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SCUTTLEBUTT 1642- August 9, 2004Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is adigest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing, whining and personal attacks for elsewhere. ESCALATING THE ARMS RACE Building the fastest possible sailboats for oceanic record-breaking is the newest game in town. And the ante just went up as Frank Pong's new 115-foot Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed super maxi rolled out of the shed at DK Yachts in Malaysia. The design brief specified a lightweight, high performance monohull capable of sailing offshore and achieving speeds sufficient to break existing oceanic records, combining innovative solutions and without the restriction of any rule or qualification society. The following excerpts from the information on the DK Yachts website provide insight into this amazing project. "The combination of soft sails and a rotating wing mast allow us to achieve a very wide range of power without requiring a massive rig compression with a simple, non-spreader rig. Such a rig also allows the mast to be able to cant to windward. By doing so the gains are two-fold: Improved stability - by shifting the center of gravity to windward. Thrust - by turning forward the lift component of the sails, i.e.: in similarly reducing heeling moment. But the optimal arrangement of such a rig requires it to be attached to the boat in such a way as to minimize the compression loads when canting - or simply when upright. This obviously means a wide shroud base. Within a monohull concept, this translates into a wide boat, which in turn increases the hydrodynamic drag, so reducing the speed potential It therefore became apparent that to go forward we must combine a narrow hull with a wide shroud base, therefore we find ourselves with giant wings. Once the wings have been acknowledged, the next step, of filling them with water to further increase the righting moment, becomes self-evident. "The speed range of this sailboat is so large that it requires radically new blends of power and resistance. Since the boat will never sail 'downwind', due to its speed (the apparent wind angle during sailing will range from 17 deg upwind to a maximum of 92 deg downwind) the sail combinations go from a maximum power full mainsail and gennaker to a 3-reef mainsail with staysail. These aerodynamic combinations have to be properly balanced under the water throughout the speed range. Here it gets tricky, as we ask the same underwater configuration to work in equilibrium for a full mainsail and gennaker at 10 degrees heel and 12 to 15 knots boatspeed, and also with a keel canted 30 deg, a boat heeled 20 deg and a 3-reef mainsail and staysail. Although a combination of canting keel and asymmetric daggerboards has been analyzed, such solution is left for future developments of the boat." - For complete information, and drawings: www.dkyachts.com/p2_115.htm Photos of the boat: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/pong0808/ SKANDIA COWES WEEK There were some tight tussles as Skandia Cowes Week served up a lively second day yesterday. All classes enjoyed a cracking sail although some of the cracks were more welcome than others; Peter Ogden's brand-new Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou sailed at high speed into a chain connecting buoys protecting the Mary Rose wreck site off Southsea. The 21st Century hit the 16th with a crash that sounded extremely expensive to those on board the yacht but after having the keel inspected by a diver, Ogden who paid £1.98 million for his new boat, was relieved to hear that the damage was confined to scraped paintwork. Yesterday the big boats started at a committee boat near the mainland shore and although this worked well, their first tack took them straight through a dinghy race at Stokes Bay Sailing Club. Lasers and 505s scattered like snipe as a wall of 60-footers thundered towards them. The fact that there were no collisions seemed entirely due to the quick reactions of the dinghy sailors as the yachts had right of way. Conditions became difficult on the Royal Yacht Squadron start line when a strong tide tended to carry yachts over the line prematurely. There were a number of general recalls and some tricky moments as helmsmen bore away sharply in an effort to stay on the right side of the line. - Excerpts from a story by David Pelly in the Daily Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/5qfga - Check out Magnus Wheatley's coverage on the Yachts and Yachting website, www.yachtsandyachting.com/default2.asp - Event Website: www.cowesweek.co.uk CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar WHEN AUSSIES ATTACK So you think MaxZ 86's are fast? Move over rover, because Skandia Wild Thing, Grant Wharington's 98-foot canting-keel Super-Maxi from Australia, is off the leash. Winner of the 2004 Sydney-Hobart Race, Skandia Wild Thing is now turbocharged with a 12-foot canard and a 10-foot bowsprit. She's also completely kitted out with high-performance line from New England Ropes, including T-900 (Spectra/Technora) with HRC (Heat-Resistant Cover), V-100 (Vectran), and the latest Coated Dyneema and Vectran/PBO creations. Check out the Skandia Wild Thing World Tour here: http://www.wildthingyachting.com.au - Find hot high-tech line from New England Ropes here: http://www.neropes.com ETCHELLS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Lake Macquarie yachtsman Peter McNeill today became the seventh Australian to win the prestigious Etchells World Championship when he outsailed a star-studded international fleet of 85 boats off Mooloolaba on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The eight race series ended as it began, on a sparkling winter's day and light winds, when McNeill and his crew of Greg Torpy and Paul Turner sailed Tom Pepper XVIII into fourth place to comfortable take out the series. Going into the final heat, after an evening and morning of protests and changing decisions by the International Jury, McNeill and former World Champion Cameron Miles from Pittwater, sailing Pacesetter, were only two points apart. Miles had a mediocre start in the big fleet and 5-7 knot easterly seabreeze, but climbed back up through the huge fleet from 40th place to finish 17th, sufficient to secure second place. Third place overall went to Mornington sailor Glenn Collings, skippering Satu, who this evening won a protest against the Race Committee's ruling that he had been OCS (on course side) as a premature starter in the final race. Julian Plante took fourth place and American Dennis Conner finished fifth. - Peter Campbell, www.mooloolabaworlds.com BJÖRLING REIGNS Lysekil, Sweden - Marie Björling and her Team Panorama (Camille Dreyfus, Julie Gerecht, Amelie Guiccam, Marie Riou and Morgane Gautier) from the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club defeated French Claire Leroy in Team Ideactor 3-0 in the finals of Lysekil Woman's Match - the world's largest female match racing event. This victory came just a month after Björling won her third consecutive Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand. In the Petit Finals, Nina Braestrup (DEN) defeated Linda Rahm (SWE), 2-0. Final result in Lysekil Women's Match: 1. Marie Björling, SWE/Team Panorama, $12.937 2. Claire Leroy, FRA, Team Ideactor, $8.021 3. Nina Braestrup, DEN, $6.598 4. Linda Rahm, SWE/Team Koncentra, $5.434 5. Malin Källström, SWE/Team Tuve Bygg, $4.787 6. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN/Team Gerimax, $4.140 7. Marie Fauré, FRA, $3.622 8. Christine Briand, FRA, $2.587 9. Sally Barkow, USA, $2.070 10. Katie Spithill, AUS, $1.552 11. Elizabeth Kratzig, USA 12. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED Event website: http://www.lysekilwomensmatch.se RULES QUIZ During the starting sequence, A breaks a rule of Part 2 and collides with B, causing serious damage. B protests and retires. Before A can complete a 720 degree turns penalty, the race committee signals a general recall. A sails and wins the restarted race but B cannot compete because of the damage. Should A be disqualified? (Answer below.) EXPERTS IN ROPE HOLDING Dinghy mainsheets to maxi halyards, Spinlock clutches, jammers, and cleats are there. Tired of slipping halyards or unruly sheets that just won't release? These experts in rope holding can help you get a grip on your line problems. Your boat tiller driven? Check out Spinlock's unique extensions. Designed to hold up to the harshest conditions, for helming precision the right tiller extension can make a big difference to your sailing performance. Available at APS, the experts at fitting you out with the performance gear you need. Need replacement Spinlock parts? APS stocks them too… http://www.apsltd.com/scuttlebutt NEWS BRIEFS * This past weekend, over 450 boats and 1500 sailors competing in 12 fleets descended on the Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA, for the 32nd running of the Buzzards Bay Regatta. This year's regatta drew sailors from 22 states and as far away as Newport Beach and San Francisco CA. Buzzards Bay, long popular with racing sailors, saw outstanding sailing conditions over the three day event and some very competitive racing. This all volunteer managed regatta relied on 30 chair-people and over 150 volunteers. For more information and all the results: www.buzzardsbayregatta.com * Athens Update: Gary Jobson tells us, "To my eye everything looks good and city is ready for the Games. Security is tight, but not a burden." Jobson's Olympic sailing telecasts begin on August 14 - the schedule is posted on the Scuttlebutt website: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar/shows/ * Jody Swanson (Buffalo NY) and her crew of Lauren Jones and Maddie Waldron took top honors in the Lightning Women's North American Championships, followed by Debbie Probst and Jenny Millar. In the Lightning Junior NAs, John Newell and his team of Elizabeth Pope-Collins and Joe Raite finished on top, closely followed by Ben Spiller and Megon Ruhlman. Dick Hallagan (Newark NY) with his crew of Steve Davis and Nancy Bargar won the Master's regatta, while Bill Neal finished second and Don Barrett finished third. - www.buffalo2004.org/Buffalo2004/Buffalo2004MainFrame.htm * 41-boats turned out for the Tartan 10 North American Championships on Put-In-Bay, Lake Erie. The races had having everything from drifters to blown out chutes. Final results: 1. Liquor Box (Simon & Buckles) 2. Twins (Carroll) 3. Troll (Britton) 4. Perfect (Pinkerton) 5. Us (Strilky) http://www.tten.com/ * Offshore Challenges, the marketing, sponsorship and sailing event management company owned by Ellen MacArthur MBE and Mark Turner has formed strategic partnership with Leading Lights, the people development company with origins in the professional sailing arena. For Offshore Challenges, this provides the opportunity to extend their services portfolio by offering their clients people development programmes that are linked to the experiences of the Offshore Challenges Sailing Teams. The parallels of their challenges and campaign management with the world of business are numerous. The sailor's stories powerfully provide motivation, inspiration and hard earned lessons for any business team in any sector. * John Siegel's Wylie 42 Scorpio has won the inaugural Waikiki Offshore Series - finishing ahead of Manabu Kodama's Farr 40, Dottoressa and Todd and Cindy Wyrick's third place Sydney 36 Fins, which was the first Hawaii boat. The trophy for first place in the combined offshore races went to Dottoressa and Scorpio won the combined inshore races. An announcement of the 2005 Waikiki Offshore Series dates and format will be made public next week. - www.waikikioffshores.com/ RULE QUIZ ANSWER Rule 36 allows A to compete in the restarted race. B is entitled to redress under rule 62.1(b). http://tinyurl.com/xsiw "MAN OVERBOARD!" Solo or short-handing? Power boating? SeaMarshall receivers/alarms send out an electronic stream that allows programming of autopilots and fuel shut-offs when a man-overboard signal is received from a SeaMarshall automatic marine beacon. Or, integrate with charting and performance instrument systems. For information on SeaMarshall safety gear: Chip Barber, admin@chbarber.com, http://www.seamarshall-us.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room nor a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From John Glynn: Just out of curiosity, what is it going to take to have adjectives/modifiers like "arguably," "debatably," and "possibly" removed from in front of the term "best skipper in America's Cup history" when applied to Russell Coutts. Remind me again who else has won three Cups -- three in a row? Who holds the consecutive race winning streak? Dennis Conner may have played the game exceptionally, but he lost one finals. Charlie Barr? Coutts eclipsed him. * From Deanna Wilson: Isn't anyone else offended by the comments made by Grant Dalton of Team New Zealand about Dennis Conner?? He must be an insecure individual to make that sort of attack in the press against a respected sailor such as Conner. Sure, Dennis has created a few uproars in his time but I don't recall ever hearing about him making cheap, personal attacks on individuals such as the one made by Dalton. Dalton should keep his nose to more important issues including assuring that his team can build an AC boat that doesn't fall apart in its first race! * From Eric Hanson (re letter from Mr. Browne about Black Flag Disqualifications): Any recipient of a BFD can tell you it is customary for a race committee, if they cannot inform you at the start or if the class rules and SI's do not require radios (dinghies), to inform you at their earliest possible effective moment...usually the windward mark. While it is true that some race committees may not have the resources to do so, in many events that remains the most popular means of notification. As for "I-flags," you must remember that no matter how many times we rewrite and adapt the rules of our sport, they are designed to sustain the self-policing aspect of racing. The more responsibility that is placed in the hands of committees and judges, the less and less we have as competitors. Being one of the very few, if any, sports that is designed that way, I believe it behooves us as individuals to maintain this in-and-of ourselves in order to keep the sport out of the hands of the juries and judges. Simply, if you're over...go back! * From Noel M. Field, Jr.: Regarding Marty Browne's comments in Scuttlebutt #1641, he should read ISAF case 34 in which a boat, that was over early and clearly knew about it, was disqualified from the entire series when he went out and intentionally hindered another boat to keep it from finishing in the top three positions in the race. This appeal and a similar action by a competitor in the Long Beach Olympic Trials in the 1980's resulted in Rule 62.1(d) in the current rule book. * Laurie Fullerton: I watched the movie "Wind" starring Matthew Modine recently- a good film that roughly parallels the loss of the America's Cup by the United States in 1983 and the effort to win it back from Australia. The sailing is great and it was filmed in Newport and Perth, Australia. Many will recognize the faces and accents of some of the extras who appear in it including Peter Montgomery. Given the current climate of the America's Cup, the film is somewhat visionary as it pits the sailors/designer against the billionaire owners - and after losing the Cup the first time, the sailors and eccentric designer spend much of the film out in the southwestern desert designing, building and raising money for their own Cup boat. They recruit the disenchanted daughter of the rich billionaire to help them raise money. At the climax of the movie, the billionaire and his sponsors arrive to take over the boat (claiming it is actually their money and their boat) and the billionaire demands that the skipper leave the premises. By law, he says he will race the last race against Australia. But the gritty, grassroots sailors prevail, mutiny against the suits and go out and win back the Cup from Oz. It is a Hollywood ending, of course, and as it turns out, the movie tanked. But, it is fun to watch as perhaps the sequel "Wind 2" may be coming to theaters near us sometime soon. * From Barbara James: (Billionaire bashing re handcuffing of Russell Coutts). Big picture: the billionaires have taken action that has kept America's Cup in the forefront of sailors' minds worldwide, and on the tips of our tongues. During downtime when there is no Cup racing to watch on TV. If what they did was wrong there would be a rule 69 protest (bringing disrepute upon the sport). We get precious little sail racing coverage on TV, we will all be glued to our sets with our VCRs running, Russell Coutts or no Russell Coutts. The more we yap about it, the more the advertisers must be rubbing their hands together. Things corporations and governments do sometimes don't jive with my idea of good ethics, but this has become a tremendous coup in terms of promotion for the sport. THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID he just whipped out a quarter? |
