SCUTTLEBUTT No. 628 - August 18, 2000
DANISH OPEN 2000- SWEDEN AND DENMARK VIE FOR LEAD
(Sweden)- John Roberson reporting--- Magnus Holmberg of Sweden and Denmark's
Sten Mohr both finished the first day of the Danish Open Match Racing
Championships undefeated, with five wins each on the scoreboard. Holmberg,
who won the previous event on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour, is
making up for some poor results earlier in the year, but Mohr hasn't finish
worse than third in the three events he's contested. See full report at
http://www.sports.com/sailing/schedule/danish/day1review.html
RORC ROLEX COMMODORE'S CUP- C.I. STRETCHES THEIR LEAD
(Cowes, IOW, England)- A 1st and 2nd place for Tony Buckingham's Farr 40, A
Bit of a Coup, helped the Channel Islands Team extend its lead over England
Blue to over six points in the Rolex Commodores' Cup 2000. Tomorrow in the
12-hour Long Inshore Race,which counts for the same points as today's two
short races, the Channel Islands can afford the luxury of sitting on their
England Blue rivals.
Tony Buckingham's performance today won him a Rolex timepiece for his
efforts,and leaves him as top big boat in IRM Class C, just 0.165 points
ahead of the Scottish Farr 40 McWolf. A Bit of a Coup's team mate, Rene
McArthur's Farr 40 Dignity, relinquished her lead in IRM Class B after a
lacklustre performance. But navigator Steve Hayles remained upbeat about the
team's performance. "The important thing for us in the Channel Islands Team
is to avoid any major errors. Don't get in the protest room, don't run
aground, and don't break a rig," he said.
The 25 knot westerly winds kicked up a fierce chop in the Solent and wreaked
havoc among the fleet, not least on Shakermaker, Paul Churchill's Ker 9
Metre
racing in England Red Team. Her rig crashed down while beating upwind in the
second race, after the crew tried to wind on tension into the runner to free
up
a riding turn on the winch. This spells the end of owner Paul Churchill's
week,as there is no spare rig available.
Some sailors have criticised the complex 'cathedral rig' favoured by
Shakermaker's designer Jason Ker. One Farr 40 helmsman said: "You need to
build in a margin for 'operator error', which is what brought down
Shakermaker's rig today. I'm not sure there is enough margin for error in
this rig."
Quokka V, Shakermaker's sistership, failed to fly her spinnaker down one run
today when the bowman had problems with the spinnaker pole fitting. The Ker
9 Metre's owner Peter Rutter was understandably cautious about flying the
spinnaker uncontrolled, having just witnessed Shakermaker's rig break, but
he conceded their conservatism may have cost them two places for England
Blue in the battle with the Channel Island's Mumm 30 Easy Oars.
With the demise of Roaring Meg two days ago in the Offshore Race, when she
broke her rig in two places, Tony Rayer's 1D35 4 Walls 4 Sale has taken up
the front running in IRM A, and will also have won a Rolex timepiece for a
1st and
3rd place today. But her chances of team glory vanished with a poor offshore
performance by the Commonwealth Team yesterday.
Tony de Mulder, who moved into the lead of IRM Class B with a 1st and 2nd
place today, has been sailing his Farr 40 Victric 5 very consistently this
week, and has maintained England Blue's hopes of knocking the Channel
Islands off their perch. But tactician Tony Weatherall conceded: "We will
need a very good day from the team tomorrow if we're going to catch them."
The France Team continues to struggle with boats that do not compete well
under the IRM rule, but the Prefix 30, Bespoke, made the most of the errors
and breakage in the small fleet to score a 5th and 3rd place today, her best
performance of the week. More race info at http://www.rorc.org.
DOWN UNDER
New Zealand is one of the few civilized places on the planet where people
race sailboats competitively ... but they still don't have an Ullman sail
loft. Racing sailors are accustomed to finding Ullman lofts everywhere they
go. They're in Norway, Japan, Spain, the UK and Canada. There are two each
in Australia and Mexico. Italy has three and there are 10 in the USA. That's
22 in all, and every one of them will give a quote on a new sail, and show
you how affordable improved performance can be:
http://www.ullmansails.com/
THE BIG BICYCLE, CLUB MED, BACK SAFELY AT HOME BASE
(Vannes, FRANCE)- The maxi-catamaran Club Med arrived by cargo last Friday
August 11th in Quiberon bay. Since then she has returned to the Multiplast
boatyard (Vannes/France) for a general check-up in preparation for The Race.
This return to the yard will be the occasion to repair the crash-box of her
port bow, lost in early August off New York.
Immobilised until mid-September, the big blue catamaran will be receiving
changes to her layout and modifications requested by the crew for The Race.
A 'pit-stop' that will enable Club Med to resume her working up programme
from the end of September off Ireland and Great Britain before plunging down
to Portugal (Villamoura), where she will be based for a month. On the
training programme ; the Straits of Gibraltar both ways and sailing up and
down the Atlantic. This development session will end in Antibes at the end
of November, when Club Med and her crew will head for Monaco for the
prologue of The Race scheduled for this coming December 2nd and 3rd.
Additional info at http://www.therace.clubmed.com.
U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
(NEWPORT, RI)- Conditions were good enough to knock off several more races
in this tremendous display of future American talent. The Smythe and Bemis
events have now completed six races, the Sears seven races. Other than the
Sears, where the East Coast contingent is holding court, the West coast
crews are dominating top positions....excepting the Toms River Gang who seem
to be in a league of their own. Current standings are as follows: (see more
info at http://www.ussailing.org)
SMYTHE TROPHY
1.Andrew Campbell, San Diego YC
2.Clay Johnson, Toms River YC
3.Brian Lake, San Diego YC
BEMIS TROPHY
1.Joey Pasquali, Rory Giffin, St. Francis YC
2.Michael Anderson-Mitterling, Tyler McKay, San Diego YC
3.Reed Johnson, Andrew Perry, Toms River YC
SEARS TROPHY
1.Sebastian Reeve, Besse/Gibson Vineyard Haven YC
2.Rick Korab, Druyor/Reali, St. Petersburg SC
3.Nick Van Wagoner, Jatlow/Lyons, Severn Sailing AS
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SOLITAIRE DU FIGARO IN FALMOUTH, ENGLAND
For the first time the Figaro Solo fleet have a stopover in the UK - after
the longest ever leg in the history of the race, 48 solo sailors are now
resting in Falmouth, south west England. Here follows a summary of the 2000
mile solo race so far.
Leg 1; Arcachon to Getxo-Bilbao
Mileage 360
Winner : Christophe Lebas, DataSport-sportofm.com
This was truly an intense opening leg. Light air shuffled the fleet order
around as they headed up to Isle d'Yeu, until the thermal breeze from the
land propelled those more inshore in to the lead. Not a pre-race favourite,
Christophe Lebas (DataSport-sportofm.com) was in the best place at that time
and rounded the marker buoy first. It was all down to boat speed from there
and Lebas pushed out 0.6 knots more on average during the direct descent in
Southerly winds. He finished a whole 2 hours and 8 minutes after nearest
rival Pascale Bidegorry (Europe Assistance), who was followed by 3 other
boats within 13 minutes. Time is ultimately what counts in one design
racing, and this leg showed how close and unpredictable this can get.
Leg 2 ; Getxo-Bilbao to Saint Nazaire
Mileage 320
Winner : Pascale Bidegorry, Europe Assistance
This was a hugely tactical and physical leg as 15-20 knot winds came in from
the North for the 260 mile ascent to the Il de Groix. After an aggressive
start the dog fight amongst a compacted fleet began; up wind against the
tide, 20 knot head winds, plenty of sail changing in backbreaking seas,
closely fought tacking battles and no sleep at all. With the arrival of a
new NE 15 knot breeze those placed east of the direct route won the gamble,
Pascale Bidegorry (Europe Assistance) lead round the buoy and eventually
took line honours, surprisingly this leg created significant distances
between the boats, Bidegorry was able to surpass the time needed to beat
Lebas into first place overall, but a remarkable performance came also from
"Rookie" Armel LeCleac'h (Espoir Credit Agricoile) who finished second in
the leg, thus propelling him into third place overall behind new leader
Bidegorry and Lebas.
Leg 3 ; Saint Nazaire to Falmouth via Fastnet
Mileage 600
Winner Eric Drouglazet, Carven David Oliver
A Force 2-3 NW breeze started the fleet on the longest leg in the history of
the race. A completely different rhythm would be necessary to stay sharp
throughout this long an arduous leg. The high pressure spread over the
course seemed to favour the option to go South of the direct route in search
of better wind, rather than face head winds closer inshore. The boats
stacked up waiting, until a strong 20-22 knot breeze came in for the whole
fleet overnight, wind forced them all further North followed by a SW wind to
reposition themselves at a direct heading to the Fastnet. So the Westerly
group lead by Bidegorry lost out - even top skipper Karine Fauconner (Sergio
Tacchini Itineris) ended up 25 miles behind the leader.
Eric Drouglazet (Carven David Oliver) headed up the fleet round the Fastnet
and equally over the finish line, but eight boats behind him were virtually
side by side engaged in fierce tacking battles all the way to Falmouth. In
the lead despite an incredible come back from Bidegorry, Jeremie Beyou
cheated him of second place by just 21 seconds. The top finishing skippers
were evidently those who managed their physical fitness and sleep
deprivation better. Karine Fauconner came back from a 52 mile gap to finish
6 miles from the leader.
International update
Britt Marcus Hutchinson (Virtual Spectator Impact Jour J) overall has
remained consistently mid fleet in the ranking for each leg, his best
performance was in leg 2 when he overtook 15 boats at one stage.
Canadian skipper and novice Roberta Holden (Domaine de Regusse) has kept
pace alongside French skippers who have had much greater experience than
her. It was unfortunate that she had to abandon leg 2 after her fore stay
broke.
Italian Alberto Spina (Monaco Marine Group) achieved his finest hour in leg
1 where he rounded the top marker buoy in third place and finished in
fifteenth place
Top Overall Rankings after 3 legs
1 Bidegorry Pascale, Europe Assistance 248h 58' 23
2 Le LeCleac'h Armel, Espoir Credit Agricoile + 2h 19' 30
3 Lebas Christophe, DataSport-sportofm.com + 2h 46 ' 46
See more at French website: http://www.lasolitaire.com
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