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SCUTTLEBUTT 1979 -- December 2, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.COMMANDING PERFORMANCE -- Tim Jeffery Skipper Mike Sanderson and his nine crew mates on ABN Amro One put in a commanding performance as they arrived victorious in Cape Town to win the Volvo Ocean Race's 6,400-mile first leg from Vigo, Spain. But Sanderson's boat - first overall on points, after setting a new 24-hour world record - had numerous problems. It wiped out one steering pedestal and later had an electrical fire. However, it finished a leg of brutally fast sailing ready to leave the dock and do it all over again. Contrast this with other boats, Pirates of the Caribbean and movistar, which had to retire, and Ericsson, which limped home in fourth place with keel system failure. When ABN Amro One crossed the finish line at 13.29 GMT, its nearest rival was its potent team-mate ABN Amro Two, skippered by Seb Josse, with Torben Grael's Brasil 1 another 100 miles further back. Throwing everything at the race means travelling at speeds in excess of 30 knots and winding out a record-breaking 546 miles five days ago. "They are ridiculously wet," said Briton Rob Greenhalgh, a Volvo Race first-timer but already a senior helmsman on ABN. "You spend a lot of time underwater. On the big mileage days, everyone's back aft. It's the only place to be if you're on deck." His red-raw face was testament to the truth of this. Greenhalgh looked more like a mountaineer returning from high altitude than a sailor just in from tradewinds. The three strands of ABN Amro One's victory - its powerful Juan Kouymoudjian-designed hull, the fruits of a two-boat development programme, and great sail inventory - are advantages that are not likely to evaporate rapidly once its principal rivals are repaired and ready. It is 20 years and five races since a boat designed by anyone other than Bruce Farr has won this event outright, or even an individual leg. So hats off to Argentinian Kouyoumdjian. Wide and dumpy his creation might be, but it is mighty effective. "It's a good job Juan's not here, otherwise we'd be throwing him in," said New Zealander Sanderson of a missed celebration for the designer. -- Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph, UK, complete story: http://tinyurl.com/8onzc Standings -- Thursday 2200 GMT 1. ABN Amro One, Finished 2. ABN Amro Two, Finished (+ 6 ½ hours) 3. Brasil 1, 28 miles to finish 4. Ericsson Racing Team, 298 miles to finish 5. Sunergy and Friends, 1922 miles to finish 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired 6. Movistar, Retired Event website: www.volvooceanrace.com Link for VOR images: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/vorl1fin/ QUOTE / UNQUOTE * "We love this boat and have always loved this boat, it is our baby. It had looked after us so well but I am not sure if we looked after it as well. We were told by our boat designer Juan Kouyoumdjian that we would average 16 knots of boat speed on this leg and we all laughed. In fact we have averaged 15.95 knots and put in nearly 400 miles almost every day of this leg, which is just incredible." - Mike Sanderson, skipper ABN Amro One * "We obviously have a rocket ship in certain conditions and we are very happy with that." -- Simon Fisher, navigator, ABN Amro two SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? (John Bertrand (AUS), the man who took the America's Cup from the Americans, looks over the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race and draws some conclusions. Here are some excerpts from a story posted on the ISAF website.) The design of ABN Amro One and Two is quite different to the three Farr boats. Their significantly more powerful hull lines with wide beams flowing through to wide transoms means they are very fast power reaching. The downside would be in light wind conditions, which we saw to some extent in the first In-Port race. The Southern Ocean beckons barely one month from now and the experiences both movistar (ESP) and Pirates of the Caribbean (USA) encountered during the storm of the first night at sea cannot but have struck a nervous chord throughout the remainder of the fleet. So, expect a rush for the travel hoist and the sound of angle-grinders around the docks close to the famous V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa as every boat is stripped, in some cases rebuilt, checked and tested. It is worth noting that previous Volvo 60 footers were effectively rebuilt in the Cape Town stopover when so much was learnt in that first leg. Several issues are clearly emerging from these incidents all of which present more questions than solutions. Firstly, the bottom line with the Volvo Open 70's is that they simply cannot be built strong enough: they will break. The challenge for the crews is how hard can they push these projectiles? The reality is that every kilo of weight saved in the hull and rig has been added to the canting keel bulb, leading to enormous power to weight ratios; power ratios never seen in ocean racing yachts before. In hindsight, a minimum hull weight in the VO70 rule may have been prudent. So that leads to the second significant development and in the months and weeks leading up to the start of the race many crews were openly predicting this. The issue now is when crews should back off on pushing their boat to their limit. Weighing up this balancing act has parallels to Formula 1 motor sport where drivers are having to hold back from using full power for fear of breaking their cars or engines completely. -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6fFh0~/l HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN "NAUTI" OR NICE? There is Mount Gay® Rum apparel for either! Holiday shopping has started and sailors have Mount Gay Rum apparel and gear for the boat and beyond on their lists!! Lands' End Business Outfitters, with its penchant for quality, is the official Mount Gay Rum gear supplier and can get you the gift that every sailor wants to receive. Get all your shopping done for that sailor when you call 800-490-6402 to place an order or before ordering, view the Mount Gay Rum gear catalog online at http://www.mountgayrum.com (go to Mount Gay in the US section and click on Partnerships). PERSPECTIVE The yellow fever epidemic that killed 3 percent of New Orleans' population in 1858 cut the field a bit for the Southern Yacht Club's annual regatta that year, but a few hardy sailors held the race anyway. With that kind of history, it's not surprising that current members are eager to go on despite the spectacular fire that destroyed the 156-year-old club's headquarters during Hurricane Katrina. Indeed although many of the club's 1,700 members lost homes and businesses in the Aug. 29 storm, more than 400 people nonetheless turned out for its final regatta of the season, held Oct. 23. Because landside access to the club was blocked by a pile of wrecked pleasure boats that Katrina had swept out of New Orleans' Municipal Yacht Harbor, members rode over on a couple of borrowed party barges. Festivities were held on the lawn in front of the ruined clubhouse. "The spirit of the membership is very good. We're determined to come back and rebuild the club better than before," said Ewell "Corky" Potts III, the club's commodore. Why such a big turnout at a time that New Orleans area was still reeling from the storm? It may have been that people needed an escape from the grind of post-Katrina life, rear commodore James Wade said. "All this stuff goes away when you're out on the water," he said. "We come from different walks of life, but sailing brings us together." Almost three months after Katrina, the roadway to the club's parking lot was still littered Tuesday with beached sailboats strewn like broken toys around West End Park. But it was a good day for Riess Livaudais, a third-generation member who had found his 14-foot Laser-class sailboat under a pile of debris. It is virtually undamaged. As he washed the small boat with a hose, other Southern Yacht Club members called out greetings to him. "It isn't the bricks and mortar that matter," Livaudais said. "It's the people that make this club." -- Matt Scallan, Times-Picayune, http://www.timespicayune.com/ YOUTH SAILING TEAM US Sailing has named the members of the 2005 US Youth Sailing Team. The members of this honorary team are considered the strongest young sailors in the U.S. They each won a US Sailing National Championship this year or are members of the 2005 US Youth World Team, which represented the U.S. at the 2005 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship held last July in Korea. The following sailors have been named to the 2005 US Youth Sailing Team: U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship (Sears Cup): Ted Hale (Annapolis, Md.); Evan Aras (Annapolis, Md.); Joe Morris (Annapolis, Md.); U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship (Bemis Trophy): Cole Hatton (Newport Harbor, Calif.); Blair Belling (Newport Beach, Calif.); U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship (Smythe Trophy): Cameron Cullman (Rye, N.Y.); U.S. Youth Championship - Singlehanded: Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) ; U.S. Youth Championship - Singlehanded: Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, Pa.); U.S. Youth Championship - Doublehanded: Emily Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.); Leigh Hammel (Warren Vt.); U.S. Youth Multihull Championship: Sam Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.); Michael Siau (Manlius, N.Y.); U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded (Leiter Trophy): Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.): U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship (Ida Lewis Trophy): Rebecca Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.); Leigh Hammel (Warren, Vt.). US Youth World Team; Girls Singlehanded: Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.); Boys Singlehanded: Royce Weber (Surf City, N.J.); Girls Doublehanded: Megan Magill (San Diego, Calif.); Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.); Boys Doublehanded: Adam Roberts (San Diego, Calif.); Nick Martin (San Diego, Calif.); Multihull: T.J. Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.) ; Jerry Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.). -- www.ussailing.org SWEDISH MATCH TOUR Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia -- Although three flights remain to complete the round robin stage of the Monsoon Cup, the quarterfinalists are nearly set. Racing today was interrupted for about three and a half hours when the wind died. When racing was on it was held in a northwesterly breeze averaging 6 knots. The oscillating wind kept the racecourse wide open, with the left and right sides alternately working. "This is a particularly tricky venue," said Russell Coutts. "There's a lot of subtlety about the breeze, the current and so forth that you have to read. The situation changes quite often. In some ways it makes the game interesting." A highlight of the day was Barkow's first win of the regatta. She defeated Lindberg by 43 seconds in Flight 12 after narrowly missing a victory against Bruni in Flight 11. Barkow said afterwards that it was a relief to get a victory on the board. -- Sean McNeill, www.SwedishMatchTour.com Round Robin (After 14 of 17 scheduled flights) 1. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 8-2 2. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand, 7-3 3. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 6-2 T. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 6-2 5. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, 5-3 6. Ian Williams (GBR) Williams Racing Team, 5-4 7. Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing Team, 4-4 8. Björn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net, 4-5 9. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa Challenge, 3-7 10. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) K-Challenge, 3-7 11. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia, 2-8 12. Sally Barkow (USA) Team 7, 1-8 NEWS BRIEFS * The Italian group, Wally Yachts, has released a pretty amazing looking motor yacht - the Wally 118. They have also released a pretty cool slide presentation, played over a Berlin song from the "Top Gun" movie. Even your non-sailor friends will enjoy this: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/wally.pps * The crew British registered Sweden 42 Caliso sailing in the ARC had to abandon their boat some 300 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Several ARC yachts altered course to rendezvous with Caliso, as MRCC Falmouth organized for a bulk carrier, the MV Endless, to divert and evacuate the six-person crew. "We discovered we were taking on water and the keel box was damaged. This, we think, stems from an accident the boat had a couple of years ago which, although seen to by a surveyor, was obviously not fixed properly," said skipper and co-owner Mark Matthews. -- www.worldcruising.com/arc2005 * US Sailing is expanding its Mount Gay Rum Speaker Series to 18 events in the 2006 season. In addition to title sponsor Mount Gay Rum, Sperry Top-Sider and Sunsail have also become Official Sponsors of the program. This series was created in 2005 as a grassroots, educational series delivering high quality seminars to sailors nationwide. It proved to be very successful with more than 1,500 sailors attending ten events. Details are currently being finalized to bring the Series to 18 different sailing organizations around country. The schedule will be announced next month, with events scheduled between January and April. -- www.ussailing.org/sponsorship/speakerseries CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar LIGHTER, FASTER & MORE POWERFUL. Words not usually used to describe instrument systems. Ockam is the leader in providing the most accurate real-time data available. The Pentium based Tryad processor combined with an available 3-axis rate stabilized compass paves the way in delivering a stable wind solution that takes the heel, pitch, and roll of the boat into account. With performance and weight in mind, all sensors interface close to their location allowing the information to stream unimpeded throughout the system's single cable "daisy chain" network. Thus eliminating heavy multiple cable runs and expensive junction boxes. To learn more, contact Ockam at mailto:lat@ockam.com 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 thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Bob Austin: What are we, as leaders of the sailing community, doing to foster sailing among our youth? How many cities sponsor sailing programs? Long Beach, CA. Parks and Recreation's Leeway Sailing is one. Despite having two yacht club's based junior sailing programs and The US Sailing Center in Alamitos Bay, this program has endured since 1929 teaching thousands of children in Sabots, Capris and keel boats! Why is sailing so popular in France? Brest, France (as an example) has mandatory sailing instruction provided for every child in elementary and secondary school as part of the physical education program! There are hundreds of children of all school ages competitively sailing daily. It is almost impossible to get a city or school district to sponsor a program in the U.S. I don't believe that any child can walk into a yacht club and become part of their sailing program. If we are to increase sailing participation (and we must), we have to expose more children to sailing in an affordable fashion. It might be in the individual participation, such as Leeway, or it may be as in the "Tall Ship" programs such as Los Angeles Maritime Institude, where the goal is to expose all of the children in Los Angeles County Schools to a sailing experience at least one day on a medium sized tall ship. Each program is the vision of one person or a group of individuals. * From Samuel Croll: I share Bruce McPherson's surprise that the age issue has largely been ignored as it relates to the drop-out factor inherent in Junior Sailing. Coming at it from another angle, it is nearly impossible for any junior, 11 or older, to "drop-in" to most JYC programs ... simply because younger juniors have such a jump on them in terms of skills, that older entrants will automatically be "out of it" ... an anathema to any self-respecting teenager. Of course, the same might be said for baseball, hockey lacrosse or any one of a number of those sports that we have professionalized for our children ... but if the goal is to encourage youngsters to sail with the hope that some may find a sport for their lifetime, then there is an untapped resource of 11-15 year-olds out there who would jump at the opportunity, if they could find a way in. * From Brian Watkins: Finally someone has the guts to say it like it is: sharks are people too! No one should be allowed out on the water in a boat because of the potential hazards to other people (like sharks and kelp) or on land or anywhere for that matter (think of all the carbon dioxide we exhale). We should offer ourselves to the sharks as reparations. * From Bruce Edwards: Adrian Morgan is upset that ABN Amro 1 is responsible for the accidental death of a shark that they had no way of avoiding and justifies his anger by proclaiming that the killers are earning megabucks and this some how makes it so much worse than say a cruising boat meandering across the ocean at 8 knots doing the same thing. Adrian should take a trip to northern Australia and witness the Indonesians plundering the oceans, removing the fins from thousands of living sharks and then returning them to the sea to die. To further suggest an early retirement could be the outcome of an encounter with a bigger brother is completely irresponsible and would be repugnant to all fellow yachtsman. Maybe a little perspective is required. * From Heath Brunson (Re: Adrian Morgan's comment condemning ABN Amro skipper for referring to collision with shark as 'exciting'): I don't know about you; but, I believe the rest of us would be "called to activity" or "roused to an emotional response" if we hit an eight foot fish going 25 knots in the middle of the ocean. A collision with a blue whale would be far more exciting. I didn't see anything in Mike Sanderson's comments that suggested he found pleasure in hitting the shark. In fact, he referred to the sharks death as 'unfortunate'. Don't be so quick to assume the worst of people. * From Scott Barrington: Yesterday's report from the Clipper 05 - 06 Round the World Yacht Race had a item about one of the boats waiting to hear what they will receive in the way of redress for helping one of the other competitors by "transferring a spare water maker head pump to them." I understand that redress can be given to yacht that comes to the aid of "any person or vessel in danger," but I'm having a bit of trouble seeing how that applies in this situation. * From Dr. Paul Jacobs: As long as we are on a roll with respect to layers getting disbarred, and clergymen getting defrocked, here are 52 more: linotype operator: depressed; farmer: distilled; banker: discredited; mathematician: dysfunctional; winemaker: deported; Klan leader: disintegrated; aloof woman: disinclined; magician: disillusioned; manicurist: defiled; traffic cop: defined; horticulturalist: deflowered; demolition expert: defused; heating installer: deducted; vampire: decrypted; flirt: decoyed; traffic router: decongested; real estate agent: decommissioned; hiker: decamped; roommate: debunked; tree trimmer: debarked; scion: disadvantaged; orthopedic surgeon: disjointed; overwight model: disfigured; statistician: discounted; stud: disendowed; navigator: discoursed; woman wearing lingerie: discovered; man wearing lingerie: discovered!; rigger: discorded; salesman: disclosed; miner: disclaimed; electrician: discharged; city dweller: denatured; engineer: derailed; jockey: derided; race driver: detached; astronaut: deterred; travel guide: detoured; college applicant: detested; ocean racer: desalinated; laser scientist: delighted; plasma physicist: deionized. Curmudgeon's Comment: While I accept full responsibility for starting this thread, that does not mean I'm going to allow it to continue. It is now officially dead. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If the opposite is pro is con, then the opposite of progress must be… |
