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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 917 - October 8, 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.
CRASH
VOLVO OCEAN RACE In one of the rain squalls Amer Sports Too destroyed their second halyard lock for a topmast halyard and ripped a spinnaker. All teams experience a choppy sea state as rain squalls build up waves from different directions. Inside the yachts it is extremely humid and hot. The race doctors have recommended to take special care on hygiene in these conditions as may sailors have little cuts and bruises which can easily become infected an effect the performance. After two days of relatively straightforward sailing for the Volvo Ocean Race crews, life on deck and below is starting to get interesting again. On the edge of the Doldrums, the fleet is experiencing rain clouds that can have a severe affect their local wind. "There are numerous wind shifts and changes in wind speed and it is very hard to make sure that we have the right sail up and are heading in the right direction at all times," explained Steve Hayles from Tyco. "Sail changes take time and it is even more frustrating to pull off a difficult change only to find that you need to change back a few minutes later," added Hayles. Temperatures into the 30's (around 90 Fahrenheit), combined with the humidity, makes life pretty uncomfortable and as the fleet close in on the equator, the thermometers will continue to soar. From a navigator's perspective, the coming days could prove the most crucial of the leg so far as the first crew to break free of the Doldrums will escape into the southeast trade winds. "There are plenty of miles to be won and lost in such fluky conditions and we are all acutely aware that every mile won and lost at this stage could prove very important down the line," commented Hayles.
Standings on October 8 @ 0400 GMT:
FOR THE RECORD Steve Fossett: "After completing our second day of this TransAtlantic record attempt and - assuming that Jet Services 5 (June 1990) had sailed at a constant speed - we are now some 383 miles ahead of their run, with a little more than 1600 nm to reach The Lizard. Our focus for the past 2 days has been on making progress on this TransAt - but getting the 24 Hour Record back from Grant is pretty nice, too. PlayStation is once again the fastest sailboat in the world." Navigator Stan Honey spelled it out: "Our 24 hour run from 20z 6 October to 20z 7 October was 682.15 nmi which (pending ratification by the WSSRC) should be a new record. We recall that Grant and crew on ClubMed set the current record in the Southern Ocean at 655.13 nm (7-8 February of this year) during The Race. We are still managing to stay in front of our cold front / gale. The wind is currently 33 knots from the SSW, and we are sailing at about 30 knots. It is foggy now, because of the warm southerly wind blowing over the cold Labrador current, but we are nearly past Flemish Cap, and the water should be warming. www.fossettchallenge.com
THERE'S A RUN ON OUR NYLONS!
THE DOLDRUMS The doldrums or ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) is a band of low pressure between the northeast trade winds of the Northern Hemisphere and the southeast trades of the Southern. It can be considered as the thermal equator of the globe following, but lagging behind the sun as it moves with the seasons. The convergence of the trade winds and the heat combine to form cells of low pressure. As the air rises it creates big convective clouds, squalls, and calms. It can be likened to a pot of boiling water and trying to predict where the next bubble will form is difficult. - Chris Tibbs, Volvo website Full story: www.volvooceanrace.org/news/tactics/leg_1/011007_tibbs.html
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON * All of our email is still locked inside of a very sick computer. Hopefully, it will be recovered in time for tomorrow's 'Butt.
QUOTE /UNQUOTE - Volvo Ocean Race "This morning I woke up just before 0800, had my huge Muesli breakfast outdoors; it was sunny and windy enough to fly the kite, what a good start for a day in the tropics. What an illusion it was! Very soon thousands of dragons blew their flames on us, my brain was boiling hot. I started dreaming very deeply about the air conditioning of those nice cruisy family Volvo cars I have seen in Norway. In Australia I will have to meet aboriginals as I am sure those smart people have some good tips to help me cope with a burning sun." - Jacques Vincent, djuice "Yes...just got off an awesome 6 hours on deck. Perfect example of Champaign yachting...15-23 kts winds and nice surfing waves. Boat speed was always near 15 kts with peaks into the 20s and all this in shorts and nothing else. I have not worn boots for a week as there has seldom been water on the deck and now there it is a welcome relief from the heat. The trades are fitting the bill as a great place to sail; I just wish that it took a little less time to get here." - Richard Clarke, illbruck "We have the onboard computers spitting out the performance numbers, a GPS (Global Positioning System), in conjunction with our onboard systems, giving us our exact direction and speed over the ground, how much current we have and leeway we are making, our exact time of arrival ---- more information than I have time to describe. How did they navigate in the first Whitbread Race, now the Volvo?????? I often ask myself this question and admire those sailors who raced around the world with only a sextant, a set of site tables, a weather fax and a crude instrument system. Imagine being in the Southern Ocean for weeks on end, no sun for any sextant shots, and only operating on DR (dead reckoning)!!" - Ross Field, Team News Corp "I was awakened this morning from a hot muggy sleep with a new violent motion. ASSA ABLOY was jumping up and down, jerking for and aft, and pitching like crazy. I half fell, half crawled into the navigation station and tried to focus on the computer screen. We were racing along in 23 knots of wind doing 15 to 19 knots right at the mark. Glancing at the radar, the motion made sense. There were large squall formations all around creating confused seas and radical wind shifts. As we speak it's pouring rain and we're getting a puff header. Magnus (Olsson) is fighting to hold course with the masthead kite until the wind shifts back again." Shortly later the whole crew was working full on, replacing broken lines as the yacht is fully powered up in these conditions." - Mark Rudiger, Assa Abloy "yeeehaa, 21 knots.... go, go, go, go.... next wave, nice puff in 5, trim on..' the djuice dragons are blasting through the dark night, no moon and dark clouds. Normally we don't really get excited with 20 knots of boat speed, but after almost two weeks of drifting and light winds, this night is just perfect. We work the boat hard to get every wave, and just get those extra knots out great. This is what we like! Meanwhile everybody is pretty exhausted, as the sail makers on board had to work double time while making a repair to a spinnaker. Forget the classic picture of the navigator spending his whole watch down below behind the computer. In these conditions both Jean Yves and myself work hard on deck, and we love it. Sleeping downstairs is getting harder and harder as the atmosphere inside of the both starts to resemble that of a Turkish steam bath. It is hot and foremost incredibly humid. Just a taste of what we can expect in the next four days when we cross the equator." - Wouter Verbraak, djuice "What a roller coaster. From last to first and now seriously on our way down the leader board again. We just did not make it to the 'gate'. Struggling to get to the west and the line up for the gate we have lost all what we had and a bit more. Tough times for the crew as we have worked hard to make it happen and try to collect some of the gain we made. We knew it was going to cost us to get back, early or late, it was just a matter of how much. At the moment we are just crawling out of a big cloud that engulfed us like a giant 'thing' that likes to eat small green racing boats." - Anonymous, SEB
BOAT ENVY
MUMM 30 WORLDS The cloud lifted and gave way to a shifty 8-12 knots from 120 degrees. An I-flag was hoisted with the class flag, but it was not enough to deter several boats at the pin end from jumping the gun. Most returned, but two were scored OCS. Second placed Banca Finnat Euramerica had a clean start and got the shifts right on the first beat to round the top mark in first place. They were able to stay in the streaky wind on the run and protect their position through to the finish line, which secured their second place overall for the regatta. Alina sailed conservatively and their ninth place finish kept the cushion they needed to win the fifth World Championship of the Class.
Final Results (45 boats) :
TRIVIA
1D35 WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Final results (11 boats):
INTERCOLLEGIATE OFFSHORE REGATTA
Final results:
THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION |
