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SCUTTLEBUTT 1875 - July 7, 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. LONDON WINS 2012 OLYMPICS Britain vs. France. Blair vs. Chirac. Two historic rival cities convinced they were long overdue. London prevailed - upsetting Paris to secure the 2012 Olympics. The British capital overcame its cross-Channel opponent 54-50 Wednesday on the fourth ballot of the International Olympic Committee vote, capping the most glamorous and hotly contested bid race in Olympic history. Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated in the first three rounds. London got the Olympics for the first time since 1948, while Paris was frustrated for a third time in 20 years. It hasn't held the games since 1924. The eliminations in the first three rounds came as no surprise. Moscow was always considered the longshot, with New York and Madrid outsiders. Moscow went out with 15 votes in the first round, New York dropped out next with 16, then Madrid with 31. Despite being a favorite, Paris never led throughout the voting. The first round was tight, with London getting 22 votes, Paris 21, Madrid 20 and New York 19. Madrid took the lead in the second round with 32 votes, followed by London with 27 and Paris 25. London then picked up a big chunk of New York's votes to lead Paris 39-33 in the third round. With Madrid's votes split fairly evenly in the last round, London had enough to win. "I'm sorry New York didn't get it, but I'm thrilled for London," President Bush said as he arrived at the G-8 summit. -- Stephen Wilson, AP, http://tinyurl.com/ah827 20012 OLYMPIC SAILING VENUE (The Daily Sail subscription website posted a story about what the successful Olympic bid for 2012 will mean in the UK, and the recently opened Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy that will be the venue for 2012 Olympics. Here are two excerpts.) The recent Lottery-funded development at the Academy has been carried out with a view to it becoming a possible Olympic sailing venue, meeting the requirements laid down in a 'venue specification document' ISAF send out to prospective Olympic sailing venues. Looking back at past Olympic sailing venues, the WPSA facility differs in it being purpose-built for the job. "The venues are most of the time constructed with an eye on post-Olympic use," says Jerome Pels, ISAF's Director of Sailing. "If you look at Athens, the problem was the venue was far too big, because they wanted a marina to hold 1,000 yachts. The scale of that was not part of our requirements, whereas if you look at the Sydney venue it was very very small - just 200m wide and 800m wide." Being able to set up four or five 1.5 mile diameter courses ideally in less than 50m of water off the coast is relatively straightforward and that is the easy part. Shoreside facilities must cater for 400 competitors, 280 assorted dinghies and keelboats, plus around 2,000 extra personnel including a large number handling security, 50 ISAF officials (judges, measurers, race officers), around 200-300 other on-the-water personnel in around 100 motor boats and RIBs. The venue needs not only to be able to house these kind of numbers comfortably, but must have suitable launch facilities in terms of ramps and cranes, plus showers and dressing rooms and catering to service those involved. -- The Daily Sail, www.thedailysail.com WORLD RECORD OBLITERATED Francis Joyon's 92-foot trimaran IDEC stormed past the The Lizard (SW Cornwall) at 12:44:03 (TU) to set a new outright record for the single-handed Atlantic crossing, of 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds. His average speed for the 2925 mile passage was 19.75 knots. This obliterated the previous solo transatlantic record set back in July 1994 by Laurent Bourgnon and his 60-foot trimaran, Primagaz, by 22 hours 33 minutes and 5 seconds. IDEC set out on Thursday June 30 in a very unreliable south westerly, and his first day at sea was not exactly encouraging. "I had to get away from the continent of America," he explained, "and get into the low-pressure flow coming down from the North of Canada." The following three days went off like a dream; the huge red trimaran got into a strong air stream downwind. On his fourth day at sea, Joyon was to achieve a new 24-hour solo sailing record of 543 miles. IDEC is now heading towards la Trinité sur Mer in Brittany, that she should reach early Thursday morning. -- www.trimaran-idec.com THE LOOPHOLE This week Team New Zealand announced they had reached a settlement with Tom Schnackenberg that allowed him to join Luna Rossa Challenge. The decision has sent many cup fans scurrying to the cup protocol, which states designers are allowed to work for only one competitor. Already the America's Cup jury has ruled American designer Phil Kaiko cannot join the Spanish Challenge because he did some design work for Mascalzone Latino in the early stages of their 2007 campaign. While it has not been revealed exactly what Schnackenberg's role is at Team Luna Rossa, one cup rules adviser said Schnackenberg could join the Italian syndicate as a designer provided he can prove he never did any significant design work for Team New Zealand. Schnackenberg has claimed he worked for Team New Zealand for only three months between August and October, during which time the syndicate was heavily involved in cup pre-regattas. Apart from that it is understood he had little to do with the team. Regardless of whether Schnackenberg had any input into the design of Team New Zealand's new boats, he can technically be employed by Team Luna Rossa in a non-design capacity. Although it would be strange to have someone with Schnackenberg's design nous not designing, it is conceivable he could be put on a reconnaissance-type role where he could analyse the designs of other teams and provide reports back to the Luna Rossa design team - something Team New Zealand may have agreed to. -- Julie Ash, NZ Herald, full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10334543 ULLMAN SAILS INSHORE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES The first annual Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series truly exceeded expectations. Sailed over a three-month period encompassing 4 major Southern California regattas, Ullman Sails would like to extend a special thanks to NHYC, SDYC, CYC, LBYC, and ABYC for superb management in running these regattas. Congratulations also to the overall series winners: Fast 50- Alec Oberschmidt's "Staghound"; Fast 40- John Carrol's "Arana"; and Sport Boat- Biff Bunny's "Power Point". All the winners flew Ullman Sails, and are looking forward to 2006. For the fastest sails on the planet and information regarding Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series, visit http://www.ullmansails.com UPSIDE DOWN - DOWN UNDER Melbourne, Australia -- On Thursday, as part of the official Volvo Ocean Race qualification process, Australia's only race entry, Premier Challenge, will perform a full 180 degree inversion of its Volvo Open 70 in the water with four of its crew members aboard for the entire process. A crane positioned on land attached to the bulb on the yacht's keel will literally tip the vessel upside down in an eyebrow-raising process that once started, will be complete in a matter of minutes. Once inverted, the crane will be detached and crew members will be responsible for righting the yacht unassisted, demonstrating their ability to do so should it capsize during ocean racing. Skipper Grant Wharington will be one of the members on board during the inversion process. SWEDISH MATCH CUP Marstrand, Sweden -- Peter Holmberg (ISV) is the first qualifier for the quarterfinal round of the Open Regatta at the Swedish Match Cup. Holmberg, a helmsman for America's Cup champion Alinghi, won Group A with a 6-1 record. He finished 1 point ahead of second-placed Magnus Holmberg (SWE), skipper of the Victory Challenge. Jesper Radich (DEN), of Desafío Español, placed third with a 4-3 mark. By winning the group Peter Holmberg advances straight to the quarterfinal round of the event, which is scheduled for Saturday morning. In between now and then Group B will contest its round robin, and the knock-out round for the eight teams finishing second through seventh in each group will be held. Philippe Presti (FRA), of Luna Rossa Challenge, placed fourth with 3 points on a 4-3 record. He was penalized 1 point yesterday for causing damage to another boat. Bertrand Pacé (FRA), of BMW Oracle Racing, finished fifth at 3-4, and Peter Gilmour (AUS), of Pizza-La Sailing Team, was sixth with 2.5 points on a 3-4 record. Gilmour was penalized a half point for causing damage. Gilmour, who finished sixth, is tied with Ed Baird (USA) for the lead of the Swedish Match Tour. Each skipper has 102 points. Gilmour advanced to the knock-out round, but he wasn't wholly satisfied with his performance. In the knock-out round Gilmour will meet the third-place finisher from Group B. Baird is in Group B and will sail his round robin tomorrow. If he finishes third, Gilmour and Baird would meet in the knockout round with the season championship on the line in a first to 2 points showdown. -- Sean McNeill, www.swedishmatchtour.com Swedish Match Cup Final Standings - Group A 1. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 6-1 2. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 5-2 3. Jesper Radich (DEN) Desafío Español, 4-3 4. Philippe Presti (FRA) Luna Rossa Challenge, 4-3, 3 points* 5. Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing, 3-4 6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team, 3-4, 2.5 points* 7. Lars Nordbjerg (DEN), 2-5 8. Staffan Lindberg (FIN), 1-6 In the women's portion of the Swedish Match Cup, only Swedes will make it to the finals. Marie Björling and her Team Schenker secured one place in the finals with a 3-1 victory over Claire Leroy from France, in the weak afternoon winds. In the second semifinal Linda Rahm first won two straight matches with team Koncentra, but then Malin Millbourn in Team Santa Maria came back with two victories. The last and concluding match will be sailed on Saturday. -- http://www.swedishmatchcup.com CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar NEWS BRIEFS * In a Crewoverboard Recovery Symposium on San Francisco Bay on August 9-12 there will be on-the-water trials of COB rescue methods and equipment that involve more than 60 volunteers and a diverse fleet of multihulls, powerboats, modern racers, and cruisers in night and day testing. Issues will include signals to use at night, gaining contact with victims and bringing them back on deck - including unconscious victims. Sponsored by Modern Sailing Academy and West Marine, an international steering committee and a panel of scientists have been advising and developing a research design for the most objective possible testing. -- http://www.cobevent.com/ * The New York YC is in final negotiations with Nautor's Swan and the Frers design office for a new 42-foot one-design class, the NY42. The base price is expected to be under $500,000 with another $100,000 for sails and electronics. The class will be one-design with strict sail limitations to keep the price of racing down. -- Sailing World magazine, www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=37597&typeID=102&catID=587 * King Harald V of Norway is the new European Champion of the IMS class. A fourth place in the 362 mile Eurocard Gotland Runt was sufficient to lift the Farr 53 above the previous points leader, Einar Sissener's Al Capone III, by six and a quarter points. Mathias Blumencon's Moonshine (GER) finished third overall. * After the second day of the qualification series at the 29er Worlds at St. Francis YC, the leaders are: 1. Justin Visser/ Simon Wheeler, GBR, 7; 2. Dylan Fletcher/ Nick Hollis, GBR, 11; 3. Jamie Woods/ Iain Jensen, AUS, 14; 4. Will Critharis/ Seve Jarvin, AUS, 17; 5. Ed Chapman/ Tom Peel, GBR, 19; 6. Jacqui Bonnitcha/ Euan McNicol, AUS, 23; 7. Cameron Biehl/ Zack Maxam, USA, 26; 8. John Heineken/ Matt Noble, USA, 28. - http://tinyurl.com/9n2zo * The maxi trimaran Geronimo is well into the southern ocean and is dealing with the worst of the conditions she will experience as she circumnavigates Australia in The Challenge. Currently, Geronimo is approximately 600 miles south of Adelaide in South Australia. "We have the choice between sailing at 17 knots or 27 knots but not in the middle, as the waves move at around 20 knots. The wind is still 40 knots with gusts above 50 knots," skipper Olivier de Kersauson said. -- www.superyachting.com * Gary Jobson has been named the Honorary Chair of the 2006 centennial Newport Bermuda Race, co-hosted by the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. "My mission is to promote sailing," said Jobson, whose duties will include emceeing the opening event and closing prize giving ceremonies as well as producing a documentary on the race. Jobson will sail in the event on the 94-foot sloop Keturah, owned by past Bermuda Race winner Llwyd Ecclestone. -- www.bermudarace.com * The new Cartagena marina (in Spain), designed to attract megayachts, is far from complete, but Larry Ellison is already said to be considering it as a permanent "home" for the 138 metre (453-foot) Rising Sun. The yacht has berthed there, after visiting Valencia for the latest America's Cup pre-regattas, and it is understood that the captain and crew have been instructed to stay for two weeks, in order to access the suitability of Cartagena as a permanent berth. In any case, the Rising Sun will return to Cartegena in October to be prepared for its Caribbean season. -- www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/14765/57/ YALE CORDAGE ENGINEERS ANOTHER INNOVATIVE SOLUTION It might be summer, but Yale is hard at work solving problems. In conjunction with Doyle Sailmakers, Yale engineers have designed a system-specific, high-tensile Vectrus rope for furling the huge sails of the Dyna-Rig on the "Maltese Falcon," a modern square rigger being built by Perini Navi. That same engineering leadership was also brought to bear on a new main halyard for "Mirabella V," resulting in a Helix-matched composite single braid of Spectra, Vectrus, and polyester that solved issues with bending radii in the system. For that same technical expertise on your boat, insist on Yale products. http://www.yalecordage.com 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 David Hazlehurst: In the 1996 Olympics at Savannah there were a goodly number of 470's from nations that will never aspire to be members of the group of 8. Likewise for Lasers, selected last year to be the single-handed dinghy for both men and women, in the 2008 Olympics. There can be no question that the Laser Radial was chosen to replace the Europe for women, because of its availability world wide. From my observations in Savannah, it will be a long time before I see anything more heart warming than a fleet of 470's arriving at the windward mark and putting up spinnakers with no more than 90 seconds between the first and last boats. If anyone doubts the appeal that Laser 4.7's have for lighter weight sailors, they should check the countries of origin the next time they see results from a major regatta. They will be pleasantly surprised to see how many come from the Adriatic, Puerto Rico often finishing ahead of sailors from the larger nations. There was a gratifying result in the Laser Masters Worlds in Chile in October, 1997; a native son placed first in the Apprentice class. Happily, single and double-handed sailing is here to stay, also the smaller nations are becoming more competitive. * From Bob Buell: Yes, Mike Kennedy has a good memory. I was that helmsman on SC-50 "Oaxaca" in 1981 Transpac, when bowman Bobbo Larson (Morgan's Dad) went overboard when standing on the pulpit changing chutes. I broached the boat immediately to windward, it stopped dead, and he swam back to the stern and climbed aboard, ran forward and reset the chute, and off we went. * From Bill Leary (edited to our 250-word limit): During the '87 Transpac we lost a man overboard in the middle of the afternoon while sailing at 15+ knots with the spinnaker up aboard Merlin. The helmsman laid the boat down immediately and our swimmer was only about 50 feet to windward. But the boat went sideways in the 20 knots of breeze faster than our man overboard could swim and we quickly drifted away from him. The man-overboard gear, designed to be pulled out of the back of the moving boat, failed to deploy since we were broached and moving sideways instead of forward. We lost sight of our man overboard in the large waves before we could get the kite and staysail down and turn the boat around. We sailed back to windward under main alone to find him. Three long minutes or so on port tack and the same on starboard and his head appeared bobbing ahead of us in the waves.. We got him aboard, rigged a new kite, and had it set again 18 minutes after the incident began. To lose sight of a man overboard 400 miles from land was terrifying. Back then there wasn't a lot of focus on safety at sea. We didn't rehearse ahead of time or plan for a man overboard and certainly could have done a better job of getting the boat stopped and turned around. We were very lucky that it happened in daylight. At night the outcome would almost certainly have been different. * From Richard S. Fischel (edited to our 250-word limit) I am surprised to continue to read negative comments regarding Britt Hughes reporting of a man-overboard experience. I don't know Britt well, but I have raced against him for enough years to know that he is an excellent sailor and sportsman. I'm certain he does not suffer from spinelessness, hysteria or hyperbole. I'm sure others that know him better would agree. Why would anyone rationalize a reason for failing to render assistance? Think about what you would do in that golden moment when action/inaction could be the difference between life and death. So they weren't wearing life jackets. I don't see the relevance in a discussion of rendering assistance. Is there some amount of culpability for not wearing a life jacket that absolves others from helping? Even a person wearing a life jacket can still drown or suffer hypothermia, and may be in need of assistance. If the racing conditions are marginal maybe a good question is can you assist someone in the water? If the answer is no, maybe you should rethink continuing to race. Even if all you can do is get close, ISAF Category 5 required every boat to have a heaving line in the cockpit. The Block Island Race Week sponsors addressed man-overboard situations in their Recommend Safety Guidelines: http://tinyurl.com/9oek9 * From J M Marta: There is no question re reasons for the disappearing fleet in PHRF boating in Puget Sound. Races that used to see 300 plus entries now have fifty or so. The problems seem to stem from several sources: 1) The inability of good all-around cruiser racers to compete with what are essentially "day sailer" boats that are capable of two to four knots of speed advantages downwind over complete boats that rate the same. 2) The category requirements aren't followed -- the USCG would be horrified to see what some boats call cooking stoves for overnight races. Few boats have cushions, doors, and cabinetry on board for our Category 2 races, yet they are required. 3) Similar types of boats that race should be grouped together, i.e. meaning sport boats/ ultra light boats, moderate displacement boats, and heavy displacement boats should each racing in its own class. San Diego, who has a sport boat class, seems to be the best compromise at the present time. The common thread from the non-racing racers who own good boats is that they just can't compete with the new boats. They are indeed correct as things now stand. Unfortunately, it now appears that race management may have missed their best chance over the years to change and attract bigger turnouts. Let's hope not! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS "Sailing: the slowest most expensive way to travel third class." -- Sundeer 56 W.E. Penny, currently cruising in Croatia |
