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SCUTTLEBUTT 1767 - February 2, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest 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. TEAM SHOSHOLOZA Nobody expects that Team Shosholoza, as the South Africans call themselves, will pull off a miracle and win the next America's Cup, scheduled for 2007 in Valencia, Spain. But their accomplishments are pretty miraculous already. They have shattered the image of yachting as the preserve of hyper-rich C.E.O.'s and lily-white sailing crews. They have raised the delicious prospect, however remote, that billionaires who lavish $100 million and more on America's Cup challenges can be humbled by a rival with one-quarter the budget and a 19-year-old sailor with scars from old knife fights. They have attracted a corporate sponsor, a huge German company that pumped some $17 million into Team Shosholoza this month just as money was running out. Then there is the biggest accomplishment of all: taking a handful of young men with cloudy futures and showing them that they, too, can take on the world's best. "It's not an obligation, but everyone should do something for these kids, for these people," said Salvatore Sarno, the shipping company executive who is the driving force behind Shosholoza, which takes its name from an old African workers' song about striving together toward a common goal. "They've been robbed for a hundred years, even of the right to call themselves men. And now we must give." - Michael Wines, NY Times, full story: http://tinyurl.com/4v2hv RULE CHANGES After the US Sailing edition of The Racing Rules of Sailing 2005-2008 had been printed and distributed, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) made a change in rule 3(c). Rule 3(c) as it appears in the printed rulebooks has been deleted and replaced with the following rule: (c) where the matter is not one to be determined under the rules, not to resort to any court of law or any tribunal until all internal remedies provided by ISAF or by the Court of Arbitration for Sport have been exhausted. This new rule, which begins to apply on January 1, 2005, covers matters that are not "to be determined under the rules," such as a boat owner challenging a measurer's decision or a one-design sailor challenging a class rule change. Such incidents occur between regattas when there is no possibility of protesting or appealing under the racing rules. In such a case, new rule 3(c) will require that the remedies provided by ISAF and by the Court of Arbitration for Sport be exhausted before a boat or competitor goes to court. (The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international institution created in 1983 that arbitrates sports-related disputes: www.tas-cas.org.) Rule 3(c), as it appears in the printed rulebooks, was considered unnecessary because rule 3(b) points out that a decision on a matter covered by the racing rules is considered final after the appeal and review procedures provided in the racing rules have been exhausted. In addition, US Sailing made two changes in Appendix F, in rules F1.1 and F1.3. Rule F1.1 was changed to accommodate a request from the Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Sailing Associations. The change in rule F1.3 corrects an unintended omission in rule F1.3. Both changes took effect on January 1, 2005. Insert the following sentence between the first and second sentences of rule F1.1: However, an appeal or request arising from an event run under the procedural rules of either the Intercollegiate Sailing Association or the Interscholastic Sailing Association will be forwarded to the association appeals committee for the ICSA and ISSA. Change rule F1.3 to read as follows: F1.3 Appeals of decisions of a protest committee acting under rule 69.1, appeals of decisions of a protest committee of a US Sailing national championship, and requests by such committees for confirmation or correction of their decisions shall be made to the US Sailing Appeals Committee. Website: www.ussailing.org/rules/revisions2004-08.htm LAUNCHING We normally don't report on boat launchings, but there is a pretty significant one happening on Monday, February 14 in Auckland, NZ. The boat is the 100-foot Maximus, which is modestly described as the 'World's fastest and most advanced supermaxi.' Designed by Greg Elliott and Clay Oliver for New Zealand businessmen Charles Brown and Bill Buckle, boat's featured include: - Light displacement carbon fiber construction - Rotating wing mast - Retractable canting keel - Maximum power to weight ratio - 500 Square Meter upwind sail area - 800 Square Meter downwind sail area For its first year, this Cookson-built boat has a very ambitious race schedule: - April 2005: Caribbean - Antigua Race Week - May 2005: Gulf Stream - 24hr World Record Attempt & Rolex Transatlantic Challenge - June 2005: St. Tropez, France - Giraglia Rolex Cup - July 2005: Sweden - Round Gotland Race - Aug 2005: England - Skandia Cowes Week & Rolex Fastnet Race - Sept 2005: Costa Smeralda, Italy - Rolex Maxi Yacht World Cup - Oct 2005: Malta - Rolex Middle Sea Race - Dec 2005: Australia - Rolex Sydney to Hobart Previous commitments will prevent the curmudgeon from attending the launching, but there is lots more information and photos on the GBS Yachting website: www.supermaxi.co.nz/ THEY RECOGNIZED IT TOO… There is now no denying that the Dryshirt™ has become the "must-have" item for 2005. From winning boats at Key West Race Week to junior program groups getting ready for the 2005 season, the Dryshirt™ has kept sailors drier and more comfortable than any other gear on the market today. After strong demand from their client base, Team One Newport recognized it too and has become the latest dealer to offer the Dryshirt™ to their clients. For a complete list of dealers or to order online visit: http://www.sailingproshop.com/dryshirt.htm or call toll free 1(800) 354-7245. WILL IT BE ENOUGH? The onboard routing software right now suggests at best Ellen MacArthur's 75-foot trimaran B&Q would complete its RTW solo passage next Tuesday night, just hours before the deadline to beat Francis Joyon's record. But it all depends on the movement of the High pressure, which seems very hard to forecast ... so who knows? What is sure is that every mile in the bag now could be mission critical. "Conditions were presumed to be stable and yesterday afternoon I put the first reef in again, even though I wasn't sure what was going to happen to the weather it seemed the right thing to do at the time," MacArthus explained. "So I sat with a decreasing breeze with the reef in and I was thinking all the time, shall I pull it out, maybe not, it was the middle of the night and I just wanted to be sure. And then I tried to get some sleep and the breeze died to average 16 knots, then it started raining and the breeze died to 7 knots and the forecast was for it to be in the high teens maybe twenties, then it was punching up to 21, 22 knots. Then all of a sudden a second set of cloud came over and the breeze came up to 25, gusting 26 knots, and it averaged that for about six hours. It's just slowly died down and it's gusting 22-23, so it was pretty unexpected and pretty brutal in the night, to be honest." Boat speeds have been averaging around 19 knots as MacArthur appears to be drawing out a commanding advantage but there is a 'cloud' on the horizon in the form of a huge high pressure south-west of Ireland: "Looks like we've got another two days of this fast sailing, and then we're going to be heading in to the high. B&Q is now three day and 10 hours (765 miles) ahead of Joyon's record pace - her biggest lead since rounding Cape Horn over two and a half weeks ago. - www.teamellen.com FINAL SPRINT TO THE FINISH It's hard to think of a major offshore race that has ever come to such a dramatic climax as the Vendee Globe. The three front runners are approaching the finish line of the Vendee Globe almost line abreast. Mike Golding tacked last night to take Ecover in towards the French coast on port tack. Bonduelle is further upwind to the north, and race leader PRB further north still. Golding knows he is at a disadvantage being to leeward of the other two, but tacked early so as to be able to split away from them and try something different. "I took the choice to tack early so I had every chance of some separation from Bonduelle. But clearly the result of that is I'm more headed. Even though this is the favoured tack it's going to get worse as I go into the left hand shift. But it was worth a try." The lateral separation between Le Cam and Riou is closing relatively quickly now, having gone from 110 to less than 85 miles, and Le Cam looks to be laying the finish now, leaving Vincent powering in from the North with more speed at the moment. There is some definite movement in the high pressure which theoretically should hamper PRB a little. But, currently the models are showing that PRB should finish first tomorrow night between 1900hrs and 0100hrs GMT. PRB has a two knots better VMG than Bonduelle with PRB only now having 297 miles to go until the finish, making a VMG of 11.9kts, about 2 knots better than that of Bonduelle. Leaders at 1900 GMT February 1: 1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 298 miles to finish 2. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 42 miles to leader 3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 123 mtl 4. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 949 mtl 5. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 974 mtl Complete standings: www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/ MELGES DISPLAYS THE MELGES 32 AND MELGES 17 IN CHICAGO This week the public can get an up close look of the new Melges 32 and new Melges 17 at Chicago's Strictly Sail Show. The show takes place in a fantastic venue, Navy Pier. Bring your family and friends and review these fantastic Melges products along with other Melges Boats on display. Show dates are February 3-6. For more details and a viewing of the Melges all-star line up of boats, race to http://www.melges.com "CHAOTIC STATE" (James Boyd was in Qatar at the weekend to see how Tracy Edwards' Oryx Quest was shaping up. Here are a few excerpts from a major story posted on The Daily Sail subscription website.) Compared to the silkily smooth running of some major regattas, the build-up to the Oryx Quest, Tracy Edwards' non-stop round the world race, was in chaotic state when we visited Doha this weekend. Of the four maxi-multihulls due to take part only three out of four had so far turned up. Of the three in Doha's harbour only one, Tony Bullimore's Team Daedelus had made it to her officially appointed berth off the Oryx Quest race village on Doha's Corniche. Although sold to a new but so far anonymous owner, a sponsor has only just been found to enable Edwards' former Maiden to compete in the Oryx Quest (now that the boats have arrived in Doha other sponsors are expected to step in prior to Saturday's start). With the start of the Oryx Quest looming this Saturday Cheyenne finally made it to Doha Monday following her hurried shipping from Rotterdam to Dubai where skipper David Scully and a large team have been rushing to restep her towering mast before sailing to the start. The upshot of all this is yes, everything is late and, yes, there are teething problems when it comes to bringing a round the world yacht race to Qatar. This is the first time a major ocean race has set off from and finished in the Gulf and having four of the world's largest not to mention widest racing yachts turning up in a bureaucracy-heavy Qatar is having a similar effect on local officials as if a family of awkwardly-sized Martians descended upon London. - James Boyd, The Daily Sail - www.thedailysail.com NEWS BRIEFS * Bruno Peyron's maxi-catamaran completed 400 miles on its eighth day at sea and is ahead of the record times of Steve Fossett's Cheyenee - the absolute RTW record holder - by 459nm and Geronimo's record for the Trophee Jules Verne by 273nm. - www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/ * With a unique fleet sponsorship deal with Quest International Sports Events (Quest) - the organizers of Oryx Quest 2005, Qtel will be supplying tele-communications and technical support services for the race organizers and the large numbers of international media who will be attending the race start on February 5th. Oryx Quest 2005 is non-stop around the world sailing race starting and finishing in the Middle East. Offering the largest prize in sailing history, the challengers - the world's biggest and fastest multi-hull racing machines - are expected to finish back in Doha approximately 60 days after the start. www.oryxquest.com * Of the 10 racing boats entered in the Del Rey YC's Corum-sponsored 1125 mile race to Puerto Vallarta, three of them with canting keels will be taking dead aim at the 20 year old course record of 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 4 seconds set by Richard and Camille Daniels' MacGregor 65. They are Roy Disney's Reichel/ Pugh maxZ86, Pyewacket, Randall Pittman's Dubois 90, Genuine Risk, and Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80. Additionally, a dozen 'Salsa' division boats will start early and sail the course in four legs, with one leg devoted to a fishing contest. - www.dryc.org * Des Brennnan will become the new Chief Executive of Yachting New Zealand. Brennan brings to Yachting New Zealand considerable experience in management and business leadership of both commercial and not-for-profit organizations leaving a role as a Principal of 'Traffic' a management consulting group in Auckland. Brennan's recent management posts include International Manager for Montana Wines and General Manager of Auckland Showgrounds. Brennan also has recent experience in governing a World leading sports organization having been a Director for three years of Netball New Zealand during their successful World Championship campaign, a position he holds today. www.yachtingnz.org.nz/ SALE AWAY Enjoy the February sale at Onne van der Wal Gallery! 15% off every item on our website and at our Newport Gallery. Onne's book "Wind and Water" makes a great gift for your sailor valentine! We also have Limited Edition prints, note cards, calendars and mini prints too! http://www.vanderwal.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 Sandy Purdon, America's Cup Organizing Committee Board (1988-1995), Defense Committee (1988-1995) and Commodore of San Diego Yacht Club (1991): Regarding David Wilhite's comments about the financial support of San Diego and/or California for the three America's Cup event in 1988, 1992 and 1995, I can tell you that it was minimal at best. We went to the Port of San Diego who had the most to gain financially from the events. We approached the City and State because of all the visitors and teams that would come to San Diego and benefit these governments bottom line. We wanted a facility developed on the bay to accommodate the teams but none of this hit a cord. The economic benefit was in the neighborhood of $300 - $500 million (1-2 Super Bowls) per event but it was hard to get the attention of the politicians. I was involved in the past two Super Bowls on the Host Committee and I can tell you that both the Port of San Diego and the City of San Diego both supported the Super Bowl with $100's of thousands of dollars. Remember the Super Bowl is only a week long while the Cup has teams here for years. While we won't probably get the Cup back to San Diego in my lifetime, I imagine we would get better support financially from government next time if there is a next time. * From George McCroskey: Having had the pleasure of sailing a couple of Bermuda races with Ken relatively early in his "pro career," I can attest to the fact that he always arrived early and stayed late. The first time I sailed with Ken I was a paid hand on board the sixty-six footer we were crewing on. Ken was selling sails to the owner, and as far as I know, was paying his own way. (More likely the "company" was paying the way.) Still, Ken's role on board was much more than a sail maker. I've sailed with plenty of sail makers and some extend themselves and some don't. Ken does. He was right there beside me stowing sails after the race, putting away gear, and actually seeming to enjoy the whole experience! I cannot imagine that he does it any differently now. * From John Maxwell: Peter Johnstone makes an excellent suggestion by encouraging professional sailors to volunteer their time to inspire future sailors. All this talk of pro's vs. amateurs brings to my mind another issue, the ISAF Sailor's Classification Code and the grey area between pro and amateur known as 'Group 2'. Group 2 classification unfairly discriminates against those who have chosen careers in the yachting industry. Sailors in Group 3 spend their working hours on the water practicing and honing their skills and getting paid for it. Sailors in Group 1 spend as much time as possible on the water to make themselves and their boats competitive. While all this is going on Group 2 sailors are to busy designing, building and maintaining boats and equipment so that Group 1 can have their recreation and Group 3 can have their livelihood. Group 2 sailors end up spending less time on the water than the other two groups however because their occupations are in the yachting industry they are penalized by being restricted to a certain number onboard a boat in certain classes and not being allowed to sail in others. Adding insult to injury, when allowed on board they can't drive. Not many sailing events in the US use this classification code, However it is the nature of organizers to legislate. We may see more of this in the future. Give the Group 2 people a break. * From David Redfern Kent, England (Re David Wilhite letter on San Diego support for the AC): I recall the Mayoress of San Diego saying there would be no support (money) for the America's Cup whilst there were soup kitchens. * From Chris Ericksen: As one who was in the hydraulics business for 15 years, the stories of canting-keel problems occurring when an hydraulic ram or cylinder is fully extended leads me to wonder why people don't use a different hydraulic device to cant a keel: a rotary actuator. The kind I am thinking of is a rack-and-pinion device wherein pistons attached to either end of a rack rotates a pinion gear that would in turn be attached to the axle of the keel. I am sure folks smarter than I have considered and rejected this, but I wonder why this simple and robust device has not been used heretofore. * From John Roz: This has got to be the most amazing time period ever. We have Ellen's quest on B&Q, Bruno's record attempt on Orange II, the Global Challenge, and the amazing Vendee Globe race!! I'm on pins & needles to see all the results.. It's simply awesome that the Vendee Globe race is so close. It's a drag race to the finish with only 400 miles to go.. Wow! Curmudgeon's Observation: Don't forget the Oryx Quest 2005 maxi-catamaran non-stop around the world race that starts Saturday. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS You know you have a problem if you wake up at 2 am to go to the bathroom … and check your e-mail on your way back to bed. |
