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SCUTTLEBUTT 2118 - June 19, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.IT’S OVER In the most thrilling of finishes, Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard/ USA) finally crept past ABN Amro Two (Sebastien Josse) in the closing moments of leg nine and crossed the final finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 in Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday at 13:44:06 GMT (14:44:06 local time) to a rapturous welcome by thousands of onlookers cramming the race village in Lindholmen. On this beautiful Swedish summer’s day, thousands of spectators lined the islands and surrounding shoreline as well as taking to the water to applaud the Pirates as they scored their first win of the event and in so doing, secured their position of second place overall. ABN Amro Two finished in second place at 13:48:56 GMT, just four minutes 50 seconds after the American boat. After leading for most of leg nine, Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) finally crossed the line at 14:32:15 MT to take the third podium position, and confirm her third place overall. On finishing, Paul Cayard said: “This couldn’t have been scripted better by anyone in Hollywood.” ABN Amro One crossed the line in last place. But who cares? With a total of 96 points, the team has won the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 with two legs to spare, but it gives a certain piquancy that the team, which has been so dominant for so long, should come last in the last leg. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org Leg Nine Elapsed Times 1. The Black Pearl, 2d 02h 44m 06s 2. ABN Amro Two, 2d 02h 48m 56s 3. Brasil 1, 2d 03h 32m 15s 4. Brunel, 2d 04h 26m 48s 5. Ericsson, 2d 05h 10m 20s 6. ABN Amro One, 2d 05h 26m 57s Volvo Ocean Race Overall Results 1. ABN Amro One, 96 points 2. The Black Pearl, 73 points 3. Brasil 1, 67 points 4. ABN Amro Two, 58.5 points 5. Ericsson, 55 points 6. Moviestar, 48 points 7. Brunel, 15.5 points GROUND-BREAKING CHANGES Organizers of the Volvo Ocean Race announced a raft of ground-breaking changes to the event format with the most significant being an alteration to the four-year cycle with the next race taking place in 2008-2009. The race route has also changed with port stopovers in Asia, the Middle East and the west coast of the United States under consideration. Though the exact course has yet to be finalized, the start port will be confirmed in the next few days. The announcement was made at a press conference in Göteborg – the finish port of the 2005-06 race. Glenn Bourke, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, was joined in unveiling plans for the 2008-09 event by Leif Johansson, President of AB Volvo and CEO of Volvo Group and Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. Bourke added that there were at least two confirmed entries for the 2008-09 race. ‘It is unprecedented for us to be in a position to announce confirmed entries so far ahead of the start of the next iteration of the event. It underlines an overwhelming desire on the part of syndicates and sponsors to be part of the brave new world we have mapped out. We are at a more advanced stage with the planning and preparation for the next event than we have ever been. ‘In addition to the two confirmed entries we have had positive discussions with a number of potential syndicate sponsors. We fully expect some of the existing syndicates to confirm their participation over the coming months. Furthermore, we are a long way down the road in negotiations with ports in the new territories we plan to visit – that includes Asia and the Middle East. ‘We will also announce the start port for the 2008-09 race shortly.’ Referring to the break in the traditional four-year cycle of the race, Bourke said: ‘The feedback we have had from existing and prospective syndicates and sponsors has shaped our thinking on the time frame of the race. ‘We have brought the race forward in order to capitalize on the momentum that has been built up during the 2005-06 race and the excitement generated among non-sailing audiences by the Volvo Open 70. These stunning boats have captured the imagination of a whole new set of fans.’ Bourke said that the general feeling among race stakeholders was that four years was too long a break between events if a wider awareness of the race was to be sustained and sponsors were going to be able to maximize their involvement. The speeds of the Volvo Open 70s, Bourke added, made it feasible to take the race to regions outside of the traditional route. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org THE VIEW OF NEAL MCDONALD (Round the world race veteran Neal McDonald gives his views on the Volvo Ocean Race and the VO70 in an interview posted on thedailysail website. Here are a few excerpts.) “Whatever people say about canting keels they are here to stay. You only have to be on the boat when you press the button and go from 0 to 40 degrees and you are three knots quicker. So we are achieving multihull speeds with a monohull. So in that respect I can’t say it has been anything other than a success. I think the world has learned a lot more about the keels. If we were all starting again and I’m sure we’d have a different approach, but I think we’d be on the right track. "Personally I would go for a bigger crew. I think it is a false economy at present. I’d like to go with 12, so two more. I certainly feel pretty vulnerable with a chute up in the middle of the night with four people on deck. It just doesn’t feel right. You look at the spots on the boat - someone is steering, someone is winding, someone is trimming, someone is on the main. Suddenly you have to call up people if you want to do anything. It is not the way we would go around the world normally. "You could have less sails, but then it makes it even harder. You’d still spend the same amount of money because the sails you have got have to work over a bigger range. So the sail selection becomes all the more critical. Maybe roller furling equipment could be made more attractive in the rule. -- http://www.thedailysail.com DID’YA GET’EM? …did ya? …you know … did’ya get a pair of Kaenon’s for Father’s Day? Lucky you if you did, and if you didn’t, lucky you, too! Because today, the new Basis from Kaenon Polarized released to the public. The first full-rim metal design from Kaenon Polarized, Basis features Kaenon’s SR-91 polarized lenses (Rx-adaptable) and industrial strength custom-engineered dual spring hinges that make Basis the ultimate in Luxury Performance. Basis, for him or her … and dad’s who need’em. Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. See the new Basis and the entire 2006 collection - and a dealer nearest you – at http://www.kaenon.com. SLOW -- REAL SLOW Just prior to their starting signal in the Newport Bermuda Race, Pindar Artemas skippered by Nicholas Black hit a rock and retired, reducing the fleet in the centennial event to 264 boats. And then on Friday night, the Transpac 52 Decision skippered by Stephen Murray from New Orleans, hit a submerged object, forcing them to return to Newport. “Becalmed,” reported Gary Jobson. “Yikes, we are barely moving. After 36 hours of fast sailing our progress aboard Kodiak II is slooow. At the moment we are riding a strong 3 knot current toward Bermuda, so while the crew can't feel it, progress on the chart is a little encouraging. Bermuda is now 240 miles ahead. Our skipper Llwyd Eccelstone just stopped by the chart table and described the conditions as, ‘sucko, sucko.’ Well said.” Joe Harris on Gryphon Solo reported. “The wind has been between 4 and 8 knots all night and we are moving slowly and only occasionally directly towards Bermuda. The forecast is not a pretty picture with a big high pressure system parked in our path delivering very light winds from random directions. It could take us quite a while to negotiate the remaining 315 miles to the Onion Patch.” For team members of the J133 Siren Song who had a strong start in Division 7 on Friday, the captain and crew are preparing for a long race. “We have already made calls and let people know it may be a long haul,” said owner Thomas J. Carroll of New York. “The idea of spending days and days with eight men, no beer or women will be a challenge. However, we are stalking up on water, sunblock and we are carrying a defibrillator and we will take it as it comes.” Race progress can be followed on iBoat Track: www.bermudarace.com Photos of the race start: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/n-b/ GOING HOME FOR THE WINTER? BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson was asked by Julie Ash from the NZ Herald if the team is considering training in Auckland after the end of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season. Dickson’s answer: "We have looked at a several options for a winter training programme in a location other than Valencia and New Zealand is one of the options. With 50 per cent of our team from New Zealand, there are a large number of us who would love to do some summer sailing in NZ and bring the team home for a bit. We won't make the decision until later this season. We have already had informal racing with Team NZ in Valencia so I see no reason why that could not continue." -- http://tinyurl.com/qed57 DOING IT DIFFERENTLY Just when you thought race organizers had explored every possible way to race around the planet, the French have developed a new way of doing it. Beginning in 2009, Solo-Oceans will be staging a solo round the world race that will run every two years with one race per year. The first leg France - New Zealand during the last quarter of the year, followed by the second leg New Zealand - France at the beginning of the following year. And so on. And it will be an ‘equal opportunity’ race, sailed in strict one-designs -- the Monotype Océanique (registered trademark), designed by the Finot-Conq Group in consultation with Michel Desjoyeaux. -- sixteen metre (52-feet) high-tech one-design monohulls, all strictly identical to one another: hull, equipment and sails . . . all of which is geared to make sponsorship more affordable. The first Solo-Oceans will leave France Sunday, October 25th 2009. -- http://www.sailingone.com/gb/ HOT GRAPHICS ON COOL TEES! Long Beach Race Week, Chicago-Mackinac, etc. all selling moisture wicking tees from The Pirate's Lair. Stock your event with the hottest, err.., coolest shirts on the market. Email mailto:info@pirateslair.com or log on for our 300-page catalog at http://www.pirateslair.com/sailing ROLEX COMMODORES’ CUP Thirteen teams from six countries will be pitching up in Cowes, Isle of Wight for the June 26 start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s biennial Rolex Commodores’ Cup. Each of the 13 teams comprises three boats and each of these in turn must fall into a different performance band determined by its IRC rating. Thus teams will comprise slow, medium and fast-rated boats. Racing takes place over six days and includes seven inshore races, a short passage/coastal race on the Wednesday of up to 12 hours duration, while the event as usual will culminate in the 24-36 hour long offshore race finishing on the Saturday. Despite this being a traditionally a cruiser-racer event – only 25% of each boat’s crew can be ISAF Category 3 professionals - competition has never been so high as it will be for this year’s Rolex Commodore’s Cup. Of the six nations, Great Britain, France and Ireland are all fielding three or more triple boat teams. -- www.rorc.org/comcup/index.php SPECTACULAR IMPACT Twelve teams from 10 countries are striving for superiority in one of the most daunting sporting challenges. It takes four years of hard-fought competition to triumph, and to make things harder for upstarts, the trophy-holders automatically qualify for the final - and have the right to defend the prize on waters of their choice. In the 12th Louis Vuitton 'Act', running from June 22 to July 3, sailing teams will be watched live by thousands of spectators, and more than 80 television channels will broadcast their endeavors. New team entrants from China and South Africa will be set alongside more familiar competitors from New Zealand, Europe and the United States, each on budgets ranging from £30m to £65m (US$120m). Whatever the outcome, there is no doubting the spectacular impact that the initial European America's Cup has brought to bear on the public, the media, the corporate sponsors and, not least, to the hitherto industrial port of Valencia. -- Laurence Brady, The Scotsman, full story: http://sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=893522006 QUOTE / UNQUOTE "The speed differences we talk about in America's Cup boats are small. We spend hours and hours and millions of dollars and engineering time and the rest, and the gains are small. A boat length over the course of a single 20-minute leg is big. We'd do a lot for a boat length. The legs are short enough and there are just not enough passing lanes. The boat ahead can just throw out its elbows" -- Peter Isler, BMW Oracle Racing navigator. "Defending as the lead boat is a pretty strong place to be. You can quickly take away the options of the trailing boat, at least upwind. Getting that first small shift correct is a huge deal," Ed Baird, Alinghi helmsman Quotes from an AP AC story in the NY Times: http://tinyurl.com/lu2ok RECORD J FLEET TO BERMUDA Led by strong J/44 and J/42 classes, a record forty-four J/Boats started the Centennial Bermuda Race Friday. J/Boats and Swan (also forty-four entries) account for 33% of the total fleet, with Beneteau next at twelve. The J/133s are making their Bermuda debut with 6 entries. Follow the fleet: http://www.bermudarace.com SAILING SHORTS * Seen on eBay: a brand new set of XL HPX Gortex offshore sailing smock and trousers in the original Musto wrappers -- branded with Pirates of the Caribbean logos and ‘Cayard’ on the back of the smock jacket. It’s the real gear, although Paul was not the one to put these online. Whoever did, stands to make out just fine. The bidding is still open: http://tinyurl.com/k7hxl * False Alarm - The weather window that Bruno Peyron hoped would allow his 121-foot maxi-catamaran Orange II crew to start their transatlantic record has simply not developed as hoped. Friday morning, Peyron ‘pulled the plug’ and canceled plans for the Orange Team to set sail across the North Atlantic during the weekend. The Team has gone back to red code. * Balatonfüred, Hungary -- The top three boats in the 112 boat men’s division at the Open Nissan Cup 470 European Championship were all French, with Benjamin and Romain Bonnaud scoring a one point win over fellow countrymen Ronan Dreano / Ronan Floch. The USA’s Mike Anderson/ David Hughes was the top North American’s in 29th place. Stefanie Rothweiler/ Vivien Kussatz (GERwon the women’s division while the top North American women’s teams are: 13: Jennifer Provan/ Carol Luttmer (CAN) and 27. Amanda Clark/ Sarah Margenthaler (USA). -- http://www.470euro.com/results/ * Although reports are quite sketchy, it appears that the conditions for the Land’s End Chicago NOOD regatta were good. The final results are now posted online. -- http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_nood.jsp?typeID=403&catID=601 * Sailing a Decision 35 catamaran, Russell Coutts beat 576 other boats to take line honors in just under 12 hours in the 68th Geneva Bol d'Or Rolex on Lac Léman or Lake Geneva as it is better known outside Switzerland. Although the majority of the 80-mile race was sailed in very light air, a little after 1700 hours the fleet were struck by a sudden, violent squall, complete with rain and a violent 20+ knot gust of wind and a massive W'ly rotation. Ernesto Bertarelli’s D 35 Alinghi was dismasted in the worst of the thunderstorm. -- http://www.regattanews.com/event.asp?id=141 * With just five days left till the start of Louis Vuitton Act 12, the most important news of the day was the relaunch of the Red Dragon, CHN-79, of China Team, the first ever America's Cup challenger from the Asian giant. After being forced to withdraw from Act 11 last month due to a structural problem in the boat, China Team's shore team worked round the clock to have CHN-79 ready to race once again. She was put on the water on Saturday morning and immediately afterwards, the sailing team went off to carry out the first test sail. -- http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ * Riccione, Italy -- There was no wind on the final day of the Women’s Division of the Laser Radial European Championship, so the battle of the top ten boats never happened. Evi Van Acker (BEL) won the event by two points over Gintare Volungeviciute (LTU). Mexico’s Tania Elias Calles was the top North American in tenth place with the USA’s Paige Railey 18th in the 91-boat fleet. -- http://www.netandpaper.it/laser/index_uk.htm * The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified the record of Olivier de Kersauson’s 110ft Trimaran Geronimo on its run from Yokohama to San Francisco. The new elapsed time standard for the 4482 nm is 13 days 22 hours 38 minutes 28 seconds (24.41 kts) -- surpassing Bruno Peyron’s former record of 14d 17h 22m 50s. The council also ratified the record of Yves Parlier’s Mediatis-Region Aquitane for ‘Greatest distance sailed in 24 hours - up to 60 foot, singlehanded.’ The new record is 586.00 nm/ 22.5kts -- surpassing Laurent Bourgnon’s 12-year old record on Primagaz by 46 nm. * He is the most experienced sailor in the Valencia region. Pepe Ribes, who turns 35 on Monday, today signed up with Victory Challenge for the 32nd America’s Cup.Most recently, Pepe Ribes sailed on movistar in the Volvo Ocean Race, and was one of the crewmen that had to be rescued when the boat sank in the Atlantic. He was a member of the Spanish America’s Cup challenge, Bravo España, in Auckland 1999/2000. “He has an undeniably broad experience, which we need now that we are expanding the sailing team,” says Magnus Holmberg, helmsman and skipper. -- http://www.www.victorychallenge.com CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity. Special thanks to Kaenon Polarized, The Pirate’s Lair, and J/Baoats. |
