|
SCUTTLEBUTT #386 - August 27, 1999ROLEX INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S KEELBOAT CHAMPIONSHIPThe roster for US SAILING's 1999 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, scheduled for September 19-25, in Newport, R.I., boasts an impressive list of foreign and national competitors alike, including France's Christine Briand, Canada's Felicity Clarke and USA's Vicki Sodaro. Renowned French sailor Christine Briand, who will skipper an entry for her first ever appearance in the Rolex Women's, gained sailing notoriety in the 1980s as a French national sailing team member and 470 class World Champion. More recently she has proven her prowess in keelboats and offshore sailing. The 1994 ISAF World Women's Keelboat Champion, Briand was 4th at the '98 event and sails on the international women's match racing circuit (currently ranked 12th out of 105) with hopes of representing France at the 2004 Olympics. Canada's Felicity Clarke, who placed seventh in '97 to claim honors as top-finishing foreign team, returns with three of her crew: Martha Henderson, Heather Jones and Storey Holt Wilkins (all of Toronto). Also sailing with Clarke will be fellow Toronto sailors Kathy Pask, who has skippered an entry for the last two Rolex Women's events, and Kari MacKay. The teams will find tough competition from the California team led by skipper Vicki Sodaro (Tiburon), who finished fourth at the '97 Rolex Women's event. She returns with California crew members Stephanie Wondolleck (San Rafael) and Karina Vogen (Oakland). With Wondolleck as skipper, the trio won the '98 U.S. Women's Sailing Championship for the Adams Trophy. Also sailing with Sodaro will be Molly McCloud (Long Beach), Judy Yamaguchi (Albany) and Shana Rosenfeld (Santa Cruz). Newcomers to this year's regatta include teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Alison Due to an intense coaching and match racing schedule, Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) will be unable to defend her title in this year's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship The eighth biennial running of the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club and headquartered at Sail Newport, consists of ten races over five days. - Shannon Weisleder SAN FRANCISCO NOOD Over Labor Day weekend, many West Coast residents will spend three days celebrating the last phase of summer. But for a group of West Coast sailors, any weekend celebrating they do during the holiday will be done for a reason other than a seasonal passage. Racing sailors hailing from Oregon down to Southern California will meet on San Francisco Bay over the Labor Day weekend to engage in intense battles for sailing honors at the GMC Yukon/Sailing World NOOD Regatta. The celebrations at this two-day regatta will be all about sailing victories, and they won't start until Sunday afternoon-when the last boats cross the finish line and winners on this national sailing circuit are crowned. Hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club, the San Francisco NOOD will take place September 4-5. This regatta--which features close boat-for-boat competition, without time-handicap adjustments--is part of a national circuit of races sponsored by GMC Yukon and organized by Sailing World magazine (Newport, R.I.). A total of 13 classes and some 150 boats are expected to compete. Three classes will use the NOOD regatta to run national and regional championships. Santa Cruz 27s will compete for their National Championships; at press time, a fleet of 18 boats were entered. The Antrim 27s will hold their first Nationals at the San Francisco NOOD. The J/29 class will vie for their Pacific Coast Championships. The West Coast is a hotbed of racing action for the Melges 24 class, and some of the world's top Melges sailors call California home. In 1998, this class drew 30 boats to the San Francisco NOOD. To date, this class had drawn the largest number of entries for the '99 running of this regatta. Last year's top finishers returning this year include California skippers Argyle Campbell, class winner in '98, and Bruce Ayres and his crew on MONSOON, who finished third. The Farr 40 class will join the San Francisco NOOD for the first time. At presstime, a fleet of 11 boats were registered to compete. Farr 40s will be tuning up in Northern California conditions for their '99 world championships, which take place the weekend following the NOOD, on San Francisco Bay. The Farr 40s have added an additional day of racing on Friday, September 3. All other classes begin racing on Saturday, September 4 and conclude Sunday, September 5. Awards will be presented at the St. Francis YC, following the conclusion of Sunday's races. The National Offshore One-Design (NOOD) series was created by Sailing World Magazine of Newport (R.I.). In 1999, the GMC Yukon/Sailing World NOOD includes nine stops in: St. Petersburg (FL), San Diego (CA), Annapolis (MD), Detroit (MI), Chicago (IL), Marblehead (MA), San Francisco (CA), Larchmont (NY), Houston (TX). Title sponsor GMC Yukon is joined by presenting sponsor Mount Gay Rum and support sponsors Sebago, Hall Spars, Hall Rigging, High Sierra Sport Company, Sunsail, Interlux, Lewmar, North Sails, and Samuel Adams. - Cynthia Flanagan Goss Event website: http://www.sailingworld.com EXCLUSIVE CLUBS In 'Butt #385, Matt Jones asked: Which two US sailors have both won the Americas Cup and both won the Whitbread/Volvo race? And the answer he gave Kimo Worthington and Josh Belsky. There are however others outside the US, and Peter Montgomery was nice enough to write in and point out other members of this exclusive club:
Montgomery also started a list of those who are in another exclusive club -- sailors who have won an Olympic medal and an America's Cup winners medal. He came with six for sure and a couple of questions: Dennis Conner, John Bertrand, Buddy Melges, Russell Coutts, Craig Monk & Colin Beashel
HIGH PERFORMANCE
1st Ullman SpinnakersAnd at the other end of the performance spectrum, Ullman Sails also won the Lido 14 Nationals and they also took second and fourth place at that regatta. Whether you sail a hot boat, or not so hot, Ullman Sails will move your performance up a couple of clicks:
AMERICA'S CUP
It is now 12 years since Britain challenged for the Cup in 12-Metres in Fremantle, Australia, 1987. And although they were the nation that helped to start all this business, they have now slipped even further out of contention. Press reports from England state that the Brits spent some NZ$14million getting their challenge to what they thought was a viable position, but then everything came to a grinding halt as they failed to get enough backing to continue. But those same reports say that the start up money will not be lost. Most of it has been spent on research and development with Britain's Olympic games yachting team and the Volvo round the world race, both likely to get the benefits from the funds spent (read invested). US$30,000 REWARD The 40' racing sloop, PRONTO, has been missing from its anchorage in Simpson Bay, St Maarten, since early April 1999 and is presumed stolen by persons unknown. Underwriters have now raised the reward to US$30,000 (thirty thousand dollars) for information leading to the apprehension of the possible thieves and return of the vessel PRONTO. This 1990, Nelson/Marek racing sloop shows a nearly plumb bow, triple spreaders on the painted white aluminum mast, 9 foot draft with "L" shaped bulb keel, aluminum tiller steering and an open, reverse transom. The sail number is US 32050, the registration is DL 5506 U and the H.I.N. is ZBV040001900. Please reply in confidence to William Howe: captainwill@islands.vi GREAT LAKES 70s Final results for the 1999 GL70 Season Championship were Dick Jennings' Pied Piper - first, Terry Kohler/Peter Riechelsdorfer's Cynosure - second and Paul Sammann's Blondie - third with John Nedeau's Windancer 2 points and Bert D'Ottavio's Thirsty Tiger 5 ? points out of third. The year 2000 looks to be another exciting year for the Great Lakes 70's. Currently 11 boats strong - two to three additional boats are expected to compete. - Courtesy of the Torresen Sailing Site, http://www.torresen.com GREAT IMAGES If a picture is worth a thousand words, what do you suppose the OFFICIAL videotape of the Sydney-Hobart Race is worth? Of the 115 starters in this race, only 40 made it to Hobart. After a pleasant start, the race quickly became a battle for survival -- a battle six men would ultimately lose. 80-foot seas and 80-knot winds -- something you never want to see in person. The footage from cameras on board the boats documents the bravery, the terror and the extraordinary rescue efforts. This impressive videotape is now available online, and it's only $29.95 plus postage and handling: http://www.titanaustralia.com.au/ 1D35 Macatawa, MI - Twenty-three 1D35's have assembled at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club for the class' second annual National Championship Regatta. Racing will start Friday, August 27, and run daily through Sunday, August 29, with eight races scheduled on windward-leeward courses set in Lake Michigan. Defending National Champion Kip Meadows from Rocky Mount, NC will compete on his 'roXanne' with most of the members from his 1998 championship-winning team. Meadows is also the current leader in this year's Season Championship series, for which this will be a bonus point regatta among the six scheduled this year. 'roXanne's' tactician at the Nationals will be two-time Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup winner Dee Smith from Petaluma, CA. - Dobbs Davis Class website: http://www.1d35.com RAT RACE The rat race stressing you out? Well, the rats may have found an answer -- orange juice. An Alabama researcher has found that stressed-out rats given vitamin C showed fewer physiological signs of angst than their cage-mates who didn't get the extra nutrient. While the work is preliminary and might not apply to humans, it does hold out hope that vitamin C may prevent some of the damage of stress, including a weakened immune system. -- HealthSCOUT Full story: http://www.healthscout.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Af.woa?ap=43&id=65062 THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others. |
