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SCUTTLEBUTT 1769 - February 4, 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. AMERICAS' CUP (Chairman of the America's Cup Challenger Commission, Tom Ehman was interviewed by Richard Gladwell as he passed through New Zealand recently on this way to the Challenger meeting in San Franciscotha concluded Wednesday. Here's an excerpt from the story Gladwell wrote for Pacific Motor Yacht.) "Valencia it is a town without a lot of Cup experience and they don't have driving force of a local yacht club like NYYC in Newport, San Diego and certainly RNZYS here and Sir Peter," Ehman said. "Now we are dealing with government entities that are competing with each other and certainly it is quite a bit more difficult to get things done than it was in Auckland, for example, where the key people knew the local yachting scene." The first of the new Version Five boats will appear on the start line in Valencia in June. Ehman believes the latest edition of the America's Cup Class rule has been "boxed" so that they boats will be very similar, but "souped-up" a little for downwind sailing - with a ton lighter displacement, bigger sail area and more draft. Upwind performance is expected to be similar to the previous generation, but downwind will be faster which should encourage gives more overtaking. "The tolerances of sail area, waterline length and draft have been significantly narrowed. Instead of the boats varying in waterline length by half a metre they will vary by only a few centimetres. They will come in on the maximum draft, same displacement, and within 2-3 sq metres of sail area when the range was 30-40 sq metres last time, under version 4 of the rule. "So although the boats won't be one-design, there are still some tolerances to play with, the boats will be more boxed, within this latest version of the rule than in the past, which will lead to closer racing ,and the sailing will be more important than ever. "Add to that the additional possibilities of passing downwind over shorter time - 90 minutes than three to four hours - only two laps instead of three. At least in the early going, two races per day, more fleet racing which is visually spectacular." As one of the instigators of the introduction of umpiring to match racing, Tom Ehman has always been one of the visionaries of the sport. While his focus is on 2007, he can't help but try and peer over the horizon beyond Valencia."The biggest problem with this event, in my personal opinion", he says, "is the time." "It's way too long between events. This event should be happening right now in '05. We should have raced here in 2003, gone off and done some events like we did. And the Challenger selection series should already be starting in March or April. If that were the case then the cash-burn rate for the teams would be half what it is at present. So you get as much or more sponsorship revenue (some would say more, because you get two big events in four years) for half the price! If this event were happening every other year you would get many more teams because it costs half as much money to get the team up and running." - Richard Gladwell, Pacific Motor Yacht. The complete story will be online next Tuesday at www.pacificmotoryacht.co.nz CANCER FREE It is stunning when doctors tell you that you might not have as much time left as you thought you did. The scary diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that Gary Jobson received two years ago put him into dry-dock. One of the most prominent faces of sailing in the United States, Jobson has traveled just about everywhere there is water, even the Arctic and Antarctic where the water is as much ice as liquid. Jobson, 55, based in Annapolis, Md., was a member of Ted Turner's 1977 America's Cup champion yacht crew. He has covered Olympic sailing for NBC and America's Cup races for ESPN for years. "I'm cancer-free," he says. Getting to that point was not easy, however. He says the diagnosis of his illness in April 2003 was frightening and that treating it was no picnic either. Doctors told Jobson that about 50 percent of those found with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma--cancer that attacks the lymphatic system--survive five years or more. "It's a sobering thought," Jobson says. Because of his illness, however, Jobson estimates he probably has spent only 10 days on the water in the last two years. First he endured chemotherapy treatments, but when his tumor doubled in size, Jobson underwent a stem-cell transplant. He laughs now when he thinks back to doctors noting these treatments might cause "some drowsiness" or "some fatigue." The understatement cracks him up. "Are you kidding me?" Jobson says. "You're flat on your back." The truly ironic aspect of Jobson's illness is that for a dozen years he has been the national regatta chairman of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's sailing program that will promote 50 sailboat races this year. In the years since Jobson became the sailing chairman, the events have raised $12 million for the charity. Jobson, an Emmy-winning TV commentator, expects the Chicago show will be one of 60 appearances he makes this year. He has his energy back and plans to sail and talk about sailing at a non-stop clip. "Now that I have the health issue behind me, I plan to do very diverse things," Jobson said. - Lew Freedman, ChicagoSports.com, full story: http://tinyurl.com/6c8yq COMPARING THE RULES "Open 60 rules and the VOR 70 rules are very different in their basic format. The Open 60 Rule encourages wide boats because the heel with ballast fully canted by rule can not exceed 10 degrees, which has type formed this class. The VOR70 rule has a cant angle limit, restricted rig dimensions, minimum bulb weight and upper and lower displacement limits. Common to both rules is the freedom to use any variety of appendages to make the boat perform, although there are some limits in the VOR 70 rule. "With both projects we put a big effort into providing the sailors with an appendage package (canards and rudders) that would provide good balance and sea keeping qualities over a broad range of sailing conditions that that can be expected in long distance ocean racing. Research into this subject had some useful overlaps for the two designs. Single handed sailing has a different focus on rig operation than the fully crewed VOR 70. Both projects however are fast, light displacement ocean going yachts that share some development characteristics." - Russell Bowler, president of Farr Design from an interview posted on the Sea Sail Surf website, full interview: http://seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/ RESERVATION TIME Newport Shipyard's dance card is filling up for summer. We're taking reservations for dockage, signing up work lists, and setting up containers for programs that base out of the Shipyard -- Newport's only shipyard. The best boats are always here, and have made us the #1 destination in New England! Email us at mailto:info@newportshipyard.com or view website at http://www.newportshipyard.com ECOVER HAS LOST ITS KEEL Thursday afternoon at 1400hrs GMT British Vendee Globe skipper Mike Golding reported his Ecover was having problems with his keel. He lowered his sails other than for a small trinquette headsail, and had filled his ballast tanks to try to maintain some stability in the boat. Golding made the call to his shore-crew who were awaiting his finish. The shore crew took their 67 foot steel Challenge class yacht Ecover 67 out to Golding's location to stand by. At around 1700 GMT Golding confirmed that the keel had been lost, the boat sailing with full ballast tanks under storm jib alone. Golding remains resolute in his desire to complete this his final Vendée Globe. At 0100 GMT Friday, Golding was just 16 miles away from the finish line. On a happier note, Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) finished the Vendee Globe RTW race at 05h 22m 08secs GMT after 87 days 17 hours 20 minutes 8 seconds, with an average speed of 11.24 knots. He placed second in the race - 6 hours 32 minutes 13 seconds behind winner Vincent Riou. Leaders at 1900 GMT February 3: 1. PRB, Vincent Riou, Finished 2. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, Finished 3. Ecover, Mike Golding, 51 miles to finish 4. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 910 mtf 5. VMI, Sébastien Josse, 937 mtf 6. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick 2208 mtf 7. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 2981 mtf 8. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, 3007 mtf 9. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, 3773 mtf Complete standings: www.vendeeglobe.fr/uk/ Check out the exciting photos of Vincent Riou's finish: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/vendee/ ELLEN The total lack of wind is meaning the autopilots on Ellen MacArthur's 75-catamaran B&Q are unable to hold on as the wind data goes round in circles, and the lack of boatspeed means no steerage left. The pilot alarms go off to indicate they have lost control, and the skipper 'goes off' as the frustration gets too much! A bruised fist and a broken mp3 player are on the damage due to frustration report Thursday. The Azores put the brakes on B&Q - reducing Ellen MacArthur's advantage over Francis Joyon's record pace to 2 days, 22 hours (930 miles) - a high price too pay both on the record stakes but also physically for Ellen, who is now beyond exhaustion - only 20 minutes sleep in the last 24 hours, and very little in the preceding days. The next 24-36 hour period is going to be slow as MacArthur negotiates the area of high pressure and by the weekend a strong northerly gale is being forecast - 30-40 knots [Force 8 Gale] and very rough seas. Here's the forecast from Commanders' Weather: Relief is on the way later Friday, first in the form of a cold front which will freshen winds from the NW-N to 15 kts as the front moves thru late in the day. Then strong high pressure following this front is going to increase Ellen's wind speeds further to 25-30 kts by midday Saturday and likely to 30-45 kts. Saturday night coming from a northerly direction. Seas will be increasing to 15-20 feet and it will be very tough conditions beating toward the finish over the weekend. These conditions will be improving Sunday afternoon and night as the high pressure weakens and moves eastward toward the North Sea. Her wind likely will clock thru the NE into E and perhaps SE before she reaches the finish line. - www.teamellen.com NEWS BRIEFS * America's Cup racing is coming to Sweden. Malmö, in the Skåne region at the south of Sweden, will be the Northern European location for the Louis Vuitton Acts 6 & 7, with racing beginning on August 25, 2005. The back-to-back events, featuring both Match and Fleet Racing are among 14 opening Acts of the 32nd America's Cup. Malmö, supported by the regional district of Skåne, is a popular location for sailing in Northern Europe, as the America's Cup continues holding events across Europe in 2005, before settling in its Host City of Valencia, Spain for 2006 and 2007. - www.americascup.com * Bruno Peyron's Orange II maxi-catamaran and the twelve-man crew are continuing their fast descent of the South Atlantic this morning averaging 20 knots. The giant is making good average speeds on a trajectory increasingly moving towards the east to shorten the route. On Day 10 days of their quest for a new RTW record, Orange II covered 529 miles and is now 629 miles ahead of Steve Fossett's record pace. - www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/ * Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard, have agreed to give up their time and help raise money for the Australian 29er class this month. On the evenings of February 22-23, Coutts and Cayard will help the 29er Class at a fundraising event at the Woollahra Sailing Club in Sydney, with all money raised to be put towards shipping costs of 29ers to San Francisco for the 29er World Championships in July 2005. Coutts will be talking on tactics, Racing Rules and career paths in sailing. The following night, Cayard will talk on regatta planning and management. - Sail-World website, full story: www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?SEID=0&Nid=16271 * Michael Tamulaites has joined the World Publications Sailing Group as New England and Northern European Regional Sales Manager for the group's three magazines: Cruising World, Sailing World and Power Cruising. He will be responsible for advertising sales in the New England area and the Northern European territories. Tamulaites has more than 15 years of experience working in the boating industry including an earlier stint at Cruising World and Sailing World. He worked in the editorial and advertising departments from 1998 through 2003 before joining Tartan and C&C Yachts as sales and marketing director. * Acura, the luxury division of American Honda Motor has signed on as the first major sponsor of the Long Beach YC's 41st annual Congressional Cup, scheduled April 12-16 - the premiere match racing event in Southern California. Since it was launched in 1965, world-renowned sailors such as Ted Turner, Dennis Conner, Rod Davis, Peter Gilmour, Chris Dickson, Gavin Brady, Peter Holmberg, Dean Barker, Ken Read and Ed Baird have won the Crimson Blazer emblematic of victory in the prestigious event. - www.lbyc.org THESE RULES WEREN'T MADE FOR BREAKING The Protest Room is the wrong place to learn the racing rules, especially when it's so easy to learn them on-line. Go to http://www.uksailmakers.com , click on Rules Quiz and you'll get the animated action many have described as the clearest presentation of rules they've ever seen. All kinds of situations develop as you watch, accompanied by the applicable rules. 17 situations, some covering multiple rules, are already posted; new quizzes are added regularly. If you've visited before, go back: in addition to new quizzes, you'll be surprised at the upgrades. Try it now…before a competitor throws you out. 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 Christian Fevrier (edited to our 250-word limit): It was very kind of you to remember us the palmares of the Orange's skipper, Bruno Peyron, in Scuttlebutt # 1776. His passion for multihulls is stunning. When he built his first catamaran Jazz in 1981, with a twin-rig, he invited me aboard with brother Loic for the first sail between Lorient and La Baule. The 100,000 volts sailor had already a lot of projects in mind. In 1985, he was the first to study a 30 m long catamaran with Gilles Ollier, with a streamlined mast of 75 sq.met, towering at 32 m! Fifteen years before the first mega catamarans of The Race! Peyron had a real obsession to internationalize the ocean multihull racing circuit, inviting aboard great sailors like Cam Lewis or Roger Nilson. We must be very grateful to him for that. One point needs to be corrected in Scuttlebutt. He was not "the first sailor" to go around the planet in less than 80 days. They were five to do it all together on that 20 April 1993 ! Cam Lewis, Jacques Vincent, Olivier Despaigne and Marc Vallin, the skilled crew, deserve the same fame. And two of the Peyron 24-hour records have never been registered. The three Peyron brothers are a rare phenomena. If everybody knows Loic and his long winning list in Open 60 trimarans, younger brother Stephane is a wonderful film producer. Ecologically oriented, his long series about the most remote areas of the world is a true masterpiece. What a family! * From Chris Conley: An interesting paradox has been coming up in the last few issues. First, there was a call for more people to help with junior sailing, community sailing, disabled sailing, etc. Then, a discussion about classification of professionals in our sport has arisen. As a high school sailing coach (certainly not a lucrative career choice), I've been labeled a Category 2 pro. This may not seem like a big deal, but it has kept me from sailing several one design events that limit the number of "pros" on board. Nicole Weaver wrote, "… if your job requires you to be skilled at, and spend all day thinking about how to make boats perform, you're a pro ... seems fair to me." (Butt 1768) My job requires me to spend part of my day thinking about how to make a group of adolescents sail club 420s faster for three months out of the year. Why am I more knowledgeable about making a Farr 40 or J/35 faster? So on one hand, we are asking people to coach and inspire our youth, on the other hand, we are punishing those who do. I know one coach who has already left his position so he can competitively drive a J/105. * From Robie Pierce: Peter Johnstone's thread concerning professionalism and volunteering is especially appreciated in this corner. A diagnosis of Chronic MS in 1985 forced me to give up a career in the sailing industry and competitive racing. Since 1989 I have devoted my efforts in helping to develop local, national and international programs and protocols for all sailors with disabilities. Starting with the founding of the Shake-A-Leg Newport, RI adaptive facility to the Independence Cup, aiding the 1996 Paralympics, World Disabled Sailing Championships and helping to provide the joy a simple sailboat ride for the mentally retarded or racing tactics to a future national champion, it's been the most rewarding element in my life. Newport RI has the highest population in America of current & ex-American Cuppers, National Champions, Rolex'ers, Offshore Champions, Olympians(past & present) , sailboat builders and pro sailors . We here at Shake-A-Leg have a dedicated band of emerging competitive racers with disabilities who for years have desperately needed an hour or two per week of tutoring from the "pros from Dover" . Cheers go out to Magnus Liljedahl and the new Team Paradise program. If you have the time or treasure to give back to your sport I invite you to email me at: robie19@cox.net. It might just make your next sail more rewarding! * From Brad Read (Ken's brother): Nicole Weaver discussed what might happen, ". . . if Ken Read decided to become a farmer." Now that is funny. Your readership may not realize that our family has a long history in Dairy Farming. Our Dad, Bob Read (who by the way is by far the best sailor in our family)was the proprietor of Read's Dairy, specializing in home delivery of all sorts of dairy products. So, if this whole sailing thing doesn't work out, I think Kenny would be very well suited to return to the farming roots that he has laced into his genetic code. * From Michael Mullaney: Geoffrey Newbury is absolute right. I too have been reading the post about canting keels and my first thought when read the story of the guy lashing a 10 ton keel into place with a piece of rope was how ridiculous is that. Why not just pin it in place. There should be a rule that requires some way of pinning the keel in place. A simple device like is on all outboard engines to take the load off the hydraulic cylinder would be much safer. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Pavlov was so well trained that every time the bell rang, he fed his dogs. |
