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SCUTTLEBUTT 518 - February 29, 2000AMERICA'S CUP: RACE FOUR ABANDONED AGAINSCHEDULE CHANGED: RACING TODAY With four race days lost, and only three races sailed, the Race Committee has decided to change its schedule, and Race Four will now be sailed on Wednesday. There was never a hint of wind on Tuesday on the Hauraki Gulf. A sunny morning gave way to a hazy, cloudy afternoon and didn't generate enough heat to build a sea breeze. The wind velocity never exceeded four knots before Race Director Harold Bennett abandoned racing at 14:45. Bob McDavitt, the New Zealand MetService Weather Ambassador says the problem is a "high pressure system that has lingered over the Tasman Sea. This results in sunny days that are good for sea breezes. But, the sea breeze from the West coast meets the sea breeze generated on the East coast, and the two cancel each other out. Normally, the Southwest sea breeze wins this battle, but not until the land starts to cool late in the afternoon." But McDavitt is calling for tropical rain storms to move into the area from the North over Wednesday afternoon, resulting in Northeasterly winds of 10-15 tomorrow building to 20-25 knot Easterlies on Thursday, the following scheduled race day. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Team New Zealand currently leads the Prada Challenge, from the Yacht Club Punta Ala, 3-0 in the best of nine 30th America's Cup Match. -- America's Cup 2000 Louis Vuitton Media Centre Official site at http://www.americascup.org ONE SIZE FITS ALL It's really not important if you like your America's Cup news in bite-sized capsules, or as a more thoughtful and detailed analysis -- the Quokka AC website has it all. Plus photos, audio and video reports. Plus team profiles, commentary and the racing schedule. Plus detailed results and standings. And the people who write the words and shoot the images are the best. And it's updated so frequently, that you always have the very latest scoop. If you're looking for more America's Cup insight, here's the hot link: http://www.americascup.org/ HAVANA TO BALTIMORE RACE CANCELLED The idea of a sailboat race from Havana, Cuba to Baltimore has piqued the interest of both sailors and non-sailors throughout the United States. While the sailing crowd was gearing up for a major battle between some of North America's premier big boats and big boat sailors, the non-sailing crowd was eager to observe the firestorm of controversy a well-intentioned sailboat race was certain to set off in the mainstream press. Unfortunately, political issues have the upper hand and the simple magic of starting a major distance race in Cuba will not happen this year. Within the past 24 hours, the U.S. Department of the Treasury rejected the City of Baltimore's application for the race, according to representatives from the organizing Storm Trysail Club. While it was unclear whether the current political tensions between the United States and Cuba played a role in the decision, "it would be logical to assume they did," says Storm Trysail's Butch Ulmer. Full story at http://www.spinsheet.com VOLVO OCEAN RACE: TEAM RUDIGER Professional ocean racer, Mark Rudiger, and his TeamRudiger syndicate for the Volvo Ocean Race has solidified with the addition of renown yachtsman, Dee Smith. Smith, who recently completed an America's Cup challenge in the afterguard aboard America True, has formally agreed to act as the Chief Technical Officer and Co-Skipper for the TeamRudiger effort. Mark is the CEO, Co-Skipper/Co-Navigator of this syndicate and was the Navigator on EFLanguage, winner of The Whitbread 1997-98. On TeamRudiger, Dee Smith will initially head up the design and building of the boat and will assist in funds acquisition. His experience and recent successes, including Co-Skipper/Tactician in the last Admiral's Cup on the winning Dutch yacht, Innovision, are a perfect compliment to Rudiger. The Rudiger/Smith combination will make for a formidable campaign. More at http://www.teamrudiger.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (scuttlebutt@boats.com -- note temporary address for guest editor) 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 Bruce Golison That "swishing sound" is the America's Cup being flushed down the toilet by ESPN, Corporate America and the American public - both sailors and non sailors alike. Bruno Trouble said, "don't fix it if it is not broken"..... well the America's Cup is broken. It has become a joke. If some creative upgrades are not made soon, the AC will fade away in a swell of "who cares". Also, it has been widely known for awhile that the wind would be lighter for the finals, so why were the AC finals scheduled for now anyway? Too many personal agendas, not enough thought for what is good for the AC. -- From Bruce Parsons I think it is easier to talk about keels, which you can't see but pretend to understand, than it is to talk about mast and sails, which you can see and are harder to pretend you understand. This happens to professionals as well. In the unveiling of the 95 boats Jerry Milgram was the only one looking up - as he knows how little room for development there is underwater. For anyone to catch TNZ last time on reduction of underwater drag alone they would have had to throw away their rudder and one winglet. Prof. Milgram spent all his time looking up. In the third race the TNZ margin amounted to approximately 0.3 kt average over the course. This is about 3 %, for which you need about 6% reduction in drag alone to get. So again throw away your rudder Prada. The margin is primarily in the air, and in the boathandling. Prada has to sail better before we can even find out if they are sailing a slower boat, but for the moment it sure looks like they are. Hard to beat the best in the world in a slower boat. Next time let all the designers realize that no matter what they might think about its looks, TNZ is getting faster all the time. And while the margins are half what they were in 95, this 2000 standard will be obsolete this time next year. -- From David M. Blakemore I agree with the comments on which crew speaks English. Perhaps ESPN should borrow a page from foreign films and the live broadcast of opera and provide sub-titles. -- From Rick Hatch Further to George Middleton's remark, I was trying to figure out what was "different" about the America's Cup television coverage this time around (not Jim Kelly's commentary, certainly), and it dawned on me a couple of days ago that, for the first time since 1987, the on-board audio feed wasn't coming across in an American accent! How refreshing. I was worried I'd end up having to drink too many shooters watching each downwind leg if AmericaOne were to have been the challenger. Once you've sailed a season with Kiwis in your crew, or stood watch with them all the way to Maui listening to their sarcasm, it's easier to understand what Brad Butterworth is saying (" 'e's foassteh"; " 'e's out of theyeh" ...). POTOMAC RIVER SAILING LECTURES Potomac River Albacore Fleet to host Wednesday Evening Sailing Lecture & Social Events The PRAF conducts free, informal short course racing from the Washington Sailing Marina on the Potomac River every Wednesday evening from 6:00 PM till dark during the months of May, June, July, and August. As a precursor to this season, the Albacore fleet will host three evening lecture/social events at 7:00 PM on April 5 and 12 in the Powtomack Landing Restaurant Chart Room and on April 26th in the Afterdeck Cafe, both at the Washington Sailing Marina. Anyone with an interest in sailing is invited. For directions and further information go to: http://www.geocities.com/~sail-albacores/index.html or contact PRAF Fleet Captain Becky Harris at 703-838-0644. HOT WEBSITE If you like photos of sailboats you should double-click on this link: http://www.northsails.com/graphics/NGphoto.html You'll see some neat boats and some really neat custom sail graphics. Little boats, big boats -- it doesn't make any difference. When you deal with Whitney Gladstone, the work is done right, and it's affordable. So what are you waiting for? Call Whitney and talk about custom graphics for your boat or sails: (619) 224-8667 THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM: If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him...is he still wrong? Note: Nelson Weiderman has created a "Curmudgeon Server" at http://noeticharbor.com/curmudgeon/. It randomly pulls Curmudgeonly wit from a database loaded with past 'Butt Observations, Counsels, etc. Check it out! |
