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SCUTTLEBUTT 2483 – November 27, 2007Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, featuresand dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors. FOSSETT DECLARED LEGALLY DEAD (November 26, 2007) The wife of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who disappeared while flying his plane in September in rugged Western terrain, asked a court Monday to declare him legally dead. "As painful as it is for Mrs. Fossett, other members of the family and his many friends, it is time to initiate this process," said attorney Michael A. LoVallo, who filed the petition in Cook County Circuit Court. The request was a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett's estate, which according to court papers is "vast, surpassing eight figures in liquid assets, various entities and real estate," LoVallo said. Fossett, 63, disappeared Sept. 3 after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif. Fossett was on a pleasure flight and not looking for a dry lake to use as a surface on which to set the world land speed record, as was initially reported, according to the petition filed on behalf of Peggy V. Fossett. He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal, the petition said. There was a transponder aboard but no signal was received. With winter closing in, a rescue effort that involved dozens of planes and helicopters was officially suspended after more than a month of searching. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a preliminary report that the plane was destroyed in a fatal accident. Fossett had become one of America's best-known adventurers in more than a decade of pouring his fabulous wealth - earned in Chicago's commodities markets - into chases for world records in sailing, ballooning and other rugged and sometimes dangerous outdoor activities. -- Yahoo News, full story: http://tinyurl.com/3am58l SIGHTING THE EARLY LAYLINE Gavin Brady appeared concerned. He glanced at it one way, then took a few steps, and gave it a second look from his new perspective. He didn't seem any happier. The object of his consternation was the mocked-up companionway aboard Jim Swartz's new STT 65, Moneypenny, currently under construction at McConaghy Boats just north of Sydney, Australia. Brady will serve as Swartz's tactician and offshore helmsman when the boat makes its U.S. debut next spring in New England in advance of the Newport-Bermuda Race, and he was in town a week ago along with several other key members of the campaign--Swartz, project managers Ken Keefe and Kimo Worthington, and navigator Mark Rudiger--to put final stamps of approval on hundreds of details as the build goes into its final stages. But what was it, exactly, that had given Brady pause? "That main hatch," he said. "I'm not sure it's big enough." It was hard, at first, to see what he meant, but as he began to explain what was running through his mind, it was clear that he was already on the racecourse, working upwind, visualizing the possibilities. Moneypenny's first regatta is six months away, on the other side of the planet, but for Brady, it wasn't too early to start breaking down the scenarios. "Even though this boat has a big keel on it, it also has a lot of sail area," he said. "We're going to be lacking stability nearly all of the time, so we're going to be hiking. So we don't want people struggling to get sails up and down hatches. We want the sail on deck and the guys back on the rail, hiking." -- Herb McCormick, Sailing World, read on: http://forums.sailingworld.com/blogs/?q=node/107 MELGES 32 TRAINING REGATTA The Melges 32 Winter Series kicks off this weekend at the Lauderdale Yacht Club. Over twenty Melges 32's will be participating in a unique event….a training regatta. There will be great racing and great coaching on the water as well as evening debriefs with video. Tuning discussions with the emphasis on teamwork! A real speed clinic for all involved. After this weekend, the Melges 32 fleet goes to Key West for the Midwinter's, where over thirty boats are possible. This is a real up and coming fleet! Details at http://www.melges32.com * A quick look at entrants show that there will be plenty of talent using this event to prep for Key West: Jud Smith, Jeff Ecklund, Harry Melges, Michael Illbruck, John Kostecki, Rick Merriman, Seadon Wijsen, Jim Swartz, Kimo Worthington, Jay Lutz, etc. OLYMPIC WATER TORTURE It was a slip and a mouthful of water that took 10 months to recover from and almost sabotaged an Olympic dream. Australian 2008 Olympic 470 representative Elise Rechichi, training with her sailing partner Tessa Parkinson in the Chinese city of Qingdao two years before the pair was aiming to win a medal in the same place, lost her footing on a boat ramp and took in a small sample of the river into her surprised mouth. "I think in that mouthful there was probably billions of bacteria," Rechichi concludes now, having only recently recuperated from the severe gastric trauma that caused the then 20-year-old to shed more than 10 kilograms off what was an already tiny 50-kilogram frame. "It's very easy to get sick just by being in Beijing itself. It's compounded by the fact that where we sail, they pump sewerage out." -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/2qe63z THE CURSE OF THE AMERICA'S CUP Since it was founded in 1851, dozens of fanatical tycoons have lost millions in search of yachting's greatest prize. Some have even lost their lives. * British tea baron Sir Thomas Lipton splurged five fortunes racing for the cup between 1899 and 1930. He never won. * Alan Bond, the larger-than-life Australian entrepreneur, finally wrested the trophy from the Americans in 1983. He was subsequently jailed for fraud. * In 1992 Italian industrialist Raul Gardini won the challenge round, but then lost to the incumbent America 3. He went home, wrote a one-word suicide note — "Grazie" — and killed himself. * Italian fashion icon Maurizio Gucci sponsored a cup syndicate that never won and in 1995 was shot dead by a man later proven to have been hired by his wife, Patrizia Martinelli. * New Zealand's Sir Peter Blake, who steered the Kiwis to victory in 1995 and 2000, was shot and killed by pirates in 2001 on the Amazon River. -- Telegraph, http://tinyurl.com/37bof9 * Troubled times: America's Cup skipper Brad Butterworth's $1.3 million dream home project on Waiheke Island has run aground. He has been served with an order to stop work immediately on the Oneroa site because of concerns about the safety of its excavations. Waiheke Island is in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand and is located about 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland. -- NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10478331 BARCELONA WORLD RACE Open 60 doublehanded round the world race (started Nov 11; 25,000-miles) (November 26, 2007) Vincent Riou and Seb Josse on PRB was set up about 30 miles to the west of Paprec-Virbac 2, and this made all the difference as the distinctive orange boat emerged from the doldrums Monday morning over 20 miles ahead. Paprec-Virbac 2 was up to speed again not long afterwards and with third placed Veolia Environnement nearly 100 miles back, the two leaders will now sprint down to the third scoring gate 350 miles away off the coast of Brazil. By late Monday afternoon, most of the fleet was still enveloped by what appears to be a rather tame doldrums. For most, speeds are still in single digits as teams weave between rainsqualls and thunder cells, with winds changing quickly between three and 30 knots. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com Day 16 Positions - November 26, 2007 - 18:00 (GMT) 1. PRB - Vincent Riou (FRA)/Sébastien Josse (FRA), 21,574 DTF 2. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)/Damian Foxall (IRE), 30 miles DTL 3. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain (FRA)/Jean-Luc Nélias (FRA), 123 4. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson (GBR)/Andrew Cape (AUS), 170 5. Delta Dore - Jérémie Beyou (FRA)/Sidney Gavignet (FRA), 178 6. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso Windmann (ESP)/Pachi Rivero (ESP), 183 7. Temenos II - Dominique Wavre (SUI)/Michéle Paret (FRA), 201 8. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill (ESP)/Jonathan McKee (USA), 275 9. Educación sin Fronteras -Albert Bargués (ESP)/Servanne Escoffier (FRA),608 ELITE AND EXCLUSIVE... 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MacArthur, 31, does not know how she would feel about someone beating her achievement, but she sounds more and more like someone eyeing another grand campaign after 2010, when her company’s new multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with BT expires. Talk of her retirement and conversion to being a businesswoman or eco-warrior has been greatly exaggerated. “I’m a sailor first,” she said. Francis Joyon, the 51-year-old Breton, set sail from Brest last Friday morning and is attempting to regain the record that MacArthur took from him in February 2005. Joyon is the big beast of solo sailing and in his 97-foot trimaran IDEC II - 20 feet longer than MacArthur’s B&Q – he should take the record. If Joyon does not, then Thomas Colville, who was going to leave on the same day from Les Sables D’Ollones, but postponed briefly, may. His boat, Sodebo, is 15 feet longer than MacArthur’s. -- Times Online, read on: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/sailing/article2944237.ece * (November 26, 2007) As of 17:00 UTC, Francis Joyon at the helm of the giant multihull IDEC had a theoretical advance over the current solo round the world record holder Ellen Macarthur by 181.5 miles. Joyon had been able to maintain speed in the low 20’s during most of the day, and had traveled 508nm over the past 24 hours. -- http://www.trimaran-idec.com SAILING SHORTS * The deadline for online nominations for US Sailing’s Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards is Friday, November 30, 2007. At the conclusion of the nomination period, a shortlist of nominees is presented to a panel of noted sailing journalists who discuss the merits of each and vote to determine the award winners. In February 2008, the winners will be presented with the perpetual Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year trophy and each winner will each be presented with a specially engraved Rolex timepiece. To nominate a sailor, go to http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex * A German company will soon launch an ocean-going vessel that will rely primarily on huge wind sails rather than increasingly expensive oil. Germany's SkySails has outfitted a 460-foot cargo ship, the Beluga SkySails, with kites the size of football fields to harness the wind and move it in a cheaper, more environmentally friendly way. The ship is to embark Dec. 15 on its initial voyage from Denmark to Houston. -- UPI, full story: http://tinyurl.com/32g8kk * The USRowing Man of the Year Award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to men's rowing. This year's recipient is Conn Findlay. Findlay has served the sport of rowing with great distinction for more than a half century. He is a three-time Olympic-rowing medalist in the pair with coxswain, having won gold in 1956 and 1964 and bronze in 1960. Findlay competed in his fourth Olympics in 1976, winning a bronze medal with Dennis Conner in sailing's Tempest class. He also competed on the winning America's Cup sailing crews in 1975 and 1977. -- Full story: http://row2k.com/news/news.cfm?ID=33332 * Correction: In Issue 2482, the story titled THE BIG GAME made reference to the first Big Game between Cal and Stanford being held in 1982. It was actually in 1892 when the two schools first met, and it was 1982 when the famous play occurred. EIGHT BELLS International yachtswoman, artist, musician and rower Katie Clemson, died in London 23rd November, following a seven year battle with cancer. Originally from West Wyalong, NSW, Australia, Katie traveled to London in 1972 to study art, and very soon became involved in the world of sailing. She twice completed the double-handed round Britain and Ireland race, once with friend Pippa Sawyer, then a second time with her husband Alex Allan, sailing the smallest boat in the fleet. In her many travels to all corners of the world, Katie’s guitar was never far from her hand, and she could get a sing-song going in no time, most famously at the British prime minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street, at a farewell party for Alex, who had worked there with John Major. Her artistic specialty were lino-cut prints, and she produced series of prints based on many of her adventures, including a “Round Britain” suite featuring the stopovers of that race. More recently she did a series on the boatsheds of Pittwater, north of Sydney. Her final exhibition runs until 2nd December at the Bankside Gallery in London. Having lived in Canberra and Fremantle between 1998 and 2004 she and Alex returned to London and lived in a Thames side artist’s apartment over recent years. Her energy and enthusiasm will be missed by all who knew her. GREAT GIFTS FOR SAILORS! Onne van der Wal’s online gallery is a one-stop shop for easy gifting to your family, crew, sailing buddies & anyone on your list who loves wind and water. From affordable mini prints, calendars, notecards, posters & books to stunning limited editions - framed, unframed or on canvas; find it all at http://www.vanderwal.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and may be edited for clarity or simplicity (letters shall be no longer than 250 words). You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot, don't whine if others disagree, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Charlie McKee: (In response to Dean Brenner's comments in Scuttlebutt 2481) Dean Brenner is a good man, and seems to doing an excellent job re-vamping the US Olympic Sailing team. He has a clear focus on trying to help the US win more medals, which is appropriate; that is his job. Having said that, many would question if that (short-term) goal should form the primary basis for US policy regarding the future direction of Olympic sailing. If all countries think and vote in this manner, then no one will be looking out for the best interests of the sport as a whole, and there will be no overall direction or vision. This is equivalent to every US Senator voting only what is best for their state with no regard for the country as a whole. People expect more. It will also be very difficult to evolve, as self-interest will dictate that countries do whatever they can to preserve existing classes or classes in which they are individually strong. I think much of the dissatisfaction from this current controversy is not just based on exclusion of a particular class (the decisions for which will always be difficult and disappoint many), but from a perceived lack of coherent direction. When the skiff (subsequently 49er) was chosen for the 2000 Olympic cycle, many called it a mistake, that it was too specialized and would only be competitively raced by a select few. A few short years later this has been proven to be totally false, and the class and event are without question appropriate for what should be the pinnacle of our sport. It certainly would seem that women should be allowed that same opportunity. This exclusion as well as that of the multihull seems to epitomize a lack of forward thinking in regards to Olympic sailing. * From Richard Johnson (re the Olympic mess): In the future, when people ask me why I don't support US Sailing, and am not a member of that organization, I'm simply going to refer them to the interview that Kimball Livingston did for Sail magazine with US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Committee chair Dean Brenner. In that interview (in Issue 2481), Brenner quickly acknowledged that when the delegation from US Sailing voted on which classes of boats should be included in the 2012 Olympic Games, the gave no weight whatsoever to what was 'best for the sport.' Their only criterion was to the support the classes that gave the USA its 'best medal prospects.' My only question now is why anyone would support a sport's national governing body that is admittedly NOT interested in what is best for that sport? * From Damian Christie: So, Alinghi has postponed the America’s Cup and is threatening to call Oracle’s bluff next year (if the New York Supreme Court rules against CNEV). Hamish Ross insists Alinghi would have to meet Oracle’s catamaran challenge because to negotiate a new protocol would give carte blanche to any challenger who doesn’t like the rules to go off to court. Alinghi still doesn’t get it. It is this big-headed, punitive attitude that has got it into trouble from the start. We wouldn’t be facing the prospect of a 90x90ft catamaran shoot-out if Alinghi: a) hadn’t drawn up such an unethical protocol with CNEV to start with, b) had consulted with all the challengers from the outset, c) had not threatened challengers with expulsion at any time for little or no reason, d) had not attempted to develop the new AC90 yacht in secret without input from the challengers, and e) had not tried to schedule the Cup within such a ridiculously short time frame. If Ernesto Bertarelli and Alinghi are really serious about improving the Cup, then they will return to the negotiating table and convene a competitors’ committee (comprising all the challengers who have assembled to date, including Oracle) to prepare a fairer protocol. But then that would be backing down, wouldn’t it? It’s time Hamish Ross and Brad Butterworth summoned up the guts to remind their boss that the Cup isn’t about Ernesto Bertarelli – it’s about the America’s Cup! His ego is a footnote in the Cup’s rich history. * From Hank Strauss: (Re Butt 2482) I thought rants were discouraged in ‘Butt. Is that no longer so after the published forum rant by Pepe regarding Ellison? CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old. Special thanks to Melges Performance Sailboats, Team One Newport, and Onne van der Wal Gallery. |
