Race veteran Robbie Haines said, "When it's blowing hard and there are squalls and you can't see anything, it's scary. It makes the race more enjoyable to have a full moon." Any skipper or crew who completes the 2001 race will be granted a free provisional membership in the Transpacific Yacht Club through the end of the year. The board of directors has eliminated the requirements for two letters of recommendation and membership in another yacht club. The new members may attain full-fledged status later if they decide to pay regular dues. -- Rich Roberts Event website: http://www.transpacificyc.org/ 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 Edward Fryer (re Guineas / pounds) -- On the Royal Yacht Squadron website (who should know, if anybody does), it is referred to as a 100 Sovereign cup. - http://www.rys.org.uk/history.html -- From Jesse Falsone (Regarding James Stark's comments in 'Butt 551) -- While I agree that the AC provides a significant testing ground for new technologies and ideas, I would disagree with Mr. Stark's assertion that the AC is " *the* grounds for new technologies". If this were really true, the AC wouldn't be sailed in 50,000 lb monohulls with a top speed of under 20 knots. The AC provides the best technology for optimizing an inherently slow platform - the displacement monohull. Curmudgeon's comment: Enough already! We killed this thread a long time ago. -- From Doug Holthaus -- While professional sailors enjoyed the great outdoors, the North and Sobstad lawyers were spending days, nights and weekends in their offices. Who really has the more "lucrative" job? -- From Scott Ridgeway -- The North Marine Group's acquisition of Southern Spars has shown they have learned an important lesson from other Hi-Tech businesses when the mantra seems to be, 'If you can't beat them - buy them.' GROWING THE SPORT There's a new program in Seattle designed to support sailing at the grassroots. North Sails Seattle will make a fully equipped Optimist dinghy available to a qualified junior sailor. "In addition to providing a fun sailing experience for young Northwest sailors, our goal is to compliment the opportunities currently available through area junior sailing programs," said Jack Christiansen owner of North Sails Seattle. The North Sails Optimist is ready to race complete with rig, blades and sail. The junior sailor selected for the award will be given use of the boat from April through November for lessons, practice and regattas. To be eligible, sailors must be from the Seattle area, and must be between the ages of 7 and 15. To apply, eligible sailors must submit an original letter to North Sails Seattle that explains his or her: 1. need for the boat; 2. anticipated sailing program, including regatta schedule; and 3. future sailing goals. The boat will be awarded to a junior sailor chosen by a panel of sailors active in the Northwest sailing community. Applications will be accepted through June 1st. Additional information: Jack Christiansen at jackc@sales.northsails.com or 206-632-5753. INTERNATIONAL ROLEX CUP REGATTA ST. THOMAS, USVI - The 27th annual International Rolex Cup Regatta is shaping up as another fantastic event. Scheduled for April 21-23 at host St Thomas Yacht Club's beachfront facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the regatta has become an Easter weekend racing tradition for sailors from the Caribbean, U.S. mainland, Canada and Europe. It also caps off the hotly contested Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (CORT) 2000 series, which began in Puerto Rico (Heineken Cup Regatta) in March and moved to the British Virgin Islands (BVI Spring Regatta) in early April. For more information: http://www.rolexregatta.vi VOLVO OCEAN RACE Mark Rudiger and TeamRudiger are now officially sailing for the San Francisco Yacht Club and are being supported by the Belvedere Cove Foundation in our effort to win the Volvo Ocean Race Around the World 2001/2002. The Cove Foundation is a 501 C3 non-profit organization benefiting youth in sailing. http://www.teamrudiger.com CALENDAR - Midwest Laser Grand Prix 2000 Schedule * June 2-4, US LASER NATIONALS, Wayzata YC, Lake Minnetonka, Minneapolis, MN, Andy Heckl, 612-897-9363, churchbus@isd.net, www.laser.org, WORLDS QUALIFIER; * June 24, District 19 Grand Prix (MI), Loch Lancing Sailing Club, Mike Moody, 517-655-3435, djzeilstra@msn.com; * August 26-28, District 21 Grand Prix (MN, IA, ND, SD), Clear Lake, Iowa, Adam Gildner, 612-835-3995, agildner@valspar.com; * Sept. 16-17, District 18 Grand Prix Regatta (IN, OH, KY), Lake Wawasee, Syracuse, IN, Art Haan, 317-266-4965, sailit@home.com; * Sept. 23-24, District 20 Grand Prix (WI-IL), La Crosse Sailing Club, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042, kastel@mwt.net; * Oct. 7-8, Great Lakes Grand Prix, Jimmy Talbot Memorial Regatta, Chicago Yacht Club (Belmont Station), Gary Winter, 708-366-4019, rgarrett@worldnet.com; For more information: http://www.laser.org. MASTERS REGATTA Don Trask, the perennial chair of St. Francis YC's Masters Invitational Regatta reports that virtually all of the 20 available spots have been filled for this October classic. The regatta is sailed in J/105s and this year Paul Elvstrom and crew Hans Fogh are joining forces and putting together a team. Also, Malin Burnham and Vince Brun are also organizing a crew from Southern California. Following are the skippers who have accepted invitations to date (listed alphabetically): Chris Bouzaid (NZ), Bill Buchan, Malin Burnham, Dick Deaver, Roy Dickson (NZ), Hank Easom, Paul Elvstrom (Denmark), Larry Harvey, John Jennings, Bob Johnstone, Tom Leweck, Kim McDell (NZ), Bruce Munro, Lowell North, Pelle Petterson (Sweden), John Scarborough, Don Trask and Butch Ulmer Event website: http://www.stfyc.com/ PRETTY AMAZING If you check out the website for Pacific Sail Expo, which begins next Wednesday, there are over 100 separate seminars scheduled. US Sailing is sponsoring two lectures which should of interest to Pacific Cup Entrants and offshore racers and cruisers: Saturday, April 29, 2000 - 10:30 am: Stan Honey will speak on weather - 4:30 pm: Kame Richards will lecture on downwind driving Seminar schedule: http://www.sailnet.com/sailamer/sailexpo/dynapp/showsched.cfm?SID=2 TRIVIA Hijack -- The harlot's call to the sailor "Hi, Jack!" acquired its more sinister meaning when, after the first embrace, she hit him with a lead filled handbag and he was dragged off to be sold to a ship in need of crew. THE CURMUDGEON'S OXYMORONS Airline Food |
