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SCUTTLEBUTT 1503 - January 23, 2004Powered 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. FIVE WAY SHOOT-OUT IN FARR 40 CLASS KEY WEST, Fla.---Three boats have clinched class championships with a race to spare in Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004, presented by Nautica, but center stage is set for a fiery final act in the internationally spiced Farr 40 and Melges 24 classes Friday. The top five of 23 Farr 40s are within two points, precariously led by Crocodile Rock. Alexandra Geremia and Scott Harris' defending champion from Santa Barbara has no wins but a one-point lead. Jim Richardson's Barking Mad, Newport, R.I., and Peter de Ridder's Dutch entry, Mean Machine, share second, with Steve and Fred Howe's Warpath, San Diego, and Marc Ewing's Riot, Northeast Harbor, Maine, another point back. How the day will go between France's Sebastian Col and California's 14-year-old world champion, Samuel (Shark) Kahn, to settle the Melges 24 issue is anyone's guess. Although Kahn won both races on a windy Thursday, Col, helmsman for Philippe Ligot's P&P Sailing Team, discarded his 59-point second race and leads by five points coming into the ninth and final go-round. Nobody else can catch them. "Tomorrow we can match race," said Col, 26, the 2002 European rankings champion, 2003 U.S. national champion and strategist for France's Le Defi Challenge in the last America's Cup. "I'm very confident with my match racing because I'm match racing all the time. Les Crouch of San Diego, Mike Rose of Kemah, Tex. and Michael Gray of New Orleans will be more laid back. Crouch's R/P 43 Storm, Rose's J/133 Raincloud and Gray's Melges 30 Tiburon have first place secured in PHRF 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Thursday's sidelights included an America's Cup veteran, Peter Holmberg, going overboard off Tom Hill's R/P 75 Titan, the largest boat in the regatta, and Joerg Esdom's J/105 Kincsem from Rye, N.Y. losing its mast in a collision with a non-regatta powerboat while returning to port after winning the last race. Meanwhile, the California roll continued for Boat of the Day honors. Tom Coates' J/105 Masquerade from San Francisco made it 4-for-4 on Lewmar Day after first and fourth places and is six points behind a familiar California foe, Rich Bergmann's front-running Zuni Bear. Crocodile Rock finished seventh and 13th Thursday - its first double-digit finish - but hung onto its lead. Tactician Vince Brun said, "It's like a basketball game in this class. The first part is just showtime. The last five minutes is when everything happens." Rich Roberts Thursday's weather: 65 F.; wind 14, gusts to 20, N-NW. Friday's forecast: 60-65 F.; 15-20K, N. Complete results: www.premiere-racing.com/04_KW_Results/kw_2004_releases.htm You must see the new additions to the Key West photo gallery - they are hot: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/keywest/ WILL THE YELLOW TURN TO GREEN? Skipper Steve Fossett advised earlier today that the present weather pattern for the start of the Round The World sailing record bid by the maxi-catamaran 'Cheyenne', although imperfect, was still a potential 'Code Green' for a departure from Plymouth base Friday midday. He is en-route to Plymouth from the USA, arriving Friday morning to join his 12 man crew on the 125' maxi-catamaran. "We've been on weather standby since mid-December - and the current weather pattern is the best we've seen so far," Fossett said. "We would, of course, prefer a rapid trip south - but we might have to accept nine days to the equator. We'll make a final decision on Friday morning. Otherwise the next opportunity is into February." - www.fossettchallenge.com * David Scully, watch captain aboard Steve Fossett's 125ft super-cat Cheyenne, filed what could be his final yachtingworld.com report before the start of the Jules Verne Challenge: The forecast is not the best. We will have good wind to the Canaries, and then the progs show light air conditions for a day or so before the trades return. As of noon today, we are looking at a nine-day trip to the equator. This is two and a half days longer than the top time, set by Enza. Is it good enough to go on? As Joseph Stalin used to say, "Happiness is the ideal combination of expectation and reality." If this picture is not the one we want, we will have to wait until 5 February for the next one. Will we find happiness up against the sill of the forecasting window, or is it reality that we could wait a long time for the perfect pattern? - Yachting World, full report: http://www.yachting-world.com/yw/home.htm QUOTE / UNQUOTE (In the February issue of Seahorse magazine, the Swedish Match Race Tour Director, Scott MacLeod was asked by Tim Jeffery why the Tour pays so little regard to the ISAF Match Race Rankings in determining who they invite to their events. Here's MacLeod's response.) "Because they have no creditability. We know the ranking do not contain the sailors considered by most people to be the top 10 in the world. The rankings lose more credibility every day. The Bermuda Gold Cup is about to be downgraded from a Grade 1 event because it does not meet ISAF requirements. That shows you how out of touch ISAF are. Look at the quality of the sailors … is being downgraded our fault for not inviting sufficient 'ranked sailors' or is it the fault of the system for being out of touch?" - http://seahorsemagazine.com/ SORC ADVANTAGE You can have the advantage at the Acura SORC event by having your very own Raider RIB Tender for your use throughout the entire regatta. A Raider Cabin 900 (30 feet) with twin 225HP Honda's is available for charter. This Raider RIB (with driver provided) can give you the same advantages that the Grand Prix fleets have become accustomed to for years! Only one boat is available. Check out the Raider RIB Cabin 900 at the website or call 877-7RAIDER to reserve today. http://www.raiderboat.com COMING TO BOSTON The Transat 2004 is coming to Boston in early June for the first time since it began in 1960. The Transat - created as the OSTAR - is a solo ocean race from England to America - and is arguably one of the world's toughest trans-ocean races. Offshore Challenges of England, the race organizers, chose Boston for the 12th running of the Transat in part because the city has the infrastructure to cope with the record number of 60-foot long (and in the case of the triamarans 60-foot wide) boats from 13 countries expected to take part in the Transat 2004. Offshore Challenges is partnering with the Boston Harbor Hotel which is located at Rowes' Wharf just off the Transat finish line. To inspire the next generation of sailors, Offshore Challenges will donate proceeds earned during the event to Courageous Sailing Center, a non-profit sailing center that provides free sailing to all city youth in Boston. As the solo sailors compete across 3,000 nautical miles, the world's best single-handed, professional sailors will arrive in less than 10 days, traveling at speeds of up to 30 knots. Three New Englanders, Boston-based Rich Wilson, Joe Harris of Manchester-by-the-Sea and Kip Stone of Freeport, Maine will race in the Open 50 class. - Laurie Fullerton, http://www.thetransat.com NEWS BRIEFS * New England Boatworks (NEB), a Portsmouth-based yacht manufacturer and marina, has donated $12,000 to become a Corporate Level Partner of Sail Newport's Fleet 2004 Capital Campaign. They join J/Boats, Hood Sailmakers, US Watercraft, Harken and Hall Spars as Rhode Island corporations that have donated in-kind products or funds to help Sail Newport's campaign to purchase twelve new J/22 sailboats. To date, the non-profit organization has pledges exceeding $200,000 towards the campaign's $300,000 goal. To show solidarity with RI's marine industry, Sail Newport committed to construct the fleet entirely in Rhode Island. - www.sailnewport.org * America's Cup broadcaster and professional racing sailor Peter Isler is giving a special presentation on "The State of the Sport of Sailing" at 4:30 pm on the opening day of the Strictly Sail Chicago Boat Show - Chicago's Navy Pier, Thursday, January 29. After the presentation The Bitter End Yacht Club is hosting a reception at their booth (#182) so their past guests, industry partners and Scuttlebutt Sailing Club members (that's you) can meet Peter and get caught up on this year's upcoming Pro Am Regatta and Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championships. * Suspended from a crane like a dragonfly, Franck Cammas's new 2.9 million Euro, Van Peteghem/ Lauriot-Prévost-designed 60ft trimaran Groupama 2 was finally, after 13 months under construction, lowered into the water yesterday. She will now be towed over 30 miles to Lorient and put in dry dock to enable Cammas and team to complete the build. Cammas hopes that Groupama 2 will be ready for sea trials in May but has decided to sail his original Groupama in The Transat which starts from Plymouth, UK, on 31 May. - Sue Pelling, Yachting World, full report: http://www.yachting-world.com/yw/home.htm WE GOOFED We got a flood of mail about the obviously flawed answer to yesterday's trivia question which stated, "Earth is covered by one hydrosphere or one layer of connecting water. Even though the ocean is broken up into seven ocean parts, all the oceans are connected, one flowing into the other." Here's what Encyclopedia.com says on the subject: "Of the four major units that comprise the world ocean, three - the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans - extend northward from Antarctica as huge "gulfs" separating the continents. The fourth, the Arctic Ocean, nearly landlocked by Eurasia and North America and nearly circular in outline, caps the north polar region. The Antarctic Ocean is sometimes considered a fifth, separate ocean, extending from the shores of Antarctica northward to about 40°S lat. The major oceans are further subdivided into smaller regions loosely called seas, gulfs, or bays. Some of these seas, such as the Sargasso Sea of the North Atlantic Ocean, are only vaguely defined, while others, such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Black Sea, are almost totally surrounded by land areas. - http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/ocean_theworldocean.asp It probably should be noted that Dictionary.com considers the Antarctic a true ocean. While a bit embarrassed by the error, the curmudgeon totally enjoyed a letter from Douglas Johnstone which said in part, "I bet that if one tried to give that hydrosphere answer in a high school quiz about how many oceans there are, one would receive a resounding F, followed by having to write out the names of all seven oceans on the chalk board one hundred times over! Of course it has been twenty years since I was in high school. Maybe they have changed that class instruction." CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar HOLD ON When the spray is flying and the boards are hummin', the last things you want to worry about are your sheet hand getting tired or having to fumble with a cleat. Ronstan/Frederiksen ratchet blocks are the answer. Their patented extruded hole design sheaves provide up to a 14:1 holding power while an on/off switch on both sides make it easy to turn off, even under load. Available in 60, 75, and 100 mm, from dinghies to maxis, where superior holding power is necessary, Ronstan/Frederiksen ratchets won't fail you. Available now at Annapolis Performance Sailing, click for more info... https://www.apsltd.com/depts/dept3595.asp 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 Tom Keogh: Paul Henderson's rant in 'Butt 1502 is way out of line. What organization should tolerate a leader who expresses such open contempt and derision towards its membership? He thinks there should be more female delegates to ISAF - fair enough. I expect most sailors would agree, but not for the reasons he gives. His broad and bigoted generalizations, name calling and selective use of facts were offensive and unbecoming of his office. He says that the way to have more female delegates is to set a quota. I think that's wrong - a quota is a blunt instrument. It coerces behavior which would not occur voluntarily. In other words - it is a failure of leadership. This is another example of ISAF becoming too big, intrusive and bureaucratic. If this continues, they will make themselves irrelevant to most sailors. * From Chris Ericksen (edited to our 250-word limit): In fewer than 250 words, ISAF President Paul Henderson has managed to be condescending, factually incorrect and take a shot at the Star class ('Butt 1502). First, women have been part of sailing at all levels practically since mankind took to water. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women regularly went to sea with their men in merchant vessels, often serving as navigators or mates. Women have been part of sailboat racing for over 100 years, too, with more than one example of women aboard championship race boats from the America's Cup on down, and in positions of responsibility. I don't deny there are "old boy's clubs," but they aren't found afloat nearly as often as they are found in boardrooms and barrooms ashore. Second, I am outraged by the gratuitous slap taken at "the big boys in the Star" class at the Cadiz Worlds. They were kept ashore by order of the ISAF-dictated sailing instructions, not timidity (asides in the boatpark notwithstanding). I wish Mr. Henderson would get over the fact that the Star Class, alone among the international classes at the Cadiz Worlds, refused to accept the conditions demanded by ISAF and refused to call the event their world championship, something that obviously rankles as he has mentioned it so often and so disparagingly. And I don't have to comment on the statement;" … where the women are you can be sure the men will be." The insensitivity and inanity of this stands alone. * From David Brookes: I would like to comment on Stuart Burnett interruption of RRS 29.2 and 29.3. If Stuart was the Race Officer in a 100 boat fleet and three boats were OCS and he could identify only two of them he would signal General Recall. Is that fair to the 97 boats that have started correctly? Add to the fact that he has identified two out of the three guilty people. In this scenario Stuart would have called a General Recall when 99 of the 100 boats have either started correctly or have been identified by the Race Committee. I guess that is why the smart people the have written the rules have put in the world 'may' in signally the General Recall. That way the 'smart' Race Officers can decide what is 'fair' for whole racing fleet. I view the procedure outlined by Mr. Burnett as both archaic and prejudicial. * From Maxwell Treacy, Ireland: As a racing sailor I have to say that it is annoying that some race officers are prepared to allow a race to progress when there are any unidentified premature starters. It is my opinion that a race is unfair when one or more boats get a lucky head start and are allowed to continue racing. ISAF should make a ruling to the international race officers so that racers can be assured of consistency. As far as I can see, there are currently two types of race officers; those who are prepared to make a general recall due to unidentified premature starters and those who are not. I am pretty sure that the view amongst the sailors is far more unified. We want fair races where everyone starts properly and we are prepared for the black flag to be used more readily in order for this to be achieved. * From Eric Camiel (edited to our 250-word limit): I was appalled by Patrick Dore's account of going overboard. First, he says boats sailed past him in the water asking if he was OK. A person in cold water is not OK even if he thinks he is. Any boat failing to immediately attempt to aid a person overboard should be disqualified and the skipper banned from racing for life. Second, 12 minutes to take down the chute and motor back is an excessively long time and goes counter to most procedures now recommended. I was filming in the '82 Onion patch with owner Pat Malloy at the helm of Intuition 50 in 30 knots when we lost a man overboard during a take down. With the chute still flying, he immediately came into the wind, let the sheet and guy run, left the chute blowing free from the mast head and jogged back under main. I timed the incident on the film. We had the victim back in under 90 seconds. The first priority should be staying in visual contact with and retrieving the MOB as quickly as possible without endangering the crew. To do this you must stop the boat immediately, particularly when going down wind. Preserving the chute should be way down the list. Every safety expert will tell you frequent practice and communicating to everyone about what to expect in MOB situations is the key to a successful recovery. This is particularly true for a thrown together crew, even if they are all rock stars. * From Ricky Chalmers: I think Scott Ridgeway is missing a subtle point. The Global Challenge is not a yacht race for experienced yacht racers who would be able to get a place on an ocean yacht race. This is a race for ordinary men and women who have absolutely no sailing experience, and no ocean yacht racing experience. We (I am doing the 2004 Global Challenge) would not be able to get to race around the world in an ocean yacht race like the Volvo because we don't have the experience. What we get for our "big pile of money" is the chance to be trained into Ocean Yacht Racers and to race around the world with like minded individuals. It is true that racing around the world with "the wrong people" would be pure torture, but we have the luxury of building our team over four years of training and then one year of extensive team building once the race teams get announced (as happened on Saturday the 17th at the London Boat Show). The next eight months before the race start in October is going to be critical in ensuring that our teams are filled with "the right sort of people". The Global Challenge is far more than a yacht race around the world…it is a Challenge of a lifetime and a life changing experience. Personally I am happy to have sweated, and saved to pay the "big pile of money" to be a part of it all. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS While young people enjoy skinny dipping, as you age a bit it's more like chunky dunking. |
