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SCUTTLEBUTT 1407 - September 4, 2003Powered 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 and personal attacks for elsewhere. THE NEW AMERICA'S CUP For most of its history, the 152-year-old yacht race has been anything but a profit center. Snooty traditionalists banned most forms of advertising until 1988. Since then a variety of sponsors, including Cadillac and Motorola, have poured millions of dollars into the event only to walk away, frustrated by disorganization, erratic television coverage and the constant threat that the boat they back won't even survive the semifinals of a race that is held every four years or so. This time it will be different. As a sponsorship vehicle, Cup racing already has big advantages over many sports: Companies can use the boats as floating billboards--technology and teamwork are the main messages--but they can also take customers and employees out for spins. The prestige and drama of the event make for good television, especially with new digital aids (news - web sites) that help viewers understand what the sailors are doing. When the next Cup match is held, most likely in 2007 (the final schedule is still being decided), races will be no more than two hours long, the better to appeal to attention-challenged television viewers. The venue will be a European city chosen for steady winds (the five finalists, including Lisbon and Marseilles, have a ten-year record of at least 90% wind reliability) so TV coverage can be promoted without fear of canceled races. On shore, tourists will be drawn to a yachting center styled after an Olympic Village, with sponsors and the host government paying most of the bills. Most important, all the details, from television contracts to license fees for America's Cup logo T shirts, will be handled by AC Management, a company Bertarelli formed to manage the Cup. With the combination of Swiss efficiency and entrepreneurial creativity that drove him to the top of the biotechnology industry, Bertarelli has also rammed through sweeping rules changes designed to make it easier for teams to buy boats, recruit crews and sell sponsorships to finance campaigns that can cost $100 million or more. * The key difference this time is an unprecedented agreement between Bertarelli, chief executive of Serono S.A., the Geneva-based biotechnology company, and fellow billionaire Larry Ellison, whose Team Oracle is the so-called Challenger of Record. Since either man can write a check for the $100 million or so it can take to float an America's Cup campaign, they didn't squabble over details like how to handle television revenue. "Neither of them has to run the event to fund their own program," says Thomas Ehman, Oracle's rules adviser and a Cup participant since 1980, when he was a rules adviser for the New York Yacht Club defense. The result, ironically, will be more money for everybody. With AC Management handling the sale of combined TV rights this time--and the live television audience much bigger than in remote New Zealand--the price could double the $10 million the race has garnered in the past. - Daniel Fisher, Forbes magazine, full story: http://tinyurl.com/lp76 MOËT CUP Triple Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schuemann will be the skipper of Alinghi for the Moët Cup, scheduled to take place between 15th and 20th September in San Francisco, whilst Brad Butterworth will act as tactician. Jochen Schuemann has been Coutts sparring partner since the start of the Alinghi campaign, in the year 2000. A formidable match-race helmsman, he has helped Russell to raise his game and carry off the Americas' Cup competing against Team New Zealand. Now he is taking command. Coutts will be in San Francisco by the end of the event, supporting his team from a follow boat. The Moët Cup is divided into two events: a professional regatta and an owners/founders match. This means that Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison will compete with each other before handing over the helm to Jochen Schuemann and Gavin Brady. The two teams will take this opportunity to test new crew and to present their program for the coming years. Both Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing have indicated that they intend to modernise the Americas' Cup to allow the general public to get closer to the event. Many regattas are scheduled each year and the Moët Cup is being used to kick off the series. - www.alinghi.com PADDED SAILING SHORTS & PANTS Sailing Angles trademarked Sailing Shorts and long pants have padded rear and knee fender options and come with a rugged double Cordura seat and knees! You'll love their functional deep pockets, non- corroding zippers, waist adjustment straps, and double waist buttons, all designed to help you sail and play hard. Breathable, water resistant Supplex makes these quick drying clothes easy to pack and an absolute pleasure on the race course! Sizes: 26"-44"; 4- 14 in women's; shorts come in two leg lengths. Colors: Aloha Silver, navy, khaki, red, black and khaki/navy combo. Now at APS, Layline and http://www.sailingangles.com GUEST EDITORIAL A bizarre situation has developed in this year's Mini Transat Race which sees Chris Sayer, a third place getter in the 1999 event, refused entry for the race to start on 7 September. Last January the event organisers informed Chris Sayer, as a Southern Hemisphere entrant, that he would need to do a 1,000 n.m. qualifier in New Zealand to qualify for the Mini Transat. Chris sailed from Auckland to Tauranga, to Noumea, to Sydney and return, a total distance of 3,500 miles. In February the organisers changed the rules, requiring entrants to qualify in a 500 mile event in Europe. By then it was too late for Chris Sayer to get his boat to Europe to qualify under the changed rules. Despite many attempts to persuade the organisers otherwise, they still refuse to accept his entry, stating that the Maritime Authorities in France have limited the entries to 70 and no more will be accepted. Chris Sayer is the only entrant who has brought a boat from the Southern Hemisphere. In all sports, not least yachting, traditions are valued, especially those where we appreciate the support that competitors have given our events in past years. Chris Sayer has done 24,000 offshore miles in Mini class boats - surely the organisers should be bound to their original requirement for Chris Sayer to undertake a Southern Hemisphere qualification rather than newly imposed rules to qualify for a much shorter distance in Europe? Chris Sayer now finds himself in the most unfortunate situation of sailing a top competitive boat "unofficially" alongside the accepted entries. Is it not too late for the organisers to accept Chris Sayer's entry and avoid a possible embarrassment to them should he perform to his expectations in this event. - Bill Endean, Commodore, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron MORE AMERICA'S CUP The Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron wants to lead a $150 million challenge to win back the America's Cup in 2007. A Sydney syndicate of business high-flyers is behind the plan, with Royal Melbourne confirming it is in talks to be the campaign flagbearer. Royal Melbourne chief commodore Alan Saunders said yesterday a successful challenge against the Swiss titleholders would mean the 2011 America's Cup would likely be held outside Port Phillip Bay. Mr. Saunders confirmed the squadron was negotiating with the Sydney group to run the campaign from his St Kilda pier headquarters. "We are in discussions with a syndicate to launch an America's Cup challenge. We are extremely optimistic about the outcome," he said. * Government sources doubted any taxpayer money would go into the bid. Kristine Condell, chief operating officer for the as yet unnamed syndicate, said it was about four days away from formally announcing the bid. Its budget would be $150 million and $10 million had already been pledged by a sponsor. The bulk of the bid's money would come from corporate sponsors, including overseas sources. Ms Condell said the squadron would not be required to contribute money but provide professional advice and the location for trials. - Cup in Europe website, full story: http://www.cupineurope.com/LatestNews/2007AUS-LN.htm NEWS BRIEFS * Anyone interested in collegiate sailing will want to read the comprehensive summary of preseason predictions published on the Sailing World magazine website. SW has also gone out on a limb and published preseason rankings. Here are their top five coed schools: 1. Harvard, 2. Hobart/Wm. Smith, 3. Hawaii, 4. Dartmouth, 5. Stanford. http://www.sailingworld.com/ * Farr International has joined forces with Rolex Watch U.S.A. and the Storm Trysail Club to organize the Rolex Farr One Design Invitational. This event combines class starts for the Rolex Mumm 30 and the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championships with a new handicap-racing event, the Rolex Farr One-Design Open Championship, in which the Mumm 36, Farr 36, Farr 395, IC 45, Farr 52 and CM 60 classes will race under a handicap formula devised by Farr Yacht Design, Inc. An 11-race series is scheduled for November 19-22, off Miami, Florida. Class winners will be awarded specially engraved Rolex watches. - www.farrinternational.com * "Boatox" used their home advantage to win the 3rd annual Euro Gay Cup by one point from team "Gust Do It", the winners in 2002. The regatta was hosted by the Island Sailing Club on the Solent at Cowes, Isle of Wight in Sonars, and attracted 32 competitors from the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Australia. The Euro Gay Cup is part of a trio of international gay sailing events in Europe, the USA and Australia endorsed by the international gay sailing organisation, GLORY (Gay and Lesbian Organisation for Racing and Yachting) which represents over 2000 members of gay sailing organisations worldwide. http://www.gust2002.org/eurogaycup2003.htm BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Harken's Winch Trade-In program hits the docks again. Trade in your old winches for a 15% rebate on new Harken winches. Give us any brand, any condition! Now's the time to upgrade. Our offer ends October 31st - Worried you can't do a refit now? Don't worry. Just get them before the end of October and you'll have 'til May to send us your old ones. Bring us your tired, your poor, your undersized, non-selftailers today. For details, visit your favorite Harken dealer or check out: http://www.harken.com/winches/winchpromo.php SWEDISH MATCH TOUR The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) has announced the eight seeded skippers who will compete for the 2003 Investors Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup: * Russell Coutts * Peter Gilmour * Chris Dickson, * Peter Holmberg * Dennis Conner * Dean Barker * Jes Gram-Hansen * Jesper Radich Prior to the Championship Round of the King Edward VII Gold Cup sixteen unseeded skippers will compete in a three-day round robin qualifier. The top six skippers, as well as the top two finishers from the Bermuda Women's Match Racing Championship - held concurrently with the unseeded round - advance to the Championship Round. The regatta, the second event on Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004, will be held October 18-26 and will offer a record $100,000 prize purse. - Shawn McBride, www.swedishmatchtour.com. STILL MORE AMERICA'S CUP The French K-Challenge America's Cup team sailed Wednesday on the San Francisco Bay on USA 49, ex-AmericaOne from Paul Cayard's 2000 campaign. This is the first official training session for the team. The syndicate had originally planned to sail in the Golden Gate Cup for ACC boats, but that event has been cancelled by the organizers. However, according to a posting on the K-Challenge website, "… the Oracle BMW Racing team has maintained the invitation for this non-official competition with 2 races per day on September 5 and 6. The Alinghi team will also join this event." Familiar names on the published K-Challenge crew include, John Cutler (Helm) Hartwell Jordan (Main), Thierry Peponnet (Tactics), Katie Pettibone (Strategist/ Runner) and Dawn Riley (Pit/ runner). - http://www.k-challenge.org/en/ SAILING COACHES WANTED J/World is seeking coaches for our San Diego location. Applicants must have excellent keelboat handling and spinnaker skills, along with a strong racing background and good communication skills. Teaching experience and US Sailing Instructor certification is a plus. E-mail your employment and sailing resumes, as well as references to sailingjobs@jworld-sailing.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com) (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 Craig Fletcher: The worlds championships in Spain are being build as the "largest ever". This is simply not true. By limiting the number of entries this regatta is not a world's championship, but simply another invitational. The winners will only be the best of those invited, not the whole world. * From R. C. Keefe: Olympic Yachting - It doesn't exist. There are no yachts in Olympic Yachting; only boats that seem to be just an extension of gymnastics. * From Peter Nash, Editor, Boating Business, UK: I have been astonished to read in Scuttlebutt that the British Olympic sailing programme is funded to the tune of $millions each year. Indeed, Fred Hagedorn stated confidently in 'Butt 1340 that the annual GBR budget is $10,000,000. In 'Butt 1405 Paul Cayard noted of the British Olympic effort that: 'their Star team alone has a $1m budget for the quadrennium'. To set the record straight, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) gets $2.4m a year from the UK Sports Council for the entire GBR Olympic sailing programme. This figure is in the public domain and published in their annual accounts. The results GBR sailors get are not due to fantasy funding: it's a team effort that involves good coaches, good management and a talent spotting and support system developed over 20 years. And did I mention sheer talent? * From David Redfern, Bristol England: I wouldn't like US sailors to think that money is the only answer to success. Funding from the lottery is only a recent development. The success of GB sailors is also due to intense dedication on behalf of the entrants and a commitment to high standards. I remember a young Ben Ainslie sailing in Falmouth at the tiny Restronguet Sailing Club, that is one of several clubs in the town. Restronguet specialised in traiing sailors for Optimists. Young Ben and two others from Restronguet made it to the world championships through good (unfunded) training and dedication. His father Roddie, a former Whitbread round the world sailor upped his roots in Falmouth to move to the Southampton area, where he thought the young Ben would get better training for the next stage of his life. Ben and his family made many personal sacrifices before getting to the top. Ben is typical of many young people here who are making the most of the facilities available, which are very recent. Dedicated coaches, families and individuals make sacrifices that eventually create results. * From Jan Visser: Paul Cayard's comment on funding our Olympic hopefuls brought instant joy to the nearby sailing enthusiasts. "Look at this, perhaps folks will listen" resounded around the office. I have seen so many talented youngesters that fall into the category of talented but not wealthy, their dreams never get realized. Yes Europe is where it's at, the place to measure your talent. This summer youngsters from my area went to Europe for a good part of the summer. The letters that I received said it all. "I have learned so much" Paul is so right on, fund our young athletes give them the opportunity to train and and compete on an equal footing. Thank you Paul Cayard, your comments are deeply appreciated, now lets hope those who can make a difference will listen. * From E. Eric Matus (edited to our 250-word limit): It's too bad that America identifies sailing as a "rich man's sport." If we had the kind of grass roots support that Australia, England and France have we'd be swimming (or maybe sailing) in medals and trophies. The talent is there but the support and the uniquely American concepts of a classless society are sadly missing. It runs counter to common sense demonstrated so often in the sport. Who helped fill the ranks of the America's Cup boats? Football players! We needed muscle and enthusiasm as much as we needed elite sailing talent. I've seen kids do extraordinary things in boats just having fun. I also saw many "Bourgeois" acting club members just squash the heck out of these kids with their restrictive rules, one-upmanship and superior attitudes. The beneficiaries of many boating environments are bored people who lack appreciation for the joy that boating provides while the kids who really appreciate the opportunity to "mess around in boats" are pushed out and never get a chance to excel. US Sailing could help if they took all their youth racing agenda and aggressively extended it to YMCA, BSA, Campfire Girls and any other organization they can bridge to and begin to draw the rest of america's potential into the sport. Then we could shed this "rich man sport" aura that surrounds sailing in the country. While we're at it clubs should open the doors to kids that can't afford the $120 to $450 a week that is charged? * From John McCarthy: I have read with disbelief some of the ideas regarding radio communication. No doubt the use of the radio has evolved for the better. Information regarding how long before a sequence, how long a postponement might last, and similar items are not only helpful but vital. However, information should not be provided that can and should be taken from the S.I. and/or the flags and signals. It's a far cry from announcing that the course is being posted to telling folks what the course posting actually says. The ability to translate courses, flags, and signals into a sound race plan is part of the game. Ditto the responsibility of each skipper to determine wind direction and current information. The most outrageous thought, however, is that the RC should provide a "running commentary" during the starting sequence. "Whoa, Joe, you're gettin' close to the line". Or "Oops, Fred, you're lookin' close to being over". And what about Sam who sticks his nose up three seconds early and goes over while Joe and Fred are OK? I guess the Protest Committee can sort that one out. Radio notification of OCS is a good thing. However, to pervert that concept into the Race Committee coaching the competitors into a good start sounds a bit much to me. Next will be coaching them up the first leg when they seem to have the first shift wrong. Let the racers race without the PRO trying to be the show rather than run a good show. * From Jim Linville: Regarding the excellent dialog on calling OCS boats via VHF, I am surprised that no one has pointed out that those who have started properly but have an OCS boat sitting on their face are the ones who are most prejudiced and who would benefit most by having the OCS'ers alerted. Notifying the OCS boats within the one minute before that start (when the I flag - around the ends - is flown) may give them a head start on getting around the ends, but it clears them out early and prevents them from messing up all of those who are on the way to starting properly. You could say is that the first OCS boat that is called (within one minute) gives all of the others close to him a pretty good idea of exactly where the line is and you could assert that that would be an advantage - for example preventing them from being OCS themselves - but for me getting the offender out of the way and increasing the likelihood that the start will be fair is more than worth the price. And one nice side benefit of providing good information via VHF is that it encourages competitors to have working radios on board which in case of an emergency - like a man overboard or a squall - can easily save a life. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS Being ahead of one's time, is simply bad timing. |
