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SCUTTLEBUTT 1857 - June 10, 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. LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT For all the ultramodern materials, high-powered computers, wind tunnels and top-notch designers involved in the race to build a winning America's Cup yacht, the search for an edge also includes the little things. Such as taking a sharp knife and removing a few yards of outer casing from a section of rope, saving an ounce and adding an almost imperceptible speed gain. Or removing a navigation instrument and seeing if the crew can sail as fast without it. If so, the instrument gets left on shore, and the two pounds it weighed gets moved to the bottom of the keel to increase stability. It also includes technology and design from Formula One car racing, computerized sail making and shipyards with the ability to bake 80-foot-long ultra-light carbon fiber hulls in gargantuan ovens. The America's Cup technology wars are so hard fought and secretive that tightlipped team members make spies seem like blabbermouths. ``I have no doubt that other teams are going to surprise us,'' said Chris Dickson, the New Zealand-born skipper of the U.S. challenger, BMW Oracle Racing. - Pauline Jelinek, AP, full story: www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050608/APS/506080798 THIS WAS NOT IN THE BROCHURE While more than a week has passed since the first boats arrived in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge race, the three boats in the classic division continue to slog it out. Older and smaller than the rest of the boats in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, the classics were never expected to be as fast as the modern racers and larger performance cruisers, but they have also been very unlucky with the weather conditions. Closing on the Western Approaches, they should now be enjoying a fast broad reach in favourable westerly winds, but instead they are once again beating upwind into easterlies. A. Robert Towbin's 94-foot (28.7m) Fife ketch Sumurun, built in 1914, was still tackling the Atlantic Ocean with 543 miles to go to reach the finish line at the Needles Fairway Buoy off the western tip of the Isle of Wight. In terms of distance to the finish line, Sumurun was 50 miles ahead of Hans Albrecht's 88-foot (26.8m) Nordwind, and 100 miles in front of Carlo Falcone's 80-foot (24.4m) Fife yawl Mariella, the latter two boats originally built in 1938. The question remains: will the Classics reach Cowes in time for the prize-giving on Sunday night? The forecast shows easterlies continuing to blow in the Western Approaches and in the English Channel, only turning favourable on Sunday. Based on her having 543 miles to go and having averaged 6.1 knots over the course so far, Sumurun should reach the finish line at 0400 UTC on Monday morning. This will give Towbin and his crew just four hours to prepare for the gun for the Rolex Race Around the Isle of Wight. - www.regattanews.com SECOND LARGEST EVER Seventy-six boats---the second largest entry list ever---are signed up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Transpacific Yacht Race in next month's 2,225-nautical mile contest from Los Angeles to Honolulu. That number is topped only by the 80 boats that competed in 1979. Even with high-profile competitors like Genuine Risk, Morning Glory, Pyewacket, Windquest and Magnitude 80 with professional crews at the top end, the 2005 fleet is heavily weighted toward smaller boats of weekend sailors who comprise more than half the fleet. Those include 14 Cal 40s marking the 40th anniversary of their breakthrough debut in the race. The entries represent nine countries, matching the record set in 2003, and a dozen states. That record has never seemed so much in jeopardy. The race will mark the Transpac debut of the fastest boats ever to sail the race---the maxZ86s Pyewacket, Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory and Dick and Doug DeVos's Windquest, plus Randall Pittman's Dubois 90, Genuine Risk, and Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80. Although Windquest, with its slightly older technology, and the smaller Magnitude 80 will rate slightly slower, all are considered to be as much as a day faster than the record with similar conditions. Genuine Risk is slightly longer and thereby faster than all but will power down to meet the special Transpac rating established earlier at the maxZ86 level. - Rich Roberts, www.transpacificyc.org A SAILOR'S PASSION…… When someone is wearing a Mount Gay Rum hat you know their passions …. Sailing and Mount Gay Rum. To further these passions, look to Lands' End Business Outfitters, with its sailing heritage and penchant for quality - the obvious choice for Mount Gay Rum's apparel. Think of this as your sailor's store for top-notch gear for sailing and beyond. See the gear line at Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week XXI on June 23rd or call 800-490-6402 to place an order or request a Mount Gay Rum catalog. Look for Mount Gay Rum's calendar of sponsored regattas at http://www.mountgay.com TEAM BUILDING (The Daily Sail Subscription website spoke with skipper Magnus Holmberg about Sweden's reincarnated AC campaign. Here are a couple of brief excerpts.) While Victory Challenge v.1 was almost entirely a Scandinavia affair, this time, says Holmberg, they will be looking to bring in more talent from overseas. "A difficult issue last time was over the ruling that you had to live in the country two years ahead of the Cup and so on, but without that rule now we will still have a Swedish and Scandinavian base to the crew, but we are now not putting any restrictions on nationality. This time I want to keep the base of the core group, but get others who can add knowledge and experience." As a result Holmberg says he is no hurry to find crew. "You can look at it two ways. You can panic and start recruiting like crazy and then you are going to make mistakes. If you do that you will recruit people you will regret for two years. There will be Volvo Ocean Race sailors who will get back. I am sure there will be opportunities." At present the Victory Challenge squad is large enough to fill one boat on which they will test sails and spars and Holmberg says that due to commitment sailing in the Acts, it is unlikely they will recruit enough to crew both boats until the autumn. "I don't see any point in rushing things and having to employ a lot of people in a short period of time. I will not employ anyone who I think won't fit within the team regardless of their caliber." - www.thedailysail.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE (Sue Pelling also interviewed Magnus Holmberg about the Swedish America's Cup challenge, for a story on the Yachting World website. Here's quote from her story that addresses the syndicates chances of victory.) "I think we have a good chance but you have to be realistic. We have less time, we are not going to have the same amount of money as the big teams but on the other hand I think that history has shown us well that money isn't everything even in America's Cup. I think a strong side for us is that we are keeping a full team together; we have a good platform allowing us to continue with the good atmosphere and attitude we had in the team last time. A lot of teams will be struggling with internal problems, which always happens in the America's Cup, so I think if we do well and some of the other big teams run in to a bit of trouble I think we could surprise a few." - Magnus Holmberg, full story: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20050508170601ywamericascup07.html ICSA/GILL NA COED DINGHY CHAMPIONSHIP Sailors from Hobart/William Smith Colleges (HWS) are trying to make the magic work for the second time in less than a week. After winning the ICSA/Layline Team Race Championship on Lake Travis earlier this week, four of The Colleges sailors have moved on to the ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship which is in its second day of racing for the championship title. A steady south-southeasterly started out in the mid-teens this morning and built to 17 knots by late afternoon by which time both A- and B-Division racers had sailed 8 races. The Colleges were second overall after yesterday's six races in each division, but has now moved into the series lead with 161 points. The University of Hawaii Rainbows, defending champions and early leader, slipped down to third overall on 172 points. In an interesting twist on rivalry, Dartmouth College moved from third to second overall on the strength of a consistent performance by their A-Division team led by sophomore skipper Erick Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) - younger sibling to HWS skipper John. Four races remain to be sailed Friday on Lake Travis to wrap up the ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championships. - Media Pro Int'l, for complete results: http://collegesailing.org/nas/spring05/index.htm JIBE SETTING IN A LARGE FLEET (Tony Rey discusses jibe-setting in a large fleet in a story posted on the Sailing World website. Here's a brief excerpt.) The right time to jibe set is determined by how bad you think the disturbance will be on the top-right side of the course. If you are in the lead pack, then there will be more bad air to jibe through. You need a really good reason to sail back through that mess. If you are deep in the fleet, it will be relatively clean to jibe right away. However, the jibe set becomes more risky when the wind is light, because not only are you sailing through bad air, but also disturbed water (which can sometimes be worse). I generally stay away from jibe-sets unless I am laying the leeward mark with a quick jibe, and the initial pain of bad air and disturbed water is worth it. However, a really nice move to have ready is the 'quick jibe'. Often the decision of when to jibe can only be made in the moment (depending on exactly where the cleanest lane will be behind, and what the boat in front of you does), and you want to be ready to either hold on starboard, or jibe. The quick jibe is when the boat is setup for a standard bear away set, but the helm just turns the boat into a slow jibe, the kite is rotated around, and the pole is tripped away. Your trimmer and pit person need to be ready for this. - Sailing World website, full story: www.sailingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=37248&typeID=402&catID=596 NEWS BRIEFS * Jerusalem - Thieves broke into Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman's parents' home on Tuesday and stole the national sports legend's Olympic gold medal, police said. Fridman discovered the theft when he went to his parent's home in Karkur in northern Israel on Tuesday morning, Police Chief Inspector Moshe Weizman said. The thieves apparently broke in through the front door and stole a gun and some papers in addition to Fridman's medal, he said. Fridman became an instant national hero last August when he won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, the first gold medal in the country's history. - AP, http://tinyurl.com/d2yf5 * The Canadian Yachting Association and Spirit of Canadian Ocean Challenges have chosen round the world sailor, Derek Hatfield as an Honorary Member of the Canadian Sailing Team. Olympic Development Committee Chairman for the Canadian Sailing Team, Glen Dexter, felt that the time was right to foster more integration between what Canadians are doing at the elite levels of our sport, whether that be at the Olympics, America's Cup, or around the world racing. Hatfield finished third in class in the 2002 Around Alone Race, a solo circumnavigation of the world. sailing the 40 foot Spirit of Canada. www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j19Fh5BBr * Taking advantage of innovations in the 58-year-old Annapolis to Newport Race, about half the fleet, including many of the faster boats, have opted to race in the new IRC class. Full fleet race tracking will be available online for the race, which starts today at noon. The Internet-based tracking program, provided through a sponsorship by T. Rowe Price Investment Services, has equipped each boat with an iBoat Track GPS transponder. Course positions will be updated every two hours, providing position, speed, fleet and class positions during the entire length of the course. - www.annapolisyc.org/newport05 * The Valencian Tourist Board will contribute eight million Euros in order that the Spanish Challenge. The money will possibly be spent on support craft, but a sail with the Valencian Community logo on it will be raised by the craft and certain other costs - called 'Infrastructure' in the press release will also be met. the press statement ended: " The Valencian Government considers that the Americas Cup is an exceptional; platform from which to promote the Valencian Community to a worldwide audience." - Valencia Life Network * Peter O'Connell has been named Managing Director of Lewmar. In his new position, which begins July 1, O'Connell joins the Clyde Marine Board of Directors and will have operational responsibility for all of the Lewmar and Navtec businesses around the world. He will shortly relocate with his family to the U.K., from the company's U.S. headquarters in Guilford, Conn. O'Connell is currently President/COO of Lewmar Inc. and of the Navtec group of companies worldwide. After having stepped in to manage Lewmar through a period of reorganization, Arthur MacMillan will revert to his role as CEO of Clyde Marine plc. - www.clyde-marine.com * New Scuttlebutt photo gallery: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/0609/ THINK LIKE A WINNER Transpac 52 teams Caixa Galicia, Atalanti, Pisco Sour, and Bambakou finished 1-2-3-4 at the TP52 Med championship. All are Hall-equipped. Even if you don't need a new, high-performance carbon-fiber spar package like theirs, think "Hall Spars & Rigging" for all other championship-caliber equipment. Sheets, halyards, hardware - we carry the premium rigging products winners demand. Even our prices are winners: June is Harken month at Hall and all Harken products are 5% off. Find what you need and read an update on our Silver Anniversary celebration at http://www.hallspars.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 Mick Christensen: The only disappointment in the revised America's Cup 'Acts' is the inclusion of the Defender in any races involving challengers. If you don't understand the single minded purpose of contest, you can not grasp the intrigue of two boats and crews facing off that have never done so before. Throw out the predictions, numbers, should be's and probables - this is warfare and there is no practice. * From Richard Porter: I would like to highlight the tenacity of the solo sailor sailors in the Bermuda 1-2. Dirigo skippered by Eric Johnson cracked his boom 150 miles into the race and returned to Annapolis to repair the damage. Dirigo is now motorsailing at full steam to Bermuda to complete the second half of the race. When most of us would have stayed home, the spirit of the singlehanded sailor endures. * From Hugh Dowling: Les Smith from OZ does not need a lawyer, he needs to learn more about US baseball before implying that Americans only look after their own. It is completely incorrect to compare Ben Lexcen missing out on the AC Hall of Fame with the US not inviting anyone to the "World" Series. As an Australian, I should not be providing corrections on US Sport - but as far as I understand, the World Series is not The World as in the planet, it relates to the Newspaper "The World" which was the first sponsor of the baseball series. No comment on Ben Lexcen, except to say that day in September, 1983, as a schoolboy, remains one of the most remembered days in our lives! * From Ken Legler: Dave Smith's praise of Hobart and William Smith (H/WS) sailing coach Scott Ikle is certainly well deserved. Scott is the most scientific of college sailing coaches regularly employing sports psychology, exercise physiology, etc. to improve the performance of his students. Please add my congrats to Scott and the H/WS students on the sailing team. Dave made some comparisons however, that might spread some misconceptions about college sailing. Saying that players may have been overlooked by some other high profile programs seems to indicate that other colleges can accept students based on sailing ability. To the extent that is true is virtually insignificant. The talented sailors at H/WS would be coveted by any college sailing program. They ended up at H/WS for academic reasons combined with the fact that H/WS does have a high profile program. Regarding their budget being a fraction of that of other schools, all college sailing teams are under-funded compared to the revenue sports. H/WS is one the "haves." They have 30 boats, a full time coach and a modest travel budget just like almost all the other varsity sailing teams. The few teams with more assets, including Navy, get it through fund raising. The many club teams, which H/WS was in 1993, are the "have nots" without professional coaches to manage, recruit, fix boats, teach, and help raise the funds necessary to compete at the national level. * From Jim Mahaffy: In reference to Senator Santorum's efforts to privatize the NWS, this has been tried before several years ago. If there might be a few boaters that just might be a little upset over being required to pay for the weather from here Catalina or around Point Conception, think about the light plan pilot who wants to get the weather to fly IFR! I would imagine that right now AOPA has its godzillion member on a writing campaign like you've never seen. * From David Gill: Paying for weather? Does this mean the public's tax bill is going to be reduced, since we no longer have to finance NOAA? Or, does this mean we are paying for something that we cannot use unless we pay again to use it? I would be curious what is the government's liability if a ship goes down due to the lack of weather information, all because the good senator wanted to fill the coffers of his and his weather service constituency's pockets. If we are going after CEO's for the negligence of their company why can't we go after Politicians for their negligent politics and legislation? * From Bill Gladstone: The over-the-air and on-line offerings of the National Weather Service are excellent and getting better everyday; so obviously this is a government program which will have to be eliminated. * From Jonathan Seller (Re: Chris Ericksen's note about the wonderful "Sail Racing Organization, Management and Scoring Program"): This project doesn't have to die; release it as an open source project on sourceforge (sf.net). If there is a need for it development on it will get done, and it will be freely available to the community to use it. * From Ralph Taylor: I think Glen Dickson is on the right track with "clubs … are awarded big events like Youths because they want to host them--and not many clubs have the volunteer support and necessary infrastructure to accept such a massive undertaking." If we look at US Sailing's 5-year Planning Calendar, we'll see that many events are listed as "Accepting Bids" for as early as 2006. That means no one has yet stepped up to host. Before throwing brickbats, let's look at what our own clubs could do to make the situation better. www.ussailing.org/Championships/PlanningCal.asp CURMUDGEON'S OXYMORONS Legal brief |
