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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 776 - March 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 and contrasting viewpoints are always welcome. GUEST EDITORIAL - By Malcolm McKeag Royal Thames YC in England will this year use the new system as written in rule 26 without change, but in its SIs add a new signal: "Flag F - Attention. Flag F, displayed with one sound signal, means 'the next signal will made in 5 minutes'. No sound signal will accompany Flag F if displayed at a start." This gives the opportunity to give a longer warning period when needed, without changing the rules or start system, so sailors still have just one, universal, system to know. After a General Recall, or AP to shift a line or correct an error, Flag F need not be used, and the day kept rolling along quickly. Flag F is of course in common use as the 5-minute Attention signal in Match Racing (C3). Race Officers in particular also need to note the small but significant changes to the meaning of AP (Postponement) and 1st Sub (General Recall) - both MUST now be followed by the Warning Signal (previously AP could be followed by another signal - e.g.the Prep - and 1st Sub was always followed by the Prep). Use of Flag F as described means that these signals, too, can be used as newly defined without the need for modification via the SIs. THE RACE "We don't know what happened exactly, we were sailing normally in medium
wind conditions," reported the crew. "After hearing this loud noise, we
carried out an inspection of the boat. The deck of the port hull had
cracked just 2 metres ahead of the main beam. "We immediately dropped sail
and relieved the hull by turning round 180¡. We got ready to eventually
abandon ship in case the crack got worse, but happily nothing of the sort
happened. - By Sports.com's Rob Hodgetts, * The race continues for Team Adventure whose crew are all smiles again now that they have 25/30 knots of wind propelling them along at about 20 knots average. With just 409 miles to go to the Straits of Gibraltar, Team Adventure should reach Marseilles sometime during the day of March 23rd. Team Legato is making 16 knots in a difficult sea and is doing everything to cross the Equator as quickly as possible, even if the boat does not have much hope of finishing before April 2nd. - Mireille Vatine POSITIONS - March 20 @ 0400 GMT: Team Adventure, 1263.6 to finish;
Warta-Polpharma, 3176.6 to finish; Team Legato, 4710.4 to finish. - GOOD STUFF INJURIES MOUNT The tally of injuries during the first week reached 11 - including two crew who had to be evacuated from VERITAS. Charles Smith, 31, from East Sheen, UK and Robert Brooke, 61, from Surrey were swept across the deck of VERITAS by a massive wave just after midnight on the second day of the Sydney to Cape Town leg. Skipper Will Carnegie said the scene on deck was, "complete carnage. Splayed around the cockpit are members of the watch, some crying out in pain, others dazed, sheets and halyards trail behind the yacht, stanchions are bent through 80 degrees and the huge dome is gone, completely gone." "Robert sits in the moonlight three metres from me quietly saying, 'I think I have lost my finger' and poor Charlie, feet splayed at unnatural angles, cries out - obviously in excruciating pain as the yacht continues to bang across the waves," Carnegie continued. The yacht diverted to Eden, New South Wales, where Smith and Brooke were airlifted to Canberra Hospital. After complete examination Smith was diagnosed with breaks to his left femur, left tibia and left elbow, plus a compound fracture of the right ankle. Brooke was required to have two-thirds of an injured finger on his left hand amputated, and has a broken finger on his right hand. In similar heavy weather incidents other crewmembers have suffered injuries too. - Betsy Crowfoot, Quokka Sports Full story: http://www.btchallenge.com/news/2001/03/News_830.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON leweck@earthlink.net * From: "Marc Herrmann" marc.herrmann@agra.com As an example in case of the Americans who potentially could field dozens of great teams due to their national depth of talent, have them do a national sail off in whatever type of boats and send that winning team. To my mind this would accomplish what I am sure was the intention of the Admiral's Cup in the first place which was to have as many countries present as possible and prove who really is the best team. * From: Merritt Palm Mpalm68@aol.com * From: Chris Princing jtsbaby@concentric.net While I think the Admirals Cup is a great regatta, maybe this will "Open" the eyes of the race organizers. You can't always get what you want. Wake up! First it was IRM, then it was the Coral 45. Why not ask the people sailing the boats what they think? What kind of boats they want to compete in. If anyone has a complaint about the US pulling out of the Admirals Cup, I suggest, instead of complaining, they should open their own wallets. Until your willing to put up your own money you should refrain from judgment. * From Scott Ridgeway * From: Steve Dashew stevedashew@earthlink.net These are not difficult to fit during the build process, if a little forethought is given during design - and can be retrofitted in almost all boats at modest expense. But for some reason the majority of the sailing industry has avoided this simple safety factor (except for the Whitbread and single-handed racers). We've been using them on our designs for 20+ years and find that they add less than a quarter of a percent to our total costs - cheap insurance for the end user! * From: J. Joseph Bainton bainton@baintonlaw.com * From: Mark Green mgreen@ecorp-real-estate.com As for the EPIRB idea, next time you are near a busy shipping port, try to count all the containers you see and multiply by $1,000. You will soon see why shippers, already on the slimmest of margins, will never go for it. Maybe the shipping companies should just be required to make sure the containers sink quickly (the soluble plug idea sounds good, if it could be made to hold up to the weather and abuse these containers experience). * From Glenn T. McCarthy mccarthys@ussailing.net YVES PARLIER When arrived back at Les Sables d'Olonne in France on Friday (March 16) after over 126 days at sea, he was a much slimmer but happy man. On November 9th, when he started the Vendee Globe with 23 other 'round-the-world solo-sailing specialists, Parlier had stocked just enough food for 100 days aboard his high-tech 60-foot sloop Aquitaine Innovations. Now, over four months later, his finish wouldn't garner any prizes-he arrived well off the pace, more than a month after winner Michel Desjoyeaux-but it did win him the admiration of his fellow competitors, along with that of sports fans and sailors around the globe. This 40-year-old's feat of perseverance-which some members of the sailing press termed "obsessive"-in overcoming a crippling dismasting and a severe shortage of food, proved the kind of heroic mettle that transcends racing and often makes this rare breed of sailor emblematic of the best that the sport can muster. * Five weeks into the race, not halfway through the course, his lead evaporated due to a strategic miscalculation. After two days of uncommonly light winds, Aquitaine Innovations was overtaken by a sudden squall with nearly her full complement of sails flying. The boat jibed inadvertently a series of times before stuffing its bow deep into the frigid water with such force that the rig toppled down in three pieces. This was Parlier's second dismasting in six months and the third mast he'd stepped aboard his 1996-vintage vessel in as much time. Some 1,000 miles southwest of Australia, he had every reason to simply retire, to erect a jury rig and head for warmer climes and safer waters. Critical gear failure in the Vendee Globe can be more the rule than the exception, and such circumstances nearly always put the racer out of action. But Parlier wouldn't accept that fate. He took a day or two to collect himself, jury-rig a 40-foot mast with what he could salvage of his carbon-fiber rig, and then he surprised the race organizers by calling to say that he'd be continuing the race. - Dan Dickison, SailNet website. Full story: MATCH RACING Others include Neville Wittey, Luc Pillot, Nicola Celon, Jes Gram-Hansen and Jesper Radich. The action starts on Wednesday (21st), the series featuring a double round robin, in which all the skippers sail against each of the others twice, followed by semi-finals and finals. - John Roberson Event website: www.rpyc.com.au SAN DIEGO NOOD "The last race was a minefield," said Peter Isler, of San Diego, winner of the 35-boat Etchells class. "There were two breezes and a dead zone in between. The dead zone kept shifting to the right and to the left but it was always on the racecourse. Luckily we had the Melges 24s in front of us, acting as a tell tale." There was no lack of talent ready to step into the gap. In the classic San Diego conditions of the second day (an eight- to ten-knot westerly with a moderate swell), two-time Olympian Charlie Ogletree drove Mike Stone's NOT THE FAMILY BUICK to the head of the class and held onto the position through Day Three, despite a powerful bid from veteran Melges 24 sailor Argyle Campbell of Newport Beach, CA. In the Soling Pacific Coast Championship Ian Wareham, of East Sound, WA, won first place on the strength of his last day's performance, despite tying the score at 14 points with Steve Brownsea, of San Diego. Defending champion John Walton, of San Diego, had to settle for third with 18 points. In all of the other classes, protests were pending at presstime but were not expected to affect the top places. Kara Zylstra, of Coronado, CA, prevailed in the ID35 class after a strong series early in the regatta. In the Corsair class Jay LaPlante, of Manhattan Beach, CA, was the winner with 14 points to second place Jeff CohenÕs 18 points. J/Boats turned out in force for the regatta. In the J/105 class Dale Byrne and Sharon Case, of Long Beach, CA, won. Best in the J/120 class were Chuck Nichols and Chick Pyle, of San Diego. Jeff Brown, of San Diego, and Ryan Cox of Ventura, CA, took home trophies in their classes: J/80 and J/24 respectively. - Stu Streuli Complete results: http://www.sailingworld.com/nood/ PROFESSIONAL SAILORS Event website: www.VolvoOceanRace.org MORE SD NOOD STERN SCOOP The Kiwis have acknowledged that the mistake (not getting prior permission) was an administrative error - nothing devious. Nonetheless, the Arbitration Panel suggests that the appropriate penalty is for the Swiss to put the boat back into its original condition, then get permission, then re-do the modification. Unbelievable! THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM |
