SCUTTLEBUTT No. 1159 - September 18, 2002
Scuttlebutt 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.
AROUND ALONE
New York, NY: It has been a day of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer as the Around Alone fleet heads further east towards Torbay. When the boats started from New York on Sunday a cold front passed over them shortly after they exited New York harbor, and they have ridden that front out into the Atlantic. It has brought torrential rain, gusty winds and powerful squalls to all the yachts making life on board particularly difficult.
The leading boats, Bobst Group Armor Lux, Hexagon and Solidaires have managed to keep the wind longer, but by Tuesday evening they too had run out of breeze.
The weather looks like it will provide no relief for the next few days. An area of high pressure has settled over the race course and brought ideal beach conditions to the eastern United States. The sailors will be experiencing the same conditions, but instead of laying back in a comfortable chair reading a book, they will be trying to eek out that last tenth of a knot of boat speed. At least the conditions will give all the racers an opportunity to dry the boat out and cook a good meal. -- Brian Hancock
Latest position report:
Class 1 - Open 60s
1. Bobst Group, Bernard Stamm, 2443.3 nm to finish of leg one
2. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois, 2457.7
3. Hexagon, Graham Dalton, 2489.9
4. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 2502.0
5. Tiscali, Simone Bianchetti, 2548.9
6. Garnier, Patrick de Radigues, 2550.1
7. Pindar, Emma Richards, 2551.1
Class 2 - 50s and 40s
1. Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, Brad Van Liew, 2621.6
2. Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 2643.4
3. BTC Velocity, Alan Paris, 2657.7
4. Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield, 2664.4
5. Bayer Ascensia, John Dennis, 2674.7
6. Spirit of Yukoh, no data available
http://www.aroundalone.com
LASER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hyannis, MA: For once the weather forecast was right when a light offshore gradient wind under a cloudy sky died when the sun came out on the sixth day of the Laser World Championship. The 7 to 8 knot wind was switching through 30 degrees causing a delay in the start of the first race of the day until it finally settled sufficiently to set a course.
A second discard now comes into force as ten races have been completed although only one of these can be taken from the final series of races from race 8 onwards.
Although Suneson and Scheidt are discarding a final series result they are single figure positions so they can still afford one more bad result. Their nearest rivals, Brendan Casey from Australia and Paul Goodison from Great Britain, are in a far worse position as they have each discarded a final series result in worse than 25 and will very likely drop out of the top five if they have a bad last day. -- Jeff Martin
Top five after 10 races (2 throwouts)
1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 17 points
2. Karl Suneson, SWE, 25
3. Brendan Casey, AUS, 27
4. Paul Goodison, GBR, 35
5. Fredrik Westman, FIN, 39
http://www.laserworlds2002.com/senior/
J/24 WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Cleveland, OH: The International J/24 Women's Open Championship precedes the 2002 J/24 North American Championship. Both events are hosted by Edgewater Yacht Club, Cleveland, Ohio. Principal race officer is Jeff Borland.
Today the women's Open ended, with a total of nine races sailed.
Top five results (no throwouts)
1. Kathy Lundeen, Bavaria II, 20 points
2. Kris Zillmann, Full Bitch, 27
3. Nancy Zangerle, Miss Clairol, 28
4. Anne Marie Shewfelt, Celtic Princess, 35
5. Mary Jordan, Galadriel, 43
The J/24 North American championship first day of racing is this Thursday. Racing continues through Saturday with 9 races scheduled.
http://www.j242002.com
UPWASH: IT' S NOT WHAT YOU (PROBABLY) THINK
What "upwash" IS NOT: vertical movement of wind flowing up towards the masthead, spilling off the upper leeches of the sails and messing up the wind. So what IS upwash? Picture a rock in a river. The water begins bending around the rock well before it reaches the rock; that's what wind does as it meets your sailplan - upstream, ahead of the sails, the "true wind" shifts: upwash. Ockam systems offer upwash calibration. Contact Tom Davis (tom@ockam.com) for a calibration crib sheet or to schedule an onboard calibration and system checkup. http://www.ockam.com
AMERICA'S CUP
* Shipping difficulties are slowing the delivery of the new bow for Team Stars & Stripes boat USA-77, which will certainly affect the team' s hopeful timetable for the re-launch of 77. According to sources at New England Boatworks, as of Monday morning, the bow had not yet arrived in New Zealand. -- Sailing World's Grand Prix Sailor, http://sailingworld.com
* On the Gulf today: the Le Defi website reports that their two training regattas today against One World were both won by the Seattle based syndicate. In other races it has been reported that One World (USA 65) had the better of Prada Challenge and Victory Challenge (SWE 63) beat Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72). Translation from the French is on http://2003ac.com and http://www.hauraki-news.com.
* NZ Customs expects about 400 yacht arrivals in the October / December season. During the last America's Cup had over 600 in total and all indications are that the arrivals for this season will to be larger - with more of the 20 metre-plus vessels.
A Temporary Import Agreement system, introduced at the last America's Cup, let recognises challenger syndicates importing their boats and associated equipment and materials without the upfront payment of Customs duties by entering into an approved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) programme with the Customs Service.
The understanding is that yachts and their associated equipment will be re-exported when they are eliminated from the event. The system means syndicates have significant extra cash reserves at their disposal to spend on their challenge
Complete article at http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3782-1768176,00.html
* A sponsorship management firm claims the America's Cup is sucking up the country's sponsorship dollars, and other sports will have to work harder to get funding.
Raisin says the whole nation wants to be in on the Cup action, meaning funds available for other events are very tight.
Managing director Charles Morley-Hall says the vast majority of company marketing and sponsorship budgets are going into the America's Cup which has built the most fantastic following over the past decade or so.
But he says available sponsorship money is being depleted not just through the yachts, but through related activities such as booking a day on the water with clients.
He says other sports will have to be more creative in what they are offering and look outside the normal top of the line sponsors while the Cup is in New Zealand.
However, Mr Morley-Hall says one of the plusses is that Auckland can expect a significant economic boost as marketing funds are released into the economy over coming months. -- http://www.hauraki-news.com, (citing xtramsn.co.nz as their source)
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (dmccreary@boats.com -- until the Curmudgeon returns later this month)
* From Eric A. Zoehrer: Why does sailing need to reinvent itself? Why do we need a marketing plan? Why do we need to be mainstream like tennis or golf? Sailing either appeals to one or it doesn't; I don't see the need to engineer a career path in sailing to attract participation. The Corinthian spirit of sailing has greatly diminished over the years (remember when intentionally colliding with another boat would never enter a skipper's mind?), and while I don't want to belabor the fact I still don't see the need to hasten it's complete demise. Sure I'd like to see sailing remain an Olympic sport...but the nature of the Olympics today appeals less and less to me and I certainly wouldn't prescribe changes to sailing as a whole to remain a part of the Olympic circus. I guess I'm a little old school on the issue, but I really don't see the mainstream commercialization of sailing as enriching our sport.
* From Luck McCarthy: I too wondered about how the 2.5km of America's Cup logo was going to fit on the Sky Tower in Auckland (which is, however, over 300 meters tall) when I first read the article in Scuttlebutt. The logo has indeed been cut into strips, which have started to be applied individually over the past few days. Rather than starting from one side and working toward the other, however, they appear to be doing bits at a time, so that at the moment the logo reads something like:
Am___a's
C__p
* From Theo Muller: I am definitely a Team New Zealand fan and supporter. I will buy their merchandise and in that way hope to contribute in a small way to their operating budget. When I heard the news that a group of influential people got together to financially support TNZ in their upcoming defense of the America's Cup, I welcomed that idea. However when told that their idea of support is by dragging other people down, my heart sank. They are still talking of "defectors" when they refer to Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth and other former TNZ members who have made a career decision to sail for foreign syndicates. We can't win the cup by throwing mud at those who have served us so well. TNZ have moved on from there and Blackheart needs to do the same. Poking fun at other people is destructive and divisive. Promoting one's own cause at the expense of other people shows a very poor imagination.
HARKEN WINCH TRADE-IN SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER
Buy new Harken winches from one of our great dealers, send in your old ones to us, and get a 15% rebate on your purchase. A great reason to upgrade your boat this winter and save a little money too! http://www.harken.com/company/wnchtrad.php
QUANTUM SAILS MELGES 24 SOUTHEAST INLAND CHAMPIONSHIP
The first ever Quantum Melges 24 Southeast Inland Championship was held on
September 14-15 on Lake Lanier, Georgia. The event is an annual stop on the
Melges 24 Southeast Circuit and counts toward the overall Southeast Circuit
Rankings. After seven hard fought races Shawn Burke, "Grins" USA 526, was
crowned the first Melges 24 Southeast Inland Champion by one point over Doug
Kessler, "Liberty" USA 489. Scott Gregory, "Satisfaction" USA 378, finished
in third place.
J30 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Westport, CT: Seventeen boats sailed 7 races on September 13-15 at the Cedar Point Yacht Club.
Top five:
1. S. Tonguis, Zephyr, 11 points
2. J. White, No Name, 17
3. J. McArthur, Smiles, 26
4. C. Sherter, Fat City, 28
5. Rutsch, Bebop, 29
Full results at http://170.224.10.44/uploads/j30results.htm
US SAILING CENTER GETS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jensen Beach, FL: Hart Kelley (Boston, MA) has been named the new Executive Director of the US SAILING Center of Martin County (USSCMC). Mr. Kelley previously served as CEO and Executive Director of Community Boating, Inc. (CBI), in Boston, MA. CBI, a 7,000-member non-profit organization, is the oldest and largest public sailing program in the country. Kelley was responsible for the implementation of programs and services to members that nearly doubled membership in five years.
Kelley is a life-long sailor, having grown up on the Charles River in Boston, (MA) and on Buzzards Bay (Cape Cod, MA) sailing Cape Cod Mercurys, Lasers, 420' s, and windsurfers. More recently, he has competed on Etchells, 210' s, and Rhodes 19' s.
More information about the US SAILING Center of Martin County, which is headquartered in Jensen Beach, FL, is available at http://www.usscmc.org
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Annapolis, Md.-based Quantum Sail Design Group has announced the appointment of professional sailor David Armitage to its technical and design team. Armitage comes to Quantum from Halsey Lidgard in Mystic, Conn., where he was director of sail design and technology. He participated in the 1999/2000 America' s Cup as sail coordinator and mainsail trimmer, and in the 1994/95 Cup as sailmaker/trimmer with Team New Zealand. Most recently, he participated in the Pacific Cup campaign aboard Zephyrus V.
* Farr Yacht Design has established the new position of Design Sales and Marketing Manager. This new position will be held by David Millett, a longtime sailor, with deep experience in the fields of marketing and sales of high performance products.
Millett brings with him the knowledge and experience earned in over 60,000 offshore racing miles and hundreds of one design and handicap racing campaigns. In addition he has served as a Judge, Umpire, PRO, and Regatta Chairman at many high profile events. -- http://www.farrdesign.com
2002 FICKER CUP
The Long Beach Yacht Club will host the annual Ficker Cup match race regatta this weekend September 21 & 22, 2002.
This year's contestants come from all over the United States:
Dalton Bergan, Team Ayres Hotel
Steve Brown, Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club
Scott Dickson, Long Beach Yacht Club
Andy Lovell, Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans, LA, Decision Racing Team
Dawn Riley, San Francisco Yacht Club, Chapin Clothing and Mills Corporation
Bill Schopp, Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club
Peter Stoneberg, St. Francis Yacht Club, Velocity Ventures, LLC
Tucker Thompson Annapolis Yacht Club, Annapolis, MD, T-2 Productions
The regatta will take place off the Belmont Pier commencing around noon each day. The competitors will compete in a double round robin series and the winner will receive an invitation to the Congressional Cup to be held in April 2003.
http://www.lbyc.org
QUOTES FROM THE BOATS - AROUND ALONE
* Emma Richards on Pindar: "I have not slept since New York. Last night there were fishing boats and ships all around, and today/tonight there have been a number of squalls. In fact there have been so many of them that you can't switch on the radar alarm to warn for ships as they have been blacked out by so many nasty squalls that the alarm would never stop."
* Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group - Armor Lux: "I am just below Nova Scotia and am heading North, the further up the better. The guys in the South will have more wind than me right now but I am climbing up to find some more breeze here. Right now it is frustratingly calm..."
* Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet: "Greetings from the soggy Atlantic. It has been raining nearly all day, yuk. At least the boat is getting cleaned. Right out of New York the fleet split in all directions. Pretty funny, but kinda nerve-wracking as it makes you question your game plan. I wound up with Bobst and Hexagon in front of me, apparently with the same strategy of hanging on to the southwesterlys as long as possible. Then they both bore away more to the north and for some reason Hexagon seemed to slow up. Solidares (Thierry Dubois) went more north early, then apparently sensed trouble seeing us charging along more to the south. He made a pretty dramatic move to the south and ditched the other northerly boats, which looks like it worked since he has blasted into the lead."
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
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