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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 557 - April 26, 2000ELLEN MACARTHURIn Auckland last February, Sailing World Editor John Burnham met with Ellen MacArthur, a 23-year-old, 5'2" Englishwoman, to have a tour of Kingfisher, her new Open 60 for the Vendee Globe race around the world, and to talk about her rapid ascent in the offshore sailing world. Here's an excerpt from that interview now posted on the Sailing world website. JOHN BURNHAM: Can you tell us what's special about your new boat, and how it differs from the current crop of Open 60s? ELLEN MACARTHUR: The overall concept of the boat from the start was a light boat with less sail area to push her along. A lot of the boats go down a spiral whereby there's more and more sail, the boat gets heavier due to the loads, it needs more sail to push it, etc. We wanted to have a light boat that we could make heavier through water ballast, but that for light airs was quick and had less wetted surface area and was relatively easy to handle. JB: And to make the sails smaller and easier for you to handle? EM: No, not really. A lot of people think, you know, she's a small girl, she can't handle a 60, therefore anything smaller will make it easier, and we have done things to make it easier, but I think you would do that for almost anyone. I've sailed on the 60s before. Yeah, sure, I'm not as strong as some of the guys, but I don't think on these boats you necessarily have to be a brute. You need to think about what you do beforehand to save you a lot of the work. You could just go full on and try to drag a sail out of the hatch, but if you thought about a better way to do it, then it would be less strain on you. We didn't make modifications specifically to make the boat lighter and easier and a girly boat. That's not the case at all. JB: So, in terms of sailhandling, you're saying anybody can get exhausted quickly if you don't think it through and the easier you can make it, the more efficiently you can sail the boat? EM: Absolutely. You're the engine on board the boat, you're what runs the boat, you're what makes sure the keel's canted. JB: How much lighter is the boat than other 60s? EM: She's lighter-she's less than 8 tons. JB: What other differences are there from boats you've sailed on in the current fleet? EM: We've gone for a classic rig rather than an unstayed wing mast or a deck-spreader rig. We have a light rig, to save weight on the keel bulb for the same righting moment. JB: Do you give up ultimate speed in certain situations or points of sail? EM: We did wind tunnel testing, computational fluid dynamic tests, and tank testing with decent size models. We've done a lot of work on the form of the boat and the angles of things and the keel form. We certainly attacked it from the research point of view, and that's where the design team ethos worked, and as far as the rig is concerned, we thought it was the best decision from the advantages you gain for having a lighter boat around the world. We thought it was the best way to go. Other people will obviously argue that fact because they've made different choices. There's MUCH more to this interview, and it's all posted on the Sailing World website: http://www.sailingworld.com/2000/04/EllenMacArthur.html KEY WEST TO BALTIMORE RACE Dick Neville, Chesapeake Bay Station Captain of the Storm Trysail Club, reports that he received a call from Chessie navigator Larry Rosenthal earlier this afternoon that they were dismasted during the Key West to Baltimore Race. Geoge Collins' boat lost their rig, but no details were available due to a poor phone connection. The crew is unhurt, and the boat is motoring into Morehead City, North Carolina. Zehpyrus was three miles ahead of Chessie when the rig came down. The rest of the fleet is expected to start arriving in Baltimore on Thursday. -- Renee Mehl OLYMPICS The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced today that the winners of the Chernikeeff Sailing Regatta - Olympic Trials in the 49er (Ian Barker & Simon Hiscocks), Finn (Iain Percy), Men's Mistral (Nick Dempsey) and Soling (Andy Beadsworth, Barry Parkin & Richard Sydenham) would be nominated for the Sydney Olympic Regatta. The 470 class trials (men and women) will carry over to the 470 World Championships on Lake Balaton in Hungary (10-20) May. The top three male crews from the Olympic Trials (Chris Draper & Dan Newman, Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield and Graham Vials & Magnus Leask) will all compete at the World Championships. If there is a clear winner, the Olympic Selection Committee (OSC) will aim to nominate, otherwise they will conclude the trials at the SPA Olympic Classes Regatta at Medemblik in Holland at the end of May. In the 470 women's class, the top four crews from Weymouth will compete at the World Championships for Olympic nomination. They must finish in the top nine nations in Hungary to satisfy BOA and International Sailing Federation (ISAF) criteria laid down for every Olympic discipline aiming to compete in Sydney. In the Tornado class, the top two boats from the Chernikeeff Sailing Regatta - Olympic Trials (Hugh Styles & Adam May and Rob Wilson & Will Howden) will begin scoring in their trials at the Tornado European Championships in Italy (7-14 May) followed by the SPA Olympic Classes Regatta. The crew with the best overall scoreline from the two regattas will be nominated to the BOA for inclusion in Team GB. In the women's Mistral class, Christine Johnstone, who won in Weymouth, will have to meet certain criteria set by the OSC (the details of which will remain confidential) before she is nominated by the RYA to the British Olympic Association. No other sailor will be considered. For further details on the British Sailing Team for the Olympics: http://www.sailforgold.co.uk LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Lydia Jewell -- The story about the Australian Tornado sailors great scare reminded me of the little known tale of my daughter, Lynne Jewell Shore and Alison Jolly's near disaster off the coast of Miami during training for the '88 470 Trials. They were sailing out there with several other boats in huge swells in the Stream, when they roared down a face at an angle , and the rudder broke off. None of the other boats saw them, because the troughs were so deep and confused, and the fleet was signaled to head back in. Eventually the boat swamped, of course, and no amount of jury-rigging was effective. T hey both knew they were in a very precarious situation, which got more serious as each hour went by, and the sun dropped down toward the horizon rendering them very cold and possibly hypothermic. Just before twilight, they heard an engine and caught a glimpse of a small fishing boat, as they rose on the swell. Lynne has a fingers-in-mouth bloodcurdling whistle, and she exercised it repeatedly. One fisherman happened to be on deck and heard her, and the boat circled a couple of times till they finally spotted them, and came to the rescue! By the time they could empty the boat and drag it partially on board, it was dark. They were picked up 18 miles north of Miami! They reached Miami about 10 PM , grateful to be alive. Maybe this incident had something to do with their ability in the final race of the '88 Olympics, when they were able to fix a broken jib halyard on their boat in 35mph winds and mountainous seas to salvage a 9th place finish which transformed their clinched silver medal to gold. -- From Craig Fletcher -- We on the SoCal PHRF board are trying to move sailing into the future. We have to face the fact more and more boats are using asos. It is very hard to compare the two from a ratings prospective. The simple and best solution is to rate area, not shape. I suggest all the people who feel PHRF is do a poor job come to the next meeting on May 5 at SDYC. -- Bill Keith, Chair, USSA PHRF Committee (Re: Dave Rustigian's comments on not penalizing boats which carry both Asymetrical and Symetrical spinnakers.) -- This issue was discussed at the USSA PHRF committee meeting this March. It was recognized that A-sails are better for some situations and S sails for other. Therefore a boat which has both has an advantage. The overwhelming consensus of the committee was that such a boat should pay a handicap price for this edge. The handicap adjustment varied by area but typically is 3-6 seconds/mile. -- From Mike Nash -- The TransPac rating debates are always interesting. Should the race become merely a race for the "Barn Door" (lowest elapsed time for the course by a monohull) with a few super yachts competing, or a race for first overall? The past few races have seen good advancements in yacht design and have been windy, thus much of the focus has been on the first to finish. I think that the race will continue to prosper when it becomes again, a real big deal to win first overall. That is the trophy for all the rest of us. As for the shots taken at the Board of Directors of T.P.Y.C. it is unfair to think that they act only for the big boys. Maybe in the past when you had 20 plus, 70 raters on the start line, but not today. Most of the Board consists of people who have paid their dues in past TransPac's as simple crew members, not owners of big yachts or Turbo Sleds. I think they work very hard at trying to host a race that suits the West Coast Fleet. They are volunteers who put in the hours because they like the race. TransPac does not have the continued financial backing of a West Marine, and probably will never be like the Pacific Cup, in numbers or anything else. If you have done a TransPac and want to see the race continue - join T.P.Y.C.! Then raise you hand and volunteer to help. -- From Al Lambert -- Why doesn't the Transpac Race Committee make the race a true "PURSUIT" style race. That way all the boats big and small, in theory, could race and finish nearly at the same time. The start might be a little harder but the finish would be great. -- From David Munge -- Just as interesting as the technology of Pete Goss's big cat is the possibly crewing techniques. As a journey man crew, it would worry me very much to have to go down to leeward of such a big m/c at 30/40 knots to reduce sail on the bottom hull. The leeward boom actually goes outwards over the hull so any work needs to be done over the water. I know that in theory it can all be handled from the pods. But sod's law says otherwise. I believe it's a golden rule on the big French cats. Keep off the leeward hull at speed. -- From Sean Paterson -- Perhaps Dave Millett should look at some top classes and sailors before suggesting that Asy sails are faster than sym spinnakers in all situations. For regular round the bouys racing an Asymetric is rather limited to a wind range under about 8 knots true when one is sailing higher angles to carry such a sail. A classic example is the Americas Cup. There were many instances where symetric spinnakers were carried. If anyone was to have figured out what is faster it would be in that class. The Volvo is different game where Asy' sails are the majority however in the context of being benificial to PHRF how often do they race long distances offshore? If you want to sail faster as Dave suggests then you should you the correct sail for the conditions, this may well not be an aysmetric spin. I think it's all about something called VMG! GOOD LANES AND BAD LANES (Following is an excerpt from a story by Brad Read posted on the SailNet website) One of the things you constantly hear good sailors talking about on the water are "lanes." Good lanes and bad lanes are determined by the position of your boat relative to the competing boats around you. Upwind, a good lane is one that allows your boat to sail without any effect from other boats. In this case, no boats would be directly in front, to windward, or immediately to leeward of you. This is a situation where the only things dictating how you sail your boat are the wind and the waves, and you're able to sail unaffected by other boats-what I would call sailing "normally." When you have boats nearby that are influencing your wind and giving you bad air, you must react by making some alterations in your course, and sail trim to ameliorate the problem. Sailing upwind is sometimes the most difficult aspect of boat-for-boat positioning to manage, but it's also the most straight forward. In almost every situation, you will have to weigh the consequences of getting out of a bad lane based on the traffic around your boat and where you are relative to the next mark of the course. For instance, if you are sailing all alone and a boat comes along and tacks on your wind, your next move is an easy choice-you need to tack. To resume sailing "normally" upwind, tacking is usually the best option for getting out of a bad lane. Conventional logic dictates that any boat's wind shadow extends downwind and aft roughly 12 times the length of its mast. That measurement diminishes in strong breezes, but the rule of thumb still holds that if you're less than eight boatlengths from the boat ahead, your progress is going to be adversely affected by its wind shadow. Still, there might be a reason why you shouldn't, or couldn't, tack when in a bad lane. Consider these possibilities: 1. You would be tacking right into the bad air of a boat already on the new tack. 2. You are already making the mark and the bad air you're getting won't cause that to change. 3. Other boats around you have you pinned in and you can't tack. 4. Tacking would cause you to sail away from the mark and lose even more ground. There is much more to Reads's story. To read it all: http://www.sailnet.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=readbr002 AMERICA'S CUP JUBILEE The 12 metres Courageous, Northern Light, Gleam, Nefertiti, American Eagle confirm competing at the Jubilee Regatta. Organized to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the America's Cup this event has been scheduled by the Royal Yacht Squadron in conjunction with the New York Yacht Club, for Cowes, 18th to 25th August 2001. One hundred vessels are expected to cross the Atlantic for the Jubilee. They include Black Knight, Rebecca, Ticonderoga, Savannah, Wintje, St Roque. Many will sail 'in company' and others will travel aboard a semi-submersible transport ship from Newport, Rhode Island. Question: After the debate on the Hundred Pound Cup versus the Hundred Guineas Cup, does anyone know when and in what context the description "The Auld Mug" first cropped up? The Official Event Brochure of the America's Cup Jubilee will shortly be available upon application. If you wish to receive a copy, send an email with your full name and address to: amcup2001@aol.com Event website: http://www.amcup2001.com/ OUTTA HERE The curmudgeon is off to LAX to catch a plane up to Pacific Sail Expo in Oakland. This started off as a leisurely trip to a boat show, but in recent days it has become a tightly scheduled, carefully choreographed and fun-filled 35-hour adventure. There won't be a lot of free moments, and any thoughts about putting out an issue of 'Butt on Thursday disappeared some time ago. Sooo, I'm giving my computer the day off, and you're on your own tomorrow. Enjoy -- Lord knows that's what I'm going to do. THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS If you line up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try and pass them. |
