|
SCUTTLEBUTT 1753 - January 13, 2005Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . Paul Foerster (Rockwall, Texas) and his crew Kevin Burnham, (Miami, Fla.), along with Jody Swanson (Buffalo, N.Y.), today were named the respective winners of the prestigious 2004 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards. A panel of sailing journalists selected the sailors for the distinction from the longest shortlist in recent years -- 13 nominees for the Rolex Yachtsman and nine nominees for the Rolex Yachtswoman. Ultimately, the deliberations of the panel recognized the stand-alone performances turned in by the respective winners. Although historically individuals are considered for the award, the numerous nominations submitted by the membership of US Sailing were overwhelmingly consistent for Foerster and Burnham as a team. Established in 1961 by US Sailing and sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. since 1980, the Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards recognize outstanding on-the-water achievement in the calendar year just concluded. The winners will be honored and presented with specially engraved Rolex timepieces at a February 25, 2005, luncheon at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year - First-time winners of the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award, Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham were recognized for their gold medal performance at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in the 27-boat 470 Men's event. Foerster, a four-time Olympian, and Burnham, a three-time Olympian, had both medalled in the event before, although not together, and were already guaranteed a silver medal when the fireworks started during pre-race maneuvers on the final day of their Olympic Regatta. Foerster and Burnham had decisively unseated Great Britain (GBR) from the top spot on the scoreboard in the penultimate race, and only two points separated the two teams heading into the showdown. Finding Great Britain in a vulnerable position two minutes before the start, Foerster and Burnham trapped them into a tacking duel that saw the two boats cross the starting line well behind the rest of the fleet, much to the amazement -- or dismay, depending on allegiance -- of the massive spectator fleet. The ensuing match race was a flawless lesson in tactics by Foerster and Burnham. They covered their rivals around the course and across the finish line where otherwise dismal finishes of 22nd (USA) and 23rd (GBR) determined who stood on the center podium. Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year - Recognized for her second time as Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (she first received the award in 1989), Jody Swanson earned accolades for her win of the 2004 Lightning North American Championship held at the Buffalo Canoe Club in Ontario, Canada. Sailing the August event with crew Skip Dieball and Tom Starck in conditions that ranged from drifting to 25+ knots, Swanson topped a fleet of 103 boats that included many notable sailors. Members of the selection panel remarked on "her impressive win in a deep fleet" while noting that no sailor dominates this class year-after-year. "The Lightning class is tough," said one panelist. "That was a big win." Swanson's achievement also gained her membership in an elite sorority of women who have won open (co-ed) one-design championships. The 39-year-old Swanson has been sailing the Lightning for over 20 years. In 1984 she was the Lightning Youth World Champion, an experience that may have influenced her in recruiting two young sailors -- Lauren Jones and Maddie Waldron -- to crew for her in the 2004 Lightning Women's North Americans. Sailing their first regatta as a team, the three won that championship just days before Swanson added the Lightning North American Championship title to her impressive resume. For additional information on the awards, including accomplishments of the nominees on the shortlist for 2004, please visit www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex LITIGATION Grant Wharington released a brief statement with relation to the capsizing of his super-maxi "Skandia", during the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: "The super-maxi yacht "Skandia", previous line honours winner of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, was forced to abandon the 2004 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race when the hydraulic system designed to control its canting keel failed. Extensive damage was caused to the yacht as a direct result of the failure. The keel subsequently detached from the yacht completely, and the yacht was towed to safe harbour. ""Today, proceedings were issued out of the Supreme Court of Victoria against the designer and manufacturer of the hydraulic system, seeking unspecified damages arising out of the failure. It is the intention of the plaintiff to seek a speedy resolution to this litigation. We would like to take this opportunity to stress that we have 110% confidence in our Chief Designer, Don Jones - in what he has done with "Skandia" and what he continues to do with our latest VO 70 project. This action should send a strong message to all that Don is in no way implicated in any of this, and he should continue to enjoy his well earned reputation as one of the most innovative and safest yacht designers of our time. As the matter is now the subject of legal process, no further comment can be made at this stage." - www.wildthingyachting.com.au/ ANALYZING SYDNEY HOBART DAMAGE (The designer of Konica Minolta, Brett Bakewell-White gave his view on what happened in a story posted on The Daily Sail subscription website. Here are a couple of excerpts.) "The damage to the boat was relatively minor. It consisted of a core shear failure across the cabin top from window to window - approx. 1.8m long - the skins remained intact. The transverse crease in the cabin top was about 150mm in front of the keel tower and behind the mast. Essentially it was caused by the keel's momentum compressing the cabin top as the boat crashed out of the back of a very large wave. This part of the cabin top had received a significant design effort when the boat was designed and was capable of exceeding ABS grounding requirements, so it is rather surprising that sailing loads have managed to exceed these quite stringent requirements. "Whilst we tried to shore up the damage by bolting through the cabin top with bunk tops above and below, we found that the continuous movement of the keel began to slowly tear the carbon skins with the inevitable result being a gaping gash across the cabin top and the possibility of water entering the cabin. Once we turned and ran with the seas the cabin top was fine. Over the next few days the cabin top was through bolted with plywood either side (as we had attempted at sea) and she was motored down the coast to Hobart. Had we had some substantial material such as plywood we could have affected the same repair and won the race." - The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS From USA Today - We're still breathlessly following Ellen MacArthur's attempt to set a solo round-the-world global sailing record (and if you're not clicking on teamellen.com at least twice a day, we feel we've failed you as a provider of Hot Sites, we really do). Our interest in sailing records thus piqued, we got interested in who else might be in the habit of undertaking such projects, and our search led us to this helpful site. Get a sense of the subculture here. - www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/front.htm KAENON POLARIZED. THE 2005 COLLECTION. In store and available to the public in February, or be the first to preview the line during Key West Race Week. Elizabeth Kratzig will be hosting an exclusive trunk show, daily, at the Diver's Direct store, on the wharf. Enjoy Kaenon's coveted SR-91 polarized lens in our innovative rimless metal, the Variant Series, in five unique shapes. New color introductions in the popular Rhino and UPD, and get a peek at the new Beacon. Available at finer locations around the world, or be the first in Key West. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE Pilar Rojo Noguera, head of sports of Galicia's regional government, the Xunta spoke at the London Boat Show yesterday of "Galicia's major effort to uphold and even improve on the prestige of the Volvo Ocean Race, an event that has traditionally started out from English ports". The local sports minister placed special emphasis on Galicia's excellent conditions as the starting line for this important competition, with her sports department wishing to transmit "the philosophy of an innovative competition, not only in terms of the boats and the route, but also through communications that will bring yachting closer to spectators the world over." This year will see Galicia converted into the logistical centre of worldwide yachting. She also mentioned how last year's winner, Illsbruck Challenge, chose the Galician port of Sanxenxo to prepare for the race. - Full story: www.volvooceanrace.com/pages/news/news107.htm VENDEE GLOBE After 66 days of racing and over 18,000 miles (33300 km), English skipper Mike Golding (Ecover) has taken the lead of the Vendée Globe. In so doing he moves ahead of Vincent Riou (PRB) and Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) who have been out in front since the start on November 7. The first arrivals in Les Sables d'Olonne are expected between 27 and 30 January. On Sunday 5 December 2004, while sailing around the southern tip of the African continent, Mike Golding was 811 miles (nearly 1500 km) from the leader! At Cape Horn, he was over 250 miles from the leader Jean Le Cam. The recent episode involving the breakage of his mainsail halyard only served to delay the inevitable takeover by 36 hours. In true battle mode since his entry into the Pacific, Mike makes no secret of his immense desire to win this fantastic race, with his boat in perfect condition just three weeks from the finish. The big question is whether Mike can become the first 'foreigner' to win the Vendée Globe. (Golding was dismasted 8 hours into the race in November 2000.) In his race against Vincent Riou, Golding has chosen a more westerly option. Meanwhile in third place Jean le Cam`s Bonduelle remains on a limb out to the southeast on the opposite side of the low pressure system. Once past this system, Ecover will be into more regular Trade Winds and the possibility of making gains tactically will be hard until the boats reach the next meteorological hurdle - re-crossing the Doldrums. The Trade Winds will also see Ecover sailing upwind, a point of sail on which she has proved herself faster than her rivals. Ecover is now more than 6000 miles ahead of Karen Leibovici's Benefic. Leaders at 1900 GMT January 12: 1. Ecover, Mike Golding, 4823 miles to finish 2. PRB, Vincent Riou, 16 miles to leader 3. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 141 mtl 4. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 747 mtl 5. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 846 mtl 6. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick 2109 mtl 7. Skandia, Nick Moloney, 2728 mtl 8. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 3263 mtl 9. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, 3643 mtl 10. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 3911 mtl Complete standings: www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/ UNWANTED SIDE AFFECTS Now at the longitude of Brazil the temperature is warming up on Ecover and an unfortunate side affect of this is that the germs on board are re-awakening. This has already taken its toll on Golding. "I have not been terribly well overnight. All the bugs are coming out now. I had a rather large chilli con carne which didn`t do me any favours at all. I am starting to pick up little odd things. I have something going on my left knee. I can`t kneel down without it feeling sore. It is not inside, it is on the skin. It could be a boil but it is very sore and it has no hardness so there is nothing to pierce." Golding said he was going to have another wash and then was going to give the inside of Ecover a wash down with an antibacterial agent. - www.mikegolding.com ANOTHER RECORD Ellen MacArthur's 75-foot trimaran B&Q sailed past Cape Horn at 7:46:44 GMT Wednesday morning to set a new solo time of 44d, 23h 36m - taking four days, two hours and 45 minutes off the previous solo record time to the Cape set by Francis Joyon. This marks the exit from the Southern Ocean after spending over 20 days in one of the world's harshest environments, as Ellen heads towards the South Atlantic and the final third stage of her solo round the world record attempt. But it was not easy or fun. Sailing in massive violent seas and storm force winds - wind has been averaging 40 to 50 knots - with gusts to 60 knots, MacArthur was in a pure survival mode, dropping the mainsail of B&Q entirely. Sailing under the tiny staysail only, she was surfing down the waves at over 30 knots on the final approach to Cape Horn. As Ellen gets away from Cape Horn, she will gybe to port to clear Staten Island later today and then continue NNE hoping to pass west of the Falkland Islands tonight. The W-SW winds will still be strong - 30-40 knots with stronger gusts and sea conditions will continue to be rough. By tomorrow the winds will be predominantly from the west and decrease in strength, hopefully providing some recovery time for Ellen. "I was doing 26kts over the ground with 5kts of current off Staten Island and the boat has been crashing around in the overfalls close to land [a tidal rip creating a cauldron effect]," Ellen reported. The breeze has eased up a bit and I've got the main back up with 3 reefs - it's good to have the boat moving again. Now have 16-18kts boat speed but doing 22-23kts over the ground with the current and the temperature is up by 3 degrees ... definitely feels like we are back in the Atlantic." MacArthur is currently nearly four days and 23 hours ahead of Joyon's solo record. - www.teamellen.com ULLMAN SAILS LAUNCHES "FIBERPATH" Comprehensive development by the Ullman Sails team now provides the release of FiberPath, arguably the smartest sails now available by any sailmaker. Stronger for its weight than alternatives, superior longevity, and priced with our customers in mind. Enjoy the best film laminate, proper primary load-bearing fibers and strategic multiple fiber patterns to address secondary loads. End Result: Sails that are fast out of the bag, and stay faster longer! If you and your crew are ready, let Ullman Sails bring FiberPath technology to your sails. Call your nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com NEWS BRIEFS * Any boat that ever sailed in any of the 42 previous Transpacific Yacht Races since 1906 is invited to participate in a "Transpac Centennial Celebration" after the largest boats start on Sunday, July 17. Details are incomplete, but tentative plans calls for the former race boats to assemble at the starting line off Point Fermin west of Los Angeles Harbor for a ceremonial "start" parade shortly before the official start at 1 p.m. They will remain in the area until after the racing fleet is gone and then do an actual start for an informal race back to port. www.transpacificyc.org/ * The Yachting Australia office will be closed for relocation from close of business on Thursday, January 13 and will reopen at 0900 in new premises on Tuesday, January 18. The new street address is 16 Atchison Street, St Leonards NSW 2065, and the new telephone number is +61 (0)2 8424 7400. The postal address, email address and website remain unchanged. - www.yachting.org.au/ 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. This is not a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Ralph Taylor (edited to our 250-word limit): Here in the Denver area, we provide the boats, instructors/coaches, & safety boat(s) for both a learn-to-sail program and a race team for 10-18ers who want to go that direction and have the basic skills. The youngsters' parents need not be members of any club and many are non-sailors. (Yes, there's a cost.) The goals for our program are for the kids to have fun, to learn a sport they can follow all their lives, and to learn some things that will stand them in good stead in other endeavors. A few have already decided to pursue racing excellence. The basic learn-to-sail boats are prams, funded by donations from our sailing community. The "race team" boats are a cobbled-together mishmash of donated Snipes, Lightnings, Lasers, and a 470. We rotate them around, so everyone sails a different combination. It doesn't matter too much what kinds of boats the race team kids sail, as long as there are enough of each to make drills & practice races fun & learning experiences. The kids love it, though they groan when we force them back into the prams. We're (maybe) ready to get new boats that might actually float upright for an entire session, without extensive repair. There are advantages to single-handers, as well as double- & triple-handers. Some need the discipline that not being able to blame someone else provides. Some like the teamwork of multiple crew. An active debate centers on performance vs. standardization vs. loyalty to a specific fleet. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo? |
