SCUTTLEBUTT #231 -- December 7, 1998

CHEAP SAILS

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LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Letters may be edited for space (250 words max) or clarity or to exclude personal attacks.

>> From Peter Huston -- To Steve Glassman - Beyond just the issue of hailing OCS boats, RC's and regatta managers need to create an open forum for discussion of all factors which pertain to racing enjoyment, well before a regatta or series begins, not the morning of the first race. What course configuration is preferred, both in shape and leg length? What time should racing start and end each day? Where should the race course be located? A web site provides this tool. Clubs and classes who hope to grow will use this technology to better learn the desires, and serve the interests, of their customers, the racing sailors.

>> From Hugh Elliot -- (re taking inflatable PFDs on commercial airlines)The obvious solution is to refrain from admitting that one is in possession of an inflatable life jacket. The real solution is to state that FAA Exemption #14 (I think - John Bonds knows the exact number) applies and that these devices are legal as carry on and checked baggage. What about the PFDs that the airlines demonstrate at the beginning of any over-water flight? Are they not substantially similar to our PFDs?

>> From Mike Guccione, DRYC Sail Committee Chair -- As the sail committee chairman for Del Rey Yacht club I am responsible for all sailing activities and policies. I would like to point out that Del Rey Yacht Club adopted a policy in April of 1998 of calling OCS's either by hailer and or VHF radio and we have followed this procedure ever since. Steve Glassman's comments were his personal comments and do not signal a change in Del Rey Yacht Club's policy.

>> Geoff Ewenson, Sailing for Sydney in 2000 (Concerning growing the sport)-- One area that has been touched upon but not really bitten into is the TV appeal or lack thereof within sailing. I watched recently with interest the televising of the 1998 Knockerbocker Cup held in New York City. The event held in J-105's had all the drama of a rerun of Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood. If I am left bored to tears by watching some poor rockstar from the Japanese Americas cup team freehand four feet up the headstay to untangle an unwieldy spinnaker, imagine what the guy is thinking who normally watches Nascar in the afternoon.

We all agree that in order for the sport to grow we need to broaden the base. Put everyone who wants to try it in an Escape and let them have a nice safe calm experience. If we show more big boats bobbing around in the murk of the Hudson I cannot imagine they will be beating down the doors of the local Escape dealer.

What about showing something that truly excites the senses. Kids are flipping on the tube and checking out Extreme in line skating, Snowboarding, Skiing, etc. I know that when I see Glen Plake going big off cliff it makes me feel ten foot tall and bulletproof. It is no wonder ESPN is dropping sailing next year. Its a snoozer. Its true that we need to broaden the base, but in order to accomplish this, we need to invent ways to attract potential sailors to the sport without having to drag them.

HINMAN TEAM RACING TROPHY
Boston Cosmos, the defending World Team Racing champions, showed blistering speed and great teamwork to win the 1998 U.S. Team Racing Championship with a 3-1 victory over the Cape Cod Whishbone in the finals. After going through the quarterfinals and semi-finals undefeated, the Cosmos found themselves tied 1-1 in the finals before turning it on in the final two races.

After another cold front brought rain and high winds (including several funnel clouds) overnight to southern California, the sun broke through in the morning and the winds diminished enough to complete the final day's competition. Breezy, gusty, jib-easing conditions persisted most of the day, not to mention a few auto-tacks mixed in for good measure. All of the teams demonstrated great boathandling in the challenging conditions, but the Cosmos seemed to consistently have an edge both upwind and on the reaches.

Team spokesman Josh Adams credited much of their performance to the exemplary sailing of their three crew Brett Davis, Victoria Wadsworth and Suzannah Kerr. Cape Cod Whishbone battled to a 3-2 win over Kaiser Sosa in the semi-finals and won the silver medals. Team NYYC then defeated Kaiser Sosa 2-0 in the petit-finals to capture the bronze medals.

Race Committee chairman Chris Ericksen and his Alamitos Bay Yacht Club team managed to complete 83 races over the three days of the regatta. -- Brad Dellenbaugh

1.BOSTON COSMOS (Josh Adams / Brett Davis, Nick Trotman / Victoria Wadsworth, Mark Mendelblatt / Suzannah Kerr) 2. CAPE COD WHISHBONE (Tim Wadlow / Abigail Pope, Graeme Woodworth / Megan Bohlen,Tim Fallon / Meghan Boardman) 3. NYYC - CON LECHE (Mike Zani / Chris Museler, Chris McDowell / Brandon Prior, Karl Ziegler / Mike Huang)

Event website: http://www.abyc.org/98HINMAN.HTML

THE RACE
The arrival of France Telecom, third principle partner of The Race/La Course du Millenaire, comes as a decisive step in the construction of the event. This agreement constitutes indeed a very important turning point which enables the challenge of live transmissions direct from the boats to be raised. This new approach from television and the Internet reassures challengers in the pursuit of their projects, eight months before the last deadline for starting construction of boats.

Moreover, two years before the start, the list of challengers is becoming clearer because to date 23 projects from 10 different nations have been declared to the general office of the event, 16 of which are officially registered.

Right from the start The Race set objectives in line with its other challenges: to distribute live TV images in broadcast quality direct from the boats, a veritable innovation in the transmission of images. So one of the three principle partners of the event could then be none other than a major telecommunications operator. It is in fact France Telecom, 4th largest operator in the world. But beyond television transmission, the arrival of France Telecom will bring along the demonstration of its know-how in the Internet field. This is already a giant step taken by the event which in this way finds its financial base, and also the technological guarantee for world coverage of the event.

At two years before the start, 16 challengers have been officially declared to date, of which 3 remain confidential. They represent 11 different nations. The 13 declared challengers are: Ross Field (New Zealand), Pete Goss (Great Britain), Henk de Velde (Holland), Fedor Konioukhov (Russia), Loick Peyron (France), Grant Dalton (New Zealand), Lawrie Smith (Great Britain), Cam Lewis (USA), Tracy Edwards (Great Britain), Lionel Pean/Peder Silverhjelm (France/Sweden), Tony Bullimore (Great Britain), Florence Arthaud (France), Roman Paszke (Poland),

In addition, seven challengers present or represented at the 98 skippers' meeting are in contact with the organisation: Steve Fossett (USA), Laurent Bourgnon (Switzerland), Paolo Martinoni (Italy), Guillermo Altadill (Spain), Ludde Ingvall (Sweden), Bob Miller (USA).

Event website: http://www.therace.com

AMERICA'S CUP
In (Dennis) Conner's estimation, Prada and Young America will be the toughest challengers to overcome, by virtue of healthy funding and strong design resources. "It is all driven by money," he said. "Without that, you can't work on design. Without design, you can't have a fast boat. Without a fast boat, you can't win." But, he said,Stars & Stripes was about as far as the other challengers in its program. "We have a design as good as any and hopefully a little better. We have kept a low profile as far along as our funding is concerned, but we are quietly moving ahead." -- Ivor Wilkens, Grand Prix Sailor.

For the full story: http://www.sailingworld.com

AROUND ALONE
The carnage began earlier in Leg 2 than anyone had expected. Battling 25- to 35-knot winds, two Class II boats were heading back to port the second day out. The worst damaged boat was George Stricker's 40-footer, Rapscallion III, which lost a boom. "Boom is in two parts, cannot be repaired," Stricker wrote to race operations. At the time he was just over 76 miles from Cape Town. He turned around and, sailing hard into 30-knot winds with his headsails only, he was doing less than 5 knots when last heard from.

The second Class II boat to report trouble was Shuten-dohji II, skippered by Japanese senior citizen Minoru Saito. Saito reported that after just a half hour's use his electronic autopilot had malfunctioned. "Autopilot no work. Coming back to Cape Town," Saito reported to the race office in his characteristically clipped English. Fortunately for him, Saito was not as far out to sea as Stricker and was able to make it back to Cape Town quickly. He arrived at dockside at 7:15 a.m. Sunday morning local time and 10 hours later he had repaired the autopilot and was back out to sea.

Stricker was not so lucky. While Saito was only about 30 miles off Cape Town when he turned back, Stricker had shot 75 miles down the coastline, finally turning just east of False Bay. He must now battle his way back without a mainsail. Assuming nothing else breaks, Stricker should make it to port sometime Monday night. With his own boom in "two pieces" a repair is unlikely. If he is to return to sea a new boom will have to found. With no major sponsors or a container full of spare parts, Stricker's fate is the most uncertain of all right now as he joins the two non-starters, Fedor Konioukhov and Robin Davie back in port. -- Emily Robertson and and Stephen Pizzo

Standings as of 1000 hours GMT December 7 (Parenthesis indicates distance from finish): CLASS I: 1. Soldini (6620) 2. Autissier (6620) 3. Golding (6634) 4. Thiercelin (6635) CLASS II 1. Garside (6629) 2. Yazykov (6662) 3. Mouligne (6678) 4. Van Liew (6682)

Event website http://www.aroundalone.com

THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL
Employment applications always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I'd be inclined to write -- "A very good doctor."