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SCUTTLEBUTT #418 - October 14, 1999VOLVO OCEAN RACEThe Danish V.O.60 team Nokia is going to spend the winter in sunny Australia, competing in the Sydney-Hobart Race and in Cannon Big Boat Series. The three months in the South Sea waters will also be an opportunity to test local round the world sailors. Nokia' s team manager Morten Lorenzen says, "Only half of our crew in the Volvo Ocean Race 2001 will be Danes. For the rest, we need yachtsmen who can bring experience from deepwater-racing. We are especially looking for a navigator who knows both Whitbread and Sydney-Hobart. Since half of the crewmembers in the last Whitbread race came from this region, we think it is the right place to start looking. We have already had contact with sailors with impressive resumes and we are looking forward to try them out onboard Nokia." The organiser of the Sydney-Hobart Race has formed a new class in order to let Nokia participate with her water ballast. It is going to be a test for all parties, since Sydney-Hobart will be a part of the Volvo Ocean Race 2001. After the Australian adventure, Nokia will return to the Danish sailing season in the spring of 2000 to further refine crew selection, and to test sails and equipment in European waters. In September 2000 the big decision will be made: "Are we ready to participate with a Danish boat in Volvo Ocean Race 2001 or do we have to wait?" -- Lizzie Green, http://www.VolvoOceanRace.org AMERICA'S CUP * The ingenious Swiss have to figure out how to stop the rain from falling inside their America's Cup boatshed. Fast2000 are the only campaign along Syndicate Row in the Cup village who have built a shed where their boat can go in without having to remove its mast. The only problem is, they haven't yet devised a way to close the hole in the roof. Swiss skipper Marc Pajot dreamed up the idea of the slotted roof and monster roller door. "I cannot understand why others haven't done it," syndicate spokesman Constantin Capsis said. "It looks so obvious that you should put your boat totally inside the shed with the mast on. "Obviously it's not for everyone. It is more expensive, but once you are in the America's Cup, it becomes a matter of practicality. We wanted to save time and to work in a dry place. "But the only problem is closing the roof - last weekend we got soaked inside the shed." This is the first Swiss America's Cup campaign. -- Suzanne McFadden, NZ Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ * Sound fills the air around the Viaduct Basin. Sledgehammers pound away on tarmac. Backhoes alternately scrape and groan, moving the dislodged pieces of earth. Electric saws slice through plywood, cutting new walls and barriers. Generators purr as spray-guns apply fresh coats of paint. Nearly 180 metres above it all, two workers hang in a basket applying the official America's Cup 2000 logo to the Sky Tower. Final preparations are rampant as Auckland readies for America's Cup 2000. Although racing doesn't begin until Monday, the event officially kicks off on Friday with the opening ceremonies jointly hosted by America's Cup 2000 and the America's Cup Challenge Association. Activities include a parade through downtown Auckland, welcoming speeches from various personalities and the draw that'll determine who races whom in Rounds 1 and 2. A new draw will be held before December's Round 3. Two races per day are planned in Round 1, and wins will be worth one point. Wins in Round 2 will be worth four points, and in Round 3 they're worth nine points. -- Sean McNeill, Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.americascup.org/ Curmudgeon's comment: With parades, opening ceremonies, cocktail parties et al, 'Butt may come out late tomorrow. But as I've demonstrated so often, you just never know . . . * Brown & Sharpe, the world's leading manufacturer of dimensional metrology equipment, has increased its commitment to the New York Yacht Club/Young America Challenge, stepping up its initial support of the America's Cup team. Brown & Sharpe is now a Premier Partner level sponsor, the top level of corporate support. Brown & Sharpe's logo will be displayed on the mainsail of the Young America racing boats. Brown & Sharpe, headquartered in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, manufactures equipment that measures the size and shape of objects. Virtually every industry in every country uses Brown & Sharpe measuring products to verify the quality of their products. As part of their sponsorship, Brown & Sharpe manages a manufacturing consortium of companies which are building the appendage packages for the team's two America's Cup racing boats. The appendage package includes the keel fin and tab, bulb, winglets and rudders. Brown & Sharpe is managing the construction and is funding the manufacture of the appendages. In addition, Brown & Sharpe's precision measurement capabilities have been used to ensure the shape of the appendages and were applied throughout the construction of the two Young America hulls to ensure the accuracy of the construction. "With Brown & Sharpe's measurement technology, we were able to improve the accuracy of the hull shape during the construction process," said John Marshall, President of the NYYC/Young America Challenge. "USA 53 and USA 58 are probably the most precisely built America's Cup boats ever made," Marshall said. "In addition, Brown & Sharpe's contacts within the manufacturing community matched us with resources that offered a wide range of manufacturing capabilities. Brown & Sharpe has been a partner in the truest sense," Marshall said. Jane Eagleson, http://www.youngamerica.org MELGES 24 WORLDS Vince Brun put together a new Melges 24 (hull #415) to defend the world championship he won last year in Europe. Who do you suppose Brun worked with to develop his custom rigging? He worked with the same people who are eager to help you; guys who are sailors themselves; fellas who have the knowledge, experience and equipment to handle all of your rigging requirements. Just give them a call to learn for yourself -- Sailing Supply: (800) 532-3831 / http://www.sailingsupply.com/ Did I forget to mention Brun successfully defended his championship, winning the Worlds by 16 points? IRM LEVEL RATING CLASS As the interest in IRM gains momentum around the world, the RORC is pleased to announce a third Level Rating Class. This is based around the 40' mark and will be known as the "IRM 12.5 Metre Class". The popularity of first past the post racing is growing fast as sailors want to know immediately where they stand on the race course in comparison to other competitors. Level Rating is an excellent way to attain this goal without having a One Design yacht with all the restrictions that go with that. Two other Level Classes have already been announced at 9 metres and 10.7 metres. The new IRM 12.5 Metre Class will fit into both the middle and top bands in next years' Rolex Commodores' Cup. This will be raced in the Solent in August. Royal Ocean Racing Club Rating Office site: http://rorc.org/rating/ ALAN JOHNSON'S TRIVIA QUESTION What do Paul Cayard and both John Bertrands have in common with the Masters Invitational Regatta (OFR)? Answer at the end of this issue of Scuttlebutt LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (tomleweck@taitech.co.nz) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. -- From Jennie Fitzhardinge -- Your account of sailing on Stars & Stripes was the most enjoyable AC report I've read so far. At last something from my perspective - that of a "what-I-would-give-to-go-sailing-on-an-AC-yacht-for-a-day sailor"! -- From John Roberson (re Tim Jeffery's story in 'Butt 417 which stated, "If ever there was a yachting event in which Britain ought to excel.") Sorry, but Britain has shown absolutely no sign what so ever of excelling in the America's Cup for more than 50 years, and no reason why that should change. And as for this bit about "This is a country which boasts some of the world's finest yachts designers," like who? The story goes on to say "and where huge wealth has been generated by new technology industries", I thought silicone valley was in California. Does Bill Gates or Larry Ellison live in England. Then we get "the only man to have raised the money in the 1990s is Peter de Savary, who spent his own cash in 1983 with Victory," a contradiction within one sentence, and what about Graham Walker who raised the money for the '87 challenge? I know Scuttlebutt is a "digest of yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features, dock talk, typos and ads." but can't we at least select the accurate ones, and do our sub-ing properly. -- From Tom Carruthers -- If everyone maintained the attitude that Pat Broerick's displays in 'Butt#417 -- that it is more beneficial to him to buy a new jib, rather than to give input to the direction of the sport -- then the next generation of sailors, and those that follow them are in trouble. The notification for the Rules seminar had been out for sometime prior to the announcement through Scuttlebutt. Maybe since Pat has such strong feelings about US Sailing, and its leadership, he should become more vocal within the organization. Then the whole sport benefits, not just the local sail maker. For the past several weeks US Sailing has been taking shots from your readership. I wonder how many of those give their time to their club, junior program, or community program to promote our sport. No one starts as an Olympic sailor, we all started from the same point. Someone else took the effort to nudge us into the sport. We all should make the effort to get someone else into the sport also. -- From Gail M. Turluck -- I'm concerned by Tom Gadbois letter in #417 that he considers my remarks as seeking payment for volunteering. That is not the case at all. What I'm trying to describe is the difference between the majority of the volunteer organizations in our country and US Sailing. All of the organizations have recognized the need for training on the part of its volunteers so they administer in like manner so that outcomes are similar for like situations, whatever they may be. The large majority of other organizations have made the priority of providing their volunteers with training at low- or no-cost--most unlike US Sailing. Understand, I've been a member of US Sailing for over 25 years (since I was a junior), so I've lived the entire development of the whole program. Yes, we have great volunteers who put in countless hours and do fantastic work. I'm just attempting to shake them up a little to encourage new approaches so that things can continue to get better (and the sooner the better). REGATTA INSIGHT I wanted to give a little more detail to your description of the Prince of Wales Bowl, which was a great event with close racing throughout the event. I was the middle man on the winning boat, from Area B and the Watch Hill Yacht Club. Our boat was skippered by Mason Woodworth, and Randy Shore did bow. The regatta ended up being primarily a three horse race throughout between our boat, Scott Dickson's boat and Andy Horton's boat. In fact, all three boats were tied at the end of racing each day, except the last one. There were several other competitive boats as well, most notably those skippered by Benz Faget (who recently won the Mallory Cup) and previous POW winner Marvin Beckman. Entering the last day of racing, Watch Hill needed to win all five of its matches, which would include a win over Horton, and we needed Dickson to lose to someone since we did not race him. Watch Hill did eventually win all five of its matches, including a heated, close battle with Horton that was decided by less than a boat length. Dickson ultimately lost his final match giving Watch Hill the victory. This was particularly satisfying for us since, for all intents and purposes, this was our helmsman's first match race event. Kudos to Mason for a great effort and performance. We had done some training prior to this event in the Sonar, in an effort to learn the boats, and to work on boathandling and sail setup. Our work paid huge dividends, and we routinely passed boats both upwind and down. -- Dean Brenner HURRY HURRY HURRY If you act fast you can still buy a pair of Camet Light Royal Blue 2001 hiking pants for just $109. That's 50 bucks off the regular price. Why so cheap? Light Royal Blue is a discontinued color and they only have medium and large sizes left. Camet needs to make room for the year 2000 models so he dropped the price and is ready to ship! The Camet 2001 Hiking Pants are made of a durable 3mm Neoprene with Cordura reinforced battened pads and Nylon protection on the inside. Check them out: http://www.camet.com/hiking_pants/Specials/specials.html MORE AMERICA'S CUP Meeting just days before for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials for the America's Cup, representatives of 11 challenging yacht clubs today agreed on the concept of an independent organising authority for future Cup matches, but deferred formal approval of the plan. 'There was strong sentiment in favour of an independent authority, but . . . the devil is in the details,' said David Elwell, chairman of the America's Cup Challenge Association (ACCA). 'We agreed to further study of the proposal.' The formal report of the America's Cup Organising Committee was presented by its chairman, Bruce Munro, of the St. Francis Yacht Club. Discussions on reorganisation began early in the current Cup challenge cycle after a number of challengers pushed for a change in the ground rules. The meeting today accepted the report but did not formally approve the recommendations. With the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup series just four days away, today's actions appear to have dashed any hopes of challenger unanimity. After the first race starts on Monday, and an early pecking order is established, there is bound to be reluctance on the part of some of the challengers to embrace the idea. Ever since challenges for the America's Cup began with the first British tilt at the New York Yacht Club in 1870, the defender has been faced with the dual role of hosting the event and providing a worthy defender. Observers agree that it's a heavy burden, with both real and perceived conflicts of interests. 'Now its up to each individual challenging club to decide what it should do if it is successful and becomes the next defender of the America's Cup,' said Dyer Jones, Executive Director of ACCA. 'How we get there remains wide open.' The working party proposed that the future role of America's Cup trustee should reside with a central authority, a Board of Directors comprising three representatives from the defending club, and three representatives of the challengers plus three independent individuals. The Board would appoint a professional Executive Officer. There would also be a Board of Trustees. Four of the eleven challengers present at the meeting held at the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club indicated their willingness to agree to the proposal. This has given rise to hopes that these four clubs will independently sign a letter of agreement to implement the plan. -- Keith Taylor, http://www.louisvuittoncup.com/ OH MY GRACIOUS Thrilling -- absolutely thrilling. Don't take the curmudgeon's word for it -- see it yourself. I'm talking about Sharon Green's new Official America's Cup Screen Saver. The screen saver is 40 images from past till present. Sharon has collected images from the Beken archives and from some of her collegues. The 40 image original program takes you from 1851 through '95. The screen saver is available for online download or as a 40 image CDROM. During each round robin Sharon will post a new image pack that will feature the highlights of each round. Customers can log on and download new image packs as we go through the challenger series and the Cup. The screen saver is available through: http://www.ultimatesailing.com or http://www.screenthemes.com/americascup/ TRIVIA QUESTION ANSWER Cayard and both John Bertrands crewed for OFR skippers in 505's. Cayard and Bertrand (US) sailed with Dennis Surtees and the Austrailian John Bertrand crewed for Dick Deaver. THE CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS Committee: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours. |
