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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 1017 - February 28, 2002Scuttlebutt 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.
CHRIS DICKSON IS OFF THE BOAT Chief operating officer Bill Erkelens said in a statement that "afterguard member Chris Dickson would take on new duties with the team. "Chris has been one of the world's leading professional sailors for 25 years, and I want to ensure he can contribute his knowledge over a wide range of challenger activities in the months ahead," Erkelens said. Dickson was quoted in a prepared statement: "Although I would prefer to be on the water, I am happy to be assigned to whichever areas the team feels I could make the largest contribution. Oracle Racing has a fantastic team with a huge amount of talent, and I'll work wherever Larry Ellison and his advisors think I fit the best." YachtRacing.com was initially told that the change was made "after a period of difficulties [related to] personality clashes within the team" but not with Ellison or his administrator, Erkelens. -- Rich Roberts, www.yachtracing.com
ISAF SAILOR GOES LIVE MARCH 1 Once registered as an ISAF Sailor you will be able to subscribe to receive Newsletters and World Rankings, create an online Biography, access the Sailors' Forum to discuss and respond to issues effecting sailing, apply for a Classification Status for those events requiring professional/amateur classification, and much more. The service is completely complimentary and there is no charge for registering or using any of the services. Registered Sailors can search for other sailors, view their biography, including general information, results, campaign website and images. To become an ISAF Sailor you will be required to complete a very straightforward registration system, on submission of which you will be given a unique ISAF Sailor User ID, to be used together with your password to access ISAF Sailor and manage your profile. Having completed this registration stage you can then start to access the services. - www.sailing.org/isafsailor
DUBARRY PERFORMANCE FOOTWEAR
TROPHEE JULES VERNE It has taken Geronimo a little over 9 days and 7 hours to reach this symbolic point on her voyage. Olivier de Kersauson and his 10 crewmembers have therefore reached the Southern Hemisphere almost two days (43 hours) faster than the existing record time set in 1997. Although the Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Schneider Electric team trimaran has been seriously delayed by the virtual absence of wind in the last few days, she has still been faster than the successful 1997 record attempt, in which Olivier de Kersauson's multihull took over 11 days to reach the equator. "A little over 9 days to reach the equator isn't an achievement that will go down in the record books", said Olivier de Kersauson in his radio bulletin today. "Without wishing to boast, a boat like Geronimo should be able to make it into the Southern Hemisphere within 6 days. But we had a horrible time in the Doldrums. For whatever reason, there was hardly any wind, and what there was changed direction all the time, leaving us to gibe up to six times in one hour. It was completely unpredictable." -- www.grandsrecords.com Two weeks after a breakage of the masthead prematurely interrupted Orange's adventure in the Jules Verne Trophy, Bruno Peyron, his crew and the technicians from the Multiplast yard have pulled off the improbable gamble of reconstructing and assembling some 4 meters of mast in record time and are now planning a fresh start as early as this Saturday, March 2nd. The mast is in the finishing stages, the fittings have been mounted and it will be painted tonight. They took advantage of the work to ultrasonically test the whole assembly. A particularly favorable weather window is opening up for Peyron's men on Saturday morning. Gilles Chiorri, the Boat Captain and weather specialist on board, has been observing and analyzing various weather models these last few days: "If we leave Vannes Friday evening on the tide" he explained, "we will be on the line on Saturday morning. A corridor of wind should then open up for us just right for taking us down to the trade wind zones that are currently forming off the Canary Islands."-- www.maxicatamaran-orange.com
SAN DIEGO TO PUERTO VALLARTA RACE
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (dmccreary@boats.com) * From Paul Henderson, ISAF President: In 1997 I went to Salt lake City to start lobbying to get Iceboating in the Olympics. Unfortunately about six months later the "scandals" surfaced and everything was put on hold. Peter Harken explains the problem of ice but I believe this can be solved by using snowplows which are already available during the Olympics and which are just too expensive for normal regattas. That is not the problem. The problem is convincing the other seven Winter Olympic Sports that Iceboating is a worthy addition to the Games. * From Russ Grant: Noted your article onÊ icesailing as a winter olympics venue....but potential problems with soft ice at time of olympics....how about land sailing during the summer olympics....fast, different, camera set-up easier?Ê * From T. L. Lewis: Upon noticing James Spithill's and Peter Gilmour's loss of "Aussieness" in 'Butt 1013, I have to ask why Peter Holmberg didn't lose his "Virginity" with his Oracle Syndicate affiliation? * From Murray Buckman: The Shorthanded Sailing Association of New Zealand is currently hosting the Two Handed Around the North Island Race (this year renamed the Sir Peter Blake Memorial RNI Race). The event covers about 1,300 miles over four legs. This year, Chris Sayer's new Mini 6.5 boat is competing against larger craft - most around 12m (40 feet) in length. Chris Sayer was 2nd in the last Mini Transat in his previous boat. If you are interested in how these amazing little boats perform against their much larger cousins, check out the race website at www.ssanz.co.nz/index.html
ARE YOU RIGGED?
QUEEN ELIZABETH VISITS TEAM NEW ZEALAND The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, were given a guided tour and shown some of the syndicate's most closely-guarded secrets, normally kept away from the public eye. An earlier decision to ask the New Zealand Sovereign to sign a secrecy pact was abandoned, said Team New Zealand spokesman Ross Blackman. "We decided that she did not have to sign a secrecy agreement - we decided to take her word for it." The Queen was shown some carbon fiber components by design chief Tom Schnackenberg before inspecting NZL-60, the team's most recent Cup winning boat. The Queen told Team New Zealand bosses she was impressed with their America's Cup triumphs, and in return she was presented a uniquely Kiwi gift to take back to her family. "We gave her some items of clothing; some hats and T-shirts, and also some of Peter Blake's lucky red socks for all of her grandchildren," said Schnackenberg -- www.lvcup.com/default.asp?m=displayarticle&id=4399
PRADA HEADING FOR HOME Prada, who raced against Team New Zealand during the previous regatta, will start training in Italy at the beginning of May. Soon afterwards they will launch Luna Rossa ITA74, the first of their two new cup yachts, which are being built in the Prada boatyard in Grosseto, Italy. The schedule for the second Luna Rossa (which has not been assigned a sail number yet) has yet to be decided. Prada expect to return to Auckland in early September. NZ Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz/sports/
MCSA / HARKEN ALL DISTRICT SAILORS All District Sailor determination is based on regatta performance both in and out-of-district for a calendar year. Individuals representing any MCSA Member School is eligible. Nominations are collected late in the fall season, ballots are distributed to each Member School, and each Member School is allotted one vote, making the recognition an honor by the sailor's peers. This was the third year for the MCSA All District Sailor recognition program. Certificates for the individual and for the school, as well as an embroidered "2001 MCSA All-District Sailor" vest were provided by Harken, Inc. The honorees are:
MCSA All-District Co-ed Skipper:
MCSA All-District Woman Skipper:
MCSA All-District Crews: Individual competition records, bios, and photos are available on the MCSA's web site at: www.mcsasail.org by clicking on "All-District Team."
INDUSTRY NEWS Net sales for the four weeks were US$27.6 million, compared to net sales of US$24.7 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for the four weeks ended 23 February increased 10.5 percent from the same period a year ago. -- www.boating-industry.com * Dave Stanton, president of American Sail, Inc., which produces a line of small sailboats, was awarded SAIL Magazine's Industry Award for Leadership during a sailing industry reception at Atlantic Sail Expo. The award is given annually to honor those who have made a major and important contribution toward helping the sailing industry achieve success and growth. www.boating-industry.com * Canvey Island, Essex, UK-based Prout Catamarans closed its doors last Wednesday, February 13, for the second time in six months. Receivers have been appointed. Prout Catamarans was acquired by the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Quest Marine Holdings in July 2000. Quest is a subsidiary of the Toronto, Canada-based Winfair Group. -- www.boating-industry.com
THE CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS |
