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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 850 - July 5 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
BEHIND THE SCENES Leading the media programme is Volvo Ocean Race Media Director, Mark Howell (Great Britain). Mark is an avid yachtsman and brings a wealth of experience in supervising media operations at significant multi sport events as the former Director of Press and Public Relations for the British Olympic Association (BOA). Working alongside Mark will be travelling Volvo Ocean Race Press Officer, Lizzie Green (GBR). Lizzie has been the backbone of the race's press and marketing initiatives since the end of the 1997-1998 Whitbread Round the World Race, when she acted as the headquarters based Press Officer. Following on from his role at the Louis Vuitton Press Centre for the last America's Cup and then the Olympic Yachting Regatta press centre in Sydney, Peter Rusch (Canada) will direct the extensive media centres in each port. Back at Volvo Ocean Race HQ in England, Nigel Cherrie (GBR) and Andreas Hanakamp (Austria) will ensure that six-hourly reports are distributed around the globe each day the eight-boat fleet is racing at sea and back up the traveling media team. Managing the vast image distribution requirements for the race is renowned photographer and photo manager Patrick Anderson. The internet editorial and technical teams for the website will be led by Producer Emily Robertson. - www.VolvoOceanRace.org
MATCH RACING In Group B action Andy Green of the GBR Challenge and Sweden's own Bjorn Hansen jumped out to the early lead by posting identical 3-0 records. - Shawn McBride LEADERBOARD - GROUP A: Jochen Schuemann 6-1; Russell Coutts 6-1; Jes Gram-Hansen 6-1; Magnus Holmberg 3-4*; Jesper Radich 3-4; Johnie Berndtsson 2-5; James Spithill 2-5; Bertrand Pace 0-7; *Holmberg advances by virtue of beating Radich in Flight 5. GROUP B: Andy Green 3-0; Bjorn Hansen 3-0; Gavin Brady 2-1; Jesper Bank 1-2; Dean Barker 1-2; Peter Gilmour 1-2; Luc Pillot 1-2; Chris Dickson 0-3. - www.swedishmatchgp.com.
TRANSPAC Yoshihiko Murase's 52-foot sloop from Nagoya sails today where for the last half-century Transpac racers have feared to tread -- all alone above the rhumb (direct) line between Los Angeles and Honolulu. Normally, that would mean living dangerously close to the ubiquitous Pacific High, the high-pressure zone that lurks in the northeastern Pacific sucking the wind out of the air. The strategy has paid off so far, especially in the 24 hours before Wednesday morning's roll call when Bengal II logged 251 nautical miles and climbed to second place overall in corrected handicap time only four hours behind Brent Vaughan's Cantata, an Andrews 53 from Oceanside, Calif. Bengal II was 1,331 miles from Honolulu - not quite halfway - while the larger Divisions 1 and 2 boats that started a day later were in winds of only 10 to 12 knots but bearing down from behind, led by Philippe Kahn's 75-foot Pegasus at 1,561 miles after a 304-mile day. Bob McNulty's 74-foot chance was six miles farther back and Roy E. Disney's 73-foot Pyewacket another 11 miles. Those three high-powered boats are all paralleling the rhumb from below, but their savvy navigators - respectively, Mark Rudiger, Dale Nordin and Stan Honey - must be wondering if Bengal II is on to something good. - Rich Roberts CLASS LEADERS: DIVISION Pegasus (R/P 75), Philippe Kahn; DIVISION 2: Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), James McDowell, DIVISION 3: Cantata (Andrews 53), Brent Vaughan, DIVISION 4: 1. Bull (Sydney 40 OD-T), Seth Radow, ALOHA DIVISION A: 1. Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, ALOHA DIVISION B: Stardust (Wylie 46), Peter and Patricia Anderson. - www.transpacificyc.org.
OFFSHORE RACING Our galley is minimalist and we don't carry any of the modern amenities such as microwave oven, refrigeration or any standard stove with a built-in oven. We leave those to cruisers, it's just too heavy. We have three camping burners to heat water, a pressure cooker and pack 7 days of frozen food with two extra days of freeze dried food. For silverware, we only carry 8 sets as watches alternate and don't get fed at the same time. The team picked 8 solid dog bowls (they are almost impossible to break and come with non-skid bottoms) and 8 toddler forks (Power Puff Girls and Scooby Doo because they are very light and durable without too many sharp edges). In order to celebrate our good tactical move, this morning Morgan (Larson) hand-squeezed a large glass of orange juice for each one of us. Delicious! (Alcohol, cigarettes or any form of drugs are not allowed on-board Pegasus) - Philippe Kahn, Team Pegasus website. Complete log entry: www.pegasus.com/log.htm
CARBON SAILCLOTH
QUOTE / UNQUOTE - Paul Elvstrom
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Ron Baerwitz (Re: Peter Mohler's comments about regional NAYRUs): I could not agree with Peter more. Having lived on both coasts I can attest that racers from the far corners of this continent have varying needs. When I lived on the West Coast I saw how US Sailing was so out of touch with West Coast racing. Even in the US Sailing publications you rarely saw West Coast events getting significant coverage or photo opportunities. The East Coast has a short sailing season and is more one design oriented requiring a different mentality to manage.A regionalized US Authority would give racers far greater access to dictating the direction of their sport. * From Quentin McGown: Suggesting breaking up US Sailing into districts doesn't impress me much, but getting back to our roots does. Now that political correctness has run its course, let's get back to what we are - the North American Yacht Racing Union. * From Bill Heintz: In 'Butt 844, USSA's Executive Director Terry Harper is points out that the United States has one vote, just as any other country has one vote. What is difficult for the American sailor to understand is what the US only gets one vote and the EC gets multiple votes. The ISAF is making distinctions based on fading political boundaries rather than more distinct sailing regions. I agree with Peter Mohler's idea in Butt. 849 of splitting up USSA into multiple distinct racing organizations by sailing region (no less confusing than the 60+ distinct PHRF organizations that we already have) and further propose to give each organization Sailing Member National Authority status. This would give the organizations the ability to insert prescriptions for things like life jackets, club membership, starting sequences, advertising, (helmets,) etc. to the RRS for each region as deemed appropriate or necessary by the constituents in that area. * From Peter Godfrey: Peter Mohler makes some good suggestions about rationalization that will most likely be incorporated -- one way or another -- into the structure of the nascent US Amateur Sailing Association. He and others [e.g. Ian McCurdy] who might be interested should contact me at USASA1@optonline.net for more information. USASA is even close to agreeing on a definition of amateur -- or rather "professional" -- so that the scope of its constituency is well understood. Anyone not a "professional" is an amateur, and professionals will be able to regain amateur status simply be stopping being professionals. As soon as we have a final definition, I will pass it along. * From: James Malm: I just wanted to print the rule for all to see! Basic Principle: Found on Page two - Sportsmanship and the rules: "Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty or retire." Moving ballast is illegal, a crew member is bound by the rules to report the infraction and take a penalty. So why would you do something that you know is illegal especially in a sport which challenges your skills and your character? They day will come when offshore sailors will be watched from space by race officials. It might have already come? Attached is a free link to a 1994 photo of the transpac starting area. terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com * From Jim Pugh (Regarding stacking of sails) I felt the need to comment on W.L. Palmer's observation of sails stacked on the rail of Philippe Kahn's super sled Pegasus as she sailed by Catalina July 1 on the first evening of the Los Angeles-Honolulu Transpac race. The Transpac 2001 Notice of Race Rule 2.6 reads: "Movement of sails not in use while racing is allowed, however all sails and gear not being flown must remain within a yacht's lifelines." Scuttlebutt readers may also want to check out the www.Pegasus.com website, which contains insightful updates and wireless photographs by Philippe Kahn of life aboard Pegasus en route to Hawaii. CURMUDGEON'S COMMENT: Let me endorse Jim's recommendation - Transpac groupies will gain a lot of insight from the Team Pegasus website.
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * July 26-29: Sailing World NOOD at Marblehead Race Week. Boston YC, Corinthian YC, and Eastern YC. 190 boats 13 classes - www.sailingworld.com
VOLVO PREVIEW? SEB's triumph was complete when an hour and a half elapsed before the next boat, Knut Frostad's Djuice Dragons was the next to finish. In the extremely light airs of the second part of the race, SEB had pulled out a very large lead. The two new boats, both of which will be seen on the start line of the Volvo Ocean Race on September 23rd, were together as they rounded the southernmost point of Gotland, but on Krantz's own admission, it was a wind shift as they approached the Karlso Islands off the west coast of Gotland that made the big difference. Krantz elaborated on the litany of jobs to be completed almost immediately. 'We are sorting out the sail inventory, tuning the rig, fixing the bottom, sorting out the bulb and fin issue, most likely changing the rudder and a few other technical issues,' he said. 'Generally the concept of the deck layout and all that have worked beautifully - the deck layout is just working out better and better.' It is just the peripherals that need attention, but as he said, 'It is those small ones that make the difference.' Knut Frostad admitted a similarly comprehensive list but claimed that there were areas where he believed the Djuice team might be ahead. 'We still have a few things to pull out in sails,' he said, 'SEB showed more [new ones] than we did. One thing is certain, the new boats, with carbon fibre masts, are better set up for Code Zero sails than the ones four years ago.' He indicated also that the sails themselves were better developed. Krantz pointed out that this hadn't been a good test of the sail wardrobe and that he knew it would not be. 'That's why we didn't take the racing inventory,' he said. 'We have another level to go there as well. We will have development; we don't know whether it will be right or wrong, but it will be another step in whatever direction it is, up or down.' Krantz admitted that he was not entirely happy with SEB's boat-speed viz-a-viz Djuice Dragons, 'But we know what we want to do and hopefully that is right,' he said, adding, 'What I am happy about is the way that everyone on board worked with what we had at hand, which is the most important thing. They don't sit there saying, "We should have brought this," or "we should have had that," but, "This is what we have, let's make the most of it." That's what they did. Roy Heiner brought Semcon R&D/Assa Abloy, the former Chessie Racing, in third place almost two hours behind Djuice Dragons, which led Knut Frostad, to remark, 'At least we know the new boats are faster than the old ones!' Four minutes behind Heiner came Stefan Myralf with Nokia (ex Swedish Match) and 39 minutes after that Johan Scherlin's Atea (ex Innovation Kvaerner), and four minutes later, Thomas Blixt with SEB 3, the former Silk Cut. Bringing up the rear was Hakan Prising's Avant (ex Intrum Justitia), the only boat from the 1993-4 round-the-world race. - www.VolvoOceanRace.org
FOR THE RECORD Steve has advised his crew that an excellent weather pattern is emerging - and to plan on leaving their current base in Newport, RI for delivery to NYC on Friday (6 July) in preparation for their fourth attempt on this durable record. Crew will include: Steve Fossett (USA) Skipper, Ben Wright (AUS,) Gino Morrelli (USA), Randy Smyth (USA), Dave Scully (USA), Pete Melvin (USA), Peter Hogg (USA), Chuck Hawley (USA), Sean Biddulph (UK), Paul Van Dyke (USA). FOOTNOTE: PlayStation will be offered for sale for $3.5 million when Sony's the 3-year sponsorship concludes in September. - www.fossettchallenge.com
GORI
OPTIMIST TEAM RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
A HAPPY ENDING
VOLVO YOUTH SAILING ISAF WORLD
JUNIOR SNIPE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT COMPETITION
THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL |
