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SCUTTLEBUTT 1456 - November 12, 2003Powered 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. GUEST EDITORIAL - Fred Hagedorn As the US Olympic Selection Trials have recently begun, it is not surprising to see so many people getting interested in the numbers of boats, the process that we use to select our sailors and interest in general. I thought it might be good to share what our thought process is and share some of our concerns for the future. Every four years, as we begin a new quadrennium, the US Sailing Olympic Sailing Committee takes a long, hard look at its selection process for the Olympic Sailing Team. In 2001, we solicited input from a number of past Olympic Sailors (both medalists and non-medalists) on this very issue. To nearly a person, they shared that our approach of a winner take all event was preferable than a series of international events. Firstly, it simulates the pressure that they experienced at the Olympics. Secondly, using a series of international events creates unusual sailing as you are actually sailing against the other boats from your country, and how you finish is only relative. And thirdly, although the fleet size of our Trials is smaller than potentially preferred, we have to remember that the fleets at the Olympics are much smaller than those at the typical World Championships. At the 2004 Olympics, to keep with the 470 example, there will only be 30 men's and 19 women's boats. As to the concept of the OSC purchasing 20-40 boats of a number of different classes, I must take exception. Firstly, Dues to the US Sailing Association do not get used to support the Olympic Sailing Committee mission in any way. Secondly, if the USA was to invest that amount of money in development, we would have no money to invest in any of our sailors who are actually campaigning. We have a little over $1.2 MM to spend each year across 13 events (11 Olympic and 2 Paralympic). We provide about $20,000 in support of the US Sailing Youth and Junior Championship Clinics, and $10,000 for the Youth World Team and an additional $10,000 for the Laser Radial Youth Team (with the assistance of Vanguard Sailboats). Out of the remaining $1,160,000 we provide funding directly to athletes, ship their boats to and from Europe, provide a fair amount of coaching, meteorological and Sports Science support, and spend a small amount (about 20% of our total spend) on insurance, fees, office rental and administrative support. Although some will take the position that the OSC should only focus at the very top, we would love to have the funds that would allow us to provide a stimulus to our nation's athlete development system. That is why we are now not only in the sponsorship raising business, but also in the fundraising business. Anyone who wants to assist us in creating an endowment that will allow us to fund our top athletes while reaching out to our emerging youth athletes and assist them in realizing their dreams, please contact me at FredHagedorn@ussailing.net. - Frederick H. Hagedorn, Chairman, Olympic Sailing Committee HOLIDAY SHOPPING MADE EASY!! Tell all of your little elves and helpers to check out the Team One Newport website and catalog for their new Holiday section! It is filled with fun goodies like the Kaeonon Kore glasses, Ducti (Ducttape) wallets, Sperry's Fagawi Boot, Orca Gear's Float Tech Jacket, Mike Aiken's Getaway CD (great music!) and Dawn Riley's signature line for women including the fantastic salopettes! There's also the new Gill padded shorts and the DuBarry Figi shoe. Let Team One Newport customize some clothing for your holiday presents! Call 800-VIP-GEAR for super customer service or find it all at http://www.team1newport.com TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE Although they started five days behind, the leading 60ft multihulls have overhauled the front-running monohulls as the two-handed Le Havre-Brazil Transat Jacques Vabre race passes its halfway mark. Groupama, sailed by Franck Cammas and Franck Proffit, heads the fleet and late yesterday had 1,800 miles remaining in the distance to go standings. The leading trimarans passed the Cape Verde islands yesterday, Groupama holding an 86-mile lead over second-placed Geant, sailed by Vendee Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux and Herve Jan. Such is the speed potential of the trimarans that a few more knots of steady tradewind breeze can be converted into much faster pace, so much so that Ellen MacArthur and Alain Gautier, on Foncia, are now a staggering 670 miles behind Groupama in 11th place. Among the Open 60 monohulls, Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick and Nicholas Abiven) keeps its potentially race-winning 160-mile lead over Sill (Alex Thomson and Roland Jourdain). - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/umnw * With boats in the Trade Winds the chances of any change to the leader board decrease as the tactical opportunities to pass disappear. Boat problems can obviously slow a boat but the next opportunity to gain the tactical upper hand will be at the transition zone [Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone] where the NE trades meet the SE trades creating a notorious windless zone. Standings - 0500 GMT November 12: Open 60 Monohulls: 1. Virbac, Jean-Pierre Dick & Nicolas Abiven, 1676 miles to finish; 2. Sill, Roland Jourdain & Alex Thomson, 154 miles from leader; 3. Ecover, Mike Golding & Brian Thompson, 210 mfl. Open 60 Multihulls: 1. Groupama, Franck Cammas & Franck Proffit, 1631 miles from finish; 2. Geant, Michel Desjoyeaux & Hervé Jan, 84 mfl; 3. Sergio Tacchini, Karine Fauconnier & Damian Foxall, 131 mfl. Event website: www.jacques-vabre.com US OLYMPIC TRIALS Houston YC - Perfect wind returned to Houston and powered three excellent races for all classes. The SE breezes that everyone had trained in for the weeks before the trials returned with near carbon copy velocities of those experience in training. No one had an excuse for being unprepared for today's racing and it showed. Boat speeds were very close and the boat handling was exceptional. - Skip Whyte Standings: 470 Men (9 boats - 6 races with one discard): 1. Paul Foerster/ Kevin Burnham, 5; 2. Mikee Anderson-Mitterling/ Graham Biehl, 11; 3. Mark Ivey/ Howard Cromwell, 15. 470 Women (7 boats- 6 races with one discard): 1. Katie McDowell/ Isabelle Kinsolving, 8; 2. Amanda Clark/ Sarah Mergenthaler, 8; 3. Erin Maxwell/ Jen Morgan, 12. Laser (31 boats - 6 races with one discard): 1. Mark Mendelblatt, 10; 2. Zach Railey, 22; 3. Brad Funk, 24; 4. Andrew Lewis, 27; 5. Andrew Campbell, 29. * US Sailing Center of Martin County- With a flawless performance thus far in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Mistral Women's sailor Lanee Butler Beashel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) looks to be in an envious position. Her goal of a fourth trip to the Olympic Games appears to be well within reach after eight races of a planned 16-race series. With a discard figured into the total, Beashel carries an overall score of seven points. Racing, which resumes Thursday after today's planned layday, could be over early for Beashel if she continues her streak as her closest competitors - Taylor Duch (Savannah, Ga./Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and Beth Winkler (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) - are second and third, respectively, with 18 and 19 points. In the Mistral Men's division, Peter Wells (Newport Beach, Calif.) has finished first in five of his fleet's eight races to hold a seven point lead over Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.) who has 17 points for second place. Kevin Jewett (Deephaven, Minn.) is third with 18 points. The balance of the boardsailing series is scheduled to conclude November 16, 2003. * St. Petersburg YC - With no cooperation from the wind, the two Paralympic classes -- the three-person Sonar and the singlehanded 2.4 Metre - started their planned 14-race series a day late, frustrating the sailors and officials who were anxious to get these events underway. After four races in the five-boat 2.4 Metre, fleet, Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine), with five points, holds a three-point lead over John Ruf. In the five-boat Sonar fleet, there is little room to maneuver with racing close among the top three teams. Paul Callahan, Keith Burhans and Roger Cleworth old first place by one point over John Ross-Duggan, J.P. Creignou and Brad Johnson. - Jan Harley Official website: http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/OlympicTrials/2004/ BUILDING BIG BOATS In the Pacific Northwest there are a talented group of boat builders specializing in the construction of extremely fast and complicated composite sailboats. They are now actively seeking owners and designers planning to build big fast custom racing yachts. 60 feet and up. Contact Paul at 360-385-6632, paul@townsendbay.com or http://www.townsendbay.com AMERICA'S CUP Spain is pushing hard for the eastern city of Valencia to edge out favourite Lisbon to host the next America's Cup on its historic return to Europe in 2007 ahead of the organisers' decision on November 26. On 3 October, an agreement was drawn up by the Central Government, the Valencia Regional Government and the City Council of Valencia establishing the guidelines for collaboration among these administrations, creating a consortium called "Consorcio Valencia 2007". On 31 October, the three administrations ratified the agreement and approved the statutes of the consortium and appointed the representatives of each of the administrations to form part of the Governing body and other organs of administration of this newly-created entity. The consortium is to oversee construction of a canal, which would allow participating yachts to glide out of the port and reach the race area in 15 minutes. - Cup in Europe website, full story: http://www.cupineurope.com/LatestNews/Where10.htm VALENCIA The third largest city in Spain, this vibrant Mediterranean destination has over 1,700 restaurants, 42 museums, 13 art galleries, 17 cinemas, 12 theaters, and 30 gardens or municipal parks. The architecture ranges from ancient Roman works to cutting-edge modern buildings such as The City of Arts and Sciences. Valencia has regular moderate to strong winds owing to a daily sea breeze especially in late spring through October. The warm climate (recorded maximum of 107 degrees F / 42 degrees C) at the coast rising to highlands inshore promotes updraft & resulting wind. Tidal range is moderate with a 1.5 knot current sweeping south along the coast. The Balcon al Mar basin has extensive area for the team bases and Cup Village. His Majesty King Juan Carlos, the King of Spain, is an avid sailor, racing in prestigious regattas including the recent Queen's Cup and the Admiral's Cup. Not that royal interest guarantees special consideration for Valencia, but the support of the monarch is seen as a significant asset in their bid to host the America's Cup. - Cup Info website, full story: http://www.cupinfo.com/valencia.htm ULLMAN SAILS WIN CHESAPEAKE BAY CHAMPIONSHIP! J/24 East Coast Championship, 60 boats competing: Alec Cutler's "Fat Boys" - 3rd overall and 1st in amateur division; Max Skelley's "Jerico" - 5th overall. J/105's Chesapeake Bay Championship, 30 boats competing: Jim Konigsberg's "Indigo" - 1st overall. If you and your crew are ready for the "Fastest Sails on the Planet", contact your local Ullman Sails loft or visit http://www.ullmansails.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) 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 Wiz Deas: Am I the only person in the world for whom the sight of monohulls with their keel sticking out to windward looks like a dog taking a leak against a post? They are just plain ugly! Here's my idea for a whacky monohull if that's what you want: - large, with the grace and elegance of an International Canoe where the ballast (in a nice shaped tank?) is above the water and is moveable like the helmsman on his seat, but then can be dumped when tacking and becomes neutral if caught aback. It's a natural progression from water ballasted open 60's, through canting keels where you carry the weight all the time, to boats where you have the minimum required ballast keel and then turbo them with extra, dumpable, righting moment. It also gets around the "10 degree maximum heel when all ballast is deployed on the wrong side" business, by becoming neutral when the ballast tank hits the sea. Pushing great lumps of lead through the water seems like driving with the brakes on to me. Have a small lump of lead on a "normal" keel and put the rest in the air where it slows you down less. Or if you really want to see the light -get a multihull, and leave those idiots with more money than sense to play in their carbon fibre lead mines. * From J. D. Stone: Interesting editorial comment that events like these assist in growing our sport. Most of us normal sailors can't afford to leave our jobs and spend a week at the Bitter End to participate in "happenings" with the who's who of sailing's elite. Hold the next event in New York and include "normal people" instead of the idle rich and maybe such an event will send the right message about sail boat racing. * From Tom Donlan: I heartily agree with your assessment of the wonderful contribution that the Pro-Am regatta and your Scuttlebutt Sailing Club make to our sport. Do you think there is any chance of enlarging the concept and reducing the cost, by creating similar regional events? To the expert and professional sailors in the readership, I ask: Would you consider participating in a one-day one-design regatta in your area as skippers, with local amateurs as your crew? Would $500 be enough to make it worth your while? If not, how much? To the amateurs, I ask: Would you pay to race with a local expert as skipper? Would $100 be a reasonable fee? If more, how much more? I'm sure nothing can match the Bitter End Yacht Club, but is there an opportunity here for local fleets to do something new and interesting? Perhaps it also could be a vehicle for a charity fund-raiser. * From Watt Duffy: Recently there was a letter that was published that stated that a member of US Sailing was sick of paying for the US Olympic team. This is crazy! The US Olympic Sailing Team is awarded 1.1 million dollars a year. US Sailing controls this money. Ask your area's Olympic hopefuls how much of this money they see! If the books were audited you would find that not all this money makes it to the sailors. In fact, not a lot of it does. US Sailing decides were the money goes! I'll bet that none of your dues ends up in the Olympic Sailing Team's hands. In fact some of the US Olympic teams money ends up paying for US Sailing's management. An example is when an Olympic team receives a donation through US Sailing, the funds are taxed by US Sailing (it is about 2-4%). So my friends do not complain about the US Sailing Olympic Team. It not only supports but promotes our sport! * From Glenn McCarthy: Gail Turluck has a point. How many facilities in the U.S. (club or other program) offers regular racing for at least four active Olympic classes (Olympic Trail and OCR facilities don't count)? Keep in mind that there are 11 Olympic classes. * From Tom Priest (Re: Baja Development): As much as I'm intrigued by the idea of the Baja "ladder"… 50,000 boats annually? No way! I'm not even sure there are 50,000 West coast (or Pacific Ocean!) boats even capable of the trip, never mind willing! Perhaps it would make more sense to approximately double the distances between stops. At 120 miles apart, the ability to "leapfrog" alternate stops would spell disaster economically. Speaking as a former delivery skipper, one thing is for certain: Turtle Bay, Mag Bay/Bahia Santa Maria, maybe San Quintin, and maybe something around Cabo Lazaro would be very welcome as developed "pit stops." * From Jamie Haines: Development of the Baja peninsula would not alone be disastrous to the marine environment, but also the terrestrial environment, since desert environments are inherently delicate. Dredging alone creates numerous problems with sedimentation, suffocating and killing corals, and decreasing the amount of light that can get through the water, upsetting the entire natural system. And the gray whales, yes they travel up and down the Pacific coast with not much trouble at all because they are migrating, not calving and nursing. As history shows there is typically little regard for national sanctuaries when they come up against big development dollars, just look at what is going on in our national parks right now for an example. The proposed Escalera Nautica development project would compromise areas that are crucial to the survival of many species. You don't need marinas in order to go cruising. For the three and a half years that I was cruising around the world with my family, we rarely went to marinas. And the beauty of a certain cruising grounds is certainly not at the local marina. As sailors we have a very unique connection with the ocean, and if we can't depend on ourselves to help conserve our oceans then on whom can we depend? World Wildlife federation has estimated that humans have destroyed more than 30% of the natural world since 1970. We have a responsibility to conserve and protect the places that we value, such as the ocean. * From Eric Steinberg (Re Baja development): What the?? Was this piece intended to run on April 1? If not, somebody let the Mexican officials in on a closely held industry secret, the best way to make a little money in the marine business is to start with a lot. * From Steve Greatrex (re 'rich man's sport'): I race PHRF in the South Bay of San Diego primarily, with a few selected offshore races thrown in. We do 40 to 60 races a year, and all I ask of my crew is they have a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, reasonable clothing, sailing gloves, and deck shoes. They can be outfitted for less than 50 bucks if they catch a sale on the shoes. What other sport has such a low initial cost for the participant? My competitive CF-27 cost me less than 15-grand. This is a rich man's sport? * From Kevin Crandall (re Rich Man's sport): Punctuality, handiness, and alertness have never cost me anything. Countless numbers of skippers need that sort of person - crew! Let's notice that skippers' financial commitment, then celebrate the challenges and joys of sailing. CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him? |
