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SCUTTLEBUTT No. 609 - July 20, 2000NYYC RACE WEEK AT NEWPORTLight and fluky winds forced the last day's racing to be cancelled at the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2000 and meant Vim avoided a three-way battle for the Racer division title. The Nelson/Marek 43's owner Craig Speck of Grand Rapids, Mich., and helmsman Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, Md., were all smiles as they stepped off the boat that San Diego's Bruce Nelson, also crewing, had redesigned so effectively for this championship. Yesterday, there had been a dark, brooding silence as the Vim crew finished some way behind their closest rivals in the high-scoring, 128-mile offshore race. The speed that Vim showed in the first day's extreme conditions--30 knots and steep waves--surprised even some of the crew. The new fin keel had been fitted to the hull just two weeks before, so this was the first big test of the boat in her new configuration. Ken Read of Newport, R.I., the America's Cup sailor who was calling tactics for owner/driver George David on Idler, was disappointed not to get a crack at Vim. Nevertheless, he was gracious in defeat and ready to praise the crew of Vim. "The fact is they sailed better than us, and I've had my share of regattas where we've won when racing was cancelled on the final day. You live by the sword and die by the sword." Idler still took home a trophy for topping Class D, with seven boats. Tomasso Chieffi, helmsman aboard Atlantico Yah Man, also was disappointed not to get a chance to defend the title he won at last year's Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship in Sardinia. He settled for winning Class E honors, and was certain he'd be back for next year's event, scheduled to take place either in Italy or Spain. With Atlantico Yah Man sold to a Portuguese owner, the Italian America's Cup sailor said he would be looking for another boat to race. "I'm getting older, and every year I aim to sail a boat that is one foot longer." While one Italian team failed to retain its title, another Italian crew blitzed the competition in the Cruiser/Racer division. The only new boat for the Championship, Vincenzo Onorato's Farr 42 Mascalzone Latino proved to be every bit as fast as the Americans had feared. Mascalzone Latino also handily topped its six-boat Class H. At the prize giving on the lawn of the New York Yacht Club, the president and CEO of Rolex Watch USA, Walter Fischer, presented Rolex Oyster Perpetual timepieces to the top two skippers in each division. He then threw down the gauntlet for the top American boat in each division, Vim in Racer and Agincourt in Cruiser/Racer, to accept a generous offer to have the boats shipped free of charge to next year's World Championship in Europe. In just its second year of existence, the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship has become established as one of the top events on the racing calendar. As Ken Read observed: "It's a wonderful crown jewel in a wonderful rule." NYYC website: http://www.nyyc.org PACIFIC CUP West Marine Pacific Cup greeted an old friend in the last 24+ hours, WIND. Much of the West Marine Pacific Cup fleet has found the elusive air that disappeared for a few days and La Diana's lead of nine days is being challenged by the 50-70 foot downwind racers. Santa Cruz 50, Lina is leading the charge as more yachts have sought out trade winds by moving South en route to Kaneohe from San Francisco. The only wind velocity report came from Pegasus and they enjoyed up to 18k, cheering an otherwise bummed-out bunch of sailors who've wallowed in doldrum-like conditions, forcing several to quit the race and proceed to Kaneohe or return to San Francisco under engine power. La Diana's lead has eroded to 80 miles while she still leads the fleet and is first in Doublehanded Division 1. Division 2 in the doublehanders is Punk Dolphin, Diminished Capacity leads the fully crewed Division A, Allicante is but a mile ahead of Red Sky in Division B, Elan maintains the lead in Division C. After leading Division D for the entire race, Bocacious is now second to ET, an Antrim 27 - Jim Antrim is navigator on ET. Cha-Ching has moved into the lead of F. The biggest charge comes from the downwind powers as Lina dominates the Santa Cruz 50 fleet in Division F, Triumph leads the Santa Cruz 52s in Division G and Rage, first to arrive in the 1996 race with a new record, leads the 70 foot yachts in Division H. Pegasus traveled 269.5 miles and could provide an exciting finish with Rage to be the first arrival into Kaneohe Bay. Boats that retired from competition and are proceeding to Kaneohe are: Wildflower, El Tiburon, White Eagle, Beyond and Mystic. Tango, Farralone Flyer, Goliard and Stray Cat are returning to San Francisco. Complete standings: http://www.pacificcup.org/ JUST LAUNCHED Gill have been the market leaders in boating boots for many years. Whilst performance marine clothing has developed in leaps and bounds over the years: boots had not until now! During the past two years Gill has worked closely with WL Gore to develop a completely new and revolutionary marine boot. Style 910 Features include: waterproof, breathable, and light weight. Cordura and Kevlar tough upper. Unique rear lacing system. Superman grip with wrap around 3D sole unit. Reflective strip near to the ankle support. No offshore sailor should leave home without a pair. For more information: http://www.gillna.com THE RACE For fortitude personified, look no further than Pete Goss. Or, as he would prefer it, no further than his entire team as they rebound from their most public of failures when, in March, the 120ft L4.5 million Team Philips lost 45ft of its port bow. Team Philips, intended to be the fastest racing craft in the world, will relaunch in September. Goss, the skipper, hopes to go straight into a transatlantic record attempt before competing in The Race, a non-stop round-the-world contest which starts in Barcelona on New Year's Eve. In the rebuild, Team Philips' design is unaltered, as is Goss's faith in Adrian Thompson's design concept of spindly wave-piercing hulls. "It's getting the structure to support the loads that is the more difficult part," Goss said. The failure was caused by the crucial load-bearing strakes inside the hulls failing to bond properly to the hull skins. Tests have shown the bond failed at eight to 10 per cent of its designed load. SP Engineering, the composite company involved originally, have not played a part in the repairs. "We're still working with SP," Goss said, "but as to this particular repair, we are steering it. That's the only way." The 'we' is Thompson, Team Philips builders Gary Venning and Keith Fennell, and the separate group who developed the equally radical free-standing 'windsurfer' rigs: Barry Noble and Martyn Smith, formerly British Aerospace's chief structural engineer. Some two tons of new structure are being added to a boat weighing around 18 tons. The original strakes treated each hull like a beam. The supplementary reinforcements of closely spaced ring frames and longitudinals make it more like an aircraft fuselage. A huge cost of the failure has been lost sailing time although one of Team Philips' rigs was stepped in a block of concrete so that the crew could train on it. But the cash cost? "It's huge," Goss said. "Nothing about these boats is cheap. All of the sponsors have responded by telling us to get on with it." - Tim Jeffery, Daily Telegraph, UK Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001648423620749&rtmo=r2hr9mkX&atmo=99999999 &pg=/et/00/7/18/soyot218.html LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) and to exclude unfounded speculation or personal attacks. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. -- From Mike Moore - I agree with Peter Harken. Apart from morbid curiosity, we don't need to know what young Mr. Blom did. If you don't know in your own head or heart where the bar is, I don't want you on the same racecourse with me. To those suggesting that USSA publish more facts so that others may KNOW where the bar is, are you also suggesting that behavior that pushes right up to that point is acceptable? If you really are not sure where the limit is, how about the old standard - Do Unto Others.... -- From Gordon Wanlass - Save the Whales - They are beautiful and hitting them is really slow. "The high seas may soon be a little safer for whales. James H. Miller, an ocean engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island, has developed a sonar device for the hulls of ships that helps captains identify and steer clear of whales. That's particularly good news for the endangered northern whale. There are only 300 left in the world, and ship collisions are their leading cause of death. The professor has started a company, Pyrcon, to produce the device." Business Week / July 17, 2000 DAVE PERRY (Vanguard Sailing and Quokka Sports set up a chat session recently with sailing rules guru, author, former collegiate All-American and two-time Congressional Cup champion Dave Perry . The transcript of that session is now posted on the Quokka website. Here's an excerpt.) QUESTION : What would be your favorite type of boat to race? DAVE PERRY: That's an easy answer. My favorite boat to race and to sail was and always will be the Laser. It was the most significant breakthrough design in our sport, it is a piece of fiberglass that goes very fast through the water, has very simple equipment so all the boats are identical, and is extremely responsive to body movement. You can surf the waves, it is popular worldwide. In 1980 we had 330 boats at the world championship. Fun to sail, inexpensive, and is a vehicle to make many friends and travel. QUESTION: How hard is it to move from small boat to big boat sailing and back again? DAVE PERRY: It's something which evolves as your body gets older and slower. I found the transition from small boats to big boats a little difficult at first, but my background in Laser sailing put me in position to sail the big boats well. My heart lies in the small boats. When you are in a small boat, you are in complete control of the boat. It becomes like a ski or a bicycle - you are telling it where to go and how fast to get there, and the physical aspects are more exciting to me. On a bigger boat you are riding on a bigger platform that through good tuning you are making the boat go fast. Plus, I love feeling the water on my face and on my body, and that's small boat sailing. QUESTION : Given that sailing, especially at starts, can be heated at times, what's your advice for keeping cool? DAVE PERRY: For us the most important thing was the nervousness and that would go away when the race begins, so we would establish a pattern of preparation and we would stay in that pattern, and do that no matter what the race was, so whatever nervousness might be in your body, it would be irrelevant, and we would focus on the things we need to focus on. How is the wind, how is the course set, how are the competitors setting their boats up, lots of information you have to input before the race starts, and we would focus on that, so the pressure wouldn't exist. Full transcript: http://sailing.quokka.com/stories/07/SLQ__0717_s_perry_chat_WFC.html WEB MAGIC Even if you don't go to the Quokka website to read the rest of the Dave Perry transcript, you should check in to see the fantastic multimedia feature on the maxi-catamaran, Club Med. It's awesome. And while you're there, be sure to look over the new 'In Their Own Words' piece from Jennifer Mitchell (29), who attended Russell Coutts' talk at the Pleon YC in Marblehead and wrote a first-person account. GOOD STUFF! http://sailing.quokka.com/ CALENDAR * July 31 to August 9 - Kenwood Cup Hawaii International Offshore Series, Royal Hawaiian Ocean Racing Club. IMS, Farr 40 OD and J-105. http://www.kenwoodcup.com/ * August 4 -11- US Independence Cup, Chicago Yacht Club. Sailors with Special Needs. http://ussailing.org/championships/Independence/index.htm * September 8-9 - Vanguard Sailboats 50th anniversary celebration for the Sunfish sailboat. Factory tour, used parts sale, reception and dinner. http://www.teamvanguard.com CODE RED 18 July - PlayStation and her crew are currently on standby in Newport, RI waiting for a suitable weather window to arise for another attempt at the West-to-East NY-UK TransAtlantic record (6d 13h 3m 32s). Skipper Steve Fossett and meteorologist Bob Rice advised the crew there would be no record wind patterns developing for at least the next 6 days (until 24 July) and PlayStation should remain in Newport on Code Red departure status. A test in Newport is planned for Wednesday or Thursday this week, but the delivery trip to New York City will wait until the weather prognosis is more specific. http://www.fossettchallenge.com/ SAFETY AT SEA DOWN UNDER There has been a massive response by offshore sailors seeking extra safety training, knowledge and experience before Australia's major ocean races of the coming 2000-2001 bluewater season. In fact, by the time the 67-boat fleet lines up for the start of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Sydney - Gold Coast Race on Saturday week, July 29, an estimated 3000 sailors will have completed the CYCA's safety seminars or gained certificates from equivalent courses at other clubs throughout Australia. According to CYCA sailing manager Phil Thompson, this clearly underlines the awareness the Club has created among sailors of their need for greater theoretical and practical knowledge of safety measures, including helicopter rescue operations, weather forecasts and heavy weather seamanship. "Before last year's Telstra Sydney to Hobart some 1500 sailors had completed safety courses at the CYCA and other clubs in Sydney as well as at Victorian and Tasmanian yacht clubs - by the time this year's race gets under way that number will have doubled - and by a lot more," Thompson said today. The CYCA is planning to issue a preliminary Notice of Race for the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart, with the proviso that there may be additional safety requirements recommended by the Coroner when he hands down his findings of the Inquest into the 1998 Sydney to Hobart tragedy. The preliminary Notice of Race will include new or extended requirements that: * establish stability requirements, each yacht must have a current IMS certificate, whether they enter under IMS, IRC or PHS (new for this year). * At least 50% of the crew must have completed a CYCA safety seminar or an equivalent course conducted by other clubs (increased from 30% last year). * Each yacht's crew must include two qualified HF radio operators and two crew members with senior first aid certificates (double last year's requirements). - Peter Campbell Further information: peter_campbell@bigpond.com QUESTION 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. Footage from cameras on the boats documents the bravery and the extraordinary rescue efforts. This videotape is now available online, but supplies are limited. It's only $29.95 plus postage and handling: http://www.titanaustralia.com.au/ TACTICIAN'S CHECKLIST (Gary Jobson examines the role of a tactician on the Boatscape.com website. Here's a checklist he prepared for that analysis.) 1. Keep track of wind strength and direction. 2. Keep your wind clear, particularly after the start. 3. Judge performance by watching what other boats are doing. 4. Keep your boat with the rest of the fleet. 5. Fliers rarely pay. 6. Be ready with new ideas on how to improve boatspeed. 7. Stay calm in the heat of battle. 8. Stay in sync with the skipper/helmsman. 9. Know the strengths and weaknesses of the competition. 10. Watch the water and be ready to adjust for waves and current. 11. Keep the crew informed. Read Jobson's full story: http://www.boatscape.com/mag_article.asp?article%5Fid=417 THE CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The difference between young liars and old thieves is just a matter of time. |
