|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 804 - April 30, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome.
AMERICA'S CUP Oracle Racing recently concluded six month's of intensive training on New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf and is currently conducting their on the water training at their summer sailing facility in Ventura, CA. The Ventura base is home to the two Oracle Racing training boats as well as to the team of 100 individuals.
GUEST EDITORIAL Several weeks ago, the Rhode Island International Sailing Association (RIISA) was notified by US Sailing's Olympic Programs Manager and by the Executive Director that certain athletes at their regatta might have to undergo drug testing. Why? Earlier this year, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) contacted US Sailing, as the National Governing Body for our sport, and asked us to recommend 10 regattas at which the USADA might perform drug testing. Since we see no value in testing outside of the Olympic Classes, we recommended events where top level athletes would be competing and specified that testing should only occur with athletes Sailing Olympic Class Boats. RIISA was included because top US and Canadian athletes have typically participated in the Olympic classes that are sailing. Organizers of the other nine regattas, while not happy with the situation, understand the issue and have agreed to cooperate. So what is the USADA and what gives them the authority to administer drug testing? Fundamental Rule 5 of the 2001-2004 (and the 1997-2000) Racing Rules of Sailing states that competitors shall neither take a substance nor use a method that is banned. The 2001-2004 rules also names the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the authority. Being a Rule of Part 1, RRS 5 cannot be changed or deleted. In the United States, WADA has delegated its responsibilities to the USADA. Therefore, if the USADA asks US Sailing to provide events that they can select from for performing drug tests, we don't have a choice, we must comply. Nothing about this needs to be in the Notice of Race or in the Sailing Instructions since it is already a rule. Like giving help if someone is in danger, it is one of the basic rules we all accept if we chose to race sailboats. The USADA pays for testing. Period. The Local Organizers will be asked to provide two things, a place where samples may be collected, and some sealed bottles of water for the selected athletes to drink. Will testing occur at all 10 events? No. The USADA will select a few of the events and will let both US Sailing and the Local Organizers know which have been chosen. Whether or not there is testing at the RIISA event is up to the USADA. We anticipate that those events chosen will comply with the Racing Rules of 2001-2004 and cooperate with the USADA. Drug testing has been done at the Olympic and Pan Am Games and our US Trials for many years. However, US Sailing has been very successful in convincing the US Olympic Committee that no additional testing was needed in the US. With the creation of WADA, the USADA, and the release of the current rules from ISAF, In-Competition Testing is now part of our sport. US Sailing is working to minimize the impact of drug testing on general sailors. We will continue to insist that in-competition testing only include Olympic Classes at events where we expect to see some of our more accomplished sailors. We have also asked the USADA how we can avoid testing a "weekend" athlete who happens to be sailing in an Olympic Class at an event that has been selected for possible drug testing. Ultimately, the purpose of drug testing is to ensure that every athlete is using only his or her God-given abilities to compete, without the help of performance-enhancing drugs. Since a quasi-governmental body now may be testing some of our athletes, those near the top of our sport will need to be even more aware of what substances they are putting in their bodies. Sailing can be proud of the fact that, unlike a number of other sports, performance-enhancing drugs have not been a problem. By increasing the awareness of our athletes, we will be able to ensure that this doesn't change, and that performance-enhancing drugs do not find a way of getting into our sport. - Fred Hagedorn, Chairman Olympic Sailing Committee, US Sailing Association
SMOKE ON THE WATER
CONGRESSIONAL CUP Holmberg, 40, represented his hometown St. Thomas Yacht Club of the U.S. Virgin Islands but, more relevant, led a crew from Larry Ellison's Oracle America's Cup campaign, currently training 60 miles up the coast at Ventura. Pacé, 38 and third-ranked in the world, sailed with a Kiwi crew from his new employer, A-Cup defender Team New Zealand. Holmberg became only the second sailor to win the Congressional more than twice, following victories in 1998 and '99. Rod Davis, a potential helmsman for the Italy's next Prada Challenge, has won it four times, but he lost two straight to Pacé in the semifinals, as Holmberg swept Stars & Stripes' Ken Read to set up the final. Read won two from Davis for third place. A video of the climactic match should be shown at every match-racing clinic. Holmberg and Pacé threw everything they had into it and neither could be seriously faulted, except perhaps for trying too hard. A total of 12 "Y" protest flags were thrown and two collisions resulted in critical penalties, one on each boat. In the pre-start phase of decisive race, the boats alternately charged and recircled to charge again until Pacé was called for "over-rotation" - meaning, umpire Pete Ives explained, that Holmberg had the right of way, so it was Pacé's fault when his stern swung into Holmberg's boat. Holmberg then won the start and, though he never led by more than a boat length or two, Pacé never had a chance to do a penalty turn. In one desperate attempt to square penalties, side by side under spinnakers 100 yards from the finish, Pacé was flagged again, threw up his hands and called it a day. They crossed the line bow to bow as Holmberg pumped the air with his fist. - Rich Roberts SEMIFINALS - Bertrand Pacéé, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, def. Rod Davis, Long Beach YC, 11 seconds; Pacé d. Davis, 0:23 (Pacé wins, 2-0). Peter Holmberg, St. Thomas YC, d. Ken Read, New York YC, 0:43; Holmberg d. Read, 0:11 (Holmberg wins, 2-0).
FINALS - Pacé d. Holmberg, 0:02; Holmberg d. Pacé, 0:08; Holmberg d. Pacé
(Pacé did not finish; Holmberg wins, 2-1). ROUND ROBIN RESULTS - 1. Holmberg, 13-5; 3. tie between Pacé and Read, 12-6; 4. Davis, 11-7; 5. Larson, 10-8; 6. tie between Green and Pillot, 8-10; 8. Spithill, 7-11; 9. Radich, 5-13; 10. Destremau, 3-15. Details of each race: www.lbyc.org
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Alan Hebert (edited to our 250-word limit): The majority of the worlds high-profile transoceanic singlehanders are French or British. Therefore it only stands to reason that the most high-profile races should begin and end in France and England. On the other hand, I think it's a sobering comment on corporate perception of the depth of interest in the sport of Sailing in the United States that the extremely competent Around Alone staff had to move the race to England and sell it. The departure of the Around Alone leaves a vacuum that is crying out to be filled on this continent. Damn it, there SHOULD be a truly ocean-crossing, shorthanded Sailing event that begins and ends in North America. Why is there no "next step" beyond the Bermuda 1-2 and and Singlehanded TransPac, that originates from a North American port? What comes next for sailors who do the doublehanded division of the Pacific Cup or the new double handed division of the TransPac? There's a hole waiting to be filled... something based in North America that bridges the gap between a TransPac or a Bermuda 1-2 and an Around Alone. I am glad that the Around Alone, in whatever form the new "owners" of the event present it, will continue to exist. I just think it's really sad, a disgrace that the event had to be sold and moved away because, I assume, a full-fledged North American sponsor couldn't be found. * From Susie Trotman (re what's right about Sailing ): There is an annual Advanced Racing Clinic over Memorial Day weekend at the USMMA in Kings Point, NY. Sponsored by the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation, this clinic was started 13 years ago to offer the same wonderful learning opportunity on the East Coast as the CISA clinic provides to sailors on the West Coast. The boats used are Lasers, Radials, Club 420s and Flying Juniors, and the clinic accepts both youth and adult sailors based on their racing experience. Dave Perry will be speaking one evening this year on the changes in the new 2001 - 2004 rules, and some of the coaches are: Skip Whyte, US Olympic Sailing Team Coach, Meg Gaillard, Bronze Medalist at 2000 Europe Dinghy World Champs, Nancy Haberland, winner of 20 National Sailing titles, Bernard Luttmer, 2nd place finisher at ICSA Singlehanded Champs, and Doug Clark, winner himself and/or coach of many national Sailing championship teams. Last year there were 85 sailors from 16 states (chosen from a group of 130 applicants) who enjoyed 12 hour days with Betsy Alison, Skip Whyte, Doug Clark, Scott Ikle, Jay Kehoe, James Appel, Dave Van Cleef, Rick Dominique and Tim Herzog. For information about the 2001 clinic, contact SusanCTrotman@cs.com. * From Glenn T. McCarthy: While debating the merits of insurance in a forum like this can go in thousands of tangents, allow us, the agency that manages US Sailing 's Regatta Liability Insurance, to respond to Chris Woods' in Scuttlebutt #802. US Sailing 's Regatta Liability Insurance was created in 1980 after a Sailing organization lost a sailor on a racecourse and the heirs sued. At that time, no yacht club policies extended its liability coverage out on to the water. How many Sailing organizations could survive an assessment to its membership for a loss in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more? Many boards of directors of Sailing organizations may have chosen to stop racing activities, rather than face this new found liability potential. There was grave potential that sailboat racing could have ended in the United States, if a solution to this type of problem was not found. US Sailing researched and found a solution, creating Regatta Liability Insurance. Since its inception, 37 injuries and deaths on racecourses have resulted in suits against Sailing organizations that have been successfully defended, to the satisfaction of those participating Sailing organizations. We strongly recommend any Sailing organization seek an experienced marine insurance professional, who can discern if your policies will extend out over the water to cover sailboat racing activities. If water based activities held away from the premises of the club are not specifically declared in your policies, there will not be coverage. For more information on US Sailing 's Regatta Liability Insurance, go to http://www.usSailing .org/membership/insurance/ * From Hal Smith: Peter Bentley's article pointing out the uniqueness of competitive Sailing 's reliance on self policing may have swerved the conversation into the heart of the recent angst over the changing US Sailing and ISAF rules and policies. We may have a problem bigger than we are. It is generally agreed that there has been a societal change in the definition of "wrong." Now it means that if you do not get caught or can baffle with BS, you owe no penalty. As organized sailboat racing, with its dependence on integrity and honesty, continues to try to exist in the context of these changed social rules and expectations, it will have an ever harder time conducting fair contests. The national and international authorities are beginning to make rules similar to those necessary in other sports which are strictly umpired and where pushing the rules (cheating) has become all but necessary to win. If a concerted campaign to restore racing conduct rooted in integrity could succeed, then US Sailing and others need to begin now with an intense effort. If the best efforts are unsuccessful, and I am not optimistic, then we need to think about how we recruit armies of on-the-water umpires, pay them, and live with their wake. I really do not like that picture. Do you think we could restore integrity to participation in our sport? You do not need as many rules for that. * From George Bailey (edited to our 250-word limit): I thank Paul Henderson for his reasoned response to the concerns expressed in Scuttlebutt. Put aside the question of what sort of paternalistic political philosophy motivates 200 governments to ban the use of some drugs in sports. I thought the "performance enhancing drugs" issue, which is totally distinct from the "illegal mind-altering drugs" issue, became an issue because teenagers were taking performance enhancing drugs and some performance enhancing drugs cause health problems. But is the use of performance enhancing drugs cheating? I can go to the local drug store and buy a protein enhanced drink that is supposed to be good for rapid muscle gain (with exercise). Weight lifters drink gallons of this stuff. Are they cheating? If so, why? What we label "drugs" are just chemical substances. Everything we ingest is a chemical substance. We do not ingest much these days that is "natural." Almost everything we ingest is altered from its natural form. Why do we want to draw a line between some chemical substances and not others, when everything we injest if we are serious competitors we injest to enhance our performance? There is no principled way to explain why ingesting one chemical substance that enhances performance is cheating whereas ingesting another that does so is not. Hence the real issue is not cheating, but health-risks. But this should be an issue only for competitors who are not adults. This international rule reveals one way paternalistic governments around the world oppose individual freedom and responsibility. * From Peter Huston: Instead of being upset over mandatory urine testing at a local event in Rhode Island, perhaps we could all help our ever popular governing body better prepare for the inevitable all-encompassing testing of everyone in every race. Let's all send US Sailing a urine sample via FedEx tonight. * From Mark Green: Given the overwhelming ratio of negative to positive letters on the ISAF and US Sailing , it seems clear that they have lost touch with the majority of their constituents. If they were a government they might be expecting a coup (and no doubt they would be suppressing this newsletter and locking up the Curmudgeon for treasonous activities). Fortunately they are not that important and instead they will just become increasingly irrelevant. We are already seeing grass roots competitors (the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club and the USASA mentioned in #802) seeking a return to simplicity for the average sailor. My prediction is that their dominance over our sport will vanish in five years as local clubs find ways to opt out of their regulation and control and some upstart figures out a way to offer services that are relevent and beneficial to the local sailor. * From Trevor Pardee: Although US Sailing has been receiving some poor press in Scuttlebutt lately, here's one thing they are doing right. Dan Nowlan of US Sailing will be at the American Yacht Club Spring Series to provide on-the-water scoring for the IMS classes. He will announce the results over the radio between races and at the end of the day. The competitors are enthusiastic about this development as it demonstrates US Sailing 's willingness to work to alleviate some of the perceived complexity of IMS scoring. It will also provide the sailors with an opportunity to provide input to US Sailing about IMS at the party following the racing.
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
FOR SALE:
VOLVO OCEAN RACE Carbontech built ASSA ABLOY 's first training rig last year just in time to compete in the Sydney to Hobart Race. Carbon Tech uses a mast moulding technique, similar to a system used in the aerospace industry. - Simon Keijzer, www.assaabloyracingteam.com
BANKRUPTCY
ALTER CUP Complete results: http://www.usSailing .org/alter/news01.htm
PCIYRA TEAM RACING DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Final Results: The University of Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara will represent the PCIYRA at the ICSA/Ronstan Team Racing North Americans on June 3-5, 2001 in Boston, MA. - Mike Segerblom
III CRITERIUM INTERNATIONAL WOMEN MATCH RACE
Final results:
THE CURMUDGEON'S DEFINITIONS |
