SCUTTLEBUTT #261 - January 20, 1999
KWRW - Report by Sean McNeill
Some participant at GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week '99 forgot to
offer their weekly sacrifice to Huey, sailing's legendary wind God, before
coming to the 12th anniversary regatta. That can be the only explanation
for the light and shifty winds that have dominated the first two days of
action at the international keelboat regatta sailed on the Straits of
Florida off Key West.
"It was another tricky day in paradise," said two-time America's Cup
winning navigator Peter Isler (San Diego), who's helming Tom Neill's
(Chicago, Ill.) Nitemare, in Class B IMS 2. Isler echoed a sentiment shared
by many other helmsmen, tacticians and crewmembers. "There are so many
boats on the racecourse that you have to get out to one side."
Sailboat racing is an individualistic sport, however, and not everyone
concurred with Isler. "We found the middle the place to be," said Eddie
Collins, co-owner with Barry Allardice of today's victorious Mumm 30,
USA-48. "You gave up too much living at the edges. Live by the sword, die
by the sword."
Now that Day 2 is concluded, every class has completed at least three races
and divisional battles are forming. In IMS 1, a three-way tie for first
exists between Irvine Laidlaw's (Isle of Man, England) Hi Fling, Bache
Renshaw's (Portsmouth, R.I.) Virago and Karl Kwok's (Hong Kong, China) Beau
Geste. Considered a contender for the Yachting Magazine Trophy, awarded to
the regatta's Boat of the Week, IMS 1 also features a tie for fourth
between European rivals Hans-Otto Schumann's (Hamburg, Germany) Rubin XV
and Paolo Gaia's (Milan, Italy) Breeze. Breeze and Rubin, which were placed
first and third in the class, respectively, after Day 1, fell afoul of the
shifty and puffy winds today. Rubin finished 4-5, slightly better than
Breeze's 7-4.
The close racing earned Beau Geste the Boat of the Day honors, and a Casio
MR G Tactician watch. The award is determined using a time and distance
formula. A smaller ratio indicates a more competitive class. The combined
delta for first through fifth in both of today's IMS 1 races was 2 minutes,
13 seconds. The runner-up contender for the award was IMS 2, but its delta
was a gaping 3 minutes, 30 seconds. That's due in part to Pasquale
Landolfi's (Porto Cervo, Italy) Brava Q8's dominant performance in the
division. Brava Q8 has placed 1-2-1 in its three races to lead Craig
Speck's (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Vim III by 3 points.
The Farr 40 One-Design class also features tight racing. John Thomson's
(Port Washington, N.Y.) defending class champion Solution had an up and
down, 2-8 day, but still leads Bill Jayson and Bob Burgess (Newport, R.I.)
class-newcomer Passage by 1 point. Tied for third are John Kilroy's (San
Francisco, Calif.) Samba Pa Ti and Jack Woodhull's (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Persephone. Each has 17 points.
Another fierce battle is brewing in PHRF 2, where Wayne Colahan and Doug
Halstead's (Marblehead, Mass.) Letter of Marque is tied for the 30-foot
sportboat class lead with Chris Bouzaid's (Jamestown, R.I.) Wai Rere. Each
boat has 6 points, but Letter of Marque earned that low score on straight
second-place finishes while Wai Rere has a 1-1-4. "Wai Rere is fast, it's
got breakaway speed," said Letter of Marque crewmember Josh Adams. "They've
got a big asymmetric spinnaker with broad shoulders. They're very fast
downwind. But they've also had boathandling mistakes and we've been able to
take advantage of them."
While divisional battles took shape today, the battle for the Yukon Cup
started to become a runaway for Team Italy. Awarded by title sponsor GMC
Yukon, the Yukon Cup is presented to the top international three-boat team
comprised of entries from the IMS, Mumm 30 and Melges 24 classes. Team
Italy's Breeze, Malinda/Invicta and Planet Loaf have posted the low score
of 24 points and lead Team Far East -- Beau Geste, Esmeralda and White Loaf
-- by 13 points.
In order to generate broad interest, team composition may be one country or
regional when there aren't a sufficient number of boats from a single
country. Two of the three boats on each team must hail from the country or
region represented, with at least 30 percent of the crew on those two boats
citizens or legal residents of the particular country.
DIVISION I STANDINGS (provisional after 3 races) CLASS A -- IMS1 1. (tie
between) Hi Fling/Irvine Laidlaw (Isle of Man, England) 2-5-2--9 and
Virago/Bache Renshaw (Portsmouth, RI) 4-2-3--9 and Beau Geste/Karl Kwok
(Hong Kong, China) 5-3-1--9 CLASS B -- IMS2 1. Brava Q8/Pasquale Landolfi
(Porto Cervo, Italy) 1-2-1--4, 2. VIM III/J. Craig Speck (Grand Rapids, MI)
4-1-2--7, 3. Heatwave/Sal Giordano (Edgartown, MA) 3-3-4-10 CLASS C -- Farr
40 1. Solution/John Thomson (Port Washington, NY) 1-2-8--11, 2.
Passage/B.Jayson & B.Burgess (Newport, RI) 3-4-5--12, 3. (tie between)
Samba Pa Ti/John Kilroy (San Francisco, CA) 11-5-1-17 and Persephone/Jack
Woodhull (Newport Beach, CA) 2-8-7-17 CLASS D -- PHRF1 1. Starlight/Jay
Ecklund (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 1-1-1--3, 2. (tie between) Fatal Attraction/F.
Gray Kiger (Norfolk, VA) 3-5-2--10 and Wahoo/Fintan Cairns (Dublin,
Ireland) 4-3-3-10 CLASS E -- 1D35 1. Northern Bear/Stephan Pfeifer
(Milwaukee, WI) 2-2-5--9, 2. (tie between) Windquest/Doug DeVos (Holland,
MI) 3-4-9--16 and Roxanne/Kip Meadows (Indian Island, NC) 7-5-4--16 CLASS F
-- PHRF2 1. (tie between) Wai Rere/Chris Bouzaid (Jamestown, RI) 1-1-4--6
and Letter of Marque/W. Colahan & D. Halsted (Marblehead, MA) 2-2-2--6, 3.
Abbey Normal/Jeffrey Gale (Abaco, Bahamas) 7-4-1-12 CLASS G -- PHRF3 1.
Fitikoko/Andrew Wilson (Annapolis, MD) 1-1-1--3, 2. Lunatic Fringe/Eric
Wynsma (Grand Rapids, MI) 3-3-2--8, 3. (tie between) Encore/E. Boos & P.
Jones (New Orleans, LA) 5-5-4--14 and U.B./Brian Mock (Newport Beach, CA)
9-2-3--14.
DIVISION 2 STANDINGS (provisional after 3 races, unless noted) CLASS A --
PHRF 4 1. Surprise/Joan Tryzelaar (Portland, ME) 1-1-1--3, 2. Snake
Eyes/Tom Ballard (Annapolis, MD) 2-2-3--7, 3. Ragamuffin/Richard Harris
(New Orleans, LA) 3-7-2--12 CLASS B1 -- Viper 830 1. Extreme Measures/Doug
Harkrider (Flowery Banch, GA) 1-1-2--4, 2. RE/Guy de Boer (Detroit, MI)
2-2-1--5, 3. Impulsive Response/Ted Balfour (Randolph, NJ) 3-4-3--10 CLASS
B2 -- J/105 (provisional after 4 races) 1. Elizabeth/Bill Helming (Acton,
MA) 5-3-3-1--12, 2. (tie between) Phenix/Bob Swirbalus (Boston, MA)
3-2-7-2--14 and Wet Paint/Donald Priestly (Newport, RI) 4-4-2-4--14 CLASS C
-- J/29 1. Tomahawk/Bruce Lockwood (Ludlow, VT) 1-5-2--8, 2. (tie between)
WOW/W. Rojek & A. Zaleski (City Island, NY) 5-3-1--9 and Hustler/John
Esposito (City Island, NY) 2-4-3--9 CLASS D -- J/80 (provisional after 4
races) 1. Hustle/Tim McAdams (E. Greenwich, RI) 2-5-1-2--10, 2. Thrown
Together/Vicky Jo Neiner (Perth Amboy, NJ) 3-4-4-1--12, 3. Kicks/David
Balfour (Austin, TX) 1-7-2-6--16 CLASS E -- PHRF 5 1. Claddagh/L. Fallon &
J. Flanagan (Marblehead, MA) 1-2-1-1--5, 2. Storm Front/James Wells
(Evansville, IN) 2-1-4-3--10, 3. Liquor Box/Chuck Simon (Bay Village, OH)
6-4-2-2--14 CLASS F -- PHRF 6 1. Synchronicity/Michael Phelan (Coconut
Grove, FL) 1-2-1-4--8, 2. Creola/Jack Cavalier (Tampa, FL) 3-1-3-2--9, 3.
Sazerac/Gordon Ettie (Minneapolis, MN) 4-4-2-1--11 CLASS G -- PHRF 7 1.
Fourtune Cookie/Peter De Beukelaer (Jackson, MS) 1-2-1-1--5, 2. Hot
Sheet/Mitch Hnatt (Brick, NJ) 3-3-4-3--13, 3. Fluffy Flanks/Barry Parkoff
(San Antonio, TX) 2-1-2-9--14.
DIVISION 3 STANDINGS (provisional after 3 races) CLASS A -- Henderson 30 1.
Speedracer/Steve Liebel (Sarasota, FL) 1-1-1--3, 2. New Wave/Michael
Carroll (Clearwater, FL) 2-3-3--8, 3. Purple Haze/J. Walsh & D. Cook
(Brielle, NJ) 3-2-6--11. CLASS B -- Mumm 30 1. Sector/Carla Silva
(Portofino, Italy) 4-3-2--9, 2. (tie between) Malinda/Invicta/Massimo
Mezzaroma (Rome, Italy) 2-4-4--10 and USA 48/B. Allardice & E. Collins
(TriBeCa) 1-8-1--10 CLASS C -- Melges 24 1. Planet Loaf/Charlie Ogletree
(Newport Beach, CA) 2-1-6--9, 2. Full Throttle/Brian Porter (Lake Geneva,
IL) 7-2-1--10, 3. White Loaf/Scott Elliott (Charlotte, NC) 6-7-2--15.
The record-size fleet of 274 boats will sail a total of eight races through
Friday, January 22, at the 12th annual GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race
Week. A complete set of provisional results and scratch sheet can be found
on Race Week's web page: http://www.yachtingnet.com
Curmudgeon's comments: It's wonderfully warm and sunny here in Key West,
but so far we've only seen in 6-10 knots of wind. That makes for tough
sailing on a 16,000 pound 40-footer. After a very mediocre first day 'Team
UB' rallied on Tuesday with a 2-3. We're in third place in PHRF 3, but
there's a Tripp 38 in our class with straight bullets. (PHRF really sucks!)
KEY WEST INSIGHT
One-design is really happening here with well over half of the boats
sailing one-design without handicaps. Impressively, the Farr 40s have 20
boats, the 1D35s have 21 boats, there are 27 Mumm 30s and a huge 50-boat
fleet of Melges 24s. And once again this year, the boat at the top of the
Melges standings is using a complete inventory of Ullman Sails. Whether you
sail in a one-design class or in a handicap fleet, Ullman Sails can provide
the edge you need to move to the top. Find out how affordable it is to
improve your boat's performance:
http://www.ullmansails.com/
US OLYMPIC TEAM
Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, 35 times larger than Sydney Harbour, provided
challenging conditions during the '99 World Championships with sailors
facing extreme heat, equipment busting wind gusts up to 30 knots, and
non-existent breeze that delayed racing until 5:00 in the afternoon.
The U.S. delegation came to Melbourne with a goal of qualifying for
Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games in three classes -- the Europe (women's
single-handed dinghy), 470 Women's (double-handed dinghy) and Finn (men's
single-handed dinghy). A positive outcome in both women's events rated
these combined world championships a success from the standpoint of the US
Sailing Team. Team Leader Jonathan Harley (Middletown, R.I.), US SAILING's
Olympic Director, feels the U.S. team's strengths are apparent judging by
this event. "We've had a strong turnout of serious contenders in Australia
training since November leading into this event. Based on our overall
performance in Melbourne, we are optimistic about our potential for Sydney."
EUROPE -- Margriet Matthijsse (NED) the '96 Europe Olympic Silver Medalist,
was crowned world champion, followed by Melanie Denison (AUS) with the
silver medal, and two-time Olympian Shirley Robertson (GBR) taking the
bronze. Linda Wennerstrom (Miami, Fla.) was the top U.S. competitor at 17th
place overall in the 37-boat gold fleet. Finishing as seventh country,
Wennerstrom assured the U.S. its place in the Europe fleet at the 2000
Olympic Regatta. US SAILING's 1998 Female Athlete of the Year Meg Gaillard
(Pelham, N.Y.) finished in 28th place.
Additional U.S. finishers in the 37-boat silver fleet: Hannah Swett
(Jamestown, R.I.) in 8th; 1994 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Danielle
Brennan Myrdal (New York, N.Y.) in 9th; Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.)
16th; Krysia Pohl (San Francisco, Calif.) 22nd; and Samantha Barnes
(Greenwich, Conn.) in 35th. In the 37-boat bronze fleet, Lynn Olinger (San
Francisco, Calif.) was 29th; Leslie Osmera (San Francisco, Calif.) 34th;
and Danielle Soriano (Brielle, N.J.) 36th. With a 26-boat entry quota for
the Olympic Regatta in the Europe class, seven countries were added to the
eight previously qualified for Sydney. The complete list of countries
qualified to date is as follows: The Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark,
New Zealand, Poland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Canada, Belgium,
Ireland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and the U.S. Australia as Olympic host
receives an automatic entry in each event.
470 MEN (skipper/crew) Benoit Petit and Francois Cuzon (FRA) were crowned
the new world champions at the conclusion of their 12-race series. Johan
Molund and Mattias Rahm (SWE) took the silver medal, with brothers
Stanckzyk and Jakubiak Thomasz garnering the bronze. Defending world
champions Gildas Philippe and Tanguy Cariou (FRA) placed fifth overall. Top
U.S. finishers in the 33-boat gold fleet were '92 Olympic Silver Medalists
Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) in 11th
place. Steven Hunt and Michael Miller (Poquoson, Va./Fairport, N.Y.)
placed 18th; while Peter Katcha and Jim Elvart (Dallas, Texas/Chicago,
Ill.) were 27th.
1992 Flying Dutchman Olympic Silver Medalist Paul Foerster with Bob Merrick
(Garland, Texas/Portsmouth, R.I.), the recent winners of the 1998 Sydney
International Regatta, suffered equipment problems on the final day of the
qualifying series. To divide the 94 entrants into gold, silver and bronze
fleets, a qualifying series was conducted over two days with three races a
day. With equipment problems, and only one drop race, Foerster and Merrick
wound up in the 31-boat silver fleet, which they easily dominated with six
firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth. The duo dropped a fifth and did
not compete in the final heat to finish with 17 points. The second place
finisher compiled 45 points.
In the 30-boat bronze fleet, Graeme Woodworth and Andrew Gaynor (both Watch
Hill, R.I.) placed third. The 470 Men's class will have an entry limit of
30 boats for the Olympic Regatta. Nine countries qualified in Melbourne and
are added to the nine previously qualified. The complete list is as
follows: France, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Ukraine, Greece,
Russia, U.S., Poland, Israel, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Italy,
Spain, Argentina and Germany.
470 WOMEN (skipper/crew) -- Ruslana Taran and Olena Pakholchik (UKR)
continued their winning streak by claiming their fourth world championship
in a row. Also on the podium were sisters Susanne and Michaela Ward
(DEN), followed by Frederica Salva and Emanuela Sossi (ITA), receiving
silver and bronze medals, respectively. 1998 Australian 470 Women's
National Championship winners Whitney Connor (Noank, Conn.) and Elizabeth
Kratzig (Corpus Christi, Texas) finished in 11th in the 30-boat gold fleet,
and as top Americans secured the U.S. its berth to Sydney. The Olympic
Regatta will have a 19-boat limit in the 470 Women's class. Five countries
were added to the six previously qualified with the complete list as
follows: The Ukraine, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Greece, Argentina, Italy,
Israel, New Zealand, U.S. and The Netherlands.
Additional U.S. finishers are as follows: Tracy Hayley and '96 Olympian
Louise Van Voorhis (Coral Gables, Fla /Webster, N.Y) in 13th; '96 Europe
Olympic Bronze Medalist Courtenay Dey and Alice Manard (The Dalles,
Ore./New Orleans, La.) in 14th ; and '92 470 Women's Olympic Bronze
Medalist JJ Isler and Pease Glaser (La Jolla/Long Beach, Calif.) in 15th. -
Jan Harley
LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON
Letters may be edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude
personal attacks.
-- From Ross Werner -- Having been overboard in San Francisco Bay while
racing, I have some practical experience with the PFD issue. I believe
that the decision to wear or not to wear should be left to the individual,
but if conditions are at all breezy you should be wearing your PFD and stop
whining.
Any doubters should try what the crew I race with did a few years ago - we
all gathered around my pool on a warm summer afternoon and jumped in
wearing full foulies and boots but no PFDs, then tried treading water for
a while. In an 86 degree pool with no waves you'd think this would be
easy, but after a few minutes it got pretty tiring. We then put on PFDs
and jumped back in. The difference was dramatic, since then we wear our
PFDs all the time. (I can't take credit for this idea, I first read about
it in Latitude38.)
Additionally, as foredeck on an Express27 I find the padding provided by my
old reliable Omega lifejacket is a good thing.
-- From Pete Mohler -- On the PFD Issue your readers should know that it is
Victoria State and Australian Commonwealth law that all small boat sailors
shall wear PFDs all the time. 1600 sailors wore PFDs at the '99 worlds
without complaint - 60 deg F to 100 deg F. In addition, of all the photos
I saw of big boat racing, both outside in the Bass straight, and inside in
Port Philip Bay, all the sailors were wearing PFDs. BTW, Bicycle helmets
are required for all bicycle riders as well. All the Australians I talked
to thought both requirements were good ideas.
-- From Glenn McCarthy (To all critics of US SAILING) -- US SAILING is a
wide open organization. Intentionally, the twice-a-year meetings are moved
from town to town across the U.S. to bring new blood into the thought
process. Most recently (Oct. '98) the meeting was held in Seattle. Did
you come to the meeting? Did you express yourself? Did you join any of
the countless committees to make improvements to the sport?
If you want US SAILING to become the "responsive, member oriented body"
again, then make the first step and attend the next meeting of US SAILING
in Dallas, TX at the Dallas Park West on March 17-21, 1999. All US SAILING
members are welcome to come. New ideas and input are always considered.
-- Andrew Besheer -- I see that Fox Sports has signed on as a "premier"
sponsor of the NYYC Young America challenge. Does this mean that John
Madden will replace Gary Jobson at the Telestrator in Auckland, that crews
will be expected to have more dirt, grim and blood on their uniforms, that
contact between boats on the racecourse will be encouraged (maybe even
highlighted with "glowing boat" technology borrowed from the NHL), that
shore crews will now include scantily dressed cheerleading dancers and that
the broadcast will be peppered with endless commercials trumpeting Mulder
and Scully's next adventure...hmm, could be the most interesting thing to
happen to the sport since marconi rigs.
SOLING WORLD MATCH RACING CHAMPIONSHIP - Report by Peter Campbell
Royal Brighton Yacht Club -- Atlanta gold medallist and defending world
champion Jochen Schuemann from Germany today failed to qualify for the
semi-finals of the Olympic Soling keelboat World match-racing championship
after a "shoot out" on Melbourne's windy, waveswept Port Phillip. This also
means that Germany still needs to qualify to compete in the Soling class at
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, in which the fleet will be limited to either
12 or 16 boats.
Schuemann, a three times Olympic medallist, won only three races in today's
third round-robin after twice being black-flagged for match racing rule
breaches, including the cliff-hanger flight seven against Denmark's Stig
Westergaard. As a result, Denmark has qualified as a nation for Sydney 2000
while Germany will have to wait until further international regattas later
this year or next year, as will Great Britain with high profile skipper
Andy Beadsworth failing to reach the cut.
Denmark today joined the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden in qualifying
for the Olympics, with Roy Heiner (NED), Rod Davis (NZL) and Hans Wallen
(SWE) winning their way through to tomorrow's semi-final matches of the
Soling match racing worlds. With the final size of the Soling fleet at
Sydney 2000 yet to be determined (it will be either 12 or 16 nations)
Italy, USA, Spain, Russia, the Ukraine and Australia (as the host nation)
having already qualified from previous regattas.
Despite beating Schuemann in the final flight of the third round-robin,
Denmark's Stig Westergaard, who last week won the Soling world fleet racing
championship at the 99 Worlds, failed to reach the semi-finals, that berth
going to American Jeff Madrigali.
The draw for the semi-finals is Heiner (NED) versus Wallen (SWE) and Davis
(NZL) versus Madrigali (USA), with the best of five race semis due to start
at 9am, possibly followed by the grand final to decide the gold and silver
medallists in the afternoon. Today's conditions, with 22 knot
south-easterly winds and one metre seas, are in total contrast to what can
be expected on 2000, with the match racing medal finals scheduled to be
sailed in Farm Cove, in front of the Sydney Opera House.
The third round robin today saw the top four skippers and crews from last
week's Soling fleet racing world championship at the 99 Worlds pitted
against four other crews who had won their way through the first two
round-robins.With rough seas making match-racing tactics difficult, race
officials from the Royal Brighton Yacht Club moved the course closer
inshore, in the lee of the breakwater, but the combatants encountered
flukey winds, with sharp "bullets".
In addition to Westergaard and Schuemann, skippered eliminated today
included Britain's Andy Beardsworth and Norway's Hermann Horn Johannessan.
Round robin 3: Roy Heiner (NED) 6 wins 1 loss, Rod Davis (NZL) 4-3, Jeff
Madrigali (USA) 4-3, Hans Wallen (SWE) 4-3, Stig Westergaard (DEN) 3-4,
Jochen Schuemann (GER) 3-4, Hermann Horn Johannessan (NOR) 2-6, Andrew
Beadsworth (GBR) 2-6.
Draw for best of five flight semi-finals - Netherlands v Sweden, New
Zealand vs. USA.
Event website: http://99worlds.org
THE CURMUDGEON'S CONUNDRUM
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
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