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SCUTTLEBUTT 1870 - June 29, 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. GUEST EDITORIAL While Olympic sailing has become the showcase for small boat racing, funding is the least of its problems. The real problem is that it is fatally flawed and needs to be overhauled or abandoned. Included on the list of issues: * The one boat per country policy places interest in class growth in direct conflict with the best interests of the competitors. What Olympic aspirant wants to see more competitors going after 'his' spot in his own country? Better that the class grow somewhere else and then travel and train in that 'somewhere else' - especially if the campaign is being funded by someone else. * Participation in the selected classes is diminishing because of the expense of mounting a serious campaign over at least seven years (four of which need to be full time in some classes). * The Olympics exclude many of the top sailors in the selected classes while allowing some who are marginally qualified to compete (often only 18 or 20 teams are allowed-some of whom could not finish in the top 100 in the class championships). These are just some of the reasons that Olympic sailing is not promoting growth in our sport. With a major overhaul of the system, I believe that these problems can be overcome and the rate of growth can brought back to previous levels. To fix it, the number of classes competing in the Olympics needs to be whittled down to six. Two years before the Games, these six classes would be drawn from a hat that includes the 35 top International classes (a class would not know that they were an Olympic class until that time). The top 50 competitors or teams in that class would compete in the Olympics - regardless of their nationality. The previous two world championships along with an additional championship would serve as qualifiers. The rules of the selected classes would not be modified-except in extreme cases. The process would be repeated for each subsequent Olympics. The problems can be fixed by collectively taking action. Our sport is too important to continue down the current path. We sailors need to get involved in the dialog and then take action to stop the bleeding. The notion that things will get better by continuing to dump our resources into the current system is simply wishful thinking. The notion that we can't change the system is only true if we believe it. - Bram Dally, www.swiftsolo.org SHOWDOWN It all comes to head next week when American Ed Baird (Alinghi Racing) meets Australia's Peter Gilmour (Pizza-La Sailing Team) at the Swedish Match Cup - the last event on the Swedish Match Tour - on the small island of Marstrand off Sweden's west coast. The two are tied for the Tour lead with 102 points each. If Baird is to win his first Tour championship, he must finish no worse than fourth with Gilmour behind him. For Gilmour to repeat as the Tour champ he has to finish ahead of Baird, no matter where they place in the standings. The champion will win a $60,000 bonus from the Tour and a BMW 545i Touring provided by Tour partner BMW. Additionally, a prize purse of SEK849,000 (approximately $114,000) is up for grabs, with SEK280,000 (approximately $37,000) earmarked for the champion. Of the 16 teams entered nine represent syndicates entered in the 32nd America's Cup. Their resumes are an incredible list of success, having won three America's Cup matches, two Louis Vuitton Cup titles, three Olympic medals and 11 match-racing world championships. All five past Swedish Match Tour champions - Bertrand Pacé, Magnus Holmberg, Peter Holmberg, Jesper Radich and Gilmour - are in the lineup. There also are four skippers who have won 10 of the previous 11 Swedish Match Cups. Gilmour leads the pack with five victories (1994, '95, '97, '98, '99). Dean Barker, of Emirates Team New Zealand, and Russell Coutts, of Coutts Racing, have two wins each, and Pacé, of BMW Oracle Racing, has one. Baird is a four-time runner-up at the event (1994, '95, '97, '99), each time to Gilmour. The Swedish Match Cup will also host a women's event concurrent with the open regatta. A field of eight teams is slated to compete, including reigning champion Marie Bjorling (SWE), who has won three consecutive championships, and Claire Leroy (FRA), the women's No. 1-ranked match-racer. A 52-minute television program focusing on another Swedish Match Tour event, the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, is available for viewing online at the Tour's broadband TV channel, www.SwedishMatchTour.tv. The show is available to watch free of charge, on demand, 24 hours a day. - Sean McNeill QUOTE / UNQUOTE "The (Valencia) Mediterranean venue is likely to be a bit one-dimensional, as the speed and direction of the wind are generally stable. However, it is hard to read the wind on the water, perhaps because of pollution levels." - Peter Lester, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10332984 PETE MELVIN & KAENON POLARIZED = WORLD CHAMPIONS As the lone American entry in France at the A-Class Catamaran World Championship, Pete Melvin won with speed, on his own design - the A2 platform by Morrelli and Melvin - and smarts, with lenses by Kaenon Polarized. "I was quick and I read the wind better than anyone. The difference in this fleet was staying out of trouble and breeze reading. With puffy 4 - 10 knot conditions, and 100 boats on the line, I was quick to spot the lanes with pressure…I just read the conditions better." Kaenon Polarized. Evolve Optically. http://www.kaenon.com CHINA TEAM "We had our French team in place with sailors, two boats, and equipment. We made a decision to become the China team and this all came together just three months ago," said Xavier de Lesquen, the team's executive director. "For this particular regatta, we are more French than Chinese but by the end of this summer we will be one-third Chinese. That number will grow over the next two years. We have been able to integrate the team well and although some of them do not speak English or French and we don't speak Chinese, we have actually reverted to using hand signals now. We are developing a glossary of nautical terms we can all understand." The China Yachting Association chose the Chinese sailors and the entire Olympic sailing team tried out for the team. "Everybody in the Olympic team wanted to come, there are between 20 and 30 sailors in 470 Class, but I got lucky," said 23-year-old Zhao "Fly" Fei, who will represent China in the 470-class in the 2008 Olympics. "I have only been here for four days and we are learning fast. Everyone has their precise role to play, but there is a really good feeling on board and although 18 people on one boat is a lot, I think that we Chinese sailors will have no trouble fitting in." - Laurie Fullerton. NEWS BRIEFS * Racing has started at the biggest ever Optimist North American Championship on the Caribbean island of Tobago. 184 sailors from 19 American countries are participating, including representatives of eight Caribbean states. First time participants include the Dominican Republic, St Vincent and France (represented by sailors resident in the Americas). After the first three races held in 8-12 knots of wind, 2005 silver medallist Alex Zimmermann (PER) leads a closely contested top ten which includes sailors from six countries. Leading North American is local sailor Anthony Alkins (TRI), tied on points with reigning champion Elijah Simmons (Bermuda). - www.optinam2005.com/ * With the wind in the 4-9 knot range, Tuesday was a long day on the water for competitors at the U.S. Youth Championship at Cedar Point YC. Boats were being towed in after 6PM. After four races with a discard Emily Dellenbaugh & Leigh Hammel are tied with the California brother and sister team of Michael & Marla Menninger in the 420 class; only two points separate Thomas Barrows, Fred Strammer and Royce Weber in the Laser class; while Kyle Rogache enjoys a five point lead over David Hernandez in the Laser Radial class. - http://tinyurl.com/8qtj2 * The fifth running of the Cadillac Van Isle 360 Yacht Race was a spectacular success and no one wanted to go home. The weather around Vancouver Island this year was very co-operative, allowing nine of the ten legs to finish. There was little or no rain and spinnakers were flown on almost every leg. Winning First Place Overall on Corrected Time for Monohulls was White Cloud, a Cookson 12 meter co-skippered by David Lynch and Steve Johnson. The Fastest Elapsed Time Overall went to Pat McGarry on the Formula 40 Dragonfly with a time of 79:07:03. - http://www.vanisle360.com/ * The City of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, will sponsor one of the ten Dubois 68s competing in the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race. Additionally, Durban on South Africa's east coast, will host a 10-day stopover for this RTW race in November 2005. Craig Millar, (42) from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, will skipper the Durban Clipper yacht, having been born in Durban and raced there his whole life. Clipper 05-06, at some 35,000 miles is the world's longest circumnavigation race. It sets sail from Liverpool (UK) on September 18, 2005. - http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/ * From 20 knots wind speed heading downwind to 20 knots heading upwind." Spirit of Sark's Ellen Coomber described the rapid change of conditions overnight that also brought 24 hours of continuous rain to the Global Challenge Fleet. The top four boats are tightly bunched with Team Stelmar leading the parade just ahead of SAIC, Me To You and Imagine It. Done. http://www.globalchallenge2004.com/en/ * PETA, an animal rights group wants the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to gut its cafeteria menu of fish and seafood, arguing that "serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show. An institution with a mission that includes teaching people to respect and appreciate marine animals certainly shouldn't serve fish in its cafeteria," Karin Robertson wrote last week in a letter to Jerry Schabel, the aquarium's chairman and chief executive. Robertson, who runs a website called fishinghurts.com, said recent studies have showed that fish are "intelligent, sensitive and interesting animals." - Amanda Covarrubias, LA Times, http://tinyurl.com/dvw26 * Nautica International, Inc. has signed an exclusive agreement with US Sailing to be the "Official General Apparel Supplier" of the US Sailing Teams, including, the US Disabled Sailing Team and the US Youth World Team. As part of the multi-year partnership, Nautica will outfit these sailors with a complete dress and sportswear wardrobe as they compete in regattas at home and abroad. In addition Nautica is sponsoring the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship, U.S. Team Racing Championship and the Rolex Miami OCR, and will provide specially designed event clothing for the judges, umpires, club officials, volunteers and clinic coaches. www.ussailing.org * The website of Cruising Club of America has recently posted an updated Version 5.01, to the paper "Cruising European Waters." In addition to minor corrections, this update corrects the Harbor Control Lights illustration, an expansion of the section on Croatia, an update on the cost of Diesel fuel in the eastern Mediterranean and a new section on using the internet for phone calls (Voice Over IP). www.cruisingclub.org * Brechin Morgan was honored with the Joshua Slocum Society International's Golden Circle Award presented to those who complete a solo circumnavigation in a relatively small boat. Morgan left Block Island, Rhode Island November 12, 1998 on a east-to-west round-the-world journey in the Otter, a 27' Pacific Seacraft Orion. He returned on May 17, 2003. The Golden Circle Award is one of several awards given by the Joshua Slocum Society International. - www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org * With two weeks to go until the start of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship, preliminary entries represent 13 nations: Argentina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and Uruguay. The Rolex IMS World Championship, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and the Club Marítimo de Mahón and sponsored by Rolex, will take place July 11-17, 2005. - Sail-World website, www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?Nid=17881&RequestTimeOut=180 * According to Mexico's Council of Economic Promotion, a North American builder of luxury yachts of up to 90 feet has located land in San Quintin and is now seeking the necessary permissions to build a shipyard and construct yachts in Mexico. The Council has declined to name the company, which it describes as a Californian builder of unsinkable, luxury yachts. - http://www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/14530/57/ NEW ISAF HARNESS IS HERE! Team One Newport has the new Magic Marine harnesses with the "quick release" spreader bar that will be required by ISAF in January of 2006. You can have one now! Team One Newport has an Introductory Offer for the Magic Marine Quick Release Spreader bar for $64.95. If you purchase the Equipe or Smart Harness and the new spreader bar, the price is only $54.95. Also look at the wetsuits, hiking pants, and rash guards by Magic Marine on the Team One Newport website at http://www.team1newport.com or call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) and hit "0" for customer service. 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 Rory Paton: John Harwood-Bee's comments that Umpires refereeing a sailing race can do so with infallibility had me confused, has he never made a bad call or mistake? In team racing we get the odd bad call and we cope with it, (yes most of us grumble a bit too) it so much better to know who's won the race at the finish and not get involved trying to rerun it later in the room through rose coloured sunglasses. Sure Match racing is easier to umpire than Team racing but it's easy to see that the odd mistake will be made there are grey areas in sailing too. I applaud the umpires for putting their hands up when they've gone wrong it least it makes for more consistent judging and everybody learns. * From David Sligh: In 'butt 1869, Mr. John Harwood-Bee lauds "legitimate criticism from within" relative to umpiring at the AC. Constructive criticism is wonderful and beneficial. Criticism without offering an answer is just bitching. I characterize his "call for perfection" as the latter. Everyone in every line of work makes errors no matter how well trained. The real question becomes how can we minimize potential errors so as to maximize adherence to the rules and fairness on the water. Let's find an answer to help our sport move forward instead of simply roasting Mr. Lamarca. The view from the cheap seats is always great . . . after the fact. * From Richard du Moulin, Commodore, STC: Britt Hughe's letter regarding the MOB from the Farr395 Coyote was the first time that Storm Trysail Club (STC) was notified of yachts failing to render assistance. STC takes safety most seriously. We pioneered Junior Safety at Sea Seminars and have trained over 2000 juniors, with one documented saving of an MOB which resulted in a Hansen Safety Medal . Except for team/match racing, sailing is a self-policed sport. Competitors must lodge protests when a serious event takes place. For Block Island Race Week, every owner signed a Safety Document that required them to brief the crew on STC's Safety Guidelines and the requirement to Render Assistance. (The Guidelines and Document are presently on STC's website under Race Week). Today I interviewed Britt, the MOB (who jumped in to assist his MOB wife!), and the owner of the J105 that provided flotation. This J105 was sailing upwind threading its way thru the Farr395's sailing downwind. The J105 crew, all hiking to windward, spotted the MOB and yelled at the helmsman, who thought he was about to hit a Farr395. When the crew ran below to get PFD's, he realized what was happening and luffed up. At that point the PFD's were in the water 20-30 feet from the MOB, and Coyote was on her way back about 5 lengths away. The J105 then continued to race. That owner, in hindsight, admits he should have stood by longer. We will continue to investigate this incident. * From Ralph Taylor (Re: Britt Hughes report of two boats failing to render assistance to overboard crew in Block Island Race Week): Has everybody read Rule 1.1, "A boat or competitor shall give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger." No ifs, ands, or buts in the Rule; you must stop & help! It has been said that character is shown by the choices we make in unexpected situations. Some people fail the test. * From Sharon Pearson: Britt Hughes showed more restraint than I would be able to muster by not naming the boats not stopping to render aid to sailors in the water. Their behavior was outrageous and no matter what the discussion was or wasn't they were clearly wrong. If nothing else, it boils down to pure and simple manners ... who raised these jerks? I completely agree with Britt that some sort penalty must be assessed in situations such as this. Who would have ever though that we'd have reached the point in where a trophy is more valued than a human life? * From David Chivers: In response to Britt Hughes and the MOB during Block Island Race Week, I agree with what he is saying and see no problem in highlighting the incident. However, this is very clearly covered under RRS Fundamental Rule 1 - there is no choice in giving assistance. I can only hope that on getting back ashore they filed a report to the Jury/ Protest Committee giving them the opportunity to investigate and use Rule 69 if necessary. The rules are there - they only work if we use them, all of us. It is no use complaining on Scuttlebutt if you do not use the rules first. * From David "1/2 Deck" Johnson, Captain "Windward Passage": When I read the experience of people being passed by at Block Island race week that were "overboard I was Floored! I happen to know that there are Federal Laws pertaining to not assisting people in distress at sea, however common sense, Corinthian spirit, and just plain decency were obviously totally overlooked!! Banning them from racing for a period of time is far too good for that behavior, Try forever? * From Dave Pelissier: If it is blowing 20 knots, most prudent sailors would be wearing their own flotation, not hoping someone gets it to them once in the water. * From Edward Trevelyan: Regarding Bob Merrick's comment about former Kiel Week winners in Olympic classes, let's not forget two ancient (but once very hot) Olympic classes, the Flying Dutchman and the Soling. In the early eighties, Augie Diaz (with Mark Reynolds) and Gary Knapp (with crew) won Kiel in the FD. Also in the '80s, Robbie Haines (with various crews Davis, Trevelyan, McCreary) won Kiel three times, retiring the perpetual trophy. * From Bill Burns, CBTF Co. (re Peter Braziaer's concerns about movable ballasts in racing in Scuttlebutt #1867): The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) provide a mechanism for boats so equipped to legally employ moveable ballast and stored energy through RRS 86. Specifically RRS 86.1 permits RRS 51 (Moveable Ballast) and RRS 52 (Manual) to be changed by "Class Rules" (which includes handicap rules like PHRF or IRC) and/or by individual Sailing Instructions and/or by prescriptions of a National Authority (see RRS 86.1). These rule changes are always very specific as to which boats to which they apply and what things (e.g. ballast struts) may be moved by stored energy. There is never (or rarely) a carte blanche for a boat to move all ballast ... or to use stored energy for any form of work ... its always clearly specified and, in the case of a handicap rule making the rule change, the boat is handicapped accordingly. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS "Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them." Adlai Stevenson |
