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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 882 - August 20, 2001Scuttlebutt is a digest of yacht racing news of major significance; commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American emphasis. Corrections, contributions, press releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.
AMERICA'S CUP JUBILEE The America's Cup arrived in Cowes for the second time in 150 years. It was carried reverently ashore by Commodore (NZYS) Peter Taylor and head of (the TNZ) syndicate Tom Schnackenberg. Illuminated by spotlights and the flaming torches of Maori warriors, the Commodore and Schnackenberg carried the Cup to the New Zealand Pavilion. The 29-person strong Maori Ngati Ranana performing arts group, headed by well-known New Zealand Maori leader Pita Sharples was on hand to perform a contemporary Maori challenge, or Te Wero, to Commodore Peter Nicholson and the flag officers of the Royal Yacht Squadron. In a speech marking the Cup's arrival, Commodore Taylor said with a smile: "I might say this is the only way the Cup will get back to Cowes." Responding, Commodore Nicholson said: "I couldn't help thinking this morning how Queen Victoria would have been amazed if she could know that the Cup that she gave in such a relaxed way was going to come back to Cowes 150 years later with such a wonderful ceremony at dawn on a day like this." American television sailing personality and Cup winner Gary Jobson introduced a distinguished group of America's Cup winning skippers to applause from the crowd. First up was 92-year-old naval architect Olin Stephens II, who steered the American defender Ranger in the final race of the 1937 Cup defence. Last to be named was New Zealand's Dean Barker, the next defender of the America's Cup, who took the helm in Team New Zealand's final race in 2000. Between them came Americans Ted Hood, Bill Ficker and Dennis Conner, followed by Australian John Bertrand, Americans Bill Koch and Buddy Melges and New Zealander Russell Coutts. The Duke of Edinburgh presented each of the skippers with America's Cup medals in honour of the occasion. A single cannon shot from a replica of the schooner yacht America, answered by a single shot from the Royal Yacht Squadron, signaled the official opening of the Jubilee. Vessels from four eras of Cup history paraded in front of the assembled crowd. America, the J Boat Endeavor, the 12-Metre Australia II and the America's Cup Class New Zealand, each passed in regal procession. - Keith Taylor Full story: www.americascupjubilee.com/main.asp?dir=news
WORLD SAILOR OF THE YEAR
Previous winners:
ONE-DESIGN
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * From Peter Huston: I hope everyone took notice of Ken Read's remarks in 'Butt 879 after the Fastnet Race, "I think the trend is leaning back to distance races. The windward / leeward scene is all burned out." This quote is probably the most important statement of the year - maybe you ought to chase him down and get him to amplify these thoughts. Lord knows the designers would love you to death if you created the thread that began the trend back to custom boats that were actually comfortable to sleep on, provided real food, and sailed well. Might not be exactly what Read has in mind - but it is what a lot of the rest of us want. I didn't stop going offshore for any other reason than but I saw no benefit or enjoyment to spending a lot of time in a stripped out tube that had zero creature comforts - starting with proper natural lighting and ventilation. I just read John Burnham's interview with Eric Goetz about Philippe Kahn's new fast 'cruising' boat in the August 16 issue of Grand Prix Sailor. It said EXACTLY what I just said. www.sailingworld.com/gps/ * From Jesse Deupree: With regards to the renewed discussion on weight limits, why don't monohull sailors get really smart and create rating adjustments for various crew weights so that boats could sail with an sensible number of crew without being disadvantaged by boats sailing with excessive rail meat. Nothing looks sillier to me than the sight of a monohull with too many crew and too many of them just sitting on the rail. As well, the practice of sitting with one's torso between the lifelines and leaning out is dangerous as well as stupid, and the regulations controlling this practice are rarely enforced, as can be seen in any photo spread of a major regatta. The benefits of excessive crew weight and using the lifelines as hiking aids are marginal to boat speed except in comparison to a boat not following these practices. Allowing a boat to choose an intelligent number and weight of crew without penalty would restore sanity to your racing. * From Warren "Beeper" Moore: The need to measure boats for competition is not limited to deciphering their weight. The measuring which we did, even in Blue Jays back in the 50's, was to assure that the builder was staying within the class rules and not trying to establish an unfair advantage. Even in older, mature designs, weight isn't everything. By "V-ing" forward sections and flattening aft sections builders have found they could skew the performance of just about any class. Let's hope we never stop making competitors compete on a level playing field, or the game will be lost to the corrupt. * From Dave Rosekrans, President, US Sailing: Mark Yeager was mistaken when he said that Sailing World is required to promote certain things. Sailing World content is completely independent of US Sailing except for the one page "American Sailor." We do not know in advance what "Sailing World" is writing about except when they interview us or check their facts, which Scuttlebutt readers are also welcome to do by emailing me at president@ussailing.org. Wrong statements such as Mark's seem to develop a life of their own once published. It would help if facts were checked first. * From John Burnham, Editor, Sailing World (re Mark Yeager's comment: "There are certain things [Sailing World] is required to promote. [Americap] is one of them."): There's no agreement in place that Sailing World promote certain US Sailing services, products or programs. Our editors felt the fact that St. Francis YC and others had made the decision to put Americap to work was newsworthy. We tried to explain what the system was, how it worked, what people were saying about how it'd been changed, and how its scoring system works. We pointed out that the cost is much higher than PHRF if you need a measurement, but for production boats already measured it's $3 per foot plus $10 processing. We concluded: "Americap II may provide a good alternative to one-design and PHRF." The market will decide. * From Jerry Kaye: Using Americap for non-IMS or MORC derived designs is a misuse of the system. Its common knowledge that IOR derived designs give away gobs of time under Americap. That's one reason Americap fails as a panacea for all. IMS boats will benefit from using Americap. Older boats will not. For better racing & greater participation, St Francis BBS should embrace both systems as each provides benefits with the proper application. Many owners make changes for ease of use or speed enhancement. Some modifications may be equalized (some say penalized) per PHRF Class Rules. Mark Guadio jokingly used the term "random modified" in 'butt 880. No way handicappers toss darts to get a PH number. $800-1000 is for measuring a custom or modified yacht. Production boats (Evelyn32, SC52) may apply for a standard Americap certificate for lunch money without a measurement. But who is checking for modifications on these production boats? No one. * From Dave Few, Past Chairman Northern California PHRF: The discussion about Americap costs has failed to distinguish that the cost for a certificate is indeed reasonable IF and only if you have a sistership to a boat which has been measured to the IMS rule. If you own a boat, such as I do, that has never had a sistership measured to IMS then indeed the cost are quite high as you must pay a measurer to do what is in essence an IMS measurement. * From Russ Lenarz: Steve Taft brings up one of the most important reasons why the St. Francis Yacht Club has elected to use Americap, that being PHRF was never intended to be used to rate Grand Prix type boats. Even many of today's production boats have evolved form Grand Prix type designs. The only way we will ever really know if Americap works is for a regatta like Big Boat Series to take the bold step that they have taken and use it exclusively for handicap classes. It is hard to change peoples opinions and minds in the sport of sailing as there is a constant trend to just leave things as they are but if we constantly did that we would still be using cotton sails. As for the costs involved, In some cases for one off custom type boats the costs will be higher to obtain a Americap rating, but in the majority of cases I think that we will see the costs be within a reasonable amount. As for the potential numbers being a little lower this year for Big Boat Series, Anytime you try something new there are bound to be skeptics, but we all know that those persons who will be attending will find themselves racing in one of the premiere sailing venues and a first class regatta. * From Jonathan Posner: I believe the wind shear that Dobbs is referring to ("butt 879) is commonly known as the Ekman layer (or Ekman spiral) by atmospheric scientists. The Ekman layer is a rotation of the wind direction, in respect to the wind direction above the boundary layer, due to a combination of pressure, Coriolis, and frictional forces. Although you may find that this phenomena is most often discussed in explanation of why the current on the sea's surface will point 45 degrees to the right of the wind's direction (Northern hemisphere), it does play a role in sail trim. It should certainly play a larger role the taller the mast. The increased "wind shear" that Dobbs's experienced is likely due to an enhanced frictional term of the Ekman spiral equations, as he pointed out. For a more complete understanding of the Ekman layer, see CSANADY, G.T. (1967). "On the resistance law of a turbulent Ekman layer." J. Atmos. Sci. 24, 467-471.
MORE JUBILEE That may be an understatement. But the true jaw-droppers may be the three remaining J Class yachts built between 1929 and 1938 - the 130-foot-plus Endeavour, Shamrock V and Velsheda - and the 50 yachts ranging between 45 and 150 feet that comprise the Vintage Class and represent nothing less than a short history of the sport of yacht racing. Included in that group of wood and metal craft, a handful of which were built in the 1800's, are such classic yachts as Dorade, Nirvana, Shenandoah, Stormy Weather and Ticonderoga. The most competitive racing, and that which will be of the most interest to true Cup aficionados, could come in the International 12-Meter Class, of which there are 36 entries competing in three divisions: Grand Prix, Modern and Classic. The Cup winners Columbia, Freedom and Intrepid are three of the more prominent entries in this grouping. Because many of the Twelves underwent extensive work in preparation for the Jubilee - from new rigs or deck layouts to complete refits - the event has served as a rejuvenation for the class. - Herb McCormick, New Your Times Full story: www.nytimes.com/2001/08/19/sports/19BOAT.html?searchpv=nytToday
IMAGES * Marine photographer Tom Zinn has posted the first wave of photos - including some great aerial material - from the America's Cup Jubilee in Cowes on his website: adrenalinimages.com/home.html
ROLEX FASTNET RACE
CLASS WINNERS: Event website: www.rorc.org
RED, WHITE AND BLUE
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
MATCH RACING
OVERALL STANDINGS:
Swedish Match Tour Championship Leaderboard:
LIGHTNING NAs
Green Fleet
Yellow Fleet
DISAPPOINTMENT The decision to abort the round-the-world flight came after a night when the millionaire adventurer dodged thunderstorms, which had dumped snow and ice on the towering, silver-colored balloon and threatened to tear it apart. ``I thought it was going to be isolated thunderstorms and it turned out to be a minefield of thunderstorms,'' Fossett said. ''I thought my life was in danger.'' Fossett was down to only a few days worth of oxygen, which limited his ability to fly his non-pressurized capsule at higher altitudes above storms where the air is thinner. The slow Pacific crossing meant original forecasts of a two-week flight were already out of reach. The trip would have taken at least 17 days and perhaps up to 20. - Mary Milliken, Reuters. Full story: dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010817/wl/balloon_dc_3.html
LASER WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Final results:
GREAT GRAND MASTERS:
WOMEN: Event website: www.laserinternational.org/wor2001/w01index.htm
EDS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
