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SCUTTLEBUTT 1945 -- October 14, 2005Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.INTERESTING TIMES These are interesting times to be a sailor. For the first time in three decades, major industry is looking at--seriously contemplating--putting sail power onto the world's cargo ships. Natural winds over the Earth's oceans are the most ubiquitous and highly concentrated of alternative energy sources. Sailing--the direct conversion of the momentum of moving air into the momentum of the vessel--is inherently the most efficient possible use of natural energy. Sailing vessels were largely relegated to non-commercial status more than a century ago due to their inability to hold to strict schedules, and also due to high amortization and labor costs, restricted carrying capacity and to port access and dockside equipment limitations (bridge and crane clearance). A modern return to wind power must successfully address each of these shortcomings. Very large free-flying sails, (VLFFS, or kites) offer compelling advantages over other sail assist technologies, including anti-heel, off-site construction, simple and efficient retrofit and much-reduced amortization costs. An unusual but not new idea, kite sailing has been practiced for a millennium or more in the South Pacific and for nearly 200 years in Western sailing. KiteShip Corporation, of Martinez, California, has spent the past 27 years working on the challenges of VLFFS power. We are so used to being a "voice in the dark" that it feels normal. It is intensely satisfying to find the world's shipping industry taking interest in one's life's work, and strangely, even satisfying to see potentially viable international competition entering the fray. At least one other company has raised capital, begun R&D work and has engaged an effective PR campaign. At the same time, these are early days. KiteShip holds world records for largest kite ever to pull a vehicle of any kind-and for largest vessel pulled, by any kite-and these are both for large yacht-sized installs, not (yet) ship borne. Journalistic promises of "giant" kites coming to a shipyard near you "real soon now" are still best taken with a grain of salt, but the exciting fact is that they are coming. Just as kite surfing kites have provided "context" for racing, cruising and delivery kites to enter the yachting market, so do these markets provide effective "context" for large ship installs. KiteShip is experimenting with ever larger kites daily, both for industry and for the US government, and we are quietly confident that we will be among the first to bring multi-thousand horsepower installs to the world's largest ships. In the meantime, we are proud to be marketing, at a retail level, commercial traction kites 5-15 times as large as any other entity on the planet's oceans. These are indeed interesting times. -- Dave Culp, http://www.kiteship.com GRANDMA CRASHING THE OCEAN WAVES Think of British ocean racing heroines and the name Ellen MacArthur springs immediately to mind. But the Dame should not have a monopoly in the matter of adventure on the high seas. A little footnote in our nation's maritime history should be set aside for Eileen Skelly, who may not be challenging MacArthur's solo circumnavigation record but is certainly the first sexagenarian grandmother from Liverpool to take part in an international round-the-world yacht race. Skelly, 61, yesterday crossed the equator aboard the vessel named after her home city, challenging for the lead in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. She and her 17 fellow crew members won the first leg from Liverpool to Cascais, Portugal, and are hoping to repeat the feat on the second leg to Salvador, the Brazilian city well known to MacArthur as the destination port of assorted transatlantic contests. The contrast between the driven dame and the garrulous grandma could hardly be more extreme. MacArthur was barely out of a boat from her early childhood, while Skelly's only previous water-based experience prior to training for the Clipper race was a couple of hours in a pedalo and occasional ferry trips across the Mersey. "I just entered a competition," Skelly recalled by satellite phone from mid-Atlantic yesterday. "I'd seen pictures on television of people dancing on the beach in Brazil and I thought it would be a nice place to visit. I thought I was applying for a kind of cruise, I suppose, and I had visions of dining at the captain's table and that sort of thing." The clipper race series was established by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1995, and the 2005-2006 race set out from Liverpool on Sept 18. The fleet are scheduled to return to the Merseyside port next July, having sailed around the world in seven legs. Ten vessels are competing, representing cities as diverse as Singapore, Glasgow, Durban and Qingdao, which will host the sailing events at the 2008 Olympics in China. The boats carry a crew of 17 amateurs and a professional skipper, with roughly half the participants being experienced sailors and half, like Skelly, total novices. But, regardless of experience, all are expected to play a full part. -- Andrew Baker, The Telegraph, full story: http://tinyurl.com/e48kg HELPING GULF JUNIOR SAILORS The Katrina Sailors' Exchange (KSE) -- a web based exchange board --has been established to help meet the needs of Gulf junior sailors and clubs who are in search of equipment, boat charters, a summer program to attend or summer sailing instructor employment. This initiative, developed by United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA), hopes to minimize the down time Gulf sailors are experiencing due to the losses suffered at the hand of Hurricane Katrina. Please note KSE is not solely limited to Gulf Optimist sailors, but includes Club 420 and junior Laser sailors, too. KSE easily can be expanded if interest is warranted. It is USODA's wish that KSE acts as a centralized market where donors can post offers of relief, and Gulf junior sailors and clubs can post statements of needs. Matches of these offers and needs can quickly result in relief, thus minimizing the cost and time to get Gulf junior sailors back up and running on the water. So far matches have been made between Gulf sailors who were in need of boats, and Opti charterers who graciously offered relief at a recent USODA Championship. Other offers of help currently on KSE include damage repair help, additional charter relief, and summer sailing slots at two prominent Mid Atlantic Yacht Clubs. -- http://www.usoda.org/index.cfm?id=124438&fuseaction=browse&pageid=113 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF US…PLEASE Dryshirts are in high demand, but when the printer makes a mistake we don't think you should pay for it. Today we are blowing out all the Dryshirts with printing errors on them at 50% off. Whether you're college sailing, campaigning maxis, or just a cruiser enjoying the deep blue, we have the gear to make those moments on the water even more enjoyable. No sales tax outside California. Outfit your entire team and save even more with Institutional Pricing on gear from Musto, Gill, Dubarry, and more! Call toll free 800-354-7245 (inside US) or 562-594-8749 (outside US), http://www.sailingproshop.com/dryshirt.htm ON THE TUBE The Volvo Ocean Race, (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) which starts from Galicia in Spain, this November, looks set to achieve record numbers of television viewers. With distribution agreements for more than two dozen countries, including major broadcasters in all the stopover territories, it is expected that a cumulative audience in excess of 1.5 billion viewers will tune in to see what promise to be unique pictures, beamed from the Southern Ocean, following the lives of nearly a hundred of the world's top sailors as they battle their way around the planet. The weekly coverage of the race will be transmitted by ITV in the UK, TVE in Spain, NOS in Holland, Channel Ten in Australia, TV3 in New Zealand and TVGlobo in Brazil, among others. In addition, programming made by the UK's Sunset + Vine, will be seen by viewers in the USA through ABC, ESPN and CNBC and in South Africa on "Super Sport". Each of the boats in the race, which starts in Vigo, Galicia, on November 12, will have 10 on-board cameras with direct satellite links back to the race headquarters in Portsmouth, UK, where the weekly programmes will be produced. Mark Howell, Head of Broadcast for the Volvo Ocean Race said: "Wherever possible, this time, we are working with free-to-air broadcasters, as we recognize that in most countries broadcasters still have a broader reach and higher ratings than many pay TV channels." The public can also catch the action through the radio coverage around the world provided by the Broadcasting Company and on the official event website - www.volvooceanrace.org CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS (Sponsored by West Marine) Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar PIT STOP NEEDED FOR MINI TRANSAT After racking up over 200 miles in the past day, just four miles separate Mini Transat leaders Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom) and Yves Le Blevec (Point Mariage). The duo has stretched out their lead by nearly 30 miles over 3rd placed Stanislas Maslard (Crédit Agricole Skipper Challenge). The frontrunners have been clocking up an average of 8 knots as they close down on the Cape Verde islands. Louis Duc (Groupe Royer) unfortunately dismasted late on Wednesday night, breaking his mast in three. The support boat Edulis has conversed with Louis directly and by VHF noting that he has constructed a jury rig to two-thirds the size of the original. The most reasonable solution at this stage would appear to be for Louis to make for Dakar, which he finally opted to do at 1800 French time this Thursday night. The Cape Verdes and Mindelo (on the island Sao-Vicente) in particular, some 150 miles from the head of the fleet, is likely to play host to a number of pit stops over the next day or so as lots of skippers pop in to make repairs prior to their Atlantic crossing. Cyril Ducrot (Région Nord Pas de Calais) is still suffering from a leak and doesn't have enough materials aboard to repair his transom. It seems that his transom was ripped off by the rudders during yesterday's collision with a shark. Kristian Kargk (Prima Nautica) is planning to stop off there to repair a broken stay and Mikaël Mergui (Marcel Forever) will be calling in after losing a fairing on his canting keel and flooding a battery. Xavier Bluy (Smets) has broken a spreader as well as his bowsprit while Juan Carlos Maris Sanchi (Spasmos) has automatic pilot problems. Tobias Hochreutener (Complete Freight) has a problem with a stay and Quentin Monegier (Mariole) has broken his starboard rudder...all are currently indicating Mindelo...Meantime Marine Chombard de Lauwe (DCF) has broken her bowsprit, Patrice Fisseux (Bellot Mullenbach & Associés) tore his spinnaker on Wednesday and by Thursday it was no more. Pierre Voultoury (C2O) has pilot problems, Yann Delplace (Ville de Nice Conseil Général des Alpes Maritime) has lost his medium spinnaker. Nicolas Bunoust (Groupe SCE) broke his bowsprit but fixed it at sea and Eric Bourrié (Association Laurette Fugain) has burnt out his battery charger. Finally Olivier Avram on Cap Monde has crossed tacks with "a shark as big as the boat"... but rest assured it was most likely to be a basking shark. -- Yachting Universe website, full story: http://tinyurl.com/bop2x Event site: http://www.transat650.org NEWS BRIEFS * Bill Abbott, Jr. and his team including Brad Boston and Nick Beaudoin representing Lake Huron won the 2005 YRUGL Richardson Trophy Regatta, an annual Great Lakes Match Racing Championship, scoring a convincing 9 points. This is Abbott's fourth win of the Richardson Trophy. The double round robin event was hosted by DRYA at the Bayview Yacht Club and was sailed in Ultimate 20's in moderate, shifty northerly winds on the Detroit River in view of the yacht club. In second place was Chris Van Tol, representing Lake Erie, with 7 points. Lars Hansen sailing for Lake Superior was third. -- http://www.lmsrf.org/yrugl/ * Junior Optimist skippers from eight guest nations and Bermuda will sail next week in the Renaissance Reinsurance Junior Gold Cup Optimist Regatta as part of the weeklong festivities surrounding the Investors Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup. The event was created to expose the sailing world's elite junior competitors to international sailing in a mentoring atmosphere and provide advanced opportunities for them to learn about match racing. Over the course of the week, the Junior Gold Cup schedule will mirror that of the skippers and teams participating in The King Edward VII Gold Cup. 6 OUT OF 7 VOLVO OCEAN RACE BOATS CHOOSE MUSTO It's Gore-Tex, extremely waterproof, breathable and durable. It provides maneuverability for high activity, high performance sailing. That's why 6 out of the 7 Volvo Ocean Race boats have chosen Musto. Musto's HPX foul weather gear will protect the teams from the elements whilst in the Southern Ocean, where towering seas, temperatures below zero, and 60-knot winds are the norm - not forgetting the icebergs, which are an ever-present danger. You don't need to race a Volvo Open 70 to experience Musto. Give it a try next time - check out http://www.musto.com/usa for product information and a store finder. 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 neither 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. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere.) * From Richard Hazelton, Editor 48° North: "Alfa Romeo…all winch power comes from the engine, which must be constantly running while sailing…and lack of human intervention." So what's the point? One of the great joys of sailing is when you turn of the engine and it's just you, the water and the wind. And lack of human intervention? God forbid the sailors get involved. There's got to be more to it than just spending a lot of money to get a line in a record book. * From H.L. DeVore: The story about the new Alfa Romeo 2 said, "all winch power comes from the engine, which must be constantly running while sailing." Disgusting. This is not sailing. * From Michelle Slade In response to John Roberson's email): I'm sorry John Roberson's friends had the unfortunate experience of being subject to grossly inflated marina charges in Marsala during the Trapani Acts. To the contrary, those of us who stayed in town, or close to town, had a different experience. At no point did we feel like we were being ripped off by locals as a result of being a tourist in town during the Trapani Acts, nor did we find accommodation or eating out etc. at all expensive, quite the reverse. It was not only locals who got to enjoy the event as hundreds of thousands visited the America's Cup Park during the recent Acts, mostly visitors given the population of Trapani is only 70,000. The locals were so nice, it was busy but not obnoxiously so ... a great time was had by everyone I know fortunate enough to be present. * From Kevin Coupe: John Roberson's complaints about marina prices during the LV Acts are nothing more than sour grapes. When big events are in town, prices go up. This is true of the Superbowl, World Cup, Olympics, conventions, etc. The very reason why places like Trapani want to hold these events is to increase spending by tourists in their area and help the local economy. Otherwise, they wouldn't have any reason to put up with the traffic, the expense of extra on-duty police, and other headaches. If prices were frozen, your friends wouldn't have been able to get in there anyway, because the whole place would have been booked up so far in advance that they wouldn't even have known in time that they would be in the area, and I imagine we'd be reading complaints about that. It's a concept called supply and demand - perhaps you've heard of it. It is a testament to the success of the Acts that there was such a high demand, and I for one hope that these economic benefits prompt greater interest from local officials in this and other pro sailing events in the future. * From David B. Vietor (Re: Roger Marshall's comments): Roger is correct that we at Ratsey & Lapthorn in 1977 developed two very large roller furling sails for use on jack-up oil rigs in order to increase the speed of the rig whilst under tow. Although the speed increase was small, the savings in fuel costs were enough at that time that the sails with their roller furling gear proved their worth on many tows for Rowan rigs all over the world. Part of the design brief was that the sails and roller furling gear could be dissambled for transport in forty foot containers. While I never joined a transatlantic tow, I did travel on the inaugural sail-assisted tow accross the Gulf of Mexico, which exceeded our expectations at the time. The sails and roller furlers built for the rig were esssentially the largest yet to be constructed - now however, surpassed in size by some of the sails being constructed for today's mega sailing yachts. With regard to possible forty-knot cargo ships, readers should be reminded that the passenger liner United States could attain that speed, and did so in winning the Blue Ribband for the fastest Transatlantic crossing of a passenger liner. I can think of no commercial cargo ship - sailing on a regular schedule - that has surpassed the United States' average speed on her record making crossing. Nor will it be economically viable for some time. * From Tom Keogh: The "Oil Rig Sails" described by Roger Marshall and Peter Willcox were made by Ratsey & Lapthorn for Rowan International who used them on Jack-Up platforms in The Gulf of Mexico. I worked for R&L at the time and remember them well. The sails were 180' on the hoist, 75' on the foot and made of 9 oz. dacron. Each platform had two sails set on roller furling spars attached to the jacked up legs of the mobile platforms. In favorable conditions, they could increase the towing speeds from 12 to 14 knots. They also increased the period of oscillation of the rig and that made work on deck a lot safer while under way. It was a fun project to work on and it included some of the great craftsmen of City Island sailmaking. The handwork on these sails was masterful. As a lark, we even put draft stripes on one of them at the end of a very late night session. The problem was that the furling gear didn't work reliably under high load. We modified the sails to support other furling methods but they all proved too difficult to implement. To use Peter's criteria, these failed because they were not that simple, they required increased manning levels and they did not work in a wide enough range of conditions. * From Captain Eric Wallischeck, Sailing Master, United States Merchant Marine Academy: 40+ know container ships are not in service...yet. However, they have been designed. For nearly a decade, a group based out of Philadelphia, FastShip Inc. has been promoting an 870' high-speed vessel to serve the lucrative North Atlantic market. Designed to carry high value cargo, "...the vessel will be capable of carrying container loads across the North Atlantic at 38 knots (44 mph)...." The ship can reach speeds of 42 knots. (Data from: www.fastshipatlantic.com) As yet, the vessels have not been built. The fastest commercial cargo ships ever placed in service were the 120,000 SHP SL-7 class developed by Sea-Land Services. The eight ships were built in the early 70s and had a service speed of 33 knots. Due to the fuel crisis, they were not commercially viable and were later bought by the Navy where they are now in service with the Military Sealift Command. (A little trivia is that while the SS United States set the Atlantic passage record for large commercial passenger or cargo ship, the trans-Pacific record was set by the SL-7 Sea-Land Commerce in 1973, when she arrived in Long Beach California after crossing the Pacific from Yokohama Japan in 6 days, 1 hour and 27 minutes, an average speed of 33.3 knots.) CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATIONS No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. |
