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SCUTTLEBUTT 2221 – November 10, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions,features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Scuttlebutt is distributed each weekday, with support provided by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, Defender of the 32nd America's Cup (http://www.ubs.com/sailing). THE VENUE Less than six months before the America's Cup begins in Spain, the top sailors with the only American-backed syndicate got a breathtaking reminder that victory will mean more than just spraying champagne and hoisting the silver trophy. If BMW Oracle Racing can return the America's Cup to America for the first time since 1995, the next regatta likely would be sailed with a spectacular backdrop including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the Coit Tower and the Transamerica pyramid. "This is the greatest natural amphitheater for sailing, perhaps in the world," software mogul Larry Ellison said in San Francisco during the recent Allianz Cup, a stop on the World Match Racing Tour. Ellison and others with BMW Oracle Racing already know what it's like to have 80-foot (24-meter) America's Cup sloops, with mainsails as big as Boeing 747 wings, tacking along the cityfront. Three years ago, BMW Oracle Racing and America's Cup winner Alinghi of Switzerland sailed an exhibition regatta here, with spectators watching from the shore and nearby buildings. It was mostly smooth sailing, except for when a massive container ship steamed through the course, leaving the rich guys no choice but to yield the right of way. "A lot of people said, 'Oh, you couldn't race the America's Cup in San Francisco Bay,'" said Gavin Brady, a New Zealander who lives in the U.S. "I think this would be one of the coolest places to run the America's Cup." -- The Associated Press, http://tinyurl.com/yxv7re MEDICAL UPDATE The much anticipated rematch between Dennis Conner and Australia's John Bertrand, who famously took the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club's skipper in 1983, is not going to happen at next week's 2006 Audi Etchells Worlds in Fremantle. Conner, who turns 64 in December, has been forced to pull out of the regatta for health reasons. “I was in Heathrow the morning of the bomb scare,” Conner told Scuttlebutt. “As you can imagine it was quite hectic. I was hit from behind with a baggage cart that partially tore my Achilles and caused a blood clot in my leg. The doctors do not want me to fly any more than necessary and are not happy with a 35 hour flight to Perth. If the clot were to be dislodged it can do serious damage. Hiking on an Etchells main sheet is not what they have in mind for ‘treatment.’ I am disappointed not to visit Perth again on our 20th anniversary of winning the America’s Cup back, especially with my boat already there, but I do not want to do something stupid,” Conner concluded. Event website: -- http://www.etchellsworlds2006.org THE DREAM ENDS Tim Troy, the solo yachtsman from the United States who was fighting tenaciously to make the start line of the Velux 5 Oceans race, officially withdrew his entry. Plagued by problems and setbacks from the outset, his 60-foot Margaret Anna failed a fundamental IMOCA safety test governing the stability of the boat (how readily the boat will recover from a capsize). Troy’s yacht failed the AVS test (Angle of Vanishing Stability) by three degrees, and could not qualify for the race without major and costly modifications. With nearly 7500 miles still to go on Leg One, Bernard Stamm’s Cheminées Poujoulat still has a 385 mile lead on his closest competitors. Mike Golding (Ecover) and Kojiro Shiraishi (Spirit of Yukoh) are continuing their close fought battle. Race headquarters reported at 12:00 UTC that Golding was only 9 miles behind Kojiro and sailing one knot faster. Thursday may see the first major change in the leading pack since the fleet left Bilbao and pushed through the Biscay storm. Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) finally crossed the Equator late last night, the fourth boat in the Velux 5 Oceans fleet to reach the Southern Hemisphere. -- http://www.velux5oceans.com VIDEO OF THE WEEK Thanks to the H2uh0 blog for the heads up on this video of Team Alinghi's successful campaign to win the 2003 America's Cup, back when Russell Coutts was at the helm. Put to the soundtrack of Jaz-Z & Linkin Park, this 3:26 video has the quick editing, thumping music, and action footage that has made Scuttlebutt’s weekly video feature so popular. Also, if you have a video you like, please send us your suggestions for next week’s Video of the Week. Click here for this week’s video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/06/1106 FOCUSED ON NEW ADVENTURES Forty-eight hours after having been rescued by a Russian tanker following his dramatic capsize, Stève Ravussin has been able to get some rest and now looks upon his Route du Rhum with lucidity. Despite the fact that the incident proved the most fearsome he has ever experienced, the navigator still feels the same passion and drive when it comes to ocean racing and multihulls. His perception of the inherent risks bears the mark of common sense, and includes important analytical patterns for the future of ORMA 60’ trimarans. When it comes to his own and short term future, Stève is as always focused on new adventures implying his team and partners, taking him to faraway horizons… on a multihull. Despite that frustrating and gruesome experience, Stève still dreams of a round-the-world journey aboard a multihull – a project he has been working on for months. “The problem is that the clock is ticking. Ellen MacArthur’s 75’ trimaran is the ideal machine, but I’d have to set off before Joyon’s and Coville’s new giant tris are launched. Time is not on my side.” As far as 60 footers are concerned, the Swiss navigator remains fascinated by their power and sophistication. “I just would not do it whatever the conditions”, he adds. “A multihull will always be prone to capsizing. A One Design class should seriously be considered, that would allow everyone to benefit from the experience and expertise accumulated by the individuals in the circuit.” -- http://www.orange-sailing-team.com/ YOU'VE GOT MAIL... Or at least some of you should be receiving the Team One Newport Holiday catalog which is filled with great Holiday ideas! Check out the new Team One Newport wallets and zippered totes, or the new Harken Valencia and Vortex shoes, or the new Henri-Lloyd Team 2 jacket. Also there's the new Gill sailing shorts and Reverb Tee! Don't miss the 2006 Musto Caribbean, Windward and select MPX Sale. Get them while we still have them! Call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) or visit http://www.team1newport.com AS SEEN FROM THE TOP Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, November 09, 2006 -- President Göran Petersson speaking at the ISAF Annual Conference stressed the need to become a more dynamic sport and a more professional one. 'You cannot have competition unless it is commercially viable and a strong commercial base is needed for our sport,' he explained. He went on to offer the first of several challenges to the Council, 'We have the many evolving and exciting disciplines of the sport – kite sailing and single-handed offshore sailing. How is ISAF going to support these areas?' The President confirmed that for 2012, sailing will have ten Olympic medals and a maximum limit of 380 athletes. The Olympic Arena, 'the pinnacle of global sport', is increasingly competitive. In the President's words, 'ISAF has to respond to the requirements of being an Olympic sport.' The President emphasized the importance of participation and highlighted the need for action to reverse a trend that has seen the spread of sailing nations represented at the Olympic Games fall from 77 in 1996, to 69 in 2000 and then to 61 in 2004. And how to achieve these goals? He pointed to the ISAF Member National Authorities as, 'the ambassadors for our sport – the face of sailing who are on the ground delivering the sport.' He continued, 'ISAF must have the ability to partner and ensure that the ambassadors of our sport can deliver.' In addressing the problems of participation and in keeping pace with the Olympic Ideal, the President threw the spotlight onto the image of sailing and its standing in the marketplace. 'Right now as a sport we are not maximising the Olympic opportunity outside of the Olympic Games itself,' he explained. 'Tomorrow, we will discuss the World Cup series. Whatever the ultimate format we agree, we all know the sport has to develop a professional and widely recognized world tour.' Again the President did not shy away from setting out the challenges that lie ahead, 'The image gap between where we are and where we want to be is significant.' -- http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6vFh?~C? ONE MORE TIME The first thing you notice about Stu Bannatyne is that he is a very big guy; about 6’5” with a back as wide as a dining table and massive hands. He looks like he could be very much at home in the thick of the action on a rugby field in his home town of Auckland, New Zealand, but sailing is Bannatyne’s chosen sport. However if you thought that he was just useful in the muscles department, you would be very wrong; a degree in mechanical engineering and years of experience working with some of the best in the business means that Bannatyne is an expert in sail and rig design. He has raced everything from Lasers to the colossal 145ft monohull Mari Cha IV, but it is round the world racing where Bannatyne has excelled. He did his first Whitbread Round the World Race aboard a winning yacht; New Zealand Endeavour skippered by Grant Dalton, but it was not to be Bannatyne’s only lap of the planet. In 1997 he was with Lawrie Smith’s Silk Cut and, in 2002, Bannatyne won the race for a second time as watch leader aboard Kostecki’s illbruck in the Volvo Ocean Race. Stu Bannatyne was back again for his fourth circumnavigation, again as watch leader in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. However movistar was beset by problems and did not complete the race, the team were forced to abandon ship in the North Atlantic, but that has not put Stu off. He is as keen as mustard to go round again in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Bannatyne is highly experienced in the brutal world of ocean racing and when he is in “the office” he is one of the most experienced and competitive sailors around. When he gets home to Auckland he spends as much time as he can with his family. He is married to Amanda and has three children Anna (5), Lucy (3 ½) and Felicity (10 months), who was born whilst Stu and movistar were hurtling towards Melbourne during leg three of the last Volvo Ocean Race. Stu Bannatyne first saw the latest addition to his family by Inmarsat satellite link whilst racing. In story by Louay Habib now posted on the Volvo Ocean Race website, Bannatyne was asked, “Which is the easier afternoon for you: A watch on a Volvo 70 in the Southern Ocean or your daughter’s birthday party with 20 kids?” His replay -- “A: A birthday party with 20 kids will always be an easier option than a Southern Ocean watch on a Volvo 70. There are times when the Volvo 70 will be as much fun but it will always be much harder work. There are plenty of parallels though like avoiding destruction of equipment, avoiding injuries and rationing the food!” -- To read the entire story: http://tinyurl.com/vmqp8 SAILING SHORTS * Three time winner and current New Zealand Match Racing National Champion Dean Barker will defend his title at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in late November Last year’s runner up Chris Dickson has also entered, as has the only other skipper to win the title three times – Gavin Brady. -- http://www.rnzys.org.nz * British sailor Adrian Stead has joined Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team as a member of the afterguard. He comes to the team having completed the 2006 sailing season with the Farr 40 World, European and European circuit titles, sailing with Vincenzo Onorato aboard Mascalzone Latino. He brings more Americas Cup experience to the team as he was the tactician with the GBR Challenge in 2001-3. - http://www.mascalzonelatino.com * Racing continued in the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship in Newport Beach, CA. After a postponement (again) for lack of breeze the Race Committee completed six flights in very light air. The teams are enjoying great match racing with an excellent race committee/ support staff! Protests are pending so no results as of cut off time. -- Shala Lawrence, expect results to be posted on Friday: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/women/uswmrc/ * An agreement has been finalized that will see OAMPS Insurance Brokers become a major sponsor of the national body for sailing, Yachting Australia. The partnership confirms OAMPS, the country’s largest Australian-owned insurance broker, as the Official Naming Rights Sponsor of the Australian Youth Championships, the Australian Youth Sailing Team and the Australian Youth Development Program. -- http://www.yachting.org.au * Route du Rhum Class 40 solo skipper Joe Seeten (TMI Technologies) has set off his distress beacon. The skipper has keel damage but the boat is still up. He also mentioned a broken shoulder. A Belgium vessel is making road towards him to collect him. http://www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com/en/ ONLY A FEW REMAIN… In the words of Gary Jobson: “It creates a moving window to the sea” - more art form than book, 20x20 features more than 200 marine photographs by KOS in a 10kg carbon-fibre hand-bound display, designed to be viewed on the wall like a large framed picture. With a Foreword by His Highness the Aga Khan, the work has attracted collectors of art and numerous high profile clients. Produced in Limited Edition of 1000-signed editions, only a few now remain. Price of £1000 (GBP) includes custom wall/desk mount. Courier delivery worldwide available at cost. Preview: http://www.kospictures.com/book_T.asp?bookpage=2 Curmudgeon’s Comment: For you Americans, the book weighs about 22 pounds and costs is approx $1,900 USD QUOTE / UNQUOTE Valencia, Spain - “Yesterday none of the (America’s Cup) teams still training here docked out; with more periods of torrential rains and heavy winds forecast over the coming months, seems a wise decision to be moving our winter act to Auckland.” -- Tom Ehman, BMW Oracle Racing, http://bmworacleracing.twoday.net/ 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 Forums. -- Scuttlebutt Letters: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- Scuttlebutt Forums: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Peter Commette: Mr. Wainright's questioning of Paige Railey’s qualifications for ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year is off-base. Rather than concentrate on two poor regattas, look at her outstanding performances in 2006: Silver Medal Miami Rolex OCR, Gold Medal Radial North Americans, 1st Place Mid-Winters East, Gold Medal Semaine Olympique, Gold Medal ISAF World Sailing Games, Gold Medal Good Luck Beijing International Regatta. At the latter, she blew away the field, building an insurmountable 23 point lead before the Medal Race. All that, and she's the world number one ranked Laser Radial sailor. One last thing, get over Paige being flagged three times for kinetics at the Laser Radial Worlds. ISAF judges admit (actually, it’s more like “preach”) that if a sailor is not "sailing in the yellow" most of the time, which means right on the edge of being flagged, then performance is being compromised with regard to the rest of the fleet. She has to learn how to "sail in the yellow" consistently before the Trials and Olympics, and now is the time to learn where the line is drawn. Three kinetics violations are no different than being caught in three port/starboard violations. Hurts your performance and, deservedly so, screws your regatta, but if you accept the penalties, are you a cheater? Just bad judgment from which you learn for later. I congratulate Paige on an award well deserved, with no asterisks or footnotes. * From Cory E. Friedman: How did Harold Wainwright's letter get into Scuttlebutt 2220? If that isn't bashing, what in the world is? I have run into Paige a couple of times at Laser regattas and she has always been pleasant, helpful and encouraging, regardless of the fact that she was the best and I was close to the worst in attendance. While I do not condone kinetics, the fact is that, even with on the water judging, kinetics are rampant in Lasers -- especially when a sailor is unexpectedly in the tank. I do not know what happened at the Worlds, which were held in a marginal venue conducive to kinetics, but one might suspect that Paige got a little extra attention. Regardless, anyone can have a couple of bad regattas and Paige's string of superlative results is exactly the consistency one might expect from the best. * From Russell Streeter: The best female sailor in the world? Is it really possible determine the best female, or male, sailor in the world, when there are so many different types of competition? No sir, the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award recognises the outstanding achievments of the sailors honoured. Before Mr. Wainwright seeks to downplay Paige's achievements by pointing out her less flattering results, he should get out on a Laser racecourse. * From Rick Hatch (re Jordan Dobrikin's remarks in 'Butt # 2219 regarding "too many Judge Boats beating up on the peloton & 'also rans”): Say What? Come out and do some rule 42 (propulsion) on the water judging, and you will very quickly learn that, in general, the sailors at the front of the fleet "in 'big' regattas" usually understand rule 42 very well (they've probably even seen the same ISAF video that MNAs use for training judges), they know (or at least, they should know) where the edge of the rule 42 envelope is, and they also have the boat speed and tactics that enable them to stretch out in front so that they aren't even tempted by the risk of infringing rule 42. You will then find out why, in regattas in which appendix P of the rules is in effect, those same judges to whom you refer but perhaps without the benefit of their experience (who by the way have also been watching the leaders but from further away unless the need arises to zoom in) are so busy in the middle of the fleet - it's where the rule 42-related action often occurs. * From Tim Kent: My memories of Swallows and Amazons are much more recent than Phil Garland’s. I came across these books late in life when Susan Dye at the Armchair Sailor brought them to my attention when my daughters were just starting school. I read the books aloud to them every night. We read them together – they refused to read them on their own, they insisted that I read those wonderful books aloud. Today, when my now 12 and 13 year old girls are thumping me when we go Laser racing, I wonder if those magical books were not more important to their developing into passionate sailors than their sailing lessons. * From George Heartwell: Who does the scheduling for US Sailing’s championship events? Newport Harbor is an OK place to go racing for about nine months of the year, but scheduling the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship there in November is really asking for marginal conditions - or worse. And why would anyone intentionally schedule what is supposedly a major championship in marginal conditions? CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Old is when a sexy chick tickles your fancy, and your pacemaker opens the garage door. Special thanks to Team One Newport and Kos. Scuttlebutt is also supported by UBS, main partner of Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup. |
