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SCUTTLEBUTT 1343 - June 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. DISPUTE (While the dispute rages on between the International Sailing Federation and the Swedish Match Tour, Scuttlebutt just received insight provided by a third party - Line 7 - a former sponsor of the Tour.) Through our apparel brand Line 7 we sponsor and support a sport that has been great to us. We put both money and product into our national association, yacht clubs, Olympic aspirants, national teams, youth sailing, Americas Cup and Volvo teams. In addition to this we have for many years been co-sponsor of the Steinlager-Line 7 Grand Prix which is a Grade 1 event and part of the Swedish Match Tour, as well as the Official Supplier of apparel to the tour. As of this year we have withdrawn our sponsorship of the Match Racing event, as have Steinlager, and have not renewed our supply agreement with the Tour. Consequently this event has been postponed, even though we gave 12 months notice of our intentions, due to the inability to attract a new sponsor for the event. Reading Scuttlebutt over the last few issues re the infighting between ISAF and the Swedish Match Tour I believe vindicates my position to not invest in the sport at this level. I believe that the Tour is great for sailing, and from my experiences Tour management in general and Swedish Match in particular have done a great job in bringing disparate events into an professional era that should be good for the sport, for the participants and for the individual events. It has bought a higher standard of racing to be enjoyed by spectators, and through their investment into an umpires programme there is more consistency of calls between events. To develop our event we needed to invest more money. We did not see where the corresponding returns were going to come from a commercial standpoint if we had made this investment; therefore we decided that the investment in total was not warranted. Contrary to popular opinion, sponsors for sailing are not lining up at the door. The majority of income for any regatta comes from sponsorship. For ISAF to dip their hand into a pot that is already struggling to accommodate the specific needs of each event is doing the sport no good. We are only a small player in the world of yachting sponsorship, but there are many sponsors out there who are evaluating their returns from a sport that does not seem to have its act together. Companies like Swedish Match are good for this sport. The governing bodies need to do more to encourage future investment so that the sport can grow and flourish, not make it difficult for sponsors to get returns on their investments so that they look to other areas of investment as I have. - Ross Munro, Managing Director, Line 7. AERODYNAMICS Australian Catamaran Challenge have successfully erected their radical wing sail as part of their preparations for an assault on the "Little America's Cup". Construction of the wing commenced late in 2002. "We are very pleased with the progress so far" says Damien Smith syndicate designer and naval architect "the design combines the flexibility of a conventional soft sail with the extraordinary efficiency of the an aircraft wing." Continued Smith. "I'm thrilled," said syndicate coordinator Ian Jenkins " the team have done an amazing job building the wing. It is as much a piece of sculpture as sailing machine." The race known as "The Little Americas Cup" will be sailed in Rhode Island in September 2004. Australian Catamaran Challenge Syndicate will come up against previous winner Steve Clark's Cogito and the British Invictus team to decide who can build the fastest sailing boat on the planet. THE NEW "FAMILY BUICK OF RIBS" Finally, sporty support boats are not the exclusive property of the rich and famous thanks to Aquapro's latest RIB model, the Raider 22'. With all the speed and performance of the larger Raider RIBs, the smaller size doesn't compromise on the superb handling that made Raider famous. With a comfortable cabin option or the traditional console model, this versatile sport boat is the answer for those looking for an easily trailerable RIB that doesn't compromise on performance or amenities. Quality made affordable. Call for a test ride (619) 709-0697 or visit us online at http://www.raiderboat.com SAIL-CUBA REGATTA The first annual Sail-Cuba Regatta, scheduled to begin May 3 from Tampa Bay, went to the bottom, a foundering wreck, before the start. At the closed skippers meeting on May 2 at the St. Petersburg Bayfront Center, the attendees-each of whom had a minimum of $350 invested in the event, voted to a man to cancel the race. They also wanted their money back. This writer was present to cover the meeting but was denied entry by Gilles Rancourt, a Canadian citizen who was behind the regatta. Rancourt runs a Canadian company called Exit Solutions and, apparently, is its sole employee. On April 19, I wrote about the Sail-Cuba regatta in this column. I explained that attempts to get clarification on how many boats were in the regatta had failed. I said I had talked to a man in Canada who never identified himself and who was as slippery as oil on ice when asked direct questions. What I did not know at the time the article appeared is that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had, on April 18, posted a notice on its website about incorrect information that Rancourt was putting out on the Exit Solutions' website. The sum and substance of the notice was that "…a U.S. boater cannot claim fully-hosted status if he or she is prepaying a third country entity to cover his or her travel-related transactions in Cuba." People who went to Cuba, under Rancourt's plan, would be breaking the law, the OFAC posting said. The penalties are Draconian. There are no restrictions on travel to Cuba by Americans, but people who have no specific or general license to do so cannot legally spend money there. That was the core issue Rancourt had hoped to skirt. He failed. On April 21, OFAC sent Rancourt a letter telling him that U.S. citizens or people under U.S. jurisdiction could not legally participate in his regatta. However, Rancourt apparently did not immediately inform the people who had signed up for the race and coughed up their money. He held that information close. - Morgan Stinemetz, Herald Tribune, The rest of the story: http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030531/COLUMNIST53/305310647/-1/COLUMNIST99 BREAKING NEWS * June 3 - The Tiverton Yacht Club will be demolished later today after being destroyed by an early morning fire. Crews battled the blaze, which began before 5 o'clock this morning, but were unable to prevent the building from becoming a total loss. Fall River and Portsmouth fire departments were called in to help fight the fire. No one was injured in blaze. The cause appears to be electrical. - http://www.abc6.com/article.php?ID=2912 * Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) continued to dominate today at the 2003 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Women's North American Championship held out of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on Lake St. Clair. The Lady Jumbos now lead the regatta by 21 points. St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) is in second place, followed by Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.). Strong easterly winds in the morning faded to a lighter northeasterly breeze as the day went on. All day, sailors battled chop that some described as "like sailing in a washing machine." - http://www.collegesailing.org/2003 * Some airlines in the U.S. do not allow passengers to check-in or carry-on an inflatable PFD with a CO2 cartridge. US Sailing is attempting to change those policies. If you do not agree with an airline's policy in this matter, please feel free to convey your sentiments to the airline. The airline contact information is included in the Current Status Document: http://www.ussailing.org/news/2003/PFDAirlines.pdf * Jochen Schumann will be racing on German waters this week after an absence of about two and a half years. Alinghi´s Director of Sports will be one of 12 skipper sailing Diamant 2000s in Match Race Germany, the eighth event on the current Swedish Match Tour, which starts tomorrow. The other skippers are Jesper Radich (Denmark), Jes Gram-Hansen (Denmark), Ed Baird (USA), Chris Law (GBR), Luc Pillot (France), Henrik Jensen (Denmark), Staffan Lindberg (Finland), Mattias Rahm (Sweden), Mikael Lindquist (Sweden), Markus Weiser (Germany), Andreas Willim (Germany). http://www.swedishmatchtour.com/ 2003 ANNAPOLIS NOOD In the highly competitive J105 class at the 2003 Annapolis NOOD, Ullman Sails dominated the top places in the 32 boat fleet. Alec Cutler took 1st place honors in "Hooked on Tonics." In addition to taking five of the top six places in the J105 class, Ullman Sails won the Henderson 30 class and placed 2nd in the J30's. Let our sailmakers give you and you crew the speed advantage for 2003. To see how affordable the fastest sails on the planet are, call your nearest Ullman Sails loft or visit us at http://www.ullmansails.com CLASS RACING The International America's Cup Class of San Francisco (IACCSF), announced that its annual Regatta Series has been officially named, The Challenge Series. The America's Cup Class yachts competing in the regattas will be described as The San Francisco Cup Class. The regatta series, launched in San Francisco during the 2002 summer racing season, was previously and informally referred to as IACC SF. Following the success of the 2002 IACC events raced on San Francisco Bay, event founders John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan confirmed that the series would become an ongoing annual event. "Over and above the success of our informal series in 2002, the desire was apparent from the challenger teams who participated in the 2002-2003 Louis Vuitton and America's Cup Regattas in New Zealand to keep the racing momentum going with the current class of America's Cup yachts," stated John Sweeney. "The Challenge Series held annually on San Francisco Bay will provide that opportunity." In the past, the very expensive America's Cup yachts have been used for testing and then simply discarded once The America's Cup events have finished. John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan have built a business rebuilding older International America's Cup Class yachts and providing the perfect racing environment for them on San Francisco Bay. With up to ten teams participating in the 2003 season, including recent America's Cup winner Team Alinghi and Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing, corporate sponsors see The Challenge Series as an ideal marketing tool. With the regatta series officially launched, the stage is set for the most impressive sailing competition ever seen on San Francisco Bay. Wells Fargo announced it will sponsor the four-regatta Challenge Series yacht racing series hosted this summer in the company's headquarters community and the Wells Fargo team will compete on USA-11 (formerly Stars & Stripes). USA-11 is a 75-foot yacht that sailed Team Dennis Conner to the 1992 America's Cup Finals. Other yachts currently scheduled to race this season include New Zealand Challenge, Il Moro di Venezia, NZL-20, Le Defi Areva, and K-Yachting Challenge. The complete 2003 IACCSF racing schedule is as follows: The Sausalito Cup - June 20-22, The Il Moro Trophy - July 25-27, The Golden Gate Cup - Sept. 6-14, and The 2003 IACC Worlds on Oct. 11-19. - Michelle Slade, http://www.challenge-series.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS * June 13 - 19: International Six Meter World Championships, St Tropez, France. http://www.yacht-club-st-tropez.com/6mji/summury.htm * June 14 to 29: The Cadillac Van Isle 360 - a 580 nm (nautical mile) point to point race sailed in ten legs circumnavigating Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada. www.vanisle360.com FOR SALE Pegasus 77, the ultimate Turbo Sled, winner of Transpac 2001, is for sale. Launched in 2001, she is the very best in every aspect. Designed by Reichel-Pugh as the next generation Turbo Sled, Pegasus 77 will be available August 2003 right after Transpac. Details and photographs are at http://www.pegasus.com/pegasus77 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 or a bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree.) * From John McBrearty: Here are my Pet Peeves- 1. Race Committees that want to play "hide the ball". Talk to us when you're setting the mark, during postponements, getting ready to go into a sequence, including a countdown to the warning, and OCS calls. You can write your SI's so that you can avoid a petition for redress. It's easy, and when you do that, your regattas will have better participation! North Sails Race Week in Long Beach is a great example and a very successful event, and it's not a yacht club sponsored event. I would even venture to guess that it is an event that actually turns a profit! 2. Race Committees that are lazy in setting a windward/ leeward course. I, very recently sailed a 2nd race where you could fetch the weather mark without tacking. Get a clue R.C. folks! We love you for doing the job, but a little effort would be appreciated. The boat owners are spending a lot of time, money and effort to compete! The race is not about the RC, it's about your "customers", the racers. 3. Post results promptly on your club's website! This is the 21st Century! * From Peter Salt, Solihull, UK: Nice to see a Radio Sailing event listed in your Major Events listing. This is a branch of ISAF supported activity, in just the same way as, for instance, board sailing. If you check out the entry list, you will find many GBR sailors there, if I may be so bold as to wave the flag, who will be finishing in the top slots. In the UK there is a Radio Sailing match race series, using a scaled-down version of a 6-metre boat. I don't think this will ever trouble the ISAF the way the Swedish Match Tour seems to be, however!! * From Fred Roswold, Australia: Its time to give up the "not invented here" attitude about IRC. It doesn't matter if Americap is the greatest or not, no handicap system is perfect. Next year some other armchair sailor will develop another one. It doesn't matter what your handicapping system is, what matters is a well prepared boat, a good skipper, and a great crew, and to stop whinging about your rating and to start looking at your performance on the course. When you can honestly say you sailed as good a race as you could possibly sail, I think you'll find you'll win your share, regardless of the handicap system in use. * From Paolo Sheaffer: Does the phrase "The market has spoken" occur to anyone else? The Not Invented Here syndrome will continue to hobble Grand Prix handicap racing in the US, and our own National Authority seems to be the primary hindrance toward further development. I have done little big boat sailing since IOR days, and I miss the variety and innovations of the old leadmines. Imagine variety and innovation on boats that actually sail downwind! Bring on the IRC, warts and all! * From Reynald Neron, France: While I agree with Craig Montrose in regards to the US joining the rest of the world for measurements, I have to let him know that most of the world do not drink by pint as he claims, but by litres. Same question would apply for the navigation systems. When does the US will use a red marker on your port on your way in? (rather than your red-right-return). * From Chad Demarest: Paul Anderson's comments regarding financial assistance to aspiring Olympic sailors demonstrated a very unfortunate view of Olympic level sailing. Besides it's basic factual inaccuracy (something less than 10% of all participants at the various trials in 2000 chose pursue professional sailing as a career), it missed the purpose of supporting an Olympic aspirant--to help them represent the United States of America. Unfortunately the playing field won't be truly level without government subsidies, but that's okay … even small financial contributions will help those attempting to reach the pinnacle of our sport demonstrate the fruits of their talent and hard work. Without the money we will never know just how good our sailors can be. Please don't bemoan the state of Olympic (or collegiate) athletics and in so doing punish the sailors that are giving their lives over to an Olympic dream. Their Olympic aspirations benefit all of us-they are role models, they run clinics to train our children, they share their invaluable thoughts and experiences with us at local regattas, and they contribute heavily to the management and direction of our sport. They are one of the best things we, as American sailors, have going for us. And they need our help. * From Ryan Helling (In response to Mr. Andersen's comment about supporting Olympic sailors): I would like to ask this - how many high paying jobs there are in professional sailing? I don't see any Laser sailors making millions. I don't believe that professional sailing can be called professional in the common sense of the word. The dynamics of the sport are completely different from any other and thats what makes it great and completely different from other professional sports. I agree with supporting Olympic hopefuls, even if the spirit is gone because I would like to see the sport grow and would love to have the support myself if I was running an Olympic campaign. * From Emil Shepard:The World's Smallest Violin Award goes to Dan Tucker for his lament that he did not get enough money from US Sailing for his campaign. $3000 is a large chunk of change to be given for no reason other than you asked for it. There are few people in the world who wouldn't jump at the chance to be paid to pursue their hobby. Most of us, however, are forced to work most of the time to play some of the time. If you can't afford to play as often and wherever you wish, you have to sit it out. Sounds harsh, but you cannot expect others to foot the bill for you, then call it a "distraction" and publicly complain that it wasn't enough! * From John Rumsey: I wish sailors would stop the begging for money. If you can't afford to sail in expensive regattas around the world - stay home and enjoy the sport where you can afford it. Do we really need a sailing team to show the world we are better than someone else. CURMUDGEON'S QUOTATIONS I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it. - Andy Rooney |
