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SCUTTLEBUTT 1801 - March 23, 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. PIRATE SHIP FOLLOW-UP It still has not been determined who will skipper the Walt Disney Co. entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, although you can be reasonably sure it won't be Mickey Mouse. Many questions remain unanswered involving the United States entry in the 2005-2006 around the world race, which was announced yesterday. What is certain is that a Volvo 70 sloop will carry the Disney logo and graphics promoting "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". Volvo officials would not reveal the financial commitment made by the Walt Disney Co. An average Volvo Ocean Race campaign costs between $15-18 million. "There are discussions ongoing with other potential partners. There are business entities that would like to be involved with a high-profile campaign such as this," Volvo Ocean Race spokesman Cameron Kelleher said, who declined to say whether Disney would fully fund the syndicate if necessary. Glenn Bourke, CEO of Volvo Ocean Race, said it was important to secure an American entry to build interest in the race. Baltimore-Annapolis will host the lone U.S. stopover from April 20 to May 7, 2006. "We have found it really important in terms of spectator interest to have an affiliation between a competing team and a port," Bourke said. "Obviously, the one big market that was missing for this race was the U.S., and I certainly think this entry will fill the void." Bourke said Volvo officials and Disney executives have been in discussion about a partnership for about six months. He called it "groundbreaking" that a U.S. company the stature of Disney would get involved with professional sailing sponsorship. Atlant Ocean Racing, headed by Richard Brisius and Johan Salen, will manage the Disney campaign. Brisius and Salen are veterans of the event, having organized the winning EF Language campaign in 1997-98 and the ASSA ABLOY campaign that was runner-up in 2001-02. Contacted yesterday in Sweden, Brisius said details of the arrangement with Disney have not been finalized. Atlant Ocean Racing already has a Volvo 70, drawn by Farr Yacht Design, under construction at Green Marine in the United Kingdom. Brisius said there was a strong possibility the Disney boat would be built off the same female mould already owned by Atlant Ocean Racing, but that contracts have not been signed. Brisius said it was a prerequisite that the skipper and at least half the crew be U.S. citizens. Sources said that renowned San Francisco sailor Paul Cayard has been contacted about skippering the Disney entry. Cayard led EF Language to victory and thus has a strong relationship with Brisius and Salen. Annapolis resident Chris Larson, who served as tactician aboard ASSA ABLOY, is another professional with ties to Brisius and Salen. Brisius said Atlant Ocean Racing's original boat is due to be launched in June. He was hopeful the "Pirates" boat could be in the water by September in order to leave time for the required 2,000-mile test sail. - Excerpts from a story by Bill Wagner, The Capital online, full story: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/03_22-43/SAL THE NEXT BIG EVENT According to the race organizers, entries have flooded in for the next sailing event in the Quest calendar, which has now been confirmed to take place in September 2007. Billed as a staged world circumnavigation race, with stopovers in key locations, the event has already generated huge international interest. Race headquarters has been inundated with enquiries from yacht owners and crewmembers alike, suggesting that the race is likely to be open to mono as well as multi hull yachts to cater for the levels of interest. The other skippers in the current Oryx Quest 2005 will certainly be meeting again in 2007. Olivier de Kersauson, skipper of Geronimo (which was forced to retire from Oryx Quest 2005 in the early stages) is particularly eager to compete again. Steve Fossett, whose yacht Cheyenne was also forced to withdraw from Oryx Quest 2005 following her tragic dismasting just east of Argentina, also feels his boat has some unfinished business. "Cheyenne is on the market now and we hope that she will be bought by a team committed to the Quest Series." Daedalus, also expects to be involved in 2007 with a new owner. Tony Bullimore has begun discussions with interested parties in the Middle East regarding its purchase. Tracy Edwards has begun putting together Team Qatar, which will represent the Gulf State in the race and be headed by HE Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), who partnered the Quest team in facilitating Oryx Quest 2005. Team Qatar is currently in discussion with French naval architect, Gilles Ollier, who met with His Excellency in February to discuss plans for a new boat. The obvious favorite to skipper Team Qatar and lead the Qatari crew to victory is Brian Thompson. - www.qisel.com IT'S OFFICIAL The World Sailing Speed Record Council has made official - Bruno Peyron's maxi-catamaran Orange II how holds the outright round the world record. The new record is 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes 04 seconds for an average speed of 17.89 knots. This new mark eclipses Steve Fossett's previous record by 7d 17h 12m 41s. - www.sailspeedrecords.com/ IT'S HERE AND IT'S NEW Team One Newport has lots of new items arriving daily. The brand new Henri-Lloyd Shadow Jacket, smock and salopettes are here! The 2005 Musto Windward and Caribbean are in stock! And take a look at Gill's Keelboat Jacket, smock and salopettes. We can ship them today! Also, for women, look at the new Patagonia underwear; it's awesome. Plus, we have the great new Harken Trimmer shoes and look at the Kaenon sunglasses. Look for our new catalog in the mail, and for the Specials Page on our website for super savings! Call 800-VIP-GEAR (800-847-4327) or http://www.team1newport.com OLYMPICS Double Olympic champion Ben Ainslie has backed London's Olympic bid to create a sustainable legacy if they secure the 2012 Games. Ainslie, 28, was at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday to collect the OBE, which he was awarded after winning gold in the Finn class at the Athens Olympics last summer. The venue for Ainslie's dramatic success - the Agios Kosmas sailing centre on the Saronic Gulf - has now fallen into disrepair, while a number of other Olympic venues in the Greek capital remain padlocked and unused. But Ainslie is confident a successful bid for the 2012 Games will not only boost British sailing but provide all the Olympic sports with a positive legacy for the future. The sailing venue for a London Games would be at Weymouth, where a world-class national academy is set to be officially opened this summer. "The national sailing centre is already in place. It would get improved further if we got the Olympics, the facilities would be improved and probably expanded, but it would continue to be used afterwards," said Ainslie. Ainslie believes Weymouth, with Portland Harbour and the new academy, boasts facilities that set it apart from sailing venues of the other bidding cities - Paris, Madrid, Moscow and New York. He added: "It is a relatively unique sailing venue. Portland Harbour is enclosed so if conditions are rough in the open waters you can sail inside the harbour, which means you can sail in more extreme conditions than other venues. "Looking beyond that I will try to get Beijing. I need to make the transition and move to Americas Cup racing, but I want to keep my Olympic aspirations there. With sailing, the Olympics is the ultimate personal goal, but in team events the Americas Cup is the most highly regarded thing to achieve. As a youngster my dreams were trying to win gold at the Olympics and the Americas Cup." Ainslie plans to keep his hand in Finn sailing to try and qualify for Beijing and then compete at a fifth Olympics Games in London 2012. - Excerpts from a story on sportinglife.com, full story: http://tinyurl.com/5uvx5 TROFEO PRINCESA SOFIA Palma Mallorca - The Embat; the typical wind of the Bay of Palma - with an intensity of 8 to 15 knots blew today allowing all classes to sail at least two races in excellent conditions. In the afternoon, the wind began to drop in the CN Arenal and Ca'n Pastilla area forcing the Race Committee to abandon the last races of the day. In Palma (Yngling and Dragon) and Calanova (Laser and Laser radial) three and four races have been sailed respectively. American Paige Railey continues to kick butt in the 36-boat Laser Radial class. Her 1-1-(7)-2-1 series has given her a 5-point lead over Germany's Wiebke Schröder who is 9 points ahead of Karin Söderström from Sweden. - www.trofeoprincesasofia.org CABO SAN LUCAS RACE After scooting downwind for nearly 800 miles, Magnitude 80, Peligroso and Scout Spirit finished early Tuesday morning. Weather conditions remained relatively unchanged with winds 20 knots from NW under clear skies. Great downwind sailing conditions and the weather forecast predicts more of the same.! The small boats are doing well, with Class E boats projected to finish 1, 3, 4, 5 in fleet. Falcon arrived safely in Turtle Bay on Monday afternoon and all but one contestant is projected to finish in Cabo by Wednesday. Class Leaders - Class A: Scout Spirit, Bill Turpin; B: Mongoose, Dennis Conner; C: Rocket, Carl and Kary Fuller; D: Tabasco, John Wylie; E: Peregrine, Simon Garland. - www.nhyc.org * Race report from Dennis Conner: The venerable Santa Cruz 70 Mongoose made history today along with five other yachts sailing the 800 mile Cabo San Lucas Race in less than 3 days. Mongoose has won her class by over 3 hours and is well-positioned to take 1st Overall. Skipper Dennis Conner was ebullient as helmsman Enrique Mereles steered them across the finish line. His international crew included Australians Mick Harvey, Peter Burton and Steve "Mothballs" Jarvin, as well as AC vets Bill Trenkle, Ben Mitchell and Al Pleksus rounding out the crew. "There's an amazing dichotomy between the four boats crossing the line ahead of us and our ride", observed DC, "Mongoose with her wide beam and aluminum spar looks ancient!" She made great gains during the second night out in 30 knot downwind conditions that the Santa Cruz 70 is famous for. Curmudgeon's Comment: Another of the amazing stories of this race has to be the performance of Mike Campbell and Dale Williams' new Tim Kernan-designed, 68.5-fot Dencho 70, Peligroso. As we understand it, the boat was splashed for the first time on the Wednesday before the race, the rig went in late Thursday and the measurer had the boat to himself most of Friday. They went sailing for the first time on Saturday - which was the day the race started. And the boat finished second, just 3 hours and 14 minutes behind the 80-foot Magnitude and 10 minutes in front of the R/P 76, Scout Spirit. Pretty amazing! - See: www.waterplane.com/design_dencho70.html NEW CARBON FIBER TILLER EXTENSION Check out the new "Big Stick" super carbon fiber tiller extension from Forespar in the new 2005 Layline catalog that just hit the streets! These great new lightweight carbon fiber extensions come in sizes from 24" - 72", each with an inexpensive and easily replaced universal for quick repairs if necessary at regattas. Extensions can also be customized to fit any boat with just a hacksaw! Great new look and great prices. Call Layline at: 800-542-5463 or go to: www.layline.com for all Forespar carbon fiber products including spinnaker poles and "Ultra" end fittings. Or email: sales@forespar.com GLOBAL CHALLENGE RACE The only female skipper in the Global Challenge round the world race, Dee Caffari, has taken Imagine It. Done. to the head of the Global Challenge fleet, passing Waypoint Bravo in 1st place after racing 3,770nm from Sydney. Positioned just north of the Kerguelen Islands by race management to keep the fleet out of the worst of the ice to the south, the waypoint also serves as the only major tactical and psychological landmark during their long passage across the Southern Ocean. Spirit of Sark, skippered by Duggie Gillespie, has overtaken BP Explorer, who apparently sacrificed the lead in a southerly tactical gamble on Friday. Duggie Gillespie and his crew were 2nd around the waypoint and now only 1nm behind Imagine It. Done. BP Explorer is in 3rd, trailing the leaders by 21nm. Imagine It. Done. is placed last on the overall leaderboard, yet leads the fleet during one of the most testing stages of the westabout race. Deep in the Southern Ocean, Dee has admitted that 1st place brings new challenges. "The one place we wanted to be was in front," said Dee, "We have just sailed around 4000 miles and have been 1st or 2nd the whole way. We now have 2,500 miles to keep it up. No pressure then - as the only way to go when you are on top is down. I think it is the best and the worst place to be all rolled into one." - www.globalchallenge2004.com THE MINIS * The 3,500 nm South Atlantic Race from Cape Town to Salvador, will set forth on January 4, 2006. Entered are 7 Mini Transat yachts, not only the largest class, but the most diverse with entries from South Africa, the USA, Argentina and England. Considerable interest is being shown in the Mini Transat Community and it expected that the entries will continue to grow. Mini Transat yachts are built to a box rule, making them extremely similar. Basic dimensions are: Length 21ft, beam 9ft, draft 6.5ft and a mast height of 45.5ft - basically a skiff you can sleep inside! - www.southatlanticrace.co.za * A new production Mini - the M65 - designed in the UK by naval architects Owen Clarke Design, and built in the United States, will be sailing late summer 2005. The first production Mini ever built in the United States, the M65 is being developed by The Mini Store (TMS), a company formed in 2004 to bring the Mini to North American. The Mini (Open 6.5) is the smallest of the Open Class ocean racing sailboats with a LOA of 6.5 meters (21.5 feet). The Mini is hugely popular in Europe but until recently was relatively unknown in North America. - http://minisinamerica.com/ NEWS BRIEFS * Anyone with a memory of the joys (or agonies) of a Newport to Bermuda Race now has a chance to see it appear in print. Writer John Rousmaniere is producing a centennial history of the race, and he is asking sailors for first-hand stories, photographs, and other materials. They welcome sea stories, anecdotes, photographs, drawings, log books, or anything else that sheds light on the race's famous (and sometimes infamous) appeals. Memories may be submitted in any form by May 1, 2005 to Sheila McCurdy: sheila.mccurdy@verizon.net * In the Oryx Quest 2005 RTW race, Doha 2006 is sliding eastwards in near perfect conditions as they chase the wake of a high pressure system. The fog has lifted, and with its disappearance a concurrent rise in temperature has made life on board most agreeable. The big cat is loping along at a steady 20 knots, eating up ocean miles, but unfortunately not closing in on the finish at any great rate. Standings at 0019 GMT Tuesday: 1. Doha 2006, 4,372 miles to finish, 2. Daedalus 3175 miles to leader; Retired: Geronimo & Cheyenne. - www.oryxquest.com/ * Tim Platt traveled from Marblehead, Massachusetts, for the chance to race to Hobart in 2004. His story of the great race viewed through American eyes is now online as printed in, and courtesy of Australian Yachting. - www.sail-world.com/ NEW 40 FOOTER FROM J BOATS J Boats recently announced plans to introduce the "J/124" for the 2006 model year. With carbon rig, wheel steering, 6' headroom, enclosed aft head, and huge sit-in cockpit, the J/124 builds on the momentum of the J/100, the 33' daysailor recently named Sailing World's Overall Boat-of-the-Year for 2005. http://www.jboats.com/j124 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 Magnus Wheatley: At first I thought it was an early April Fool but reading Stuart Alexander's report on Hollywood coming to the Volvo and knowing the revered stature of Britain's most incisive yachting journalist, I realised it was anything but. Hands up to Glenn Bourke and the Volvo race organiser's, you've pulled the rabbit out of the hat and scored big in this exciting and innovative sponsorship deal by persuading a film company to promote its upcoming global film on the back of the race - absolutely brilliant! Just when all the sponsorship avenues seemed closed or plugged you've found a new channel to market. I didn't think the Volvo would get more than 5-6 entrants and looked like a lame duck. I was wrong and I doff my cap to Glenn and his team. * Fro Kim Noyes: I had to check my calendar while reading the first 2 stories in Scuttlebutt 1800. I thought for sure this was the April 1 edition sent early. Hollywood stars sailing a Disney boat in the Volvo Ocean Race...good one. Now which lucky star gets the Southern Ocean leg? * From Gareth Evans (With reference to the Volvo/ Disney Pirate Ship): I have studied the latest RRS and cannot find any paragraphs that prohibit the use of canons on board a racing yacht. It may be covered by Section 69: Gross Misconduct, although that would be for the protest committee to decide. I had to check the date when reading that story - are you sure you're not a week early? * From Scott Smith: Finally, a U.S. entry for the Volvo! Great news . . . or is it? Reading down, we learn that this "U.S." entry is bankrolled by none other than Volvo itself, is being run by a Swedish company, is building and training in the U.K., and is promoting a movie about the Caribbean. OK, so maybe it's not really a U.S. entry. We can live with that in order to get some more competition in the race. But what about the dignity of the event? Do they really think that a cartoonish skull and crossbones boat reflects well on the heritage of this great event? What next, eye patches, cutlasses and peg legs for the crew? And what about "Hollywood berths" for the movie star visits? Even tongue-in-cheek, does this honor the commitment and effort of the real crews who put their lives on the line to be a part of this great adventure? Shiver me timbers! * From Jane Watkins: I too am very disappointed in the available details regarding the Newport to Cabo Race. For two days I have not been able to access anything at nhyc.org (Newport Harbor YC) With so many prestigious yachts involved you would think that there would be some daily updates on positions and more detailed reasons for dropouts so we would know where are friends and favorite yachts are in the race. Curmudgeon's Comment: While we are not having any problems whatsoever getting information from the Newport Harbor YC website, we've heard that AOL customers and apparently some others are not able to navigate through to the results page. Strange! * From Stephen C. Kratovil (re Curmudgeon's Conundrum in 'Butt 1800): From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman - "You can't have your cake and eat it too -- One can't use something up and still have it to enjoy. This proverb was recorded in the book of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546, and is first attested in the United States in the 1742 'Colonial Records of Georgia' in 'Original Papers, 1735-1752.' The adage is found in varying forms: You can't eat your cake and have it too. You can't have everything and eat it too; Eat your cake and have the crumbs in bed with you, etc. ..." CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION Birds of a feather flock together … and crap on your car. |
