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SCUTTLEBUTT 2080 - April 25, 2006
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
BIG BUCKS
Unlike basketball or football, sailing gets little airtime or attention
in this country. ESPN, for instance, is not televising the North
American leg of the Volvo Ocean Race this time around after losing money
on the America's Cup broadcast. But that hasn't stopped executives from
betting that money they spend on the race will yield a return.
Organizers of the Volvo Ocean Race have attracted more than $50 million
in sponsorships for the Baltimore and Annapolis stopover, which
continues through May 7. Local companies paying cash and donating
services to see their names on signs and advertisements include
Constellation Energy Group Inc., Comcast Corp., Verizon and Brown
Advisory Securities LLC. Other sponsors include the state of Maryland,
the City of Baltimore and Anne Arundel County.
Constellation Energy, which is spending $500,000 to be the title
sponsor, is targeting corporate energy buyers who are primarily male,
average age of 45 and earn at least $60,000 each year, said Malinda
Small, managing director, brand implementation. The company analyzed how
this target demographic spends its leisure time to figure out what kind
of events to sponsor. Golf and sailing were top on the list. "Sailing is
something that resonates with them," Small said. This is the same
demographic the company is targeting when it sponsors the Constellation
Energy Classic golf tournament.
Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corp. are jointly spending more than $10
million to have the Volvo name associated with the race worldwide. The
race allows Volvo Group to get its name in front of the more than 2,000
suppliers, dealers, shareholders and customers the company entertains at
each of the race's eight port of calls, said Margorie A. Meyers, a
spokeswoman for Volvo Group North America Inc. "It's a good fit for us
because we are a global company," with production facilities in 25
countries, Meyers said. Sponsoring the race on a global scale would not
make sense for a company that, for instance, operates solely in North
America, she said.
Though interest in sailing is higher in Maryland compared to other parts
of the country, "the United States is probably the lowest on the list
for knowledge of sailing and popularity of the sport," Meyers said. --
Excerpts from a story by Julekha Dash, Baltimore Business Journal, full
story: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12456949/
MORE VOLVO OCEAN RACE
The canard has gone, the shrouds have been brought inboard and the
orange house-brick beneath the hull has been replaced with a sleek
racing bulb. The new look team from Brunel is on a mission, but will
they smash the world records they are chasing, or will they rue the day
they withdrew and dumped 11 points in Melbourne? The answer? At the
moment there is no answer, just guess work, and there are no better
guessers than those in container park charged day-in and day-out with
tweaking boats for extra performance.
Shore managers know what it takes to make a fast boat, likewise they
crave the hindsight Brunel have bought themselves by withdrawing and
re-entering with modifications, but does that mean they envy Grant
Wharington’s team? Certainly not. Aside from having a bag full of
points, a luxury Wharington forfeited in order to effect his changes
within the rules, they simply don’t think the Australian’s tweaking will
reap any rewards, much less burn any records.
But what of the potential scenarios, if, for example, Brunel finishes
between two teams currently vying for a place on the leaderboard? Would
it lead to animosity? Or are the teams just happy to see another team on
the race track? Will their fresh legs out sprint the tired boats and
sails which haven’t enjoyed a three leg break? We threw these questions
to some members of shore crew.
Neil Cox, shore manager, Team ABN Amro: “I don’t think they concern us
much at all. I don’t think their boat is going to be much different to
how it was in Melbourne. I don’t think they had enough time to make the
changes they really needed to do. I mean, by the time the boat was put
on a ship and sent here, they probably only had about ten or 12 working
days to do what they wanted to do. With these boats there is only so
much you can do in 12 days. I don’t think they are going to be coming
out at light speed with something revolutionary.”
Kimo Worthington, shore manager, The Pirates: “Me personally, I think
another boat on the race course is good for the event. If they’ve done
all the things they need to do to become a Volvo Open 70 then that’s
great. We have enough stuff to worry about in our own little camp, we
don’t have to worry about Brunel. We have got a lot more time and
practice, it takes a long time to learn how to sail these boats
properly, if they can beat us, so be it. Good for them. The fans always
love an underdog so if they beat the big guys then great. As long as
they comply with all the rules needed to be a Volvo Open 70 then it’s
fine by me.” -- Volvo Ocean Race website, full story:
http://tinyurl.com/g3wdz
THEY’RE COMING BACK
Bruno Peyron and his men promised themselves that they would return to
New York to line up once again for the start of the mythical North
Atlantic record. We should add that they just missed out on it in August
2004 by some 31 minutes. They are about to keep their promise, as the
giant Orange II will soon be heading across to the States to make for
New York and the starting line of the Atlantic record. Bruno and his
crew have given themselves the target of being on stand-by in New York
from 15th May. Before then, if weather conditions allow, Orange II might
have a go at her own 24-hour world crew record (706.2 miles), and maybe
the single-handed record too.
“The North Atlantic record is the most prestigious after the round the
world voyage and also the fastest and so the most difficult to beat,
taking into account the very high average speed that is needed (25.78
knots average speed for the crossing),” Peyron said. “We managed to
obtain the second best performance ever back in 2004, and so now we need
to be the best by beating the incredible time set by Steve Fossett in
October 2001 (4 days, 17 h, 28 mins 06 secs).” --
http://www.orange-sailing-team.com
SOLUTION TO HOURS ON THE WATER!
At all the regattas, just look at what the crews are wearing. It is no
surprise, the Camet padded sailing shorts and Code Zero performance
shirts are everywhere, from Melges 24 sailors to Farr 40's, Maxi's, and
Cruisers. The comfort and design of our clothing has helped teams
perform without restriction of movement and succeed at their goals! Fast
drying and UV protection is the solution to hours on the water. Check
out all of this and much more at http://www.camet.com
HAMILTON II - A FRENCH FARCE
If you've ever dreamt of owning a superyacht, I'd advise you to think
again after hearing the story of the 117ft Hamilton II that has been
splashed across both Yachting World and Boat International in the last
month. The pictures look fantastic but don't tell anything like the full
story. The superyacht is now sitting on the hard at the CNB Boatyard in
Bordeaux having cancelled all its charters for the summer subject to the
French legal process! The problems started early when the boatyard
crashed the Hall Spars mast into a crane causing extensive damage then,
during sea trials, a major design fault was found with the lifting keel
that won't stay locked when extended causing the keel to smash into its
casing.
Then to add insult to injury, whilst on delivery another design fault
was discovered in the engine's exhaust system that led to seawater being
sucked into the engine housing, ruining it and putting it out of
warranty. Now the teak decking has to be removed and a new engine
sourced and custom built and what's more the whole blame process is
going through the French courts. The designer Phillipe Briand outsourced
the lifting keel project (how many times have we heard that excuse), the
CNB boatyard are saying "mais non" and everyone else involved is
scuttling for cover. So for $15 million you get a boat that's knackered
and a very expensive headache. -- Magnus Wheatley
PERFECT CONDITIONS
No rest for the six racing committees in Hyères who made the most of the
perfect conditions to complete 46 races on the second day in the Semaine
Olympique Française regatta. The Easterly breeze, which was fighting its
way in on Sunday, settled to 15 knots in the late Monday morning.
Weakening to 8 knots later in the afternoon close to the shore on the
RS:X course, the wind granted the Tornados with stronger conditions
averaging 17 knots with gusts reaching 21, and nice waves.
Perfect results scored by Page Railey (USA) and Sari Multala (FIN) who
won both races in their respective Laser Radial group. Sophie de
Turkheim is adding 2 second places to her score. A black flag in the
first race yesterday is still counting on their results, but the three
favorites could threaten the fleet leaders if they drop their
disqualification Tuesday. Youth World Silver medal, Lijia Xu (with a
6-6) is is now only a point ahead of Anna Tunnicliffe who is closing the
gap after a second and a eigth place finishes. Canada’s Lisa Ross had a
16-12 in the 80-boat fleet and now stands in fifth place.
Sally Barkow scored three single digit finishes in the 26-boat Yngling
class to move into a one point lead over Sarah Ayton (GBR). The other UK
team, with the USA’s Nancy Haberland substitute steering for double Gold
Medallist Shirley Robertson, slipped into fifth place, just nine points
back. In the 47-boat Finn fleet, regatta leader Christopher Cook (CAN)
scored a 14-10-13 and dropped to seventh place -- 18 points behind the
new leader, Gasper Vincec (CRO) -- who now has four single digit
finishes. With five races now complete in the Mens 470 class, Mikee
Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes were able to discard their opening
day 32 and have moved up to 13th place..
Complete results: http://sof.ffvoile.net/
AS SEEN BY PEDRO . . .
(Here’s an excerpt from a report Peter Isler sent to Scuttlebutt --
providing his insight on the events surrounding the build up toward the
2007 America's Cup. Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget.)
(April 24, 2006) Two days of big seas and big NE breeze have kept the AC
boats off the water so far this week, but that’s bound to change soon
and the BMW ORACLE Racing team is looking forward to shifting our focus
towards the upcoming regattas (ACT 10 – Match Racing and ACT 11 – Fleet
Racing) which begin here in Valencia on May 11.
For the sailors, these mandatory regattas provide an opportunity to do
what we love … race sailboats. And for our team it’s a time to shift
gears a bit from the vital two-boat testing that we’ve been running
since the launch of our new boat, USA 87 four weeks ago. But with the
Louis Vuitton Cup less than a year away, this is crunch time. Every Cup
team faces the challenge of prioritizing development projects – time is
no longer plentiful. Although it seems like just yesterday the America’s
Cup was several years away… it’s now virtually around the corner. And
the decisions that are being made right now here in Valencia will likely
determine who will win the Cup.
Full story and photo: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/pi0424/
EMOTIONS
Following is an excerpt from a report by Dee Caffari’s as she attempts
to become the first woman to sail solo and non-stop westwards round the
world:
“As I sat enjoying the cool evening air on the foredeck, I identified
some of the emotions I had been feeling for the day. I had been tearful
earlier for what I thought was no reason, but reflecting back I realized
I have a whole jumble of emotions beginning to roll around in my mind
and I am acutely aware that these are going to be rearing their head for
the remaining miles left. Whilst I am desperate to get home, see friends
and family, I am also feeling slightly apprehensive. I am conscious that
my adventure will soon be ending and at some stage I will have to get
off Aviva. Those thoughts make me feel sad. I know that there will be
more adventures but moving on from my routine that I have been living
for a few months now seems quite daunting. My sister told me that habits
could be formed in three months, so you can imagine how conditioned some
of my behavior is now after five months. Maybe I should start practicing
for my arrival home; I could begin by making more than one cup of tea at
a time!”
With 3430 miles still to go on this voyage that began on November 20,
Caffari advanced 156 miles in the last 24 hours. ~
www.avivachallenge.com
OWNER NEEDED!
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http://www.yachtworld.com/sailcalsandiego
BIG DIG
The Kiwis are coming, and so are the Dutchmen and the Brazilians. They
are coming by sea in sleek racing yachts and they are going to need what
so many people in Manhattan covet — a place to park. To make way for
them, workers are dredging the North Cove Marina in Battery Park City as
fast as they can. When they started last Saturday, the water in the
marina was less than six feet deep in some places. But the seven boats,
which are taking part in a round-the-world race whose next leg ends at
the Statue of Liberty, need the water to be at least 14 feet deep. So
the agency that runs Battery Park City decided to spend $2.44 million to
give the yachts a proper place to dock when they arrive in early May.
That is how much a New Jersey-based dredging outfit, Donjon Marine
Company, is being paid by the Battery Park City Authority to remove
about 25,000 cubic yards of silt from the bottom of the basin by May 1.
With a deadline looming, the authority's directors convened a special
meeting three weeks ago. Although some directors wondered aloud why the
authority was paying so much to prepare for an event that would benefit
so few, they unanimously approved the rushed contract, an authority
spokesman confirmed.
The authority, a state corporation that collects rent and other payments
from the owners of residential and office buildings in Battery Park
City, spent $37.2 million last year to manage the entire 92-acre
development, at the southwestern tip of Manhattan. "We're certainly
paying a premium to have it done quickly," said James Cavanaugh, the
president of the authority, which owns the marina. "It's not cheap to
move dirt, especially when it's underwater." But, he added, "They're
going around the world; we don't want them to run aground in North
Cove."
Still, the notion that a state agency would invest a significant amount
of money toward an elite event with a limited following has puzzled some
residents. And the racers will not have a chance to do much spending in
New York because they will be here only two days. Edward Hersey, a
father of two who has lived in Battery Park City for 12 years, said he
would rather see the authority spend its money on parks than yachts.
"There needs to be more open, public green spaces," he said. -- Excerpts
from a story by Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, full story:
http://tinyurl.com/rwv3l
FOR THE RECORD
(Excerpt from a story on thedailysail subscription website.)
Yves Parlier and his crew are due to arrive this evening at about 1900
GMT in the Canaries Islands. Their radical catamaran Médiatis Région
Aquitaine left its home port of Arcachon on Sunday at 1100GMT, to
benefit from favorable meteorological conditions. During this fully
crewed delivery, they are claiming to have established a 24 hour record
for 60ft multihulls.
With 20 knots of wind forecast for more than 20 hours, meteorological
conditions were lively leaving the Bay of Biscay and the crew opted to
set sail a little earlier than anticipated. In these conditions between
Sunday and Monday, Yves Parlier and his crew sailed 597.8 miles in 24
hours, maintaining at an average speed of about 25 knots. Parlier team
are claiming this to be a new 24 hour record fully crewed for 60ft
multihulls beating the only WSSRC-approved reference time to date of
Laurent Bourgnon, who in 1994 sailed 540 miles - singlehanded - during a
west to east transatlantic record attempt. --
http://www.thedailysail.com
NEWS BRIEFS
* The America’s Cup syndicates announced the boat they will sail for the
Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 10 & and 11. While most of the teams will be
sailing their old boats for these races, BMW Oracle announced that they
will sail their new boat, USA 87, in Act 11. However, the Notice of Race
allows the teams to change the yacht they will use until 24 hours before
the start of the first flight of each Valencia Louis Vuitton Act. See
the list: http://tinyurl.com/fw8ah
* The six VOR boats that just made the run from Rio to Baltimore are now
in and hauled and - hey! - available for public viewing. True, they look
a bit undignified out of the water. And they're not used to being seen
in such open surroundings in this nekkid state, but you go with what
you've got available. -- Full story:
http://sailing.about.com/b/a/215959.htm
* Newport Harbor outsailed longtime rival Point Loma, but the Pacific
Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association's Pacific Coast Double Handed
Championship was regarded by many as just a warm-up to a bigger game.
That would be the Mallory Trophy regatta at Detroit, May 13-14, where
Corona del Mar, Marin Catholic of San Francisco and Calvary Chapel of
Costa Mesa will join Newport Harbor and Point Loma. The Newport Harbor A
team was skipper Michael Menninger with Brooke Thompson and Christy
Tatchell alternating as crew. The B team was Charlie Buckingham with
Blaire Belling and Marla Menninger, who is co-captain with Matt Hogan.
-- Exciting photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/0424/
Complete standings: http://www.pcisa.org.
* Germany has unveiled its first America's Cup yacht. The new vessel,
built over an eight-month period and costing 10 million euros, was
christened in traditional fashion by Eva Luise Koehler, wife of the
German president, who smashed a bottle of champagne over the hull. But
Team Germany will sideline GER 89 for the 10th and 11th regattas, used
primarily as training races leading up to the Louis Vuitton Cup and
America's Cup. Instead the team will use the GER 72 boat which sailed
under Italy's colors in the last edition of the race. -- The Australian,
http://tinyurl.com/rbdfg
* Brasil 1 will be one of the first VO70 boats back on the water in
Baltimore. The ground crew's work is ahead of schedule and the sailboat
should be ready by Tuesday. Brasil 1 will have a new sail and a
reconfigured spinnaker to improve the team's performance in certain wind
conditions. The sailor's time off ends on Wednesday. On Thursday and
Friday the crew will be training in Chesapeake Bay to test, among other
things, the new sails that the team will be using for the in-port race
on Saturday. -- http://www.brasil1.com.br
* Ellen MacArthur and the crew of the 75ft trimaran B&Q arrived in Hong
Kong Sunday morning from Taipei (Taiwan) establishing record number 7 of
their Asian Record Circuit. The 465-mile leg was sailed in a time of 2
days, 16 hours, 46 minutes and 37 seconds – the final 8 hours, and 25
miles, of this leg proved frustratingly slow as the wind disappeared.
B&Q and the crew will be in Hong Kong all this week before heading south
for the start of Leg 7 to the gate off Hainan Island off the south coast
of China. -- http://www.asianrecordcircuit.com
CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION
It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love -- love is a
substitute for chocolate.
Special thanks to Camet International and Sail California San Diego.
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