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SCUTTLEBUTT 1787 - March 3, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. SAFER - BECAUSE OF TECHNOLOGY Iceberg - a word that causes great concern for sailors, race committees, rescue authorities and above all family and friends following these southern ocean races. Many races have imposed restrictions on how far south boats can go by placing virtual buoys or lines on the ocean that yachts must come above. There is plenty of debate about this but to my mind these waypoints can create major headaches for navigators and actually reduce the ability of yachts to avoid bad weather which increases the risk of problems. Thankfully the Oryx Quest Race committee put the onus on the yachts in this race to navigate with prudence. Our only waypoint is 'Antarctica to starboard!'. As I sit here on hopefully my last night of radar ice watch for this race it is worth revealing the 'good ice data' I mentioned in an earlier email. Traditionally avoiding ice in the southern ocean has been a matter of a good lookout, a good radar watch, watching the water temperature and a 'bit of luck'. However things are much more sophisticated in the northern hemisphere ice areas, mostly I guess, due to the prevalence of shipping in these areas. The Canadians are the world experts in this area. One company in particular, C-CORE, operating as part of a consortium called the Northern View, supplies a portfolio of information products and operational services based on Earth Observation data, including an operational iceberg-tracking service for shipping and offshore operations in Canadian waters. During the Vendee Globe RTW race C-CORE extended their activates into the waters of the southern hemisphere. They acquired images ahead of the race route, using the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments on Envisat and Radarsat and reported the positions of any observed ice to the competitors in the race. So how does it work? Desmond Power of C-CORE states that "Icebergs typically have a stronger radar signal return than the open ocean. After initial processing to get rid of 'cluttering' effects from ocean waves we analyze the shape, number of pixels and intensity of signal returns to differentiate between icebergs and ships, which can appear similar. Sometimes we are uncertain so rather than hold any potentially useful information back we label the returns according to a confidence classification ranging from strong to weak certainty." A C-CORE press release states that "C-CORE has been using Envisat's Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) in Wide Swath Mode (WSM) giving 400 km swath to a resolution of 150 metres, together with Radarsat ScanSAR Narrow Mode with a 300 km swath to a resolution of 50 metres." We chose the wide swath mode giving us good confidence of spotting any ice 150m or greater in size wherever they could map for us. We got them to target the areas where the ice was known to be bad. We began receiving the information from the 17th Feb on board and have had at least one scan a day through to the 25th February. It did not give us full coverage but has been a huge tactical (and psychological) advantage to planning our track through the southern ocean. Of course we have had the moral dilemma of whether or not to share our information with our competitors. Brian and I discussed it before the start and we agreed that we would provide it in the event that a competitor looked like they were putting themselves into a dangerous situation with respect to ice. Providing the data later would hopefully keep them safe but remove the tactical advantage we had gained from having the data for longer. Our moral dilemma came to a head two nights ago when our plots of the competition showed that Cheyenne was about to sail into one of the known ice field areas. We had a quick chat then rang Cheyenne and arranged to send them the data by email. Of course we felt we then had to give them all the data and also provide it to the others. It was an easy call in the circumstances with a comfortable lead and we like to think we would have been just as prompt even if we were neck and neck. I had to smile as I imagined Wouter at the nav table on Cheyenne suddenly receiving at least 100 ice targets to plot!! It would have freaked me out! - Excerpts from a piece by Doha 2006 navigator Will Oxley posted on the syndicate's website, www.maxicatdoha.com/Home/News/News50.htm? AND THEN THERE WERE THREE Having found shelter off Tasmania, the crew of Geronimo have been able to assess the nature and extent of the latest damage to the trimaran's front crossbeam. Olivier de Kersauson is not prepared to put his crew and boat in peril by leading them into the vast expanse of no man's land between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn, and has decided to retire from the Oryx Quest 2005 round the world race for giant multihulls. The trimaran is now heading at reduced speed to Sydney, where she is due to arrive within the next 48 hours. The new indications of delamination appeared in the same beam on Monday night, but not in the same areas that were repaired in Perth. The sea state made it impossible for the Capgemini and Schneider Electric crew to locate the problem accurately in the constant racket created by heavy seas. Olivier de Kersauson therefore took the decision to take a closer look straight away before attacking the south Pacific. A dejected skipper announced his decision this morning: after much heartache, he is calling it a day. Standings: Doha 2006, 11956 miles to finish, 2. Cheyenne, 1185 miles to leader, 3. Deadalus, 1906 mtl, 4. Geranimo, retired. - www.oryxquest.com/ WHO'S PAYING FOR THE PARTY? Each boat (in the Oryx Quest 2005) has signed a separate deal with the Fleet Sponsor and in return they have branding on all the boats and an allocation of hospitality days upon completion of the event. I cannot tell you how much for each boat as the contract is between them and the sponsor and is confidential to them. All I did was put the parties together. I think it is an innovative form of sponsorship and positive for sailing big boats in ocean races. Please note that Quest did not pay this sponsorship to the boats. The sponsorship came direct from Qatar. - Tracy Edwards MBE, CEO, Quest International Sports Events Ltd, CREW SELECTIONS Team ABN AMRO has chosen five American sailors to compete for slots in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, as part of their worldwide search for a second boat crew. Sixteen Americans were invited to Miami Beach to compete in the only US crew selection in the ABN AMRO campaign. The American sailors spent four days being observed and tested on a variety of skills - everything from their technical expertise to life-saving techniques. They each faced both mental and physical challenges. At the conclusion of the 'auditions,' Andrew McCormick, age 25 from Fairfax, California; Jack Jennings, age 25 from Chicago, Illinois; Jan Mayer, age 25 from Annapolis, Maryland; George Peet, age 24 from Rhode Island; and Andrew Lewis, age 22 from Hawaii, were selected to compete with some of the world's best young sailors for a spot on the ABN AMRO second boat. The next twenty international second boat crew selection candidates, from various countries all over the world, will be undergoing their crew selection process in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands, on March 8. Out of those 20, five will be chosen to go to Portugal on March 14 for the final crew selection. The five American winners will now travel to Portimao, Portugal on March 14, 2005 for the final second boat crew selection. There, the final crew for the second ABN AMRO boat will be chosen. Among those chosen will be two sailors each from Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States - and another two from the 'rest of the world.' The second boat will also have four experienced sailors on board, who have not yet been chosen. Note: American Stan Honey has already been selected to navigate ABN AMRO's first boat. - http://team.abnamro.com/web/show/id=44970/contentid=289 JUST IN TIME Raider RIBs have a perfect yacht club tender. This 22-foot Raider 665 is the ultimate tender for a yacht club, a sailing program or a sail coach. The 665 is a center console, deep V hull with a 115 horsepower 4-stroke Yamaha engine, a galvanized trailer, towing post, and it even has an enclosed head. The Raider 665 is available for immediate delivery with special financing for a non-profit or yacht club junior program. Call for details at 1-877-7RAIDER, or check out the Raider 665 at our website. http://www.raiderboat.com PAIGE RAILEY (With the Laser Radial taking over from the Europe The Daily Sail met the class' Rolex Miami OCR winner Paige Railey. Here's an excerpt from the story posted on their subscription website.) Railey is currently in twelfth grade at high school in Clearwater and hopes to move on the University of South Florida next year and continue her schooling and sailing: "My plan is to go to university for one semester and then stop and do internet schooling [from home in Clearwater] for a semester and then a training period." For Railey her main focus this spring has been on trying to get selected into the US Sailing Team for 2005. A clear victory in a disrupted Laser Midwinters East competition combined with her Miami victory seems to have assured this. Her first assessment when comparing the Europe and the Laser is the need to be physically stronger for the Radial and she also feels, at 17 years old, she will fit the ideal weight needed: "Right now I work really hard on keeping my weight up. So in a couple of years if I grow a bit and put on a few pounds it will really help. Right now I'm 65kgs (143 pounds) and I can range from 55kgs to 67kgs." Railey competed in some European regattas last year (second at Kiel Week) but will have a slightly tougher programme this year which will include Princess Sofia in Palma, SPA and Kiel and Warnemunde Weeks, along with the ISAF Youth Worlds in July in Korea. She may also do the Radial Europeans in Croatia. She admits that the Beijing Olympics are a big focus. - www.thedailysail.com ORANGE II For the third time since the start and only two days since their last collision the maxi-catamaran has hit another UFO. At 20 knots, they were traveling at a lower speed than on Sunday, when they hit an Orca at 30 knots. Once again it is likely to have been a cetacean that the boat collided with and it was the same rudder and the same port daggerboard which felt the shock. The crew is continuing on their way, but have slowed down for the time being. Roger Nilson and Bruno Peyron have a lot of work ahead of them on the chart table to find their way out of this leg of the journey as quickly as possible. A year ago, Cheyenne experienced several difficult days around here. This can be seen on the charts, as the points for days 45 and 48 are very close together. In fact, these three days correspond to distances of 235, 277 and 244 miles in 24 hours. Orange II will be able to take some time out in the same place to carry out a complete inspection of the boat, with a close look at the rudder and damaged daggerboard. Even if the boat's speed shows that it was more of a shock than real damage, this will offer them the chance to reassure themselves. It will also enable them to clean up the rips on the external skin of the carbon part, in order to improve its aerodynamics, and ensure a finer reaction at the helm. The air temperature is zooming up. It is 24°C (75 F) in Florianópolis, due west of the orange catamaran. This should cheer up the crew and allow them to have a good wash, as Yann Elies explained today by e-mail "The climb northwards is going very quickly: so it's goodbye to the albatrosses and hello to sea temperatures of 18 degrees (64 F) and a shower for everyone this afternoon." At 0030 GMT on Thursday Orange II had covered 21518 nm at an average speed of 23.8 knots. Having sailed 480 nm in the previous 24 hours Orange II is now 3176 ahead of the absolute record held by Cheyenne with 4519 nm to go. - www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/ EVOLUTION ROCKS WHILE THE OPPOSITION ROLLS Richard Perini's Evolution won Wednesday's windy race outside Sydney Heads and moved into the lead of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. The Australian boat launched off the pin end of the start line, hooked into a 10-degree left-hand shift in the building southerly breeze, and rounded the windward mark in first along with German boat, Morning Glory. As the wind built rapidly from 13 knots at the start to 26 knots an hour later by the finish, Evolution turned on the afterburners and shot away to a 30-second victory over fellow Aussie boat Team Shockwave, which in turn was 47 seconds ahead of Morning Glory. The two Australian boats looked very solid in the high winds and the steep waves, which also reared up quickly from a previously flat sea. Behind the well-handled leading boats, the fleet was enduring wipe-outs, broaches and blown-out spinnakers. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio was left with little choice but to abandon racing for the day. Even today's winner agreed it had been the right decision. "The breeze was getting into the 30 knot range and these boats are a serious handful over 25," said Perini. He was exhilarated but also relieved to have come through the race unscathed. "It's a real buzz sailing downwind in that stuff. Getting the boats up and sizzling in those waves is really good. But the gybes are a bit scary - I'm sure every owner would say the same thing. Partial standings after three races: 1) Evolution, AUS, Richard Perini, 2-7-1, 10 2) Ichi Ban, AUS, Matt Allen, 1-1-14, 16 3) Morning Glory, GER, Hasso Plattner, 9-6-3, 18 4) Mascalzone Latino, ITA, Vincenzo Onorato, 6-11-4, 21 5) Team Shockwave, AUS, Neville Crichton, 4-17-2, 23 6) Kokomo, AUS, Lang Walker, 5-12-8, 25 7) TWT , ITA, Marco Rodolfi, 14-2-9, 25 8) Emotional Hooligan, AUS, Marcus Blackmore, 17-4-6, 27 9) Southern Star, AUS, John Calvert-Jones, 13-10-5, 28 10) Nerone, ITA, Massimo Mezzaroma/Antonio Sodo Migliori, 11-8-11, 30 11) Norwegian Steam, NOR, Eivind Astrup, 18-5-7, 30 13) Warpath, USA, Steve and Fred Howe, 10-3-21, 34 14) Barking, Mad USA, 50995 Jim Richardson, 8-14-13, 35 15) Pegasus, USA, Philippe Kahn, 15 9 15 39 19) Solution, USA, John Thomson, 12-22-18, 52 Complete standings: www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/f40w_ps.pdf "NOT TRUE" - Hasso Plattner Defending champion Jim Richardson brought a rather angry Hasso Plattner into the press tent at the CYCA this afternnon to confront me about a bar rumor I reported a few days ago in a preview article on the Farr 40 worlds (since run in Scuttlebutt) . The rumor was that Russell Coutts was being paid US$25,000 a day as Hasso's tactician for the series. Not true says Hasso. He said the total coast of his three regatta Australian campaign -- shipping over Morning Glory and her tender from San Francisco, bringing the sailing and shore crews and even his personal physiotherepist -- was just $125,000. He said Russell's fee was included in that sum. I'm happy to set the record straight. D.D. McNicoll, The Australian, NEWS BRIEFS * The promised gale force westerly winds have hit the Global Challenge teams south of Tasmania. As the fleet takes the right-hander that signals falling temperatures and rising seas, the wind has increased to around 30 knots from the west-northwest, gusting 40 knots at times. Reports from the yachts talk of a return to bumpy foredeck sail changes and life at an angle. "Leading the way, Barclays Adventurer is just 2nm south of Imagine It. Done. As they round Tasmania in joint 1st - neither team able to gain even a fractional advantage throughout the day. - www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * Low on fuel, American adventurer Steve Fossett was flying towards Hawaii where he was to decide whether to continue or abort his historic bid for the first solo non-refueled flight around the world. Fossett had a stressful night after the GlobalFlyer support team at Mission Control discovered that he had 2,600 pounds (1,181 kilograms) of fuel less than expected. The plane has been equipped with sensors in the four main tanks and technicians will not know if fuel evaporated, escaped or leaked from the tanks in the wings until they begin draining into the main boom tanks. AFP, full story: http://tinyurl.com/42rvj Event website: www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/MissionControl/Tracking/ * Herb McCormick, editor of Cruising World magazine editors took top honors in the Boating Writers International Annual Writing Contest in the Boating Profile category. McCormick's first-place prize was his third in the last four years. His winning story for 2004, "Travels with Charlie," profiled bareboat charter pioneer Charlie Cary, the founder of The Moorings. In addition to McCormick's win, Cruising World earned three other top-three finishes. The magazine nearly swept the Boating Profiles category, adding a third-place finish and a certificate of merit. ULLMAN SAILS - WHITSUNDAY Ullman Sails International is pleased to report that Aaron Jones has opened a new Ullman Sails loft in the beautiful Whitsunday's in Queensland, Australia. Jones has vast experience as the sailmaker responsible for production and maintenance on projects, such as, ACC syndicates OneWorld and America One, and production manager/sailmaker for Illbruck's V060 campaign which won the 2001/2002 Volvo Ocean Race. Most recently, he was responsible for key projects at Ullman Sails, Sydney. Now any sailor in the Whitsunday's can benefit from Aaron's knowledge, professionalism and enthusiasm, all backed by Australia's fastest growing sailmaking group. For loft contact information: http://www.ullmansails.com IN MEMORIAM On Feb 25th, the Detroit and Great Lakes sailing community lost the "Great One," Warren Jones of Thomas Hardware. Warren was a true legend and complete crumudgeon in every sense of the word to those of us who were fortunate enough to do business in his store and hear his stories and ways to fix anything on a boat. He had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever run across in the sailing community all over the states. - Bruce Geffen LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (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 John Kilroy: Congratulations to Ichi Ban and its crew for a job well done, but your information is incorrect. Defending 1999 World Champion Samba Pa Ti, owner John Kilroy, with tactician John Kostecki, won both races on day one of the 2000 Farr 40 Worlds held in Newport, Rhode Island. * From Burt Geiges: Perhaps it's a relativity issue and they are just checking to see how wet the wet paint is. By the way, there are an estimated 200 to 400 billion stars in just the Milky Way Galaxy (our galactic home) and about 100 billion galaxies in our Universe. That's just this Universe. It makes me wonder who's looking back from (his, her, its) deck as I look to the stars on those blue water nights. * From JB Currell: One of the less reported aspects of his success is the mast on Ocean Planet. The first time a Free Standing Carbon fiber mast has ever finished the Vendee Globe. This is not the first for this mast or Bruce, he also did it in the Around Alone making it the second time for this mast and boat. This Carbon/Epoxy (yes MAS Epoxy) construction should prove to all the engineering and materials now exist and are certainly proven. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course. - Billy Graham |
