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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 779 - March 23, 2001Scuttlebutt 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 and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome. SUN MICROSYSTEMS AUSTRALIA CUP Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, and his Enso Stora Team, who had shared the top of the leaderboard with Gilmour overnight, started the day well, chalking up a string of wins. However his day went wrong, when the veteran Chris Dickson and the Oracle Sailing Team, inflicted the first defeat of the regatta on the Swede. After that the Swedish America's Cup skipper came up against Peter Gilmour, and suffered his second defeat of the day, in a race that Gilmour controlled from start to finish. It was a slow start to the day, with the teams waiting on the lawns of the Royal Perth Yacht Club until mid-morning, for the wind to ruffle a glassey Swan River. However when the legendary Fremantle Doctor seabreeze did arrive, it did so with some gusto, building rapidly to 20 knots at lunchtime, then 25 knots by the middle of the afternoon. - John Roberson SCORES AFTER DAY 2: Peter Gilmour (USA) 11 0; Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 9 2; Luc Pillot (FRA) 7 4; Gavin Brady (ITA) 7 4; Ken Read (USA) 6 4; Neville Wittey (AUS) 5 6; Andy Beadsworth (GBR) 5 6; Chris Dickson (USA) 4 7; Jes-Gram Hansen (DEN) 3 8; James Spithill (USA) 3 8; Nicola Celon (ITA) 3 8; Jesper Radich (DEN) 2 8. Event website: www.rpyc.com.au THE RACE Team Legato are still only about 250nm off the coast of Brazil, but have started to add some easting to their course. As skipper Tony Bullimore rounds the northeastern tip of Brazil in the next 48 hours, Warta Polpharma should be completing their repairs and preparing to resume The Race. Earlier Thursday, Bullimore said: "If they can repair the split in their port bow within the next 24 to 48 hours, we will have a real Race on our hands all the way back to Marseilles." - Martin Cross, NOW Sports website, http://www.now.com/feature.now?fid=1422591&cid=997704 POSITIONS on March 23 @ 0230 GMT: Team Adventure, 285.5 miles to finish; Warta Polpharma, 3719.9 miles; Team Legato, 4056.5 miles. http://www.therace.org RED, WHITE AND BLUE NEW PLAYER * Teaming up with naval architect Tom Wylie and Portland boatbuilder Steve Rander, Schawb is spearheading a unique American-made Open 60 that his team hopes will put the US on the map in the arena of single-handed open-ocean racing. Most Open 60s are rendered in carbon fiber, which is light and strong but expensive to work with. As with any sailing campaign, budgets play a big part in getting things off the drawing board and onto the water. Originally dubbed Made in America and since renamed Ocean Planet to reflect the environmental focus the group hopes to bring to classrooms around the world, Schwab's team has taken a pragmatic approach in building a cold-molded Open 60. Using an innovative blend of several types of woods based on their structural properties along with composites, the end result is intended to be a boat that has been built for about half the cost of an all carbon fiber boat-and one that is light and strong enough to give the competition a serious run for the money. "What we are making here is an extremely fast, yet practical boat," says designer Tom Wylie. "This is not a wild, rule-twisted design. [Ocean Planet] will feature an easily driven, low-drag hull, equally ideal for shorthanded racing or ocean cruising for the average sailor." - Mark Matthews, SailNet website. Full story: ADMIRALS CUP LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON leweck@earthlink.net * From: Brian Macomber blmacomber@hotmail.com In response to the gentleman's disbelief that they wont sink, think what they are full of. Toys, sneakers, electronics etc. etc. all packed in Styrofoam. Some of those suckers are never going to sink. * From: "Brian Hancock" greatcircle@mediaone.net CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: On this happy note, I now declare this thread officially dead. * From Dennis Franklin dfranklin345@excite.com However, one thing this format won't do is get more sponsorship money. Sponsors need a very consistent platform in order to make a long-term commitment to an event. The uncertainty of venue location every two years will quickly eliminate the vast majority of companies as candidate sponsors - for the team and even more so for the event. The solution in getting more sponsors to spend more money throughout the sport lies in coordinating the schedules of current regattas that have some recognition within the market place, developing new and exciting events, creating a larger platform of global media distribution tools, and having a good story to tell. If the active racing community yawns over the debate that rages about what rating rule and/or boat should be used, what do you think the reaction is going to be in a corporate Board room when decisions are made based on millions of marketing dollars, and more importantly, where their precious and well nurtured brand identity is going to be displayed? * From: David P. Bishop dpbishop@dpbishop.com Admirals Cup crews are now all professional sailors, but even they can benefit from having a competent local one-design fleet to train against before traveling thousands of miles to compete. If you're going to specify a one-design boat, instead of using a design rule, you have to make sure it is a boat that is universally available. * From: "Cory Friedman" c.friedman@worldnet.att.net There will always be some gamesmanship, but if an event is desirable enough to draw the key players, no one will be able to stay away. Corporations that wish to succeed take pains to find out what their customers want and make sure they give it to them. When was the last time that anyone attended a regatta in which the organizers solicited feedback in order to improve the next event? Many venerable events will eventually go from "biggest turnout ever" to "where did everyone go," sooner than they think, unless they start paying attention to the customers. (Remember when GM had 60+% of the market?) The America's Cup change from 12 Meters to IACCs is an example of listening to the customers on one out of many issues. What we are seeing is merely "creative destruction." Someone is bound to step in with a format that will attract those who passed on the Admiral's Cup and racing will be better off. * From: Ralph Taylor Therefore, the suggestion to ask them what it would take for them to come to the party makes a lot of sense to me. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: On this sensible note we'll kill this thread too. Have a nice weekend. * From: Michael Raabe sailfaster@hotmail.com 2004 OLYMPICS Amidst reports of chaos in Athens and dissatisfaction among the International Olympic Committee on progress with the facilities for 2004, sailing looks as if it might be one of the few sports to escape the worst horrors of Greek mismanagement. The proposed site of the sailing venue is some eight miles south of the city centre and away from the worst of the congestion and pollution. The current plan is to build a marina for the 400 competing sailors on the coast adjacent to the existing International Airport. The ambitious plan is to redevelop this airport into a national park, once the new international airport, to the north of the city, is fully operational. Judging from the plans shown on the official Olympic website (www.athens.olympic.org/en/), the Aghlos Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre should be nothing short of spectacular. The only problem is, nothing is under construction as yet. Currently, a partly completed breakwater sticks out into the sea and that's about it. There is of course nothing new in this. Sydney was no different. With three-and-a-half years to go, the Australians had identified Rushcutter's Bay as the venue and designated the sailing courses both inside and outside the harbour. No other facilities were in place. Barcelona was just as bad with the concrete lorries still pouring out their loads just days before the regatta was due to begin. The site in Savannah was never really finished. - Peter Bentley, madforsailing website. Full story: http://www.madforsailing.com/ AMERICA'S CUP JUBILEE Amongst the entries received so far are thirty-two 12-Metres, the class used for America's Cup competition between 1958 and 1987. This class will be racing for the Prada 12-Metre World Championship title during the America's Cup Jubilee on the Solent in August. The most famous 12-Metre of all, Australia II, will likely be the class flagship. Australia II is widely regarded as an icon among 12-metres. The Ben Lexcen designed sloop, with John Bertrand at the helm, defeated Dennis Conner's Liberty in 1983 to become the first challenger to wrest the America's Cup from American hands in 132 years. But the entry of Australia II is yet to be confirmed, with syndicate head Warren Jones still looking for funding to bring Australia II to Cowes for the summer. Another Australian 12-Metre that is confirmed is South Australia, which represented one of the four defender syndicates in the 1986-87 defender trials in Fremantle. The current era of the America's Cup will be represented by a fleet of International America's Cup Class boats including two older vintage boats from Bill Koch, at least one of the Prada boats from the 2000 America's Cup, and the two British boats which were sailed by the Japanese syndicate in Auckland in 2000. Also present will be the French boat from 1999 and NZL-32, the boat that won the Cup for Team New Zealand in 1995. The classic era of the America's Cup is also well represented with
Endeavour, Shamrock V and Velsheda all confirmed entries for the America's
Cup Jubilee. The three are three of the four British built Js that were
last seen together in the Solent before the second World War. - Event Media
as posted on the Sail-World website, PODIUM FINISHES SAILING ON TV * Maxi yacht racing comes to OLN with coverage from several regattas
throughout the world. This series provides coverage of professional sailing
teams competing in such events as the 900 Mile Race from Cadiz, Spain to
Lorient, France, the Adecco World Championships and Sweden's famed Around
Gotland Race. Hosted by Peter Isler. MELGES 24 NATIONALS QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Gavin Brady THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
