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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 637 - August 31, 2000THE WYLIE ARGENTINIAN, VINCE BRUN, BAGS ETCHELLS WORLDS(SAN DIEGO, CA) - Vince Brun, the title in his pocket, was only a spectator Wednesday as Robbie Doyle of Marblehead, Mass. won the last race of the SailNet.com International Etchells Class World Championship. The result lifted Doyle to a final fifth overall in the 74-boat fleet, third largest ever for the class's 26 global regattas. Peter Isler's win streak stopped at three when he finished third behind Gary Weisman. But Isler, doomed by mid-pack finishes in the first two races, couldn't have come out any better than third overall by winning. Bruce Nelson held on to second place overall by finishing fifth. Isler said, "Bruce sailed solid all week," but Isler also knew he had a formidable task against Brun, with or without a delaminating hull in the first two races. "It wasn't the best team to have leading the series when you're trying to make your comeback," Isler said. Doyle led at every mark Wednesday and won going away. "We were able to get in phase [with the wind shifts]," he said. "When you get into that sweet breeze you can make your boat go. "Conditions this week were the toughest I've sailed in for a long time. Look at the results. Six of the top eight boats were San Diegans. Wacky things are happening, they're confident and the rest of us are wondering what's going on." Brun clinched first place a day earlier and took the day off to spend a 75-point DNS as his throwout -- and Doyle was right. Members of San Diego's mighty Etchells Fleet 13 claimed six of the first eight places. Following a 1-2-3 by Brun, Nelson and Isler were Brian Camet, with brother Alex and father Daniel, in sixth place, Weisman seventh and two-time champion Dennis Conner eighth. Boats competed from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Canada, Israel and Bermuda. The lone entry from Israel was sailed by skipper Shmuel Rosman, Azi Bilik, Assaf Shulman and Shimshon Brokman - obviously, all lightweights to fit under the crew weight limit of 285 kilos (628 pounds). In that country's second Etchells Worlds, they were 61st but not discouraged at all. "We have a small fleet of Etchells in Haifa -- six boats," said Brokman, who sailed a 470 to eighth place in the '84 Olympics. "We came here, with some support from the Etchells association for the accommodation and the flight, for the opportunity to learn more and to catch up with the world. "We knew we were not strong, so this was an excellent place to see the top sailors and to improve. We found it organized as a very professional event, and the weather here is beautiful." It was certainly a change of pace for the Israelis. "People are under high pressure in Israel, working hard and looking around us," Brokman said. "Sailing is a shelter. All you have to worry about is the wind shifts, nothing else. The world championship is 10 days of paradise." Distinctions for most women and youngest sailor went to former San Diegan Patricia Stadel's boat from Marblehead featuring two other women - Jean Eichenlaub and Karen Butler -- and 13-year-old Paige Johnston of Carlsbad, the only male aboard. They finished 63rd. "It was fun," said Johnston, a regular on Carl and Jean Eichenlaub's Cadenza in local events. "I did the pit, hoisted and doused the spinnaker . I did whatever I needed to do." Stadel said, "The boat is not normally slow. Why it didn't go this week I don't know." Other sponsors of the 2000 SailNet.com International Etchells Class World Championship included American Airlines, Citizen/Noblia Watches, First American Trust and Qualcomm/Globalstar. For more info go to http://www.sailnet.com The Final Top 10 (after 6 of 6 races, worst result discarded): 1. Vince Brun/Bill Bennett/Rick Merriman, San Diego, 5-1-2-2-3-(75, NS), 13 points. 2. Bruce Nelson/Jon Rogers/Mike Dorgan, San Diego, 3-(27)-7-7-2-5, 24. 3. Peter Isler/Steve Grillon/Artie Means, San Diego, (31)-29-1-1-1-3, 35. 4. Roy Gunsolus/Fritz Lanzinger/Scott Smith, Seattle, 8-5-16-(18)-4-7, 40. 5. Robbie Doyle/Tyler Doyle/Ben Richardson, Marblehead, Mass., 10-9-15-(21)-12-1, 47. 6. Brian Camet/Alex Camet/Daniel Camet, San Diego, 2-34-5-5-(49)-4, 50. 7. Gary Weisman/Jeff Pape/Andrew Whittome, San Diego, 4-3-8-37-(45)-2, 54. 8. Dennis Conner/Noel Drennan/David Barnes, San Diego, 18-16-3-15-(20)-6, 58. 9. Jud Smith/Henry Frazer/Don Later, Marblehead, Mass., 1-(26)-4-20-21-16, 62. 10. Peter Vessella/Scott Gordon/Tracy Usher, San Francisco, 21-4-(35)-22-8-9, 64.
PRAMS TO PROAS, MAXI'S TO MINI'S
INTERNATIONAL BIG BOAT RACING TO MAKE A SPLASH IN THE BAHAMAS
SWAN WORLD CUP LED BY "DEFIANCE" (SARDINIA, ITALY)- Going into Thursday, the lay day at the 2000 Swan Cup, the team on "Defiance" are leading...however, not without some moments of anxiety. The series leader, 'Defiance' (Kinsbergen), elected to accept a four place penalty over a start line incident with Noonmark VI during race two on Wednesday. The decision was made with a firm look to the big picture, as the risk of disqualification from a full protest hearing was too great for the series leader. The additional four points hurt in the Bvlgari Race Day mini-regatta, dropping Defiance from first to third. In the overall picture, the damage is less severe. Kinsbergen's Swan 68 still leads on the points table, but is much more vulnerable to Van Vemde's 'Sotto Voce', now just one point back. In Class A, Alain Foulquier leads the fleet overall, with 'Image Du Sud' collecting honours on the strength of two second places on Bvlgari Race Day. Skipper Jean-Michel Carpentier said his crew enjoyed the change from the Coastal races. "For us, the windward-leeward course was better. We have a young crew and they seem to suited to this type of course." 'Eurosia', a Swan 46, has the overall lead in Class B, while 'Desperado' has three wins in three race days to lead Class C- Peter Rusch. More info at http://www.swancup.com/ MELGES 24 WORLDS QUALIFIERS SEE NEPTUNE THROWING A CURVE BALL (La Rochelle, France, 30 August 2000 - 2100) - The day started with the weather gods laying on some impressive thunder and lighting around the course and ended up in glorious sunshine. In between the two just about everything happened bar snow and a full gale. The first two races of the day were completed in 14-16 knots from the NE, increasing to 20 knots in the rainy squalls and going right with the increase. During race two the sun finally put in an appearance and as a result the breeze died off completely. On course alpha race four was just nearing completion when the breeze dropped away, fortunately the race committee were just able to finish the boats at the final windward mark. Down on course bravo they had only just started race four when the wind shut off and the committee made the wise decision to abandon and try again. After a short wait it swung round to the NW and filled in to 12-16 knots giving near perfect early evening conditions. Top performers of the day were Giorgio Zuccoli (ITA139 "Ale Ali") and Mike Budd who each achieved two firsts, however Budd had to take a 20% penalty for crossing the line from course side within the last minute before the start of race three. Other winners were Kristoffer Spone and Cedric Pouligny (FRA383 "Plan Gestion Big Ship") and consistent results came from Kristoffer Spone (NOR249 "Fruen Maren"), Reeser Morgan (USA450 "White Loaf") and Rob Smith (GBR377 "Henri Lloyd") none of whom dropped out of the top ten all day. Amongst the leading crews who fell foul of the black flag were Pascal Lacoste (FRA391 "Gitem SFG"), Cameron Davis (GBR394 "The Black Pig") and Christian Nergaard (NOR349 "Baghdad"). Additionally there are a number of protests outstanding from today so final results are not yet available. With two thirds of the fleet selection procedure now completed possible candidates for the world title are starting to come to the fore. After four races the provisional front runner by two points is Kristoffer Spone (NOR249 "Fruen Maren"), second is Resser Morgan (USA450 "White Loaf") and in third is Olivier Ponthieu (FRA173 "VPM"). Tomorrow will see the completion of the gold and silver fleet selection. Indications are that weather conditions will be good so the race committee hope to remain on schedule. More info at http://www.melges24.com/worlds2000larochelle/ SNIPE WOMEN'S WORLDS (Trieste, Italy)- The first race saw light-medium conditions (6-10 knots) with a slight chop by the end of the race. KARIANNE EIKELAND, with Snipe veteran JANETT KREFTING from Norway lead, Carol Cronin/Jerelyn Biehl (USA) are second, and LISE GEHRKEN/ANNE HEGE ROED (NOR) are in third. Team USA consisting of Cronin/Biehl (RI/CA), Lisa Pline/Sherry Eldridge (MD/CA), Carolyn Brown/Julie Redler (CA) and Pam Kelly/Michele Bustamante (FL) are all in the top 10. 30 teams from 10 nations are participating in this biennial world championship, held previously in Yokohama Japan, Mar Menor Spain, and Annapolis, USA. Two races are scheduled for tomorrow (8/31) on the Gulf of Trieste. More info at http://www.ncc.it/stsvela/WWC/Default.htm U.S. EUROPE NATIONALS WON BY MATT MCQUEEN (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)-Nine men competed in the U.S. Europe Dinghy Men's Nationals, held Saturday, August 26th at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, Calif. The race committee ran 6 races in winds of 10-16 knots. Matt McQueen (San Francisco, Calif.) placed first, Nick Pullen (Truckee, Calif.) place second, and Zach Conrad (San Francisco, Calif.) earned third. Other competitors included Greg Furie (Oakland, Calif.), John Oakes (San Francisco, Calif.), Mike Huang (Oakland, Calif.), Matt Soldo (San Francisco, Calif.), Nick Brown (Seattle, Wash.) and Shane Wells (San Francisco, Calif.) McQueen, Pullen and Conrad demonstrated superior downwind speed culled from years of Laser sailing and a clear understanding of the ebb tide. "The racing was very tight," said Jaime Mack, U.S. Europe Class President. "As the class continues to grow, it's only going to become more fun and more competitive for everyone involved." Results
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