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SCUTTLEBUTT 1235 - January 8, 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 emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. HULA Lawyers for one of the America's Cup syndicates were last night looking hard at the radical new hull design unveiled by Team New Zealand and may question its legality. Both teams in the challenger finals, Oracle BMW of the United States and Alinghi of Switzerland, have until 3pm today to lodge protests with the international jury or the America's Cup Arbitration Panel. Alinghi said yesterday that they would not lodge a protest yet, but Oracle rules adviser Tom Ehman told the Herald their staff would continue reviewing the rules overnight. When it was revealed yesterday, Team New Zealand's spectacular design was immediately dubbed the most innovative leap forward for America's Cup yachts for decades. To gasps from the public, the two black boats were lifted from the water outside Team NZ's Viaduct Harbour base and their protective skirts dropped for the first time. Immediately obvious were two faint outlines towards the stern of both hulls - identifying the false hull appendage dubbed the New Zealand "hula". But not all those watching were impressed, and Oracle's legal team were considering whether questions should be asked by this afternoon's first deadline about whether the radical appendage meets the rules. The appendage fits snugly against the hull but must not touch it apart from where it is attached. The aim of the appendage is to increase the boat's waterline length and therefore improve its speed. If Team New Zealand had increased the actual hull's length, it would have come at a cost, perhaps in terms of reduced sail area. Whoever wins the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup could still lodge a protest during an actual race if they are not convinced the appendage is operating legally. - Julie Ash and Helen Tunnah, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/americascup/acstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3050373&thesection=sport&thesubsection=americascup&thesecondsubsection=general QUESTIONS Alinghi have already submitted questions to the jury about the legality of the New Zealand innovation ahead of the cut-off for design or measurement protests. They believe that a gap of just a few millimetres between the hull proper and the suspended second skin cannot be maintained "while racing, particularly during pre-start manoeuvring and in moderate to strong wind speeds and rough sea conditions when the hull is deformed by the rig loads and the hull and appendages are exposed to high water pressure loadings". Alinghi contend that if the two parts touch at any time, then the boat is illegal. Team New Zealand, however, are certain that the 'Hula' - the name that they have dubbed the hull-appendage - only makes contact with the hull by its permitted centre-line attachments. "We had to undergo a very rigorous process with the measurers," said TNZ head and design leader Tom Schnackenberg. "They laid down stipulations and their demands were quite stringent. We have made sure the Hula does not touch the hull at any time." - Tim Jeffery, The Daily Telegraph, full story: http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;$sessionid$QKZNHMAFUDCXDQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/sport/2003/01/08/soyotz08.xml&sSheet=/sport/2003/01/08/ixothspt.html IMAGES More good pictures of TNZ's 'hula' have been posted; * Louis Vuitton Cup website: http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/story1614.html * Hauraki News website. (go the 'Latest Pics' section and scroll down): http://www.hauraki-news.com/LatestNews/LatestNews.htm * Also, Daniel Forster has sent us two incredible photos of hula and we are now attempting to post them on the Scuttlebutt website: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE "The hula - that's the name now, is it? Is that because it's a dance around the rules or something?" - Bruce Farr, from the above story by Julie Ash and Helen Tunnah in the NZ Herald TOTAL COMMITMENT Since news broke that Team New Zealand had come up with an innovative method of overcoming the rule against hollows in the hull by attaching a bustle under the stern, the unveiling ceremony has been awaited with keen anticipation. Many observers believed the Defender would hedge its bets by having one yacht built on conventional lines and one with the appendage. But, as the two black yachts were lifted out of the water in front of a large crowd of media and spectators, both were sporting the appendages. * Tom Schnackenberg, Team New Zealand syndicate head and co-ordinator of the design team, said the team had satisfied all the requirements of the Measurement Committee and both yachts had been issued with Measurement Certificates. A Measurement Certificate denotes that the yacht complies in every respect with the rules of the regatta and is fit to race. All the appendages on the two Team New Zealand yachts carried the signature of the Measurer. "We had to undergo a very rigorous process with the Measurers," said Schnackenberg. "They laid down stipulations that (outside the permitted attachment zone) the appendage may not touch the hull during racing. Their demands were quite stringent. We have made sure the Hula does not touch the hull at any time. They would not have given us a certificate unless we could prove that." - Ivor Wilkins, Louis Vuitton website, full story: http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/story1608.html TNZ EXPLAINS Team New Zealand's hula was an idea born more than two years ago. The innovative hull appendage, unveiled on both of the 2003-generation black boats, was a concept suggested by Team New Zealand principal designer Clay Oliver. It was just one idea on a long list to be considered. But over the past 18 months it has been rigorously tested and refined by the Team New Zealand design team, before being examined and certified by the America's Cup measurers. Oliver says the idea of the hull appendage which "makes the boat seem longer to the water" came when trying to figure out a way to create a lower transom. "I was trying to draw a boat for another project - a light displacement yacht to break offshore world records. So I'd do that for a couple of hours then go back to drawing an America's Cup boat," he said. "I was going back and forth between the two projects, and suddenly I thought, wouldn't it be nice if you could get a transom down as low as possible? What would that boat look like? "The solution to that problem was to draw the boat like you wanted, then solve the problem of not being allowed to have hollows. "I picked up the rule and started studying it hard, reading it over and over. It says that 20 percent of the volume of the boat can be appendages, and that's where the idea came from. With an appendage, you can integrate the shape you want and lower the transom." * The design team are quick to stress that the appendage, code name hula, is not a clip-on, a false bottom or a second skin. "It's not a separate part. We drew the boat as we envisioned it, with a low transom and the underwater sectional area distribution that we wanted, and then decided where to cut an appendage," Oliver said. The hula, rigid and strong and made from a structural component Team New Zealand has worked on, is shaped as part of the hull. It only touches the hull where it is allowed to - within a 500mm strip down the centreline. - TNZ website, full story: http://xtramsn.co.nz/teamnewzealand/0,,7136-2060241,00.html SAMSON ON DISPLAY AT KEY WEST RACE WEEK While at Key West Race Week, stop by our booth in the reception tent. We'll have all our rigging lines on display plus some exciting new products as well. After a day on the water, pick up the new product guide and key chain while you are there! Find out why Samson lines were chosen for the record-setting Pyewacket and the technical marvel Baltic 147. Samson - First in innovation, First across the line! http://www.samsonrope.com/home/recmarine/index.cfm TRADEOFFS The penalties Team New Zealand pays for it's 'hula' are the gaps around the appendage where water does flow through, creating friction drag, as well as additional weight. The design team mentioned that while in heavy air the boats may lack a bit of stability due to the appendage, ultimately, the combination provides the package for upwind and downwind, light and heavy air. - Michelle Slade, Cup Views website, full story: http://cupviews.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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From Tom Fischbeck: Seems to me that the Around Alone yachts and Whitbread craft as well, could use a secondary "Whisbone Boom" for their rig. A boom that's butt end is well above the Primary working boom. Booms and boom vangs seems to fail under these tremendous loads during "offwind" legs. I know weight would be an issue, but the benefits would be 1. Additional boom strength 2. Take a huge load off the boom vang, 3. Help contain (lazy jack) the mainsail during major reefs. * From Chris Welsh (re TNZ's 'hula'): I liked the comment best by TNZ that they expect no problems with protests later - the obvious protest is going to be when the first wear or scuff mark shows up on the hull from the edge of the "Hula" - and then we are going to see a raging argument over what constitutes contact and attachment outside of the defined attachment area. If there are only millimeters of separation, given hydrodynamic forces I suspect a protest is a given. * From Dave Beck (edited to our 250-word limit): It looks to me like the challengers are set to be hosed again by TNZ. Very simply, the "Hula clip-on" offers such a massive advantage in allowing the Kiwi designers to step outside the limits of the AC rule in terms of manipulating length, displacement, LCB and prismatic coefficient, that its hard to see how the challengers can match it in the time they have. I have huge respect for Ken McAlpine, but remain dumbfounded that he let the device pass as it seems so completely outside any intent of the IACC rule or the definition of appendages. It's well and good to say that one only interprets the rule, not its intent, despite the fact that the intent is abundantly clear, and that he is allowing the exploitation of the most obvious of loopholes. Hats off to the Kiwi's for asking the question and getting the answer they wanted, when everyone else logically assumed the idea was a non-starter under the rule. The Kiwi's keel/bulb designs extend the direction they headed last time and borrows from model boat technology, going for max stability, minimum wave drag at the cost of wetted surface and maneuverability. If there is a silver lining for the challenger, it's that the Kiwi boats seem to be optimized for perhaps the upper wind ranges. If it's a windy series, it's over. Tellingly, Laurie Davidson likes the look of the Kiwi boats much better than Oracle or Alinghi. I hope Davidson and I are wrong. * From Gregory Scott: Well the girls all had to flip up their skirts and what is to be seen is very interesting. No fat bottoms but very elegant lines on NZ and three different approaches to the bulbs. Long and slender, big and pudgy and somewhere in the middle. The chord length of the blades is very thin. So keeping with the reference from above; three slim and slender waist lines, one curvy bottom and two hip huggers, three sets of long lanky legs and three very different shoe sizes. Just like a Prada fashion show. ATHLETES OF THE YEAR AWARDS The Olympic Sailing Committee of US Sailing, has recognized five athletes as the sport's U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Athletes of the Year. Recognized in the Team category are Yngling sailors Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Lee Icyda (Stuart, Fla.) and Suzy Leech (Avon, Conn./Annapolis, Md.). Laser sailor Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) are Male and Female Athlete of the Year, respectively. These sailors will be considered for the overall USOC Team of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year Awards. The USOC award winners will be selected from the Athletes of the Year recognized by each Olympic sport's national governing body. The Yngling team of Betsy Alison, Lee Icyda and Suzy Leech were recognized for winning the women's bronze medal at the 2002 Yngling World Championship in Switzerland. Enhancing the significance of the medal win was that their performance secured the USA its berth to the 2004 Olympic Regatta where the Yngling will make its debut as the women's keelboat event. Andrew Campbell started the new year by finishing second in the 63-boat Laser fleet at the 2002 Rolex Miami OCR, a result which earned him the number one ranking in that class on the 2002 US Sailing Team. Early in the summer he won his third consecutive U.S. Youth Championship which put the 18-year old Campbell into the history books as the only sailor to earn the coveted U.S. singlehanded championship crown three times. That win qualified him to compete in the 2002 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships where he sat out the final race of the series after mathematically securing the singlehanded championship title. Sailing in the 24-boat Laser fleet, Campbell was at or near the top of the leader board from the first day of the event, winning the gold medal and his first world championship title by 14 points over his closest competitor. In July, sailing in a fleet of 20 Bytes, Paige Railey won the bronze medal at the 2002 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships. She then went on to successfully defend her U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship title in August. Sailing in Laser Radials, 55 competitors contested eight races seven of which were won by Railey. She beat her closest competitor by 27 points to win the title and earned the bonus of a repeat trip as the U.S. representative to the youth world championship scheduled for July 18-27, 2003, in Portugal - Jan Harley, www.ussailing.org SAILMAKER OF CHOICE FOR 2003 From our worldwide family of Ullman Sails sailmakers to all Scuttlebutt readers, we wish you a Safe and Happy New Year, filled with success both on and off the water. Ullman Sails proven designs, sailcloth selection, construction and service are second to none. We congratulate those who used Ullman Sails to win and finish well in the various regattas and championship events during 2002. Let Ullman Sails be your sailmaker of choice, and help you achieve your 2003 goals in One Design and Offshore competition, and in the Cruising venues, wherever you sail. Sail Loft locations available at: http://www.ullmansails.com WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP? There is no overall world championship of sailboat racing, but Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003 may come close in its 16th running Jan. 20-24. With 47 of the 287 entries from a record-matching 20 foreign countries, event director Peter Craig has been able to organize a powerful fleet of 10 international teams to compete for the Key West Trophy. Each of a team's three designated boats will race in its own one-design class as well as participating in cumulative scoring for the trophy. The three types of boats are Farr 40, Mumm 30 and Melges 24. The format, now in its seventh year, is similar to what the Admiral's Cup was when it was recognized as the "unofficial championship of offshore sailing." Key West is inshore, but each of the three types of boats, some with partly professional crews, is deeply international and highly competitive in its own right. Bob Hughes' Farr 40, Heartbreaker, from Holland, Mich., is returning to lead the USA Great Lakes team in defense of the title it wrested from the three-year grip of Italy. Teammates will be Jeff Dieman's Mumm 30, X-Press Cartel, from Chicago, and Brian Porter's Melges 24, Full Throttle, Lake Geneva, Wis. Competition will include the new Farr 40 world champion, Steve Phillips of Annapolis, Md., sailing Le Renard for the USA Chesapeake team, and Italy's Flavio Favini, who won the delayed 2001 Melges 24 world title at Key West last year, driving Franco Rossini's Blu Moon as a member of the German team.That trio also features Wolfgang Schaefer, with his Farr 40, Struntje light, and Bent Dietrich's Mumm 30, Rainbow. Other teams will represent Australia, Europe A and B, The Netherlands, Canada and a third US team - Team Northeast. The complete lineup and all individual entries are posted at www.Premiere-Racing.com The Farr 40s also will have their own intramural dogfight as some of the world's best sailors match tactical wits for owners who must drive. Gavin Brady, Vince Brun, Terry Hutchinson and Jesper Bank are among those fresh from the America's Cup, along with Paul Cayard, who was compelled to sit it out under contract to Larry Ellison's Oracle team, and new Star world champion Iain Percy, on Struntje light. The tacticians also are listed on the Web site. - Rich Roberts AROUND ALONE Bernard Stamm is not a man prone to exaggeration, however his email just received sums up how things are on board. "It's hell out here," was all he wrote. The gale force winds that have been lashing him since he rounded Cape Reinga are forecast to abate slightly overnight and swing to the northeast. With that in mind we are still forecasting an ETA of Thursday morning 0700 local time. - Brian Hancock STANDINGS 2200 UTC January 7 CLASS 1: 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux, Bernard Stamm, 183 miles from finish; 2. Solidaires, Thierry Dubois, 423 miles behind leader; 3. Hexagon, Graham Dalton, 737 mbl, 4. Tiscali, Simone Bianchetti, 756 mbl; 5. Pindar, Emma Richards, 999 mbl; 6. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 1193 mbl. CLASS 2: 1. Tommy Hilfiger, Brad Van Liew, 1383 miles from finish; 2. Everest Horizontal, Tim Kent, 710 mbl. 3. Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield, 945 mbl; 4. Spirit of yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 1089 mbl, BTC Velocity, Alan Paris, 1700 mbl. - www.aroundalone.com ETCHELLS SOUTH ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP Biscayne Bay YC, Florida - Final results (49 boats) 1. Swedish Blue, Ante Razmilovic, 23; 2. Baby Doll, Yandell Rogers, 27; 3. Twelve Twenty -One, Jud Smith/ Henry Frazer, 29; 4 As Easy As, Robbie Doyle, 33; 5. Pipe Dream 12, Scott Piper, 36. - http://www.etchellsfleet20.org/racing/results.htm STERN SCOOP A sigh of relief tonight in Auckland as the 3 PM deadline for any technical protests (measurement, construction, nationality, etc.) passed with none filed by any of the remaining teams. However, rumours persist of possible future challenges to the TNZ "hula" false-hull appendage. On Monday Alinghi filed a list of questions with the jury about enforcement of the measurement committee's ruling that TNZ must assure the measurers that the appendage cannot touch the hull at any time, including while racing in rough conditions and tight turns during pre-start manuevering. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS It hurts to be on the cutting edge. |
